Pest control is the action taken to reduce the number of unwanted organisms in an environment. This can be done through preventing their growth, killing them or removing them.

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Pests are rodents, birds and insects that spoil or damage food and other property. Often they carry diseases that may be dangerous to humans, such as hantavirus, leptospirosis or Salmonella. They can gnaw on electrical wires, which poses a fire risk. They can also cause health issues like asthma or aggravate allergies, such as by biting or stinging (like bed bugs, cockroaches and cluster flies). Some are repulsive, like spiders and silverfish. Others can cause structural damage, such as ants and termites.

Preventing pest problems starts with a good inspection of buildings and their surroundings by qualified personnel, who will look for conducive conditions that attract them. This includes assessing entry points, such as cracks or gaps. It’s also important to check for moisture, as pests are drawn to wet areas. This may require the sealing of leaks or the installation of dehumidifiers. It is also helpful to clear away food sources, such as by regularly cleaning up and securing garbage bins.

Structural prevention is the cornerstone of preventive pest control, which focuses on keeping pests out by blocking their entry points and enhancing the physical integrity of structures. This includes regular maintenance and specific enhancements such as a caulking of cracks, crevices and gaps, as well as the installation of screens over windows and doors.

Practicing good hygiene is another key element of prevention, as pests are often attracted to food and shelter. This can include securing garbage bins, regularly cleaning kitchen benches and storing foods in sealed containers. It can also involve ensuring that people don’t carry pests into work areas, for example by leaving their shoes at the door, which could lead to a cockroach infestation.

Learning more about a pest can help identify its behaviour and triggers, which may make it easier to decide whether action is needed or not. This may mean finding out if it is a threat to human health, such as a mosquito, or if it poses a serious danger to property, such as rats and mice. It can also help to determine whether it is simply an annoyance or nuisance, which may allow us to tolerate it.

Suppression

Suppression tactics aim to reduce pest populations below damaging levels. This can be done through preventive measures such as cultural practices, physical barriers and pesticide applications described in the IPM tactics page, or by using predators, parasitoids and diseases to directly attack or kill pests.

Sophisticated genetic manipulation techniques, like introducing sterile organisms or gene drives, can also potentially dramatically reduce pest population size without harming the ecosystem. However, these methods are still in early stages of development and remain highly experimental.

Pests often appear despite best prevention efforts, and the ability to identify them quickly is critical for controlling them effectively. Monitoring is a key part of PAMS, and is sometimes referred to as inspection, scouting or sampling. The goal of monitoring is to watch for the appearance or reappearance of pests in the field or greenhouse. Once pests are identified, the proper control measure can be applied quickly to reduce damage and minimize costs.

UF/IFAS Extension pest management professionals offer training on basic monitoring techniques. Check out the UF/IFAS Basic Pesticide Training Manual (SM-59) or contact your local UF/IFAS Cooperative Extension county office for more information.

As the public becomes increasingly concerned about the health risks of herbicides and the impacts of neonicotinoids on pollinators, consumers are demanding that growers and green industry professionals seek out alternative pest control strategies that are more environmentally sound and sustainable. As a result, more and more growers and green industry professionals are turning to biological control to manage insects, weeds and pathogens that threaten crop production or the beauty of landscapes and turfgrass.

One of the most common reasons that pesticides fail is because they are not used correctly. Several factors can cause this, including not knowing how to use the product properly, applying it at the wrong time or in the wrong conditions or spraying over an area that isn’t infested.

In nature, populations of organisms suffer frequent attacks and high death rates from predators, parasites and diseases that naturally limit their numbers and impact. These natural enemies are collectively known as “natural enemies” or “agents” of pest control, and they can be conserved or introduced to suppress the emergence of unwanted pests. Examples include nematodes that control soil grubs, beneficial mites that protect crops from mite pests and parasitoids such as Encarsia formosa that targets greenhouse whitefly.

Eradication

A pest is a plant or microorganism that negatively impacts human activities and the environment. Human responses to these impacts vary from tolerance to deterrence to management, suppression and eradication. Eradication is a final step in controlling a pest and differs from control in that it is intended to be permanent. Successful eradication requires rigorous cost-benefit analyses and extensive surveillance to identify infected persons and to stop transmission before the number of susceptible individuals increases due to births, migration or waning effectiveness of prophylactic measures. Eradication programs must be undertaken at local, community, national and global levels.

Biologically based pest control is the use of predators, parasites and disease organisms that ordinarily occur in nature to reduce populations of unwanted plants or insects. This may be achieved through the introduction of pathogens into an ecosystem or by enhancing natural predator or parasite populations with human intervention. For example, the bacterium Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) is effective in managing many insect pests because it produces toxins that destroy their midguts. Various strains of the bacterium are available that work on different types of insects and can be used in cropping systems without harming people, pets or livestock.

Other pest management techniques involve changing the environment to make it less suitable for the unwanted species. This includes removing weeds and other plants that support the pest and changing farming practices to make them less attractive to the pest. For example, planting strips of evergreen blackberry bushes around vineyards in California helps to trap the parasitic wasp that controls grape leafhopper infestations. Weed removal also improves air movement in garden plots, reducing conditions that favor the spread of disease.

Chemical control is the last resort when other methods fail to manage a pest. Herbicides are available to kill weeds, insecticides to kill insects and fungicides to control diseases. It is important to read and follow the instructions on the label of any chemical. In addition, it is a good idea to consult with a pest specialist before applying any chemical.

Using pesticides sparingly is an effective way to minimize resistance problems. When resistance becomes a problem, it is generally because the pesticide was applied too often or was not used correctly. For example, a failure to spray the targeted pests on a regular schedule or at a time of day when they are most vulnerable allows them to build up a resistance to the pesticide. Rotating pesticides also helps limit resistance development.

Monitoring

Monitoring is the key to detecting pest activity and responding to it. It includes scouting for, identifying, and assessing pest populations or damage; observing environmental conditions such as weather or food or harborage availability; and tracking pest occurrence and injury levels. Monitoring information functions like an early warning system that alerts us to possible pest problems and provides data needed to develop and evaluate control tactics.

There are a variety of monitoring devices that can be used to detect rodent and insect problems in warehouses and distribution centers. The best devices allow for immediate notifications to your pest management company when a problem is detected. This allows them to respond to the problem as it occurs, rather than waiting until their next scheduled service visit.

The goal of any monitoring program is to help you make better informed decisions about when, where and how much to treat a pest problem. In addition, monitoring can provide a good opportunity to observe and learn about a pest species, which will ultimately lead to more effective control methods.

Scouting for and monitoring pests is a fundamental part of any IPM program. It can be accomplished by regularly inspecting your property and plantings to notice anything out of the ordinary, or by using sampling techniques such as pheromone traps to capture and estimate pest populations in an area. Using a trap with a manufactured copy of the natural pheromone emitted by a female insect can confuse male insects and prevent mating, thereby reducing population levels. Juvenile hormones can also be used to reduce pest numbers by keeping immature insects from changing into normal adult forms.

Another important aspect of monitoring is observing plant phenology (the word scientists use to describe life cycle events and their relationship to climatic conditions). Knowing when a crop is susceptible to pest damage can help you decide whether or not to apply control measures, such as herbicides, insecticides or fungicides. Observing a crop’s phenology can also validate pest monitoring models and ensure that you are using the right model for your commodity.