[Focus on IPM] Sticky Spiders

If any pest could be said to have a beneficial impact on accounts, it would be the spider. Though their eight legs and six eyes tend to send shivers down the spines of many homeowners, the arachnids do, in their own way, play an important role in pest management.

“Spiders are present for one reason and one reason only: They are looking for food,” said Craig Martelle, vice president of professional products for the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based AP&G Co. “Basically spiders are nature’s pest monitors. If there are spiders present, that means there is some other type of pest present that they are looking to eat.”
 
ZERO TOLERANCE. But often, homeowners and managers at commercial accounts want both the pests gone — those that are being eaten, and those doing the eating. Martelle said glueboards can be a great addition to a PCO’s toolbox, providing 24-hour monitoring of accounts, and detailed information about problem pests.

He said that positive identification of pests is a critical part of any pest management professional’s work, especially with spiders, since different species have different habits, and travel differently throughout a home or business.

“The female brown recluse spider will travel and live in a structure much differently than that of a black widow or a wolf spider,” he said. “Wolf spiders will generally stay lower in a structure, whereas black widow spiders will generally make a web above the floor area. With this type of information you may be able to find the population faster and thus reduce the amount of pests faster.”

And by using glueboards to first identify the type of spider he’s dealing with, “the PMP would now have a better advantage at applying the right material for that particular pest.”
 
NO QUICK FIX. But glueboards aren’t a silver bullet — even for wolf spiders. Martelle said that, even though the boards can provide PCOs with valuable information about a pest’s species and distribution, they can’t give much insight into the size of pest populations. “If you find spiders on monitors, treat the area thoroughly to best manage the pest at hand. If you find one spider on a monitor, you may not have a large population,” he said. “But if you find several spiders on three or four monitors, then it is obvious the technician will have to do a very thorough treatment to ensure they have a jump on the pest before it gets out of hand.”

And it’s not always spiders that get caught. While the glueboards can alert PCOs to other insect or even rodent pests in the area, they also can capture unwanted animals: a pet snake, for example, or a hamster that jumped the wall of his cage.

“A monitor is just that,” Martelle said. “It monitors what pest is in the area at any given time. If there is a non-target animal caught, the use of vegetable oil will release (it).”

And once the technician knows what he’s dealing with — and it’s not Mr. Fuzzy — he can proceed more effectively and accurately with chemical treatments, Martelle said.

“Each account will have a different challenge and it is up to the technician to attend training classes to stay up to date on current trends,” he said. “Chemicals and our knowledge of pests are constantly changing, and it is important to stay up to date on these changes.”

The author is assistant editor of PCT magazine. He can be reached at cbowen@giemedia.com.

Glueboard’s Maximum Impact

Place monitors where the pests may be, but out of sight and the reach of curious children and pets, said Craig Martelle, vice president of professional products, AP&G. “If you believe an area might be a harborage spot for spiders, by all means place monitors there. They are monitors, and are your eyes 24/7,” he said.

PCOs should put their boards: next to doors, in closets, under sinks, in basements or crawlspaces, in attic areas and under sofas, chairs or other furniture.