Pests are organisms that can physically contaminate food or cause disease in humans and other animals, damage living things or their homes, or disrupt the natural environment. Pest control methods include sanitation, removing food, water, and shelter, and altering the environment to reduce pests’ survival.

Biological controls, such as predators and parasites, and cultural controls, such as changing farming practices, can reduce pest populations. Chemical pesticides are used only after monitoring indicates they are needed according to established guidelines. Contact Columbia MO Pest Control now!

Pests are more than just an annoyance; they can cause damage to property and pose health hazards. Pests include rodents that gnaw on wires and carry disease-causing pathogens like Salmonella, hantavirus, leptospirosis, and more; insects that spread diseases such as ticks and mosquitoes; bees, wasps, hornets, and spiders that sting; and birds and other wildlife that disturb or destroy crops. Professional pest control can reduce the risk of these problems in homes, businesses, and public or natural areas.

Preventing pest infestations requires diligence and a proactive mindset. Sealing entry points, maintaining cleanliness, controlling moisture, managing waste, and implementing integrated pest management (IPM) strategies that incorporate physical and biological controls can decrease the need for pesticides and provide more sustainable solutions to pest problems.

Prevention is often more effective than suppression or eradication. Pests are most likely to be controlled when they are at a low level of abundance or are expected to reach unacceptable levels of damage. The first step to prevent an infestation is to monitor and identify the pest. This information, including the pest’s biology and environmental factors, allows you to estimate how much harm the pest is causing or will cause. Accurate identification also helps you select the most appropriate control methods.

If the pest problem is not addressed at a low level, it will be necessary to reduce the population to an acceptable level. This can be done through baiting, trapping, or applying a targeted insecticide. It is important to note that a pesticide must be used according to label instructions and safety warnings, and it should be applied only at the time and location of the infestation.

IPM also includes practices that encourage and support natural predators and parasitoids, as well as other organisms that perform beneficial functions. These strategies can be more cost-effective than traditional pesticides. Preventive measures for museum storage and handling of artifacts can help reduce the need for pesticide application. Organizing cases, shelves, and cabinets can reduce the clutter that provides hiding places for pests. Keeping floors clear of piles of paper or cardboard reduces opportunities for pests to hide. Maintaining adequate ventilation and using pest screens on doors and windows can also deter pests from entering buildings.

Suppression

Pests that are already present and causing damage should be controlled as quickly and thoroughly as possible, preferably with methods that cause the least disturbance to the environment. Suppression strategies include reducing pest numbers to an acceptable level, using predators and parasitoids (including beneficial insects and mites), planting resistant varieties or weeds, and applying physical controls such as traps, barriers, nets, or chemicals.

Monitoring is the regular checking of a field, landscape, or structure to identify pests and to assess their number and damage. This information can help to decide whether or when control is needed. It also helps to select the most effective management practices and the best time for application.

In many outdoor pest situations, eradication is rarely a goal, except when a foreign plant pest has been accidentally introduced and not yet established. Instead, prevention and suppression are often the goals. In enclosed environments, such as greenhouses or interior facilities where plants are grown for food or other uses, eradication is more practical.

Preventing pest problems before they occur is the best way to avoid using chemical controls. This can be done by establishing habitats that are not favorable to the pest, such as areas of dense shade; by selecting plants that are better adapted to site conditions and not attractive to the pest; or by changing cultural practices, such as timing of planting and watering, soil preparation, crop rotation, interplanting, and managing weeds.

Biological control involves conserving or releasing natural enemies that prevent the rise of unwanted pests, including predators, parasitoids, and disease-causing microorganisms. These organisms may be indigenous to the area, or they may be purchased and released (if legal, approved, and available). Examples include the introduction of mites that feed on mite pests in orchards; nematodes that kill harmful soil grubs; and wasps that parasitize greenhouse whitefly.

Physical or mechanical controls are devices, machines, or other methods that reduce pest establishment, dispersal, or survival by altering the environment. These methods can include the use of traps, fences, nets, radiation, and chemicals. For example, changing the amount of water available can reduce fungus diseases or root rot; altering temperatures can control plant pathogens and nematodes; and the addition of pheromones can deter some insect pests.

Eradication

Pest control involves the management of pests to prevent their spread or eradication. Eradication is a permanent reduction to zero of the worldwide incidence of a disease caused by a specific infectious agent as a result of deliberate intervention, for example, the eradication of smallpox.

A variety of methods are used to control pests, including baiting, trapping, spraying, and fumigation. A qualified pest control specialist will be familiar with all these techniques and will use the most effective one for the particular pest, taking into account the nature of the environment where the infestation is occurring.

For instance, if rodents are the problem, baiting may be a good control technique, whereas trapping is more appropriate for controlling cockroaches. Pesticides, which are chemical compounds that kill the pest or interfere with its development, are sometimes used as a last resort. But they are generally not very effective in the long term because pests develop resistance to them. Moreover, pesticides may also kill beneficial organisms and pollute the environment.

Biological control is another method of pest control. It relies on the use of living organisms that are harmful to the pest but harmless to other organisms, or are themselves naturally controlled by predators and parasites. For example, the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis produces a toxin that destroys caterpillars. Several strains of the bacteria are available that provide useful insect pest control in different areas of the country.

Eradication strategies are often complicated because of the complex interaction between pathogens and their natural or human host organisms. The optimum level of intervention must be achieved to reduce the disease transmission rate in a given area without disturbing the natural ecology of pathogens, which are affected by factors such as population density and temperature, all highly variable throughout the world.

Accurate identification of the pest is the first step in an eradication strategy. This is important because pests can be difficult to distinguish from their non-infesting relatives. Then the right method can be employed, such as removing food sources or changing environmental conditions. The best way to do this is by using integrated pest management, which includes proper sanitation and good agricultural practices as well as physical or cultural controls.

Controlling Natural Forces

In nature, pest populations experience frequent attacks and high mortality rates from predators, parasites, or diseases, organisms that naturally reduce their numbers. These natural enemies can be used in pest control to suppress their populations and damage without or with reduced use of pesticide. Biological control tactics are generally considered to be the most environmentally friendly pest control methods.

In IPM programs, pest identification (to the species level) is critical to a successful biological control program. This is because the organisms used in biological control are often highly host-specific; that is, they attack only one or two kinds of plants or insects. Identifying the pest to species level is also important for choosing and preparing the correct biological control agent for release, as well as determining when and how much of a particular biological control agent should be introduced into an environment.

Depending on the pest, habitat, and production practices, classical biological control involves selecting and introducing a single or group of natural enemy species that are foreign in origin to control an invasive pest. For example, decapitating flies have been introduced to control red imported fire ants. Fortuitous biological control is a similar method, but occurs when native natural enemies that are compatible with a pest population in a given area suddenly take advantage of an exotic or invasive pest, suppressing its numbers on their own.

Many pest-controlling organisms are birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, mammals, or fungi that feed on the pest or its eggs or larvae. In addition, a number of plant-feeding insect parasitic plants and pathogens suppress pest populations through direct feeding or indirect infection. Weather conditions are another natural force that directly affects the activity of pests. Precipitation, freezing temperatures, drought, and other environmental factors can cause a reduction in pest populations by limiting their growth or food supply.

In a recent survey of public attitudes toward pest control, researchers found that three characteristics were most important to the public: specificity (that the control method should only target the intended pest); uncertainty (that the outcome of the control is not guaranteed); and humaneness (that the pest should die naturally). Pest control methods that are considered more humane include trapping and baiting.