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Best use of ant baits and ant traps in homes.

ants feeding at liquid bait As warm weather arrives in the spring higher temperatures may activate ant nests both inside and outside your home. You will see increased ant activity as nests resume nest-building and production of young worker ants. All this activity requires food so ants will be out foraging for new food sources. Control of the common household nuisance ants (not carpenter ants) is best done with baits, rather than insecticide sprays which only kill the ants the spray contacts. And the simplest and least expensive is a drop of sugary liquid food that has been combined with boric acid (borate). During spring ants are most attracted to sugary foods (carbohydrate) because of the high energy demand of nest building. If a scout worker finds a bit of sugary food she (all worker ants are female) will recruit her nestmates to the food source (see photo above). bait station on wax paper Borate, a salt of boric acid, is toxic to insects when consumed. So a simple bait mad
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What are these notches on rhododendron leaves?

notches on rhody leaves Many landscape plants will show leaf notching as new leaves start to grow in spring and early summer. Rhododendron is particularly susceptible but a number of other popular landscape and garden plants may show the same type of damage. Often you will not find any obvious cause or culprit. The cause and culprit in this case are adult root weevils (snout beetles). There are many species of root weevil (Curculionidae) but all exhibit the same general life cycle. Worm-like larvae feed on plant roots for most of the year, adult beetles (weevils) emerge from the soil in spring or summer, feed (notch) on leaves of the host plant, lay eggs then die. The real damage therefore is to the root system of affected plants but it is the leaf notching that catches the attention of gardeners. black vine weevil adult The best way to protect your landscape and garden plants from root weevil damage is to control adult weevils in the spring and early summer before t

Using Insecticidal Soap in Home Gardens

spider mite (drawing) Home gardeners are always on the lookout for ways to control garden pests like spider mites and aphids . Methods that are both inexpensive and non-toxic are the “holy grail” of garden pest control . Folks often turn to home brew recipes that either don’t work or in some cases actually injure the very plants they are trying to treat.   The good news is that there are a few commercial products that satisfy the criteria of inexpensive and non-toxic, AND, actually work , for these important garden pests. The very first tool in this category (cheap & non-toxic) that every gardener should have is a fresh container of Insecticidal Soap concentrate. The “fresh” part is very important as we’ll see below. Insecticidal Soap is a highly refined liquid soap that is generally diluted to 1-2% just prior to use. It should be applied with a small hand-pump sprayer. It is very effective against a variety of garden pests (see the product label for a complete list) but

What To Do About A Flea Infestation At Home

adult flea Help! Fleas in my house are biting me ... what should I do? This is a common question and it sometimes even comes from people who don't own pets (see below). With modern flea medications (insecticides) and shampoos, however, fleas should be only a distant bad memory - unfortunately, for many, they are not. If fleas really are the problem, and it's not something else that is biting you, then flea medications applied directly to your pets may be the easy answer. If, however, you would prefer not to use these relatively expensive topical medications then be prepared to devote some time and elbow grease but either way the problem can be solved - neither you nor your pets should have to live with fleas any longer . First, let's make sure that fleas really are the cause of the bites. Flea bites often occur on the lower legs because fleas can't fly they can only hop onto passing hosts. If furniture or bedding is infested then bites can occur any

Itchy Bug Bites - And Things That Look Like Bug Bites

itchy bug bites There are few things more maddening than the itch resulting from the bite of some insects and mites. So it is a good thing that there are only a small number of insects and mites that actually bite people. However, if you are being affected by what you believe are bug bites but are not sure what is causing your discomfort check the list below of insects and mites that actually do bite people. The links go to articles at LivingWithBugs (our main "Bug" site) for ways to identify and then manage each of these common pests. Then, if none of these seem right check out some of the other causes of skin lesions that can look a lot like bug bites below the list. bird mites (aka nest mites, rodent mites) - many people believe they or their homes are infested with these mites. They are actually much less common than people think. bed bugs black flies (outdoors only) biting midges (outdoors only) chigger mites fleas lice

New Head Lice Guidlines for Schools

Louse Updated 1/28/17 I, and many other entomologists, have argued for a long time that a diagnosis of head lice is no reason to keep kids out of school , or to otherwise s ingle them out for special treatment. It now seems that the American Academy of Pediatrics agrees. The new AAP guidelines are aimed mostly at schools and are released at a time when many schools still suspend students that show any signs of head lice, including simple head-scratching and/or the presence of nits ( lice eggs ). In a recent article the AAP now recommends that: no-nit policies (1) should be s uspended head lice should not be treated as a serious medical issue but instead as a simple nuisance head lice should not be considered an indication of unsanitary conditions head lice should be diagnosed by a pediatrician, not by nit-screen ers at school and, that excessive cleaning at home/school is not needed Most head lice infestations can be managed at home with over-the-counter medicat

New Roach Baits Can Eliminate Tough Infestations

cockroach Until fairly recently the control of the large and stubborn cockroach infestations that can plague apartment buildings, food handling facilities and commercial buildings depended on the so-called " spray and pray " method. In other words you spray as much insecticide as possible and pray that it works . Most of the time this method in fact fails but it sure makes a lot of money for pesticide manufacturers! It fails for several reasons but the main reason is that cockroaches can detect and learn to avoid pesticide residues . New Research on Roach Baits Researchers have recently figured out that if you combine a highly attractive food with a small amount of slow-acting insecticide the results are much better. Roaches find the bait, eat it and thereby contaminate themselves with the insecticide. Because the insecticide is slow to take effect the roaches have time to get back to the harborage (a safe area, such as inside a wall, where cockroaches congregat