[Technically Speaking] The most frequently asked question: "What is it?"

"What is it?" This probably is the most frequently asked question after technicians greet their customers. The scary part is what comes next, or in too many cases what doesn’t come next — a proper identification. The customer, who has hired your company to handle his or her pest problem, doesn’t want to hear: "I don’t know" or "I’ll have to get back to you on that."

We are in an age of computer literacy and customers typically can look this kind of information up on the Internet or otherwise obtain Internet information to answer their question, e.g., send a digital photo to the extension service or a company that provides free identifications. How embarrassing is it for your company when your customers are able to identify their pest and your technician can’t?

The Professional Pest Management Alliance and our industry have espoused the professionalism of our industry and in many respects we fulfill those high standards. Yet, most people in the industry are deficient in the fundamental skill of pest identification. Many of us also profess to be practitioners of Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Whether you are or not, the solution to all pest problems start with inspection and identification.

I feel that many technicians in the industry are apathetic about this issue and are content to say it’s just a cockroach, it’s just a fly or it’s just an ant. Sometimes attempts are made to qualify the identification, e.g., it’s a small fly, a red or black ant, or possibly a sugar ant. Unfortunately, some company owners and mangers accept this level of knowledge as long as it does not affect production. Others are uncertain how to improve the situation and lack the skills to do it on their own. In fact, I am disappointed in my own inability to convey the importance of this to our technicians and significantly improve their pest identification skills, although I’m going to continue to try.

TAKING THE FIRST STEPS. The first question to ask is, does this truly affect my company’s bottom line? I think without a doubt that productivity and customer confidence are directly affected by your technicians’ ability to properly identify pests in your geographic area.

Typically, it is not necessary to identify the pest to genus and species; often family is adequate for pest management purposes. Proper identification provides the technician with a starting point for determining the biology, habits and control measures that are appropriate for the pest. In the absence of this knowledge, technicians frequently treat the symptoms of the problem and forget to uncover the cause that solves the problem.

Flies and ants probably are the most frequently misidentified pests, primarily due to their small, size, lack of easily recognized morphological characteristics and their diversity. These misidentifications can lead to many problems for the technician, their company and the customer.

I can’t tell you the number of times I have been called out to investigate small fly problems where despite the company’s efforts to change the customer’s watering habits for their indoor plants, coupled with the com-pany’s best spraying efforts, have failed to control the "fungus gnats." And no wonder, since correctly identified, the flies were phorids or sphaerocerid flies that were breeding in broken sewer lines under the basement slab.

I have seen minor worker carpenter ants identified as pavement and odorous house ants. Pharaoh ants are commonly not identified at all and treated as any other ant by spraying and subsequently fragmenting the multi-queen colonies, exacerbating an already difficult pest management problem.

It is obvious how these misidentifications affect the bottom line. At the least these types of problems necessitate extra service calls and ultimately customer demands to have a service supervisor investigate the problem. These types of problems tend to go up the chain, costing the company time and money.

The other outcome of misidentification is the loss of customer confidence, damaging the credibility of the company. Misidentifi-cation can cost the customer time and unnecessary expense and force them to seek a more qualified service provider. It is much easier to retain a customer through quality service than it is to get a new one.

REAL-LIFE TRAINING. It still surprises me the number of technicians who do not carry some type of magnification, e.g., hand lens or pocket microscope. Even with relatively good eyes it is difficult to see the essential distinguishing characteristics. Our industry needs to spend more time practicing insect identification using field tools and over time this essential task will become easier.

Most training programs on pest management start with identification of the pests to be discussed. This is a great way to start; unfortunately the identification involves pictures of pests blown up 1,000 times larger than their true size, allowing those distinguishing characteristics to jump out at the attendees. I don’t think much is gained in this exercise — it is not real life. As trainers we need to spend more time reinforcing this visual exposé with practical exercises using actual specimens and tools readily available in the field.

This is not to say that there have not been efforts to accomplish hands on training. I have provided this training at the Purdue University Pest Management Conference with the assistance of their students. NPMA occasionally has provided this type of training at their regional conferences. But it is not enough.

This type of training requires continuous reinforcement. Companies should develop or acquire their own reference collections — assistance can often be provided by your state university. In-house training programs with actual specimens should be conducted by in-house staff or outside trainers. Technicians should be provided magnification equipment and a reference text to aid them with identification, e.g., PCT’s Service Technician’s Handbook (carried in service vehicle) or the NPCA Field Guide to Structural Pests (office reference).

Being a pest management professional starts with proper identification, without it you are only the exterminator.

The author is technical director of American Pest Management, Takoma Park, Md. He can be reached at 301/891-2600 or via e-mail at rkramer@pctonline.com.