Pest Control Springfield MO involves using physical, biological, and chemical techniques to manage pests. Threshold-based decision-making involves monitoring and scouting to determine when action is needed.
Preventive measures include cleaning up cluttered areas where pests breed and hide and using traps. Pesticides are often used only if they can be accurately identified and applied in the right conditions.
In pest control, prevention is all about preventing the problem before it occurs. This means limiting the food, water, shelter and other things that pests need to thrive. It also includes reducing attractants and stopping the spread of the pests themselves.
For example, a good preventive program for an office building should regularly inspect the exterior and interior to locate entry points, attractants and sources of moisture. If there are problems, they should be addressed promptly to prevent infestations. In food plants, this often involves training employees to spot potential issues and stop them from getting into the plant.
Preventive methods can include traps, baits, tarps, screens and other devices that physically block or alter the environment for pests. These are sometimes referred to as mechanical controls. Other methods that use radiation, heat, electricity and other factors to disrupt or kill pests are called chemical controls. Chemicals can be more dangerous than physical barriers, but they are effective when used appropriately.
Pests typically enter buildings to search for food, water or shelter, but they can also carry contaminating pathogens on their bodies or wings. This is why it is important to wash clothes and clean surfaces after coming in contact with any potential pests, particularly insects like cockroaches or rodent droppings.
The most effective prevention strategies reduce the availability of the elements that attract pests and stop them from getting into a facility in the first place. This may involve removing sources of food, water or shelter for pests, such as storing leftovers in sealed containers, putting out bird feeders only in the morning, or cleaning up brush piles and other areas where rats and ants could nest. It may also involve repairing leaky pipes, addressing outdoor ventilation issues and keeping garbage cans tightly closed.
Taking steps to prevent pests from entering a structure can help avoid expensive damage and minimize health risks, especially for the sick or elderly. When it is necessary to use chemicals, the goal should be to do so with as little impact on the environment as possible. This is known as integrated pest management (IPM), and it focuses on treating for pests only when they are observed and identified, reducing the number of treatments required and minimizing exposure to humans and pets.
Suppression
Pests are more than just a nuisance: they may cause diseases and other physical damage to crops, forests and personal property. Some are also a threat to human health, like fleas, ticks and rodents. Some have a frightening or grotesque appearance, like spiders and silverfish. Some bite or sting, like bed bugs, cluster flies, mud dauber wasps and ants. Others stain or eat, like mice, rats, clothes moths and cockroaches.
Pest control includes strategies to prevent and eradicate infestations before they become damaging. Prevention includes cultural practices, such as using pest-free seeds and transplants; selecting plants adapted to site conditions and not attractive to pests; rotating crops and interplanting; managing weeds; soil testing and irrigation scheduling; and maintaining field sanitation procedures.
Biological controls include conserving and releasing natural enemies of pests or their pathogens to reduce pest populations. Examples of parasitoids include tachinid flies that attack mite pests in orchards, ichneumonid and braconid wasps that attack greenhouse whitefly and other insect pests, and plant-parasitic nematodes that kill harmful soil grubs.
Other biological control agents include predators and disease organisms, which attack or infect the pests. These can be introduced as living agents or as microbial pesticides, such as those produced by the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis and Clostridium tetani. Homeowners can conserve these natural enemies by providing refuges of suitable food, water and shelter in their landscapes.
Natural forces such as climate, natural barriers, the presence of predators and the availability of food and water can influence pest populations by helping or hindering pest control. For example, a mountain range, river or large body of water restricts the movement of some pest species, and drought or excessive rain can affect the growth of others. Similarly, the presence of certain plant communities can limit pests by competing with them for water or nutrients. Also, some features of the environment — such as soil pH, moisture, humidity and radiation — can affect some pests. For example, low pH can decrease the activity of some fungal pathogens and increase the activity of other pathogens. These factors are known as abiotic variables.
Eradication
Unlike preventive measures, which are applied on a small scale, eradication techniques take place at the population level and typically target whole species of pests. Eradication can be a long and difficult process, with the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring a disease eradicated only when a global effort is executed and microbe transmission stops at every location.
Typical eradication methods include chemical and biological controls. Chemical solutions, such as repellents and insecticides, deliver quick results and work well in combination with other control methods. However, these substances can also pose health and environmental threats upon exposure and must be used responsibly. Fortunately, modern pesticides are designed to be less toxic to humans and the environment than their predecessors. In fact, the majority of pesticides are regarded as safe for use when employed according to instructions and specifications.
Biological pest control involves a variety of strategies that harness natural enemies to disrupt a harmful organism’s life cycle. Examples include parasites, predators, and pathogens. In addition, pheromones and hormones can be used to manipulate behavior or alter reproductive cycles. Biological controls may take time to take effect, as there is a lag between pest numbers increasing and the arrival of natural enemies.
Physical pest control eliminates or restricts a pest’s ability to access food, water, or shelter. This type of control can include exclusion, trapping, and barriers. Physical control methods often cost more up front, but they can be a cost-effective and sustainable option for pest control. For example, weed barriers can be effective in preventing weeds from growing and in reducing the amount of mowing required to keep lawns healthy. Other physical control measures include digging weeds and sterilizing soil.
Pests are organisms such as insects, bacteria, fungi, nematodes, or vertebrate animals that cause harm to human beings or property. They can devalue buildings, destroy crops, displace native plant species, and affect the environment. In addition, pests can displace other desirable organisms, negatively affecting the health and vitality of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Pests can also affect human health and quality of life.
Treatment
Pests cause problems when they invade our living spaces. They may eat our food, spoil it or destroy plants and personal belongings. They can also spread diseases such as hantavirus, leptospirosis and Salmonella. They can bite or sting, and can trigger allergic reactions. Some have a frightening or grotesque appearance, like ants, silverfish and earwigs. Others contaminate or stain surfaces and fabrics, like cockroaches, mice and beetles. Pests can damage structures such as buildings and roads, and erode soil.
Preventive pest control methods include inspection and monitoring to identify and respond to potential problems before they occur, sealing cracks and gaps that allow pests to enter, keeping surfaces clean to deter pest activity, and practicing good sanitation to eliminate food sources. Integrated Pest Management is often used for preventive pest control, with prevention, suppression and eradication as part of an overall strategy.
Suppression is an attempt to reduce the population of existing pests to a level that does not cause unacceptable harm. Suppression usually follows preventive steps and involves the use of chemicals such as herbicides, insecticides and fungicides.
Eradication is a difficult goal to achieve in outdoor pest situations, but can be successful in enclosed areas such as dwellings; schools and offices; health care, food processing and storage facilities; and greenhouses. In some cases, the Government supports eradication programs such as those for Mediterranean fruit fly, gypsy moth and fire ants.
Physical controls can include traps, screens, barriers and fences, nets, radiation and electricity. They can also involve altering the environment such as through the addition of food, water or light. Chemicals including pheromones and juvenile hormones can be used as control agents. Pheromones can confuse male insects and prevent them from mating, reducing the pest population. Juvenile hormones can also keep earlier stages of an insect from maturing into normal adults.
Using multiple control tactics (methods) together is often called integrated pest management, or IPM. IPM is often more effective than using any single method alone, and tends to be less disruptive to the nonliving parts of a site. Relying only on pesticides can result in the development of resistant pests, disrupt natural pest populations, and can affect surrounding ecosystems.
