What do Homeowners need to know about IPM (Integrated Pest Management)?
If you’ve ever had a pest problem, you probably started searching for what to do about it. Many pest-related terms probably came up. Terms like pest control, exterminating, pest management, and more. It can be confusing to figure out what it all means, but we are here to help!
What is “IPM”?
IPM stands for integrated pest management. It was first coined in the 1970’s and was used in agriculture. The underlying premise is to use multiple methods to manage agricultural pests when they reach a level that will cause economic levels.
When we talk about IPM for household pests, it is very similar. We want to use all methods possible to deal with a pest problem, not just spraying a pesticide. This way, the underlying conditions that caused that problem to happen in the first place can be addressed and fixed. This prevents future problems. Here are some of the things to do to approach a pest issue from an IPM standpoint.
Identify the pest
Each pest has a different life cycle, feeding preferences, and habitat requirements. Knowing this information can lead to finding out where the pests are hiding indoors, what they are feeding on, and what treatments may be the most effective. A good example of this is ants. Some species of ants have a preference for sweets, while others will want protein. If you know which ant you have, you can start looking at very specific foods and quickly find what they are foraging for.
Inspect
Where are they coming from? Where are they going? What are they feeding on? Finding the answers to these questions can help find the areas to focus on instead of treating everywhere. Inspecting isn’t just looking for the pest, it’s looking for evidence they may leave behind. Consider this: house mice are mostly nocturnal and are great at hiding in small, dark spaces. You may not see the mouse, but you may find the droppings they leave behind, the food packages they have chewed through, or gnawing marks around conduits. Once you know their runways, you can more effectively get traps in their path.
Inspections should also include potential food sources and entry points. These are conditions that allow the pests to enter and start breeding. This is a good thing to do on a regular basis around your home. Fixing these issues before a pest has the chance to enter and infest. Preventing pest problems is part of IPM!
Sanitation
All living animals need food, water, and shelter to survive. Take away one or more of those, and they can’t go on. The inspection probably showed some of the items the pests are feeding on. The more foods that can be placed in sealed containers, refrigerated, or frozen, the less food available to the pests. If they don’t have food, they grow much slower and they often can’t reproduce. They have to go elsewhere to get food and that may mean them leaving the area. Of course removing all the food items you have is a bit unrealistic, but as much as you can should be done. Don’t forget about other “foods” like pet food, bird seed, and other items that may be sitting open.
Sanitation isn’t just what’s in the pantry or refrigerator: it’s all the bits left behind you may not see. Crumbs may get dropped under the stove, leaked behind the dishwasher, or even gathered at the bottom of the trash bin under the liner. All of these sanitation issues should be inspected for and cleaned. With limited food, pests develop and reproduce much slower.
Exclusion
Many pest problems start on the outside and make their way indoors when they have the opportunity. Gaps under doors, openings around pipes, vents on roofs, can all let pests enter. Ideally, all these openings should be sealed up before a pest problem occurs. Leaving them open while dealing with the pests means more can keep coming in as you are battling the ones already indoors. Here’s an example: you have house flies invading the kitchen. You may swat some of them (physical pest control!) and may have a can of aerosol you use to knock more down. They seem to keep coming. That is because the window near the kitchen has a broken screen letting more and more in. By fixing the screen, you keep all those flies out and can avoid using treatments.
Traps
Physically removing pests is a great way to reduce their numbers. Once again, knowing your pest can help pick the right device to take care of the problem. There are multiple traps for rodents, small light traps for flies, and glue boards for various pests. The trick for using traps is to get them close to where the pests are. That’s harder than it sounds! There may be German cockroaches behind a refrigerator and getting glue boards there would mean constantly moving that heavy fridge.
Another good option to physically remove insect pests, especially ones like cockroaches, beetles, and other crawling insects is to use a vacuum. You may see that cluster of lady beetles that got indoors in the fall and a vacuum can effectively get rid of them without using any treatments. Just make sure to empty the vacuum contents as soon as you are finished.
Treatments
Pesticides are part of an integrated pest management program. One of the reasons for using all the above mentioned methods is to reduce the amount of pesticides needed and to keep that problem from reoccurring. When using a pesticide, always read and follow all label instructions. Try to choose a pesticide that is targeted to the pest you have. For example, there are many good cockroach baits. If you spray a liquid or aerosol, it probably won’t get to the hidden ones behind the dishwasher. But a bait will be picked up and transferred by one cockroach to all the others.
Just like traps, the closer you can get the treatment to where the pests are, the more effective it will be. If you put the cockroach bait in the pantry and the cockroaches are behind the dishwasher, they won’t venture across the kitchen to get to it. They will eat what’s closer to them and readily accessible.
Follow up
IPM is a system, it’s not one size fits all. In fact the basis of IPM is to evaluate each pest situation and customize the response to it. Most pest issues will take time to resolve. Once sanitation and exclusion have been completed, and initial treatments done the pest issue should be monitored. You may find out that there was another opening the termites were using to get in, or another food source those rodents were feeding on. It may be the cockroaches behind the dishwasher were taken care of with bait, but a new group has been quietly living under the refrigerator. Traps may need to be adjusted and additional treatments may be needed. Remember to try to target any treatments to where the pests are or are likely to be.
Using an integrated approach to controlling your household pests means being more effective and being able to use less pesticide. It also means preventing those issues from coming back again and again. The underlying conditions like food and access can be addressed so pests don’t have what they need to survive. Trapping and vacuuming will physically remove pests so less pesticide is needed. You can still remove pests while continuing to protect your family, pets, home, food, and health when you use all the methods possible in an integrated pest management solution.
Conditions are always changing so it’s important that every pest problem is evaluated each time. What worked the last time might not be the right tactics to use this time. Sometimes it may require professional help. A good pest control company will practice IPM. They should be giving recommendations on any sanitation or exclusion issues they find. If not, make sure to ask them. At Home Pros can help you find a licensed professional pest control operator in your area.
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