New NPMA document on bed bugs worth a read

Last week the National Pest Management Association released a document outlining what their panel of experts have determined to be "best management practices" (BMPs) for bed bug control.  If you're interested in bed bugs and think this might make for some interesting reading, guess again. 

Sadly, the NPMA Bed Bugs best management booklet will not be making Oprah's Book of the Month list anytime soon.  The information is in outline form, similar to (yaaawn) bullets in a PowerPoint presentation.  Nevertheless, this is an important read for all technical directors and anyone overseeing a professional bed bug control operation.  Given the leadership role played by NPMA in this industry, the book will be as close to an authoritative guide to bed bug management as you will find.  It will also likely be looked to as a standard by lawyers and others pursuing PMPs for failure to control bed bugs. 

Don't expect any juicy pest control gossip, like what are the best insecticides for killing bed bugs.  Instead, you'll find general principles such as "always read and follow all label instructions when applying insecticides..." and "Choose products labeled for the target site."  There is a checklist of sorts for the places that should be treated, which might be useful in developing your own in-house treatment protocols.  In fact, the document could be used as a guideline to help develop a training program for your technicians.

The two appendices are also worth checking out.  If you have ever considered adding a canine bed bug detector to your company, Appendix A lists minimum standards for certifying a canine detection team (dog + handler).  I believe standards of this nature will become critical for consumers, and any pest management company considering investing in a dog team would be risking a lot by not following an accepted standard for training.  Appendix B provides a listing of research-based exposure times for bed bug heat treatment, important for anyone using heat in bed bug control programs.

Who said learning had to be fun anyway?

Ohio's request for potent bed bug insecticide denied, again

For some reason, Ohio has been one of the hardest hit states with bed bugs. Even the governor has gotten involved, petitioning the EPA last year for a special exemption to allow the use of an older carbamate insecticide, propoxur, for bed bug control.  This exemption, also called a Section 18 Emergency Exemption after the FIFRA section that authorizes it, is something that EPA does not give out easily.

Propoxur, as it turns out, is still pretty effective against bed bugs.  In Australia, for example, PMPs regard one of the propoxur-containing products as most effective.  In another study using presumably resistant bed bugs from Sri Lanka, propoxur provided the best control compared to DDT and malathion.

Much to the dismay of Ohioans, their Section 18 request was turned down last summer.  The EPA was asked to reconsider, and in a letter dated January 11 Lisa Jackson, the EPA Administrator, responded.  In her letter Jackson denied the use of existing stocks for bed bug control, and steadfastly maintains that her agency believes the product poses an unacceptable risk for children.

In an interesting concession, Jackson told the governor that EPA would consider allowing the use of propoxur in senior residences, where the risk of exposure to children would be minimal: 

As I explained in my June 2010 letter to you, EPA cannot grant Ohio's broad request because the Agency's risk assessment indicates an unacceptable risk to children . Nonetheless, I committed the Agency to work with Ohio and others to identify comprehensive alternative approaches to address bed bug infestations . As we also discussed in September 2010, EPA is willing to allow the emergency use of propoxur in senior residences in ways that would ensure children are not exposed. EPA staff has discussed this proposal with Ohio officials and have asked them to submit a revised request reflecting this proposal, but Ohio has not yet done so. We continue to hope the state will submit a revised Section 18 request to help provide relief to a highly impacted population.

She also noted that EPA is reviewing new data that might affect the way EPA determines how much exposure to propoxur or other insecticides that children might receive as a result of crack and crevice applications.  So the door is still open for EPA to backtrack should political pressure trump science, as it sometimes does.

Maybe the saddest part of this story is that, according to governmental authority, children don't visit grandma anymore.

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.

Why knowing your clothes moths is important

Case-making clothes moth larva on wool.  Courtesy Clemson University. 
USDA Cooperative Extension Slide Series, Bugwood.org

The clothes moth is a common pest of woolens, furs and feathers worldwide.  In the U.S. there are two main pest species: the webbing clothes moth (Tineola bisselliella) and the case-making clothes moth (Tinea pellionella).  These two moths illustrate the importance to an IPM program of accurately identifying pests.

Clothes moths can be an especially important problem in museums and other accounts with a low tolerance for pests.  Fortunately, pheromone traps are now available for use as effective monitoring tools for detecting clothes moths at low population densities. According to Pat Kelley with Insects Limited, Inc., two different pheromone blends are used to attract the two species. While the case-making clothes moth can be attracted to webbing clothes moth pheromone lures due to a shared chemical component of their pheromone, at close range the webbing clothes moth pheromone is partly repellent to the case-making clothes moth.

Case-making clothes moth pupae dangling from
pupation site.  Photo by Pat Kelley.

To use clothes moth pheromone traps effectively, therefore, it's critical to understand the existence of the two types and to learn how to identify them.  Fortunately, distinguishing the two species is not too difficult with either adults or larvae. On damaged articles, the larvae and pupae are relatively easy to distinguish because the case-making clothes moth carries a silken, tube-like case throughout its development.  The webbing clothes moth larva does not carry a case and you will not see a case-making clothes moth feeding "naked"--without its case. According to Kelley, damaged spots on clothes attacked by the webbing clothes moth are characterized by copious amounts of silk webbing or tubes, usually with large amounts of frass (droppings).  The webbing clothes moth is sometimes misidentified as case-making clothes moth because it also spins a silken cocoon once it reaches its pupal life stage.  The webbing clothes moth pupal case, however, is usually attached to the damaged fabric.  The case-making clothes moth tends to dangle its pupal case from a horizontal surface, like a shelf or ceiling, above its food source (see image). 

Clothes moth on a glue trap.  Note the tuft of hair and straight,
downward-pointing palps (mouthparts) with lateral bristles. 
These are two key characters of both species of clothes moth.

Clothes moth adults are small, 5 to 7 mm-long, with brown or copper-colored wings.  Under magnification they are identified by a bristly, rock star-like mop of hair between the eyes and antennae, and by their straight, bristled palps (which are strongly curved in many grain-infesting moths).  Unlike many stored grain moths, clothes moths are shy and not commonly seen flying during the day.  Adult webbing clothes moth are more golden in color, with the tuft of scales between the eyes coppery-colored, and with no markings on the wings. Adult case-making clothes moth are duller in color (brown to gray) and may have a central, dark spot on each forewing. The tuft of hair is also duller (gray to brownish) in color.

Another significant difference between the two species involves how they move and enter traps. Because the case-making clothes moth flies more frequently, Insects Limited recommends a wing (hanging) trap for this species.  The webbing clothes moth prefers running over flight, so traps should be placed on the floor or other flat surface.

All this is important on a practical level because of cost.  Pheromone traps aren't cheap.  The Insect Limited folks currently are the only ones to sell case-making clothes moth traps, which cost approximately $90 for a set of 10.  Trece, sells webbing clothes moth traps with 5-6 lures (depending on whether you choose wing or stick-on traps) for a little over $20 (minimum order of $250).  When conducting surveillance for both species, you'll ideally need both pheromone lures and two trap designs--though Kelley says that webbing clothes moth will fly to enter the wing trap and vice versa.  If you can only deploy one type of trap, buy the one for webbing clothes moth (webbing clothes moth is not attracted to case-making clothes moth pheromone).

The subtle differences between these two species illustrates beautifully both the complexity of biology and the importance of being knowledgeable about your adversaries in an IPM program.

What's the connection between IPM and mental health?

I returned last week from the annual conference of the Entomological Society of America--or, as I heard it referred to by a (non-entomologist) hotel visitor, "that Bug's Life group". With over 3100 attendees this year the ESA meeting is probably the largest gathering of professional entomologists in the world, with papers ranging from highly technical reports on new molecular biology techniques to an artist's perspective on the aesthetic beauty of insects.  Regardless of your interest or background, there's always something of interest at ESA.

While a number of sessions and talks were devoted to bed bugs this year, one of the most interesting perspectives I heard was from Dr. Christiana Bratiotis of the Boston University School of Social Work.  She addressed a symposium on how to engage people from diverse backgrounds in urban IPM. Bratiotis's expertise is on hoarding behavior, but she addressed the wider question of how to recognize and deal with people who, for a variety of physical or mental reasons, pose a special challenge to the PMP. 

Making IPM work, Bratiotis said, is especially difficult when pest control customers suffer from a variety of mental and emotional disorders, cognitive limitations, and limitations due to age. Some of the primary mental illnesses likely to be encountered by anyone in the service industry include depression, anxiety, hoarding (of both belongings and animals), schizophrenia and psychoses.  Personality disorders include obsessive-compulsive disorder, histrionics, borderline personalities, and narcissistic personality disorder. In addition, cognitive limitations in the mentally challenged and older adults, as well as visual and hearing deficits in many people can lead to difficulties with communication and getting clients to recognize and report pest control problems.

Mental health disorders, especially, can lead to unexpected encounters with a pest control technician, such as the violently angry customer, or the customer hallucinating about unseen pests in walls or crawling on skin at night (delusory parasitosis).   Add to this that the PMP may be one of the few visitors that a depressed or reclusive person may have in his or her home for months (even years), and the stage is set for some interesting interactions.

Mental health problems are far more common that most of us realize.  According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, approximately 6% of the U.S. adult population suffers from severe mental illness.  Over 26% of American adults experience some form of mental disorder in any given 12 month period.  The chance of any of us experiencing a mental disorder of some form over our lifetime is approximately 46%. Clearly, this is not a minor issue.

The relevance of Bratiotis's paper to pest management is obvious, yet I'd wager that most of us in the pest control industry rarely give much thought to how many of our clientele are struggling with mental and emotional health issues.  I know I tend to approach most people with the attitude that they will be just like me--that they will have the same needs and desires, that they will approach problems rationally, and they will be looking for solutions in their own and others' best interests. Sadly, this is not a valid assumption for many people.

If your company's PMPs interact with dozens to hundreds of people daily, having tools and skills to recognize and deal with mental health issues is essential.  If you're an employer with one or more employees, you need skills to recognize and deal with mental illness within your staff as well.  This point came home tragically to the Dallas pest control community last August, when an employee of one of our local companies shot and killed a co-worker in an incident almost certainly due to mental illness.

According to Bratiotis, learning a few simple phrases or techniques can, in many cases, help a PMP better deal with customers who are not acting or thinking rationally.  For the person with obsessive-compulsive disorder, who is fearful that they must perform in a specific manner to get rid of pests, affirmation is important.  Assure them that things don't have to be done perfectly to make a big improvement.  For the emotionally unstable or angry customer the best response may be, "I can see you're not doing well today.  I'll come back when you're feeling better." A self-centered (narcissistic) person should be affirmed and empowered to be part of the pest control solution.

Recognize that some problem clients may simply be visually- or auditory-impaired.  Such limitations do not necessarily imply cognitive (thinking) disorder or mental illness, but they can present similar challenges for the PMP.  Visually-impaired clients may not be able to read notices or see the bed bugs or cockroaches in their home.  Auditory-impaired clients may not hear instructions or reports, even though they nod or imply that they do.  Technicians should be aware and on the lookout that some clients will fall in these categories, and will need extra help.

In many cases outside help may be called for.  Letting the apartment manager know what's going on with a problem tenant is important for multi-family housing accounts.  Elderly or mentally challenged customers may need a personal care attendant or access to support services that can help with residence clean-up.  Extreme cases of hoarding will likely also require the help of a professional. 

Additional suggestions include:

• Help identify resource people or agencies that can help a physically or mentally challenged person (this means educating yourself about the social and mental health resources in your community).
• Schedule ongoing follow-up and monitoring. Knowing that someone cares and plans to return can make a significant difference in rate of compliance with challenged customers.
• When making sanitation recommendations to challenged customers, break suggestions down into manageable tasks.  Breaking a recommendation into small steps can make all the difference between progress and paralysis.
• Realize that many of your customers may be struggling with mental and physical challenges that may not be immediately apparent.  Liberal praise and encouragement  is especially important for these customers when they make an effort to participate in the IPM effort.

Finally, get to know some of the mental health professionals in your community.  These folks may be willing to conduct awareness training and provide resources for your staff.  Conversely, your knowledge and expertise may be of value to the health care community.  It was obvious to me after last week's paper that we in the IPM business need to communicate more with social workers and mental health physicians.

U.S. EPA celebrates the 40 year mark

Like Hurricane Katrina and climate change, and the honey bee decline today, the Cuyahoga River fire in 1969 caught people's attention about the state of our environment like headlines never did.

I was in high school when the Environmental Protection Agency opened its doors 40 years ago today. That might not seem like something a high school student would be interested in, but as a budding environmentalist, passionate outdoor enthusiast and Earth Day organizer, I was very interested.

At the time of the late 60's protection of the environment was not a high priority for our government. Concerns about waste disposal, clean air and water, pesticides and wildlife were growing and regularly reported in newspapers and magazines. Thanks in large part to the EPA, there is much to celebrate about the state of our U.S. environment. Streams run cleaner, food is (arguably) safer, the air is much clearer in most parts of the country, and standards for pesticide safety have never been higher. The bald eagle is back, as are peregrine falcons and ospreys and brown pelicans.

We're certainly not without challenges and controversies today. Rapid climate change has even our best scientists perplexed about causes and solutions. Fisheries continue to decline. Pockets of unhealthy air persist. Toxic chemical waste proliferates, even with (or because of) our technological advances to computers. Trash in our streams seems worse than ever thanks to our ubiquitous plastic. Oil hasn't run out, though we see the limits to fossil fuel based energy more clearly than ever. Worldwide, more species have vanished, or are threatened, than we might have guessed 40 years ago.

With all the popular hue and cry about shrinking big government, I for one am thankful that our country had the foresight forty years ago to set up an independent agency to guard our natural heritage.

I know that government itself needs its watchdogs, and EPA is no exception. Nevertheless, I fear that in our scramble to cut budgets, we may forget the progress of the past 40 years, and lose sight of the need for an independent arm of government with an interest in the future of our world at its heart. A strong environmental ethic is exactly the export we need in this era of global exploitation of the environment. Just look at the Aral Sea (formerly USSR, today Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan) and the Yangtze River valley (China) and many of the other environmental disaster areas if you need a reminder of what unrestrained environmental exploitation looks like.

Here's a toast to all the dedicated workers at the EPA who have worked so hard to please Congress and Presidents past, while keeping their eyes on the prize of a cleaner world.

Rodenticide changes explained

Bell Laboratories has done a nice job laying out the 2011 EPA changes to rodenticide rules in a new website http://riskmitigationinfo.com  These changes will affect what formulations you use and will result in significant label changes.  So don't be caught flat-footed come June.  The changes will impact all manufacturers, retailers, distributors, professional, agricultural and home users of rodenticides.

Speaking of home users, it might be a good idea to let your customers know the whats and whys of these changes.  Retail consumers will only be able to purchase first generation rodenticides and they will only be available in bait station formulations.  This should improve child safety and could have the effect of making professional rodent control help more attractive to the average consumer.  For EPA's take on the changes, click here.