Pests damage property, carry disease-causing pathogens, and can be a health risk to people and pets. Routine pest control reduces these risks and preserves the value of homes, businesses, and crops.

Threshold-based decision-making focuses on prevention, suppression, and eradication. To tailor a control method, know your target pest and environment. Contact Treasure Valley Pest Control now!

Pest control involves managing the presence of pests so that their impact on people, property, and business operations is minimized. It can include removing, blocking, or controlling pests such as rodents (e.g., mice and rats), cockroaches, ants, bees, flies, hornets, thrips, mosquitoes, fleas, seagulls, and wasps. Pests can cause various problems, including structural damage, food contamination and disease, sanitary conditions, nuisance and aesthetic concerns, and even fire hazards.

Preventative pest control methods include preventing pests from entering buildings by taking away their food, water and shelter sources. It also includes repairing leaks and removing rubbish regularly, and reducing clutter or other places where pests may hide. It is usually less expensive than reactive treatments, although it does require vigilance in checking for signs of pests and keeping up with preventative maintenance tasks.

Deterrence is another important part of preventative pest control, and can be achieved by sealing all entry points into buildings, ensuring that garbage is stored in sealed containers, and by fitting pest screens over doors and windows that are frequently left open. It is also important to keep premises clean and free of litter, particularly where foods are served. For hospitality businesses, this can be done by implementing regular cleaning schedules and limiting the supply of raw ingredients, such as meat, fish or fruit, to storage areas that are easily accessible to pests.

Biological pest control is generally considered to be the most environmentally friendly form of pest control, as it involves using natural enemies of the pest to reduce its population. These can be predators, parasites or pathogens that kill or suppress the pest. It can also include genetically altering the pest by introducing sterile males or by the use of pheromones and juvenile hormones to control its reproduction.

Chemical pest control methods can be effective, but should always be used sparingly and by trained professionals. In addition, it is important to consider the environmental impact of any pesticides that are applied, and to use them in a way that does not endanger people, animals or plants.

Suppression

Pests can cause harm to people, property or the environment and need to be eliminated. There are a variety of methods for controlling pests, including physical, biological and chemical control. The most effective method depends on the pest and the situation.

Physicochemical control methods use chemicals such as pesticides to kill or suppress pests. These are the most common types of pest control and can be used indoors and out. They can be very effective, but care must be taken to ensure that the chemicals do not come into contact with food and other substances that could be harmful. The use of pesticides is usually restricted to trained and licensed pest controllers.

Physical pest control involves blocking or preventing access to a structure or the environment by making it difficult for the pests to enter. This can include removing nests, destroying eggs, or blocking access to food sources such as crops. It can also include using traps or bait stations to catch the pests and then removing them from the area. Other physical controls include putting up barriers such as fences or nets, burning or spraying to kill pests, and other similar actions.

The climate can affect the population levels of some pests. For example, drought conditions can cause plant-eating pests to diminish in number because of the reduced availability of their food. A changing climate can also affect the populations of pests that prey on other organisms such as birds, reptiles and fish. These predators may reduce pest populations by eating them or by transmitting diseases to them.

Biological pest control uses natural enemies to disrupt the normal behavior of the pests. This can include the release of bird species that eat the pests or parasitic plants that attach to and feed on the pests. In addition, pathogens can be introduced to destroy or sterilize the pests. This type of pest control is often the most expensive, but it can be very effective in controlling certain kinds of pests. Biological pest control should be considered only when other controls are not feasible.

Eradication

Pests can carry diseases, contaminate food, and damage property. They also affect our environment by spoiling natural resources, competing with us for food and destroying our ecosystems. Pests can be controlled by preventing them from entering our homes, or by using various methods to drive them out, such as baiting, trapping, fumigation and spraying. The aim is to regain control over the pests without harming other species or the environment.

Many people can deal with the odd ant’s nest or flies in their garden, but commercial premises are usually treated by qualified pest controllers who may work for local councils or private pest control companies. A pest control program is normally ongoing and covers a variety of areas and treatments, including rodent traps, bait stations, electric fly killers, spraying and monitoring, fumigation and heat or freezing treatment of stored products.

Eradication is the most extreme form of pest control and involves pumping a building or room with a chemical that kills all living creatures in it. This is normally only used when preventive measures have failed or where a pest is posing a serious health risk. This method is highly controversial because of the risks to human health and the impact on our ecosystems, but it does have some merit as a last resort.

The terms exterminate, extirpate and eradicate are often misused. They all mean “to effect the destruction or eradication of something,” but exterminate suggests a complete and immediate extinction, whereas extirpate and eradicate suggest a more gradual and long-term elimination. It is essential that eradication programs are carefully planned, with a clear understanding of the implications for the environment and human population.

Some pesticides can have adverse effects on other organisms, so it is important to use only those that are designed for the pest being treated and to apply them correctly. Also remember that pesticides can be transferred to humans, other animals and plants through the air or water.

Prevention is a very effective way of controlling pests, and can be much cheaper than eradicating them. Sealing any holes or cracks that pests could enter your home is one of the easiest and cheapest forms of prevention, as are draining any standing water sources such as puddles (which mosquitoes breed in) and regularly changing the water in birdbaths and ornamental ponds.

Biological Control

Biological control is the use of living organisms to manage pest populations. These organisms are referred to as natural enemies (predators, parasites and pathogens) and may be introduced from the country or region of origin of the pest or occur naturally in that area. Biological controls are generally less expensive than chemical control and, if successful, can provide long-term protection.

Several different strategies are used for biological control. These include classical, augmentative and conservation. Classical biocontrol involves importing a small number of the desired species of natural enemy and releasing them in sufficient numbers to establish a population that can effectively control the pest. For example, the predatory ladybug Rodolia cardinalis was successfully introduced from Europe to control the invasive citrus pest Icerya purchasi in Mediterranean Europe in 1900 and the parasitoid Aphelinus mali was released to control the imported apple worm Eriosoma lanigerum in orchards in the 1930s (van Lenteren 1993a, 2000b).

In augmentative biocontrol, an existing population of natural enemies is increased by mass rearing and periodic release. For example, egg parasitoids of the genus Trichogramma are being used on a large scale in Brazil to control sugar cane borer, and bacterium-based disease vectors have been successfully used against cotton bollworm and soya bean caterpillar. Currently, the UC Davis Biological Control Program is working on augmentative biocontrol of the tomato fruitworm by using a virus.

Another strategy is to conserve the natural enemy by reducing or eliminating the use of chemicals that can interfere with its population growth or ability to control the pest. In particular, the use of broad-spectrum, persistent insecticides should be avoided. These chemicals, including carbamates, organophosphates and pyrethroids, can kill natural enemies at the time of spraying or for days or weeks afterwards through their residues. Likewise, the use of systemic insecticides such as the neonicotinoids (imidacloprid, thiamethoxam and dinetofuran) should be avoided because they move through blossoms and can poison natural enemies that feed on nectar or pollen.

Biological control requires an extensive understanding of the ecology and behavior of both the pest and its natural enemies. It is also more complex than chemical control and has a lower profit potential, but can be much more environmentally sustainable and cost-effective over the longer term.