Pests destroy crops and contaminate food supplies. They also carry bacteria and viruses that make people sick.

The best way to control pests is to prevent them from coming near your home, business, or garden. Physical methods include barriers, exclusion, and traps. The most effective traps are set along pests’ routes of movement. Contact Pest Control Boise now!

Ideally, pest control practices should minimize the use of chemical controls. However, pest prevention is not always feasible or practical. When it is not possible to prevent the presence of a pest, efforts should be concentrated on keeping the population below an unacceptable level.

This may be accomplished for plants by determining the damage thresholds that can be tolerated and by regular inspections to monitor plant health and visual appeal. Homeowners can usually approximate the number of pests that cause unacceptable damage by observing, recording, and comparing their populations to previous ones.

This information can help a homeowner decide whether or not to apply preventive measures such as fertilizers, mulches and insecticides. For structures, this may include a thorough inspection to locate and identify problems such as water leaks and cracks, wood rot and infestations of cockroaches, fleas or termites.

Some pests are continuous, requiring regular monitoring and treatment; others are sporadic or seasonal. For sporadic pests, limiting their food supply, providing barriers or using biological controls can keep them from becoming problematic.

Natural forces, such as weather, parasitoids, predators, and disease organisms, can also influence the growth of pest populations. Supplementing these natural enemies and establishing new ones can reduce pest populations to an acceptable level.

Keeping garbage and other debris in containers and away from buildings, removing weeds around structures and trimming bushes can make it more difficult for pests to gain access. Maintaining proper food storage and preparation techniques can limit the availability of attractants, such as rotten food. The application of nematodes, microscopic worms that feed on insects, is another effective biological control. There are many different species of nematodes; selecting one that is specific to the pest problem can be helpful.

When pesticides are used, they should be applied sparingly, according to the label instructions. It is important to select a pesticide that is designed for the target pest, and follow all local, State and Federal regulations. It is also important to consider the potential effect that pesticides might have on non-target insects and wildlife.

Suppression

The goal of pest control is to reduce pest numbers and damage to an acceptable level without causing more harm than would be caused by not controlling the pest at all. The best way to achieve this is through prevention, but if that isn’t possible, suppression practices should be used. When using these methods, the idea is to cause as little harm to non-target organisms (beneficial plants and animals) as possible. This is also known as threshold-based decision making, and scouting and monitoring are key factors to this approach.

There are many ways to suppress pests, and a combination of physical and chemical controls is usually necessary. Physical methods include trapping, steam sterilization of soil, and creating barriers to entry like screens and doors. Getting rid of breeding grounds and reducing the availability of food, shelter, and water are important in any pest control plan, too. For example, removing weeds that provide cover and food for slugs, or eliminating stagnant water sources that serve as breeding sites for mosquitoes. Clutter can also provide places for pests to hide or breed, so removing debris and caulking cracks in walls are helpful pest control measures.

Biological pest control uses natural enemies of the pest to reduce its populations, such as parasitic and predatory insects, or pathogens. These organisms typically take some time to get established, but can be quite effective when compared to chemical control agents.

Microbial pest control uses bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other microbes to kill or inhibit insect growth. They are typically applied as a spray or powder, and must be applied in the right conditions to be effective, such as when the soil is moist and aerated. Examples of microbial pest control include nematodes and bacteriophages.

Chemical pesticides are generally used as a last resort and only when preventive measures have failed to achieve their desired results. These are typically very toxic substances, so it is important to understand their effects before using them, and to apply them only when necessary and in the most controlled manner possible. This includes following the label instructions to the letter and limiting exposure of non-target organisms to the pesticide.

Eradication

Eradication of pests involves a combination of control and prevention practices. These techniques may include physical, biological or chemical methods. Some of these methods can be used by homeowners, while others are best left to a professional pest control service. These services can help you determine the type of pests you are dealing with and choose the most appropriate method to eliminate them.

When choosing a pest control service, be sure to read reviews and ask for references. This will give you a better idea of the quality of their work. Also, ask for a breakdown of the cost of their services so you will know what to expect. When using chemical pest control, be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully. Doing so will ensure that the pesticide is not harmful to children and pets.

The terms exterminate, extirpate, eradicate, and uproot are often used interchangeably, but each has a distinct meaning. Exterminate implies complete and immediate extinction, while extirpate stresses destruction or removal and uproot emphasizes forcible displacement or dislodgment. Generally, eradication refers to the control of an insect population to the point that it is unable to reproduce, or at least to prevent its reproduction in a given area.

Disease eradication is generally a more complex process than pest eradication. Infectious disease anthropologist Thomas Aiden Cockburn defined disease eradication as “the extinction of the pathogen that causes the disease.” In other words, a country must eradicate the disease in all of its endemic areas to be considered free of it.

Despite its difficulties, disease eradication is possible. The Smallpox Eradication Program was highly successful, and the Guinea worm and polio eradication programs are progressing rapidly. However, these efforts are difficult to scale up and must be supported by adequate financial resources.

When considering whether to pursue a particular eradication effort, the social and economic benefits must be weighed against the costs of eradicating a pest. The cost of eradication includes both direct and indirect costs, such as the cost of future infections and vaccinations. To calculate these costs, one projects them into the future and compares them with the net benefit of eradication.

Monitoring

In order to make informed decisions about control tactics, pest management practitioners must monitor both the presence of pests and the amount of damage they are causing. This step is an integral part of any IPM program, and involves regularly inspecting field crops for pests, diseases, nematodes, or weeds. Often, this monitoring is done through visual inspection (scouting), but sampling techniques are also employed.

Accurate identification of pests is crucial to effective monitoring, as it allows the scout to distinguish pests from beneficial organisms and other plant species. Monitoring should occur frequently, ranging from daily to weekly, depending on the crop and the environment. Scouts should be trained to evaluate their findings, and record all observations in the field, including crop stage, pest presence and abundance, as well as any plant damage.

When pest populations reach threshold levels, IPM programs evaluate the appropriate action level to be taken. This is based on monitoring, identifications and economics, as well as other environmental factors such as temperature and moisture. When action is required, IPM programs use less risky control methods first, such as the introduction of natural enemies or pheromones to disrupt mating and reduce pest numbers, rather than broad-spectrum chemical spraying.

In some situations, pests cannot be controlled using preventive or suppression methods, and control is necessary. These cases usually involve legal requirements, such as food safety regulations that mandate the control of rodents, flies, or insects in agricultural fields and processing plants, or building codes that require the control of termites or ants in commercial buildings.

The effectiveness of prevention, suppression, and eradication control practices depends on the ability to predict when a pest population will reach unacceptable levels. This is why monitoring is so important to the success of IPM programs. By continually checking and scouting for pests, we can determine when to begin control strategies, which types of controls are most appropriate, and how effective the methods are at controlling the pest population. Without proper monitoring, even the most sophisticated IPM programs can be doomed to failure. Fortunately, the advent of new technology provides opportunities to improve and automate many aspects of pest monitoring.