Pest Control Kansas City is the practice of preventing unwanted organisms from infesting homes, buildings or gardens. This can be accomplished using natural, biological, chemical, mechanical or cultural means.
Preventative measures include pest proofing, such as repairing ripped window screens and sealing cracks. It also includes denying pests food, water and shelter by removing their favorite spots, like rotting wood piles or stacks of old newspapers.
Insects are the largest and most diverse group of animals on Earth. Many types of insects are beneficial to people, such as honeybees that pollinate crops and ladybugs that help control pest populations. Others, like grasshoppers, locusts and gypsy or leopard moths that destroy crops and trees, as well as mosquitoes, fleas, lice and ants that carry disease-producing germs, are considered pests.
In addition to direct plant damage caused by feeding, insects may cause indirect damage by carrying bacteria or viruses that introduce a bacterial or fungal disease into a crop, as with the blights that affected sugar beets and potatoes in the 1940s. Other harmful insects include ticks, mites and flies that transmit diseases to humans, pets or livestock.
The impact of insecticides on non-target organisms is sometimes difficult to detect using standard laboratory toxicity tests, but can be observed in model ecosystems, such as microcosms and mesocosms. For example, fungicides such as aluminum trisulfate, azoxystrobin, fenhexamid, and kresoxim-methyl can induce indirect effects on non-target mycophagous insects by acting as reservoirs for the chemicals in their tissues and causing secondary poisoning when those insects consume pathogenic fungi (e.g., powdery mildews) that grow on treated plants.
Insects play important roles in ecosystems as pollinators and decomposers, but human activities have significantly impacted their populations, with significant implications for the natural balance of nature and human well-being. To minimize the adverse impacts of human activities on insect populations, conservation efforts that protect habitats and reduce harmful practices should be prioritized. In addition, the underlying ecology of agroecosystems should be taken into account when designing and implementing pest management strategies. This includes promoting sustainable agricultural practices, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and avoiding the introduction of invasive species into local habitats.
Rodents
Rodents are a significant pest in many communities. They are prodigious breeders, so a small rodent population can quickly grow into an infestation. Rodents can also carry a number of diseases that are dangerous for humans to be exposed to, and they destroy property in their search for food and shelter.
Rodents can damage buildings with their gnawing and burrowing, especially when they chew through electrical wires. Their droppings dislodge insulation and harm weather-proofing products. They contaminate food with their urine and feces. They can gnaw through metal, plastic and paper, ruining boxes and bags of food.
Rats and mice are the most common pest rodents, causing billions of dollars in loss of crops every year and resulting in many human illnesses such as bubonic plague and typhus. They can even be carriers of the pathogens that cause cholera and typhoid fever.
A specialized body form, fur, and senses help rodents to adapt to their habitat. Some rodents have prehensile tails, some can glide from tree to tree supported by their fur and other appendages, while others live in underground burrows.
Rodents are adaptable and can survive in almost any terrestrial environment, ranging from the Arctic snows to tropical jungles. They are most common around structures, where they find food, water and shelter.
Proper sanitation is a key element in rodent control. Keeping outside trash cans and compost bins tightly lidded, eliminating food sources (including pet foods), and storing dry goods in plastic containers helps to reduce potential rodent infestations. Also, removing overhanging brush and weeds will prevent rodents from nesting there. The most important thing to know about rodents is that they reproduce frequently, so prevention measures should begin as soon as an infestation is discovered.
Bed Bugs
Bed bugs are small, reddish-brown blood-sucking insects that feed on human hosts. Their flattened bodies allow them to crawl into very narrow spaces, such as the cracks and crevices of mattresses, box springs, headboards and bed frames. They are not known to spread disease, but they can trigger severe itching in some people.
A person can detect a bed bug infestation by checking the seams of mattresses and nearby furniture for dark spotting and staining, rusty or reddish stains from shed skins, and tiny black fecal marks. They also may be able to feel the bugs’ nipple-like suckers under their feet. A trained pest management professional can conduct a more thorough inspection, using a tool designed to detect the bugs’ excrement.
Bed bug infestations can be hard to control. They are very mobile and can spread quickly from room to room or floor to floor, often by ‘hitching rides’ on clothing, luggage and other belongings. They can also migrate throughout buildings by ‘traveling’ along the walls, floors and ceilings. Although they prefer a warm and humid environment, they can survive in cold temperatures if their food source is available.
Cooperation by owners and occupants during bed bug treatment is essential. Bed bug treatments involve thorough, detailed inspections and the use of contact and residual pesticides. It is important to remove as much clutter as possible, because it affords more places for bed bugs to hide. Bed bugs also are highly adaptable and can thrive in the most pristine dwellings, as well as in poorer communities.
Some pest control professionals are turning to a new method of eliminating bed bugs, called thermal remediation. In this process, entire houses and multi-unit structures are heated to very high temperatures, often accompanied by the removal of bulky contents that will not tolerate the extreme heat.
Ants
Ants have long been regarded as natural pest control agents in agricultural settings. For instance, citrus growers in China have used predaceous ants for centuries to control pests in their trees. Recently, researchers surveyed published research to learn more about how ants might be employed as an alternative to traditional insecticides for a variety of crops.
The team found that ants can provide a valuable service for farmers and help reduce reliance on chemical pesticides in fields. For example, ants may help to control pear psylla in orchards by eating nymphs and young adults and removing honeydew secreted by these pests, which in turn helps reduce the number of pear psylla that damage fruit.
Outside the orchard ants also help to keep other insect pests in check by attacking and killing them. This includes caterpillars, beetles and other sap-feeders, which can cause serious crop damage.
Inside the house, ants can become a problem by invading homes looking for sweets, mainly, to bring back to their nest. They can also be a nuisance in hospitals, rest homes and other commercial premises where they can spread bacteria such as Staphylecoccus and Psuedomonas that can lead to infection. The most common ant in residential properties is the black house ant (Tylenolone occidentale), which has been identified as a major vector of hospital-acquired infections.
The good news is that ants can be controlled without resorting to chemical sprays by using barrier, perimeter and direct pesticide treatments of the ant colony, which should be carried out by a professional. It is important to use a barrier treatment, rather than a general surface spray, to avoid exposure of food, children and pets to the pesticide.
Termites
While termites are essential decomposers in nature, chewing wood and other plants to make humus that enriches soil, they become pests when they enter buildings and cause extensive damage. Homeowners in termite-prone areas should take precautions and regularly have their property inspected by a professional.
Termites are known for their destructiveness and if left untreated can make a house structurally unsafe and even uninhabitable. The damage caused by these insects is estimated to cost Americans $5 billion each year. Unlike other insects that can be seen with the naked eye, such as mice or ants, termite infestations are difficult to detect without a trained pest control expert. The first signs of a problem include sagging floors, crumbling drywall or sagging roofs. Additionally, homeowners might notice mud tubes leading from the ground to walls or hollow sounds when tapping on wood surfaces. Infestations are also often accompanied by discarded wings, as mature termites are capable of swarming during warm weather to start new colonies.
There are many types of termites, with each having its own specific habitat and behavior. While some species of termites build mounds above their nest, others live underground in loose soil, requiring them to tunnel through the earth to reach food. Subterranean species are the most common, causing significant damage to structures when they come into contact with them.
There are several methods of controlling a termite infestation, including liquid barrier treatments. These treatments involve flooding a portion of the soil around a structure with pesticide that is designed to be transferred to other termites when they come into contact with it. However, research has shown that this type of pesticide only provides a limited amount of protection and is not effective in killing an entire colony. Bait stations are a more effective approach that involves replacing the food source of an active termite colony with bait containing slow-acting termiticide. When the foraging termites consume the bait, it is then carried back to the colony and poisoned.