Pest Control Q&A » talstar

Buy The Newest And Safest Bed Bug Detector

admin — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:02:05 +0000

People…Places…Things!

Do-It-Yourself Bed Bug Detector

From December 18, 2009 Science News, by Susan Milius

After trying some 50 arrangements of household objects, researchers have come up with a new, homemade bed bug detector.

Wan-Tien Tsai of Rutgers University worked with Changlu Wang, also at Rutgers, for six months on designing homemade devices that lured bed bugs out into a trap so residents can tell whether a home is infested. Like many insects that search for blood, bed bugs are attracted to plumes of concentrated carbon dioxide, good clues that an animal filled with liquid dinner is breathing somewhere nearby. In lab tests, carbon dioxide beat heat and several chemical attractants in drawing the bugs out of hiding.

Visit us at: http://www.ant-ser.com/home.php for several bed bug products.

Flies In And Around You Home and Farm.

admin — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:31:14 +0000

The house fly, see this picture, is a famous pest of both farm and home. They love to hang out with humans or do what humans do. They are commonly found on hog and poultry farms, horse stables and ranches. Not only are house flies a nuisance, but they can also transport disease-causing organisms. Excessive fly populations mix with human habitations and public health problems could occur.

The adult house fly is 6 to 7 mm long, with the female usually larger than the male. The abdomen is gray or yellowish with dark midline and irregular dark markings on the sides. The underside of the male is yellowish.

Maggots are the early instar larvae. They are typically creamy whitish in color, cylindrical but tapering toward the head. The head contains one pair of dark hooks. The legless maggot emerges from the egg in warm weather within eight to 20 hours, and immediately feeds on and develops in the material in which the egg was laid.

Killing adult flies may reduce the infestation, but elimination of breeding areas is necessary for good management. Garbage cans and dumpsters should have tight-fitting lids and be cleaned regularly. Dry garbage and trash should be placed in plastic garbage bags and sealed up. All garbage receptacles should be located as far from building entrances as possible.

Please visit our Do-It-Yourself-Store for all the products you will need for these and other insect problems. A good residual to use is Talstar or Max Force bait.

Thank you for reading and I hope it helps.

Jeff (The Ant-Ser Man)

Look At The Stinging Caterpillar We just Found On The Palms!

admin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:28:15 +0000

Distribution
Io moths are common throughout eastern North America, north to southern Canada. They range west to southern Arizona and south to Central America, at least as far as Costa Rica. Over 200 species of Automeris and related genera in Hemileucinae occur south of the U.S. border (Collins and Weast 1961).
Identification
The io moth adult is 2.0 to 3.5 inches (50 to 87 mm) in wingspan and easily recognized by the large eye-spots of the hindwings. Adult males are mostly yellow, while females have brown forewings. Subspecies A. io lilith (Strecker) of Florida has male adults with distinctly red-brown forewings, especially in south Florida; the same type of red form is also found in southern Mexico and the Bahamas. The larvae have characteristic long yellow or green spines covering most of the body. Only a few other caterpillars may look similar, but these do not have the well-defined red and white lateral line. The io moth caterpillar has at least three discrete color forms: the usual last instar form is light green, with a distinct lateral body strip of red and white. Earlier instars are yellow overall and the lateral line is reduced. There also is a blue-green color form of last instars (Collins and Weast 1961).
adult

caterpillar, early instar larvae

caterpillar, last instar larva

Biology
Io moth larvae are leaf feeders, gregarious in early instars, then solitary as they grow. After several weeks of feeding, they make a simple paper-like cocoon away from the host plant. In Florida, there are three to four generations per year. There usually is only one generation in northern states.
Host Plants
The io moth has a long list of host plants, with over 100 recorded plant genera in North America, including such diverse plants as roses, cotton, hibiscus, azaleas, willows, clover, and palms. In Florida, io moth larvae are commonly found on oaks and other hardwoods.
Management
If present in large numbers, caterpillars can be sprayed with a bacterial spray (Bacillus thuringiensis) or any common insecticide although usually the larvae are not so common as to warrant spraying. Larvae should not be touched. Remedies for relief of urticating pain include initial removal of any remaining inserted spines by the use of adhesive tape, followed by ice compacts, mentholated vaseline, or an antihistamine medicine (Riley and Johannsen 1938, Frazier and Brown 1980).