New resource for managing turfgrass pests

If your business has anything to do with keeping turf and lawn areas beautiful and healthy, you're going to want this new book just published by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension.   (120 pp., 52 tables) The Weed, Insect, and Disease Control in Turfgrass guide was written by Extension specialists Casey Reynolds, Matt Elmore, Young-Ki Jo, and Diane Silcox Reynolds. It's probably the best single reference to pesticides used in turf, at least in Texas.

Despite some who claim that we need to eliminate turf to save water and reduce pollution from fertilizers and pesticides; healthy turf is essential for our urban areas.  Turfgrass is vital to our parks and urban landscapes, athletic fields, and golf courses; it helps moderate temperatures in urban areas, it holds the soil, and provides a soft cushion for our lives. Unfortunately, southern turf is often challenged by numerous weeds, insect pests and disease.  But with proper selection and judicious use, pesticides can help turf do these jobs better with minimal impact on the environment.

Information in the Weed, Insect, and Disease Control in Turfgrass 2016 guide will help you select the herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides you need. But the guide is far more than a listing of  pesticides.  It includes information on pesticide modes of action, turfgrass tolerance, application rates. It also provides an annotated, pest by pest index of labeled pesticides.

Hard copies of this book are available through the AgriLife Bookstore for $20.  But the electronic version is available for free download here. Also, if you haven't seen the new and updated Aggie Turfgrass website, check it out.  It has excellent descriptions of the most important Texas turfgrasses, and management information for weeds and insects.  It also has links to past and upcoming events like turfgrass field days in Dallas or College Station.

New bed bug publication

If you've ever performed a bed bug control job you know it's not something you get exactly right the first time. Bed bug control requires knowledge of the pest, knowledge of the technologies available to control the pest, experience looking for the pest, and lots of muscle memory.

The new bed bug publication from Texas
A&M AgriLife Extension packs lot of tips
and information into 7 pages. Download it
free online.

If you've paid your dues, learned the routine, and think you've gotten pretty good at bed bugs, don't you wish prospective clients would recognize that?  Well now there's a new publication that might help.  How to Select a Bed Bug Provider (ENTO-033) is the latest entomology fact sheet from Texas A&M AgriLife Extension.  

By leading the reader through the different treatment approaches, and suggesting how to interview a prospective pest control company, this publication is designed to match bed bug sufferers to the best PMP.  Sections include:

• What to look for in a pest control company
• Approaches to bed bug control
• Preparation
• Warranties and follow-up
• Cost
• Bagging tips
• Special considerations for apartment managers

In addition, we've included an interview card to help the user objectively compare you to other bidders. Criteria include experience, technician training and support, preparation requirements, good communication, monitoring, professionalism, warranty and follow-up.  

If you're really good at bed bug control, chances are that this guide will prospective customers see that. Maybe it should have a place among your sales material for future bed bug jobs. 

New Pest ID guide

New pest control service technicians, school employees and even commercial customers are all people who could benefit from a new color publication just published by the Louisiana State University AgCenter.  Called the Pest Identification Guide for Pests in and Around Buildings, this 3.5 by 5 inch flip guide is small enough to fit in a glove compartment or jacket pocket.

The guide is highly graphical and does as good a job as any pocket guide I've seen for the most common pests likely to be found around commercial buildings, homes and schools.  The authors are a team of  entomologists and IPM specialists (including myself and colleague Janet Hurley) from universities throughout the South. Special credit goes to Dr. Dennis Ring, LSU AgCenter, for his work editing and working with the design team to produce a quality product.

Funding for the project was provided through the Southern IPM Center and was intended to provide a resource for school IPM coordinators and others.  Each page includes one or more color pictures, a scale and icon to show actual size, and description information, life cycle information, and where to look for the pest.

In my programs I am fond of preaching education as an essential part of the IPM toolbox.  This handy guide provides an additional educational resource for your customers.  The guide can help kitchen managers, warehouse managers, school principals and others know what to look for when reporting pests, and provides a useful tool for communicating with any pest control client. 

Pest groups covered include ants, cockroaches, flies, pantry pests, paper pests, public health pests, termites, spiders, wasps and bees, and rodents.  Cost is $12, and copies can be ordered online.

New Handout on Crazy Ants

Depending on your perspective, the new crazy ant species discovered by Texas A&M researchers with the help of Houston PMP Tom Rasberry either has you excited about the prospect of new revenue, or shaking in your boots. Personally, I dread new exotic pests. Exotics are a lot easier to get than get rid of, and the ultimate spread and impact of this pest is still anyone's guess.

A new resource is available through the Texas AgriLife Extension public website that explains the new pest succinctly and gives consumer practical suggestions on what they should do if they suspect they have the Caribbean (aka Rasberry) crazy ants. If you have not thought about using AgriLife Extension publications in your business, now may be the time to start. Many useful publications are available online for linking to through your company's website, or for printing and distribution to customers, or potential customers.

By the way, the handout notes that at the present time the only practical recourse for dealing with these ants is professional pest control. And in case you think that this new pest is not anything to be concerned about in your part of the state, you might want to think twice. The new crazy ant species has spread to 11 counties within a few years, and there is no reason to think that it won't continue to spread, especially east and south.

And if you eventually end up with these ants in your neighborhood, you may live to rue the day when you looked forward to seeing these ants for the revenue they can generate. There's little satisfaction in a pest that's very difficult to control.