Pest Control Maricopa AZ is the action of reducing a pest population to a level we can tolerate. It involves prevention, suppression and eradication.
Certain plants, trees, animals and materials resist some pests better than others. Using them reduces the need for chemical controls.
Microorganisms like the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis can attack a broad range of insect pests. So can parasitic nematodes, such as the roach-eating Steinernema carpocapsae.
Invasive pests
A pest is any organism that causes economic or environmental harm or threatens human health. A non-native species that becomes invasive may cause harm by crowding out or competing with native species for resources such as light, water and space. Some invasive plants and animals can also alter ecosystems to the point of making them uninhabitable for their original inhabitants. Invasive pests can also damage infrastructure, such as roads and buildings, or natural and cultural resources.
Traditionally, invasive plant and animal species have been controlled with the use of chemical insecticides. These chemicals can be very effective and can be used to control populations over large areas. However, they are often expensive to produce, need repeated applications and can leave residues in food, water supplies or air that are hazardous to humans. They can also disrupt natural predators, parasites and disease cycles in the environment.
New invasive insects and diseases are constantly being introduced into the United States. The rapid expansion of agriculture, the movement of goods and people, and globalization all create opportunities for new pests to enter and thrive in this country.
Some well-known examples of invasive pests include Dutch elm disease, chestnut blight and white pine blister rust. All of these pests have caused significant losses in the production of valuable hardwood timber.
Several other invasive pests can be found in the landscape, including kudzu, Chinese tallow tree and red imported fire ant. While kudzu and tallow trees are often planted as hedges or for their ornamental value, they can quickly overtake and choke out native vegetation. These trees also interfere with electrical transmission lines and can fall onto power poles, causing outages. Red imported fire ants, which are native to Brazil, can attack humans who disturb or invade their nests and can cause painful stings. These ants can also move indoors through AC units and cracks around the home.
IPM
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) uses non-chemical methods to control pests in the garden, landscape and home environment. It also includes traditional or synthetic chemical pesticides where needed. The IPM program is an ongoing process that requires a commitment of time and effort. It includes monitoring, accurate identification of pests and their damage, scouting and assessing action thresholds. It also involves identifying and implementing preventive strategies to reduce the need for pest control, such as crop rotation, choosing resistant plants, removing hiding places for pests and sealing cracks or other entrance points in buildings.
IPM also encourages the use of beneficial insects and natural forces to control pest populations, rather than simply eliminating or eradicating them. This approach allows farmers to minimize disruptions to agro-ecosystems, and may lead to improved yields. It can also help reduce the need for toxic pesticides, a significant threat to human health.
Prevention strategies for outdoor environments may include adjusting planting sites, using disease-resistant varieties and selecting hardy plant species that thrive in your climate. Indoor pest prevention might include good sanitation, removing shelters or limiting access to food and water sources. Other prevention techniques are the deliberate release of predators and parasitoids to control pests, a strategy that requires careful study and planning.
UC research has helped develop IPM since the 1940s, and it is now widely used in schools and day care centers to reduce children’s exposure to harmful pests. An IPM program in a school or day care center includes cooperation between the staff and pest control professionals, who monitor pest numbers and damage in an organized system. The school or day care center keeps records of monitoring results and pesticide application, allowing the staff to refine their pest control procedures over time.
Natural forces
There are a number of natural ways to control pests, including eliminating their food sources, water and shelter. This includes storing foods in sealed containers and removing garbage frequently, as well as sealing cracks and reducing clutter. Other natural methods include introducing beneficial organisms to the environment, such as nematodes and bacteria. These organisms are able to kill or reduce the populations of pests without harming other plants and animals.
It is important to understand that pest populations rise and fall based on environmental conditions, and it can be difficult to predict when they will become problematic. Generally, it is best to treat crops before pest numbers reach economic damage thresholds, but this can vary by pest species.
Biological controls are an integral part of IPM and use natural predators, parasitoids, herbivores and competitors to reduce pest populations in agro-ecosystems. Climate change can influence the survival, development and dispersal of these natural enemies. For example, temperature changes affect the quality and quantity of resources available to insect pests and their natural enemies. This can alter the balance between predators and parasitoids or herbivores.
Some pests are cyclical or seasonal, and the best method of control is to prevent their outbreaks by removing their food, water and shelter sources. This can be done by using physical barriers such as fences and screens, or chemical controls, such as traps and baits. When using chemical controls, it is crucial to keep track of what works and what doesn’t, as well as how often you need to repeat treatments. This will save both time and money. The modern digital age has made keeping notes easier than ever, with smartphones able to take pictures of insects and provide links to information about them.
Resistant plants
Plants have evolved a wide variety of defense mechanisms to protect them from pests. These include the production of allelochemicals, which are a group of chemicals that affect herbivores in a number of ways including reducing growth, inhibiting reproduction, altering physiology, delaying maturation and/or repelling insect appetite or proboscis or ovipositor penetration. Research is ongoing to develop plant cultivars with high levels of these defense chemicals for increased resistance to pests.
Some plants, like marigolds (Centaurea spp.), produce a strong, fresh scent that insects find repellent. This natural, organic method of controlling pests can be used in conjunction with other methods. Other methods of control include scouting plants regularly for telltale signs and symptoms, adequate spacing, crop rotation, use of pathogen-free seed, control of field moisture and pesticides.
A number of plants, such as chrysanthemums and thyme, contain naturally occurring compounds that act as natural insecticides without harming the plant. These toxins are stored away from metabolic areas of the plant in the cells and vacuoles, and they can only be released when a pest tries to eat or mate with the plant.
Plant disease resistance is a major factor in crop success. Disease resistant varieties exhibit significantly reduced symptoms of a disease when compared to susceptible varieties. This is due to pre-formed structures and chemicals that inhibit or block pathogen growth on or in the plant, as well as infection-induced responses by a plant’s immune system that suppresses disease outcome.
Many fruit trees, such as apple and cherry, are bred for disease resistance, as are many lilacs and other shrubs. Many species of wild plants also have natural resistance to local diseases that would disfigure cultivated plants.
Hosts
Using hosts as a method of pest control involves the use of plants, animals, or soil microbes that can prevent or kill pests. Hosts may contain chemicals that repel or inhibit the growth of pests, or they may have physical characteristics that make them difficult to attack. Hosts can also release pheromones that affect the behavior of other organisms. Examples of host organisms include bacteria (such as Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt), fungi, and microscopic nematodes. These organisms are often safer and more effective than chemical controls.
Insect parasitoids are another important group of biological control agents. They lay their eggs inside the body of a host insect. The eggs hatch into parasite larvae that feed on the pest and eventually destroy it. Some parasitoids are highly specific and only attack certain types of insects, but others are more generalized. In either case, careful attention to the environment or habitat of a target pest can help direct the activity of these natural enemies and increase their effectiveness.
Many factors influence the success of a host in attracting parasitoids, including odor, color, and size. Several studies have shown that odor is the most important factor in attracting host parasitoids, and that other environmental conditions play a supporting role. For example, Franklin & Holdaway (1960) found that the parasitoid Chrysopa californica Mesnill was more attracted to lemon trees growing in sandy soil than to those in clay.
Other influences on host attraction by parasitoids are the presence of a suitable food source, the condition of the plant, and the availability of moisture. For instance, plants emit volatile compounds at the site of herbivore damage, which attract egg-laying parasitoids.