Did You Know
IPM Update Archive
Articles From Past Issues of the IPM Update
Facility Management |
Pests crawl, slither, fly and scamper through the doors, windows, vents and any potential opening in a facility’s building. From insects, rodents and wildlife to scorpions and snakes, numerous types of pests can quickly invade a facility if preventative steps aren’t taken. Read more...
Ant pest issues in healthcare and senior living facilities
When ant pests infest any facility, they are bound to cause numerous problems, but when they invade health care and senior living facilities – where lots of food, fluids and unsuspecting patients are waiting – they pose a host of additional, unique challenges. Read more...
Quality Assurance Means Zero Deficiencies Read more...
Bird watching: Steps to keep birds out of facilities
When you’re enjoying the colors of the trees in autumn, birds probably help to make your nature walk more enjoyable. Yet, like other wildlife, birds can become pests when they find their way into food manufacturing plants and other facilities where they can cause damage, contamination and transmit disease. Read more...
Turn the Welcome Light Off to Unwanted Guests
As the warm weather of summer blows throughout the entire country, it also brings with it night flying insects that are attracted to a facility’s lights. To ensure your facility isn’t a magnet to swarms of these pests, here are 10 light management tips you can implement around your facility to make your facility less of a nighttime attraction. Read more...
Tips for Using Pheromone Traps in Winter
When temperatures dip below 50 degrees, it’s time to put on a jacket and evaluate your pheromone trap locations. Read more...
Tips to Prevent Rodents from Making your Facility their Winter Home
With the onset of fall and cooler temperatures, more rodents across the United States
and Canada are ready to move indoors. Since their arrival could damage property, cause electrical fires, contaminate millions of dollars worth of food and spread diseases, Copesan Partners throughout the country and Canada have provided tips on how facilities can survive the fall rodent intrusion. Read more...
Multicolored Asian Lady Beetles: Lucky Charm or Perennial Nuisance?
Farmers and gardeners may still believe in the superstition that finding a multicolored Asian lady beetle is a sign of good luck, but those who have seen an infestation of these beetles in their facilities are far less enchanted by these “lucky charms.” Read more...
Steps to Ensure Effective Pest Management and Bio-Security Co-Exist
Pest management is a small part of the greater concerns that food processors, food service, hospitality and healthcare have in regard to bio-security. But by focusing on security-related issues before they choose a pest management service professional, facility managers can take important steps toward protecting security of their facility. Read more...
ULV Pesticide Applications In Commercial Facilities
Ultra Low Volume (ULV) pesticide applications have long been used in commercial facilities, especially in the food industry, to quickly eliminate visible pests. However, the practice of routine and “scheduled” ULV applications has come into question recently, especially as part of an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program. Read more...
The Importance of Good Drainage
With all the rain that many areas of the country have been experiencing, it’ s important to have good drainage to help prevent springtails, psocids and other pests from invading industrial, commercial and residential structures. Read more...
Rodents |
Protect yourself against LCM, a rodent-borne viral disease, with
the facts
Lymphocytic choriomeningitis, or LCM, is a rodent borne viral disease that has received recent attention due to several high-profile cases. The virus is primarily transmitted by the house mouse, but there have also been cases of transmission by pet rodents. Read more...
Control Expenses and Rodents
Are replacement costs for your rodent equipment eating into your bottom line? If so, you’re not alone. With a few judicious program alterations, you could save money by reducing your trap/station replacement costs. Read more...
Take a High-Level Approach to Control Roof Rats
Roof rats may be smaller than Norway rats, but they can cause major damage if steps aren’t taken to prevent an invasion. Read more...
Tips to Prevent Rodents from Making your Facility their Winter Home
With the onset of fall and cooler temperatures, more rodents across the United States and Canada are ready to move indoors. Since their arrival could damage property, cause electrical fires, contaminate millions of dollars worth of food and spread diseases, Copesan Partners throughout the country and Canada have provided tips on how facilities can survive the fall rodent intrusion. Read more...
City Mouse or Country Mouse? That’s the Question
Remember the story about the little city mouse and his cousin, the country mouse? Cute story, right? But the fact remains that mice and rats aren’t cute at all. They are among the most destructive pests in the world and contaminate millions of dollars worth of food, damage property and cause electrical fires with their constant gnawing. Most importantly, they carry several diseases. Read more...
Flies |
Update Your Fly Program: ILTs
ILTs are commonly used because food hygiene regulations require that food is wholesome and safe and has not been contaminated by insect pests. Businesses are required to demonstrate “due diligence” by showing that they have taken every precaution against contamination from flying insect pests. Read more...
Clean drains can promote small fly control
If you have flies in your facility, you need to correctly identify and treat the source, so your fly problem doesn’t continue to persist after treatment. Drains present one source of flies that isn’t always obvious, especially if the drain looks clean on the surface. Read more...
Phorid Flies: What Do They Cost?
Measuring only 1/8-inch or less, Phorid flies are sometimes confused with fungus gnats and fruit flies. These flies may be small, but getting rid of them could require tearing open walls, ripping up floors and inspecting the insides of plumbing lines, leading to soaring costs and a lot of inconvenience for facilities. Read more...
Top 10 Ways to Get Rid of Flies
While most people think of flies as dirty little insects, it would be more accurate to think of them as flying powder puffs dusted with germs. Depending on the species, some flies can carry more than 100 different kinds of diseasecausing germs. Read more...
Check your fly program: A look at insect light traps
Since there’s a wide variety of flying insect species and their behavior is subject to many different influences, flying insect control is not simple. Read more...
Bed Bugs |
Bed Bugs Are Back
Over the last four or five years, bed bugs have been making a strong comeback. Considered one of the biggest pest problems before the 1940s, bed bugs were rarely seen in the United States for nearly 50 years. But today, the cute children’s adage: “Good night. Sleep tight. Don’t let the bed bugs bite.” is resurging once again as a reality. Read more...
Bed Bugs—A Rising Menace?
Bed bugs are back and are becoming a serious concern. Back in the 1940s, they were considered one of the biggest pest problems in the country. Then came the 1950s and the required fumigation of used mattresses and used furniture prior to resale. The fumigations, coupled with the widespread use of DDT, pretty much nailed the coffin shut on them. They were hardly ever seen except occasionally in substandard housing or flophouses. Read more...
Insects |
Pheromone Trapping Programs for Stored Product Pests
Sex pheromones are powerful chemical attractants produced and emitted by female insects. Insect males sense these chemicals and then zero-in on the unfertilized females for mating. Pheromones of many species are synthetically produced for use in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs. Read more...
When Do Red Flour Beetles Fly?
When insect resources become scarce and their populations increase, only dispersal to new habitats ensures possible insect population survival. In fact, the ability of the red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum [Herbst]) to disperse by flight and colonize new food supplies has contributed to its status as a costly economic pest throughout the world. Read more...
Insect Light Traps, an Effective IPM Weapon
Insect Light Traps (ILTs) have been utilized successfully in the pest management industry for over 40 years. However, their use by pest management companies as weapons in the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) arsenal has grown considerably in importance in recent years. Flying insect problems around the country have now come to the forefront of public health concerns. Read more...
Tips to Help Keep Insect Swarms, a Force of Nature, Out in Nature
If you’ve ever found yourself in a sudden swarm of insects, you might have been alarmed and wondered what was happening. This phenomenon called “swarming” is a natural and normal occurrence in the insect world. Read more...
Fight Back the Yellowjacket Invasion
Even though they’re often called “meat bees,” yellowjackets certainly don’t follow a strict Atkins diet. In addition to their spring and summer prey items, in the fall, they seek out high carbohydrate items like soda, juice, candy, cakes, fruit, vegetables and even ice cream when insects, plant nectar and fruit are in short supply. Read more...
West Nile Virus Control Programs
When it comes to running a business, all factors that could affect its success need to be considered. One such factor is employee safety. With that in mind, you should assess the risk of West Nile viral encephalitis (WNV) to your employees’ health. Read more...
Verdict Still Out on Some Mosquito Luring Traps
Insect electrocutors are not effective for mosquito control. But there are new classes of devices using odors, heat, light, carbon dioxide and other elements that have the potential for controlling mosquitoes. Read more...
Millions of honeybees are dying of a mysterious cause
Honeybees are disappearing across North America. In fact, some beekeepers have lost up to 80 percent of their colonies to the mysterious “Colony Collapse Disorder.” Why are honeybees disappearing, and what effect will this have on food production in the United States? Read more...
Check your fly program: A look at insect light traps
Since there’s a wide variety of flying insect species and their behavior is subject to many different influences, flying insect control is not simple. Read more...
“Spider-bites” might actually be MRSA
It might be because fear of spiders (or arachnophobia) is number one among the top 10 phobias or because spiders rank as one of the top five reasons that people start a residential pest management program with our company. Whatever the reason, people are blaming brown recluse spiders for skin infections that actually are caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Read more...
Birds |
Removal Tips for Pest Birds
Birds may make a spring day more enjoyable, but when they take up residence in food plants and other facilities, sparrows, pigeons and starlings become a potential source of damage, disease and contamination. Read more...
Preparing for Bird Flu in the United States
Since it was first identified in 1997, the deadly bird flu, or avian influenza (H5N1 virus), has been confined mainly to birds in China and Southeast Asia. But in the last few months, it has begun spreading among birds in Europe, Africa and the Middle East and has been confirmed in 16 countries. Read more...
Bird watching: Steps to keep birds out of facilities
When you’re enjoying the colors of the trees in autumn, birds probably help to make your nature walk more enjoyable. Yet, like other wildlife, birds can become pests when they find their way into food manufacturing plants and other facilities where they can cause damage, contamination and transmit disease. Read more...
Green Pest Management |
"Green" is Not New to IPM Industry
With consumers becoming more environmentally conscious, large retailers like Wal-Mart and Target are now embracing “green” practices, following the lead of some food processors that have decided to conduct business under the National Organic Program standards. Read more...
What to do when your recycling program attracts pests
With consumers becoming more environmentally conscious, many companies are also embracing “green” practices and striving to put environmentally responsible practices into place. One obvious way for companies to help conserve resources and protect the environment is to implement a recycling program. Read more...
Rectifying refractory recyclables
You wouldn’t collect garbage in the break room and let it sit around for weeks, would you? Many companies who answer that question with a resounding “No!” are doing just that when they store the empty recyclable and returnable beverage cans in the break room until the vendor or someone takes them away. Read more...
General Pest Management |
When you think of a freshly cut evergreen tree, the aroma of holiday cooking or a fire burning in the fireplace, you probably envision the wonderful sights and smells of the upcoming holidays. But take another look. Th ese wonderful holiday staples could bring hundreds of insects and other pests into your facility or home. Here are some tips to prevent these pests from ruining your holidays. Read more...
Toxicity in perspective
By definition a pesticide is a substance that has an adverse effect on living organisms, with the measure of this effect referred to as its toxicity. But often there is a huge difference between the perceived risk or likelihood of harm from pesticides and their actual toxicity. The bias is especially true when comparing perceptions about pesticides with other chemicals and health hazards. Read more...
Prevent Weeds from Causing Outdoor Havoc
Seemingly innocuous weeds could wreak havoc on a facility by destroying concrete, starting fires, choking out desirable vegetation and providing a harborage for undesirable pests near the building. Read more...
Springtime Can Bring Pests
The first good warmth of spring is usually accompanied by the visible presence of nuisance pests that have been overwintering in or near homes or commercial buildings. Read more...
The Role of Problem Solving in Pest Management
I was in a hospital kitchen once, trying to solve a chronic vinegar fly problem. It had been an ongoing infestation and finding the source had been elusive. We had performed a number of intensive inspections all with disappointing results. Read more...
Develop a plan to quell “six-legged terrorists”
The most important issue in pest management today is the introduction of foreign pests into our country. The reassignment of USDA-APHIS-PPQ agents to Homeland Security and their increased security responsibilities has reduced the ability of the United States to detect and intercept foreign pests. Read more...
The Jungle and the Centennial of Food Safety (article from 2006)
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. This book, describing filthy conditions in Chicago’s meat packing industry, led to Congress quickly passing both the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Foods and Drug Act in June 1906. This was the beginning of national food safety regulations and is considered the turning point in consumer confidence in the safety of food, as well as human health and longevity. Read more...
Dogs: Friend or Foe?
Dogs are man’s best friend, right? Well, even in the pest management industry, it depends on who you ask. In some situations, dogs can provide a vital role in managing pests. In others, they can contribute to disease transmission and fueling pest problems. Read more...
