West Virginia Urban Pest Management Reference Guide for Urban Pests

Complied by: John F. Baniecki, Ph.D., Program Leader M. Essam Dabaan, Ph.D., Program Assistant Tom McCutcheon, M.S., Extension Agent
Table of Contents

Preface
Several urban pests cause structural damage and have substantial medical and public health importance, thereby warranting aggressive educational program delivery. A well-known pest control operators firm stated that termites do more damage to homes in North America than fires and storms combined. Domiciliary cockroaches carry various pathogenic bacteria and protozoa, which cause food poisoning. Mosquitoes are important vectors of West Nile virus, encephalitis, malaria, yellow fever, dengue, filiariasis, and other forms of gastroenteritis. The control of pests in the urban environment has historically meant using a chemical pesticide to reduce pest numbers once an outbreak has occurred. This reliance upon pesticides has fueled major concerns and controversies. Thus, there has been a major shift, philosophically and practically, to the concept of pest management--the balanced use of cultural, biological, and chemical measures that are environmentally compatible and economically feasible to reduce pest populations to tolerable levels. The war between man and pests in his environment never ends, but man has made many advances in strategies and practices for managing pests. This manual is designed as a reference book that will present the latest technical development and the most recent thoughts and principles of urban pest management. Urban pest management information contained in this manual can be presented in an educational program specially designed to prepare pest management advisers to address the many issues dealing with management of pests in and around the urban dwelling. This preparedness fosters increased learning and teaching skills to assist others dealing with urban pest management problems. It is our hope that this educational information will create an awareness of how best to deal with these pests and a sound environment with reduced risk of pesticides in and around dwellings.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Support for this project Urban Pest Management Guide was provided through a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, to the Pesticide Information Office of West Virginia University Extension Service. Special appreciation is expressed to the following: Dr. Peggy Powell, West Virginia Department of Agriculture Dr. William F. Lyon, Ohio State University Extension Service Dr. Linda Butler, Entomology, West Virginia University Special thanks also is expressed to: Stephanie M. Jagoda, West Virginia University Reed School of Journalism, for providing technical assistance. Joyce Bowers, Extension Specialist, West Virginia University Extension Service, for editing the manuscript.

Urban Pest Management Program

Mission Statement Provide education and train Urban Pest Management (UPM)
Advisors. The UPM Advisors will then provide service under the supervision of the WVU Extension Service to the general public.

Goals
1. UPM Advisors will help the general public with; a. Pest Identification b. Pest Prevention c. Non-Chemical Control Strategies d. Information Networking UPM Advisors should be familiar with; a. Identification of core insects outlined for this program b. Selected biologies of important pest outlined for this program c. Pest prevention strategies outlined for this program d. The identification of pest damage outlined for this program e. Non-Chemical control strategies outlined for this program f. Information sources available for solving pest problems

2.

UPM Advisor Responsibilities/Expectations

a. b. c. d. e. f. g. Must attend all 15 hours of classroom instruction on urban pest management provided by the WVU Extension Service Complete both a pre- and post-test for the Urban Pest Management Program Pass a pest identification final of the core insects (50%) Volunteer 15 hours of service approved by the WVU Extension Service to the general public Each following year, 3 hours of instruction and volunteering 3 hours are needed to keep an active status as an UPM Advisor Not provide pesticide recommendations to the general public Not use the title of UPM Advisor to profit in any way or in any other activities not sanctioned by the WVU Extension Service.

Disclaimer - This Program is not training for certification as a pesticide applicator either private or commercial. Programs and Activities offered by the West Virginia University Extension Service are available to all persons without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age, veteran status, political beliefs, sexual orientation, national origin, and marital or family status.

Urban Pest Management Criteria

Recruit urbanites and get their commitments (use application form). Prepare a name list and addresses of participants Specify date and location for scheduled meetings with participants Line up speakers (University or business-oriented personnel including yourself) and specify topics (provide $ support, if needed) Contact pest control operators in your county and ask them to join the program efforts for one session, if possible Prepare program agenda and distribute to urbanites and others Give out pre- and post- evaluation test (Will be provided) Make copies of the Urban Pest Management manual to all participants Keep track of credits hours for each participant (15 credit hours are required to complete the program) Keep track of volunteer hours for every participant Distribute certificates of program completion for participants Send survey (towards the end of year one) to urbanites to get a response on how they like the service that was provided by the urban pest management advisors. Provide the program coordinator with: Progress report (initial planning and then after 3 months) Final report Reports should include information such as, but not inclusive: Name of : County and agent Number of participants Number of sessions held, and how many hours each Name of speakers, affiliation, and titles of their presentations Pre- and post- test evaluation summary Volunteer hours accumulated for each participant Your evaluation of the program activities (Impact statement on the community). This information can be gotten from the feed backsurvey to the community and participants contact reports.

Thanks for your assistance and participation in the Urban Pest Management Program John F. Baniecki, Ph.D., Program Leader, West Virginia University M. Essam Dabaan, Ph.D., Program Specialist, West Virginia University Tom McCutcheon, Program Associate, West Virginia University

Urban Pest Management

Table of Contents
Page Preface Acknowledgments................................................... Mission and goals ... Program criteria I. Introduction to pest management
Household integrated pest management ... Selecting a pest management method .. Non-chemical pest management method . Less toxic pesticides . Proper pesticide application . I-01 I-03 I-05 I-07 I-09

i ii iii iiii

Common Urban Pests In and Around Dwellings

II. Fiber pests
Cloth moths Carpet beetles ... Sliverfish and firebrats . Fiber pests management summary II-01 II-05 II-07 II-09

III.

Structural pests
Carpenter ants .. Termites Powderpost beetles .. Carpenter bees .. Structural pests management summary III-01 III-03 III-07 III-09 III-11

IV.

Stored products pests

Indian meal moth .. Sawtoothed and merchant grain beetles ... Confused and red flour beetles . Granary and rice weevils .. Stored products pests management summary .. IV-01 IV-03 IV-07 IV-11 IV-13

Page V. Stinging insects

Honey bees in house walls.. Yellowjackets and hornets Paper wasps .. Bee and wasp stings ... Stinging pests management summary V-01 V-05 V-07 V-09 V-13

VI.

Biting insects
Bed bugs .. Mosquito . Black widow spider . .. Fleas Horse/Deer fly Head lice . Ticks Biting pests management summary VI-01 VI-03 VI-07 VI-11 VI-13 VI-17 VI-19 VI-23

VII. Nuisance pests

Cluster fly . Earwings Ground beetles .. Click beetle ... Asian lady beetle .. Millipede .. Centipedes Boxelder bug . Crickets (Field and Camel) Springtails . Hickory/Locust borer Fungus gnats . Clover mites Spiders in and around the house Nuisance pests management summary .. VII-01 VII-03 VII-05 VII-09 VII-11 VII-13 VII-15 VII-17 VII-19 VII-21 VII-23 VII-25 VII-27 VII-29 VII-35

VIII. Sanitation pests

American cockroach .... German cockroach Oriental cockroach Wood cockroach . House fly .. Fruit fly Drain/Moth fly . VIII-01 VIII-03 VIII-05 VIII-07 VIII-09 VIII-11 VIII-15

Page
Thief/Grease ant .. Sanitation pests management summary . VIII-17 VIII-19

IX. Selecting a reliable pest control firm for termite control Appendix A: Insect Identification Keys
Key to ants................................................................................. Key to common bees, wasps, and yellowjackets ...................... Key to common beetles that infest stored foods........................ Key to common adult cockroaches............................................ Key to nuisance pests................................................................ Key to structural insect pests.....................................................

IX-01

A-01 A-03 A-05 A-09 A-11 A-21

Appendix B: An Aid to Diagnosis of Household Pests

Insects attacking stored products and household goods ........... Arthropods causing injury or annoyance to humans and domestic animals ........................................................ B-01 B-05

Appendix C: Non-chemical Control Measures

Non-chemical control of perimeter invaders, spiders, and stinging insects Non-chemical control of food and fabric pests . Non-chemical control of carpenter ants . Non-chemical control of cockroaches Non-chemical control of household and structural insect management . C-01 C-02 C-03 C-04 C-05

Appendix D: UPM-Program Forms

UPM-Program application form UPM-Course evaluation form D-01 D-03

References