Pests can cause significant damage and introduce harmful pathogens into food products. Routine home inspections and prompt actions can help prevent infestations and keep your family safe.

Eliminate entry points such as cracks in foundation walls, holes in screens and tightening door seals. Keep in mind that some pests can slip through extremely tiny openings. Contact Ben’s Pest Control for professional help.

As members of the Kingdom Animalia (the Animals), insects are multicellular eukaryotic organisms that form their own cells and have an exoskeleton. Their body parts have specialized structures for movement, protection, feeding, breeding and digestion. Insects are a major component of the global food chain and also provide ecosystem “services” such as pollination, decomposition, and pest control.

Insects are often considered pests when they damage crops or native vegetation. However, when insects are beneficial, they can greatly improve crop production and help sustain healthy ecosystems. In addition, some insect species are important pollinators and must be protected as such.

Many people are surprised to learn that insects make up a large proportion of the total biodiversity of the earth. In fact, the number of insect species is greater than the combined number of plants and animals.

In addition to the obvious damage and disease that some insects cause, they can also pose health risks for humans. Insects are known carriers of bacteria, viruses and fungi that can transmit infectious diseases. They can also cause allergic reactions in some people.

Several types of insects cause economic damage to agriculture and forestry. For example, outbreaks of spruce budworms and gypsy moths can destroy entire forests because they severely defoliate or attack trees’ bark.

Although the damage to timber and agricultural crops is difficult to quantify, the value of insects’ other services can be measured in dollar values. For example, the pollination provided by wildflowers is valued at billions of dollars a year.

Managing insect populations is a complex process, and successful control depends on identifying the correct pesticide to use at the right time, at the lowest possible concentration, and in the proper manner. In some cases, natural enemies or benign predators can limit pest populations; other times, control must be achieved using broad-spectrum chemical insecticides that may also harm beneficial insects and wildlife.

The Cornell AES professional greenhouse staff has been employing biocontrols – encouraging one living thing to control another harmful living thing – for more than 20 years. These biological controls, called “beneficial insects,” can reduce the need for pesticides. They work by targeting specific pest species while leaving non-target organisms unharmed.

Rodents

Rodents are one of the most unpleasant pests to infest homes and businesses. Their feces, urine, blood, fur and nesting materials can directly transmit a variety of diseases, including Hantavirus and Leptospirosis, while also indirectly spreading ticks, fleas and lice that carry other harmful parasites. Their chewing destroys furniture, storage material and other building structures, and the gnawed wires found in car batteries, HVAC systems and electrical branch lines can spark fires that affect transportation, home comfort and power.

Because rodents are unsanitary pests, the longer they stay in your house, the more mess they make. Droppings and urine contaminate food, and consuming or breathing in rodent feces or droppings can aggravate allergies and respiratory problems. Rats and mice can also cause a number of health issues by carrying bacteria such as Salmonella, E.coli, Listeria and Typhus into your home.

While most rodents are not picky eaters and will eat almost anything they find in your pantry, they do have a special sense of smell that can help them locate foods stored near the kitchen. This is one of the ways they get into your pantry in the first place, and it can be difficult to keep food away from these scavengers.

A rodent’s paired incisor teeth never stop growing, so they must constantly gnaw on soft objects to wear them down. The resulting destruction to building materials and products can cost you money, while leaving behind feces and urine that soils food. The gnawed edges of copper wire can spark and overheat, causing expensive fires. Rodents are also responsible for 25% of all house fires attributed to unknown causes.

To help prevent a rodent infestation, a professional pest control technician can recommend strategies such as sealing entry points, storing food in airtight containers and eliminating potential shelters like piles of debris or loose wood. In addition, residents can trim vegetation around structures, keep garbage and other waste in tightly-covered bins and tuck it away from buildings, and regularly clean up areas where rodents may have been feeding. Regular air quality testing is also important to identify if dust and spores from rodent droppings are affecting the respiratory system.

Bed Bugs

Bed bugs are a major problem today. They are great hitchhikers, and increased international and domestic travel has spread them around the world. These pests get into homes and apartments by riding in luggage, clothing, backpacks, book bags, used furniture, and other items that have been brought from infested premises. They can also be transported between apartments and multi-family dwellings in shared air ducts. Once inside a home, they are very difficult to eliminate.

Like other Hemiptera, the species of Cimex lectularius and Cimex hemipterus that cause human infestations feed on birds and mammals (including people). They have adapted to the ability to survive for long periods without food, which makes it almost impossible to kill them using traditional insecticides.

These cosmopolitan pests hide during the day and come out at night to feed. They prefer to hide in the seams and tufts of mattresses, in the folds of upholstered furniture and bedding, and in crevices in beds. They can also be found behind baseboards, window and door casings, picture frames, and in other hiding places. Severe infestations produce a characteristic sweet, musty odor that is difficult to ignore.

Although their bites are itchy, they do not transmit disease to humans. However, they do irritate the skin, and some people have allergies to them. Several types of skin problems can mimic the appearance of bed bug bites, so it is important to identify them properly.

Prevention is essential, because a bed bug infestation can spread quickly. Regular inspections of mattresses, upholstered furniture and other areas where these pests can hide can detect them at an early stage, before they spread. In addition, keeping living spaces clean and removing clutter minimizes shelters for them.

The best control method against bed bugs is heat, which penetrates and destroys all stages of the pest and their eggs. This can be done by placing infested mattress and furniture covers in plastic bags and exposing them to the summer sun, or by placing infested items in the freezer for 10 days at about minus 40 degrees Celsius.

Other Pests

There are a wide variety of organisms that can become pests. These include vertebrates, invertebrates (such as insects, nematodes, fungi and bacteria), weeds, diseases and even viruses. Essentially any organism that disrupts food production and/or human well-being can be considered a pest. Pests can damage or destroy crops, devalue landscapes, and negatively impact human and terrestrial ecosystems.

Some pests are more dangerous to humans than others, which is why some require more attention and monitoring. Examples of more dangerous pests include head lice, bed bugs, and invasive species like Asian needle ants. These pests can be difficult for individuals to identify and treat on their own, so they often require professional help from a licensed pest control company.

A pest can be an organism, disease, or weed that disrupts food production and/or human health, or damages or degrades landscapes and native plant species. Usually, the first step in controlling a pest is to identify it. You can use an illustrated pest guide, such as those available at cooperative extension offices or university and government websites, to help you do this. You may also want to consult with a local entomologist, pest professional, or farm advisor for help.

Once you know what you’re dealing with, the next step is to understand the pest and how it affects the crop or environment. This can be done by looking at the pest’s life cycle, habitat, and feeding habits. You can also analyze the impact that the pest is having on human or wildlife populations.

Finally, you can look at the cost and effectiveness of different control methods to determine what the best solution is for your situation. This process is called Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and it considers the ecosystem as a whole, using different control methods to achieve the desired result.

EPA’s IPM Toolkit has a number of useful tools and resources to help you get started, including the Pest Impact Calculator. This tool allows you to determine the amount of pest damage that is tolerable for your crops and to establish action thresholds that will allow you to take timely and effective control measures when needed.