Situational Pest Management

A service technician is called upon to service a restaurant for German cockroaches. Upon arriving, he briefly talks to the restaurant manager before beginning his service.

Starting just inside the door, he uses his compressed air sprayer to apply a water-based insecticide to the baseboards, behind sinks and under the dishwasher, stoves, coolers and other equipment. He makes sure he treats more thoroughly in the areas where the restaurant manager said cockroaches were seen. He also injects dust into the walls where pipes exit the walls. The pest management professional’s service is completed once he has walked along and treated every wall area in the restaurant.

Another service technician enters a restaurant and discusses the restaurant’s cockroach infestation with the restaurant manager. He then questions a restaurant employee about where the cockroaches were actually seen. He inspects those areas carefully using a flushing agent to identify the active harborages. These he treats with a residual dust insecticide and makes two spot treatments with a wettable powder insecticide to the wall behind the splashguard and uses flushing agents trying to determine whether any other pockets of cockroaches are present. Finding none, he inspects and services the dining area.

Which of these two technicians is providing a more desirable service? Which might be more effective in eliminating the restaurant’s infestation? Which is more professional? If you are a service professional, which one are you?

Pest control is not a pesticide application business…it’s a service business. The service provided just happens to be the control of pests in and around buildings, and pesticides are a tool used in providing that service. Customers expect — and rightfully so — that when a service professional performs service in or around their home or business, the pest infestation should be eliminated within a reasonable period of time. The goal of the professional upon beginning any service is to find and eliminate any pest infestation that may be present, and on the first service, an infestation is usually present. After that, during a preventive service, there may or may not be pests actively present.

To determine where pests might be harboring while not knowing whether any are actually present may be the most difficult task facing any pest professional.

To determine where pests might be harboring while not knowing whether any are actually present may be the most difficult task facing any pest professional.”

Effective pest management is not a “treat first, evaluate later” proposition. Any pest management professional who makes insecticide application the primary focus of his or her service is operating without any information. The application of insecticide does not necessarily equate with the control or elimination of a pest infestation. This fact is especially true if one has not taken the time to really discover whether pests are actually present and, if so, where.

In order to make valid decisions concerning the appropriate control measures to take, information concerning the infestation, the building and the attending conditions needs to be gathered and analyzed. These factors serve as a basis for a different approach to performing and teaching the art of structural pest management, an approach known as Situational Pest Management.

MICROENVIRONMENTS. Each and every building is different, even those that may be similarly or identically built. Sanitary conditions, maintenance levels, building integrity, employee habits, and the types and numbers of pests present vary with the structure. Each building, therefore, has different pest management situations. One or several different situations often may be found within the same structure. The components of each situation should be identified and addressed in the overall pest management program. A service professional needs to have knowledge of the pest’s identity, its biology and the conditions that would support it in order to successfully deal with each infestation.

Service professionals, in general, have been and are currently trained in how to service a specific type of building — a home, a restaurant, a convenience store, etc. The professional may be trained to apply insecticides as the primary focus of his or her service. This approach, although generally easier to teach and perform, typically provides less effective results, and over time may be less productive in terms of the professional’s service time. This latter aspect will be explained in greater detail later in this article.

Most all insecticide active ingredients — with a few exceptions — are available to the general public to purchase over-the-counter. If “spraying” insecticides provides effective control of pest infestations, why don’t these people simply perform the treatments themselves and save the cost of hiring a pest control company?

Although many homeowners do attempt do-it-yourself pest control, a significant percentage eventually have to hire a pest control company to deal with their pest infestation. Homeowners and businesses spend their hard-earned dollars for pest control services because they see value in paying for the knowledge and skill of pest control professionals. This knowledge and skill is important in achieving the results that customer’s desire. How much knowledge and skill is important in achieving the results that customers desire? How much knowledge does it take to routinely treat baseboards using a compressed air sprayer? How much skill does it take? Sure, it’s easy and quick, but does it really achieve the results customers are expecting?

Let’s revisit the case of the first professional. We know the following facts:

1. He is servicing a restaurant.
2. The restaurant manager reported seeing cockroaches.
3. The pest management professional applied surface treatments as the primary focus of his service.

How effective will his service be? First and foremost, to analyze any pest situation, you should begin with the target pest involved — in this case, German cockroaches. What do we know about the German cockroach? First, it prefers to spend most of its time resting in cracks and voids. It usually selects harborages within 10 to 12 feet of a food and water source. It is small and can take advantage of numerous small cracks that may be present. Finally, the German cockroach can reproduce so quickly that elimination of an infestation can be achieved only by killing 90 to 100 percent of the population up front, and then following up to get the remaining cockroaches not killed by the first service.

What did the first professional do to address these facts concerning the biology and habits of the German cockroach? Most of his service involved applying a water-based insecticide to exposed surfaces where he hoped the cockroaches would cross during their nightly travels to feed. How effective are surface treatments for crawling insects? Laboratory research has shown that cockroaches must sit or crawl on treated surfaces for an extended period of time (often hours) before absorbing a lethal dose. The older the deposit, the longer the cockroach must remain in contact with the treated surface. In an operating restaurant kitchen, what happens to exposed surfaces? They get covered with grease, dirt and other materials that further reduce an insecticide’s effectiveness.

So what does it take to eliminate an infestation of German cockroaches? In theory, the procedures are simple: Find all the active harborages and treat them. In practice, experience and knowledge play a major role. Experience provides the skill to identify likely German cockroach harborages. Knowledge provides the ability to select the best treatment technique and insecticide formulation — if one is needed — to treat each harborage.

The first pest management professional did not truly address the fact that cockroaches spend most of their time resting in cracks and voids. The second professional did. If cockroaches live in cracks and voids, it makes sense that the majority of the treatments involved be made using formulations designed for treating cracks and voids.

‘SPM’ Defined. The basic principles of Situational Pest Management (SPM) involve five steps:

1. Identify the pest or pests involved.
2. Find the source of the infestation — where the pests are living.
3. Direct the control measures (both pesticides and non-chemical) at the source(s) — where the pests are living.
4. Address any conditions conducive to the infestation.
5. Evaluate the results.

STEP #1: Identifying the Pest. Situational Pest Management requires entomoLOGICAL solutions. The logic required to quickly and effectively solve any pest infestation hinges on the identity of the pest or pests involved. In fact, the simple change of one species of pest to another in the same building changes the thinking necessary to solve the infestation. The following two examples illustrate this point.

Example #1. The tenant in an apartment of an 8-unit building reports seeing cockroaches in the apartment. If the tenant has seen small brown cockroaches that were identified as German cockroaches, where would you look for the infestation? Because the German cockroach has a high need for moisture and only travels 10 to 12 feet from its harborage to look for food and water, the best places to look for active harborages are the kitchen, the bathrooms and the utility room. By experience, service professionals always have found this to be true unless the apartment has a severe infestation. Then the cockroaches can be found in most or all of the rooms in the apartment.

What if the cockroaches seen in the apartment had been American cockroaches? This cockroach prefers to breed in damp, warm sites — conditions not likely to be found within the confines of an apartment. The cockroaches seen in the apartment are more likely coming from an external source such as from outside (in southern states), a crawlspace, a basement, a steam tunnel, sewers or a boiler room. Only in such locations will the conditions be found that will enable a breeding population of American cockroaches to survive. Unless the service professional looks for these external breeding sites, all the treatment in the world inside the apartment is not going to stop the cockroaches from occasionally entering the apartment, where they will be seen by the tenant.

In a third scenario, the cockroaches found inside the apartment are identified as woods cockroaches. Many different species of woods cockroaches exist, and none of them actively breed within buildings. In general, the adult males appear in early summer and are attracted to outdoor lights on buildings. They manage to enter structures, where they will inevitably be sighted by the building’s occupants. No treatment is required inside, and outside, most of the solution will involve non-chemical methods such as installing yellow “bug” lights, cutting back vegetation, sealing exterior cracks and so forth. One apartment, three different species of cockroaches, and three different situations involving different areas to inspect and different treatment strategies.

Example #2. A hotel reports seeing flies in the kitchen and dining area of a restaurant. The flies are identified as fruit flies. Fruit flies breed in any fresh decaying organic matter that stays moist. Likely sources, or breeding sites, for this fly include trash cans, boxes of fruits and vegetables, food deposits in cracks and on floors under equipment, and recycling bins. Removal of the identified breeding sites via cleaning followed by a space treatment to kill remaining adults should solve the infestation.

If the offending flies were identified as moth flies, the approach would be similar to that of fruit flies, but would vary to a major degree. Moth flies typically breed in wet organic material that is an advanced state of decay. Drains and drain lines are the most common source for these flies; hence they are commonly called drain flies. This fly has often been found breeding in crawlspaces (and under slabs) under buildings where the drain lines have broken, allowing water and organic debris to accumulate. Does the restaurant also have a crawlspace and/or a broken sewer line under a slab? This question is worth investigating.

Suppose house flies were found in the restaurant of the hotel. How much inspection time should be spent inside? Almost none, because house flies rarely find conditions suitable for breeding inside. Infestations of these flies generally originate from outside. An inspection outside will focus on such keys as how close the Dumpster is to the back door, how clean the Dumpster area is, and how well sealed the doors are. Good sanitation and exclusion outside coupled with proper insect light trap placement inside generally will provide satisfactory results.

Like the first example, the same restaurant experiencing an infestation of three different flies requires the service professional to look in different areas and at different factors in order to solve the infestation.

STEP #2: Where is the Pest Living? The preceding examples clearly illustrate why identifying the pest correctly is critical. Each pest has its own habits and preferences, and a service professional needs to understand these in order to use his or her time efficiently when trying to find the harborages or breeding sites of the offending pests. This step usually takes the most time but is crucial to success. The SPM motto is “Find the Source — Solve the Problem.” It is worth the time it takes to find the source or sources. If this time is not taken, the pest infestation will likely persist, and the customer will ultimately become dissatisfied with the service.

To paraphrase an old saying, “If you have time to go back to finish a job the second time, you had time to do it right the first time.” This saying is particularly true as it relates to SPM, which over time saves a service professional time and increases his or her productivity. The service professional may have to spend more time up front looking for the source or sources of an infestation; however, down the road, on subsequent preventive services, it should require less time to keep the building relatively free of new pests. Why waste time treating areas where the target pests are not likely to be living? Focus on the likely source areas.

If records of pest activity are kept on any building, a general pattern of pest activity in that building will emerge over time. This is especially true of large buildings. Why focus on inspection and service efforts in areas of a building that rarely experience pest problems? It makes sense to direct most of the service time and effort at the key problem areas. Situational Pest Management should allow for a restructuring of the service program to fit these identified needs. This identification of infestation patterns and possible restructuring of the service cannot be done without accurate record keeping — something not routinely done within the pest control industry regarding pest activity inside structures.

If an infestation does persist, it is usually because one or more sources has been overlooked. In case after case that this author has been involved in where a pest problem has persisted despite the best efforts of the service professional or his manager, an undiscovered source was involved. In many cases, the service professional simply did not bother to look for the source. His or her approach to dealing with the continued infestation was more applications of insecticides. Either due to lack of training or laziness, the professional did not bother to think about the pest he or she was dealing with, why that pest was present, and where he or she would likely find the conditions in which the pest preferred to live. Generally, training was — and continues to be — an issue.

Let’s briefly look at two cases that demonstrate this point. An apartment complex was experiencing numerous problems with ants. The professional diligently answered each complaint call and spent considerable time treating each infested apartment. Complaints continued to increase, however, and the author got involved. The ants inside the apartment were quickly identified as odorous house ants. Following a brief inspection inside one apartment to find ants to identify, the inspection moved outside. Numerous trails of these ants were found trailing up the outside of the building from outdoor colonies. Treatment outside stopped the ant invasions in the apartment where numerous inside treatments had failed.

In a second case, the author spent the day with a service professional in Texas. One of the professional’s regular customers complained upon our arrival that large brown cockroaches were still being seen inside. The professional began inspecting and treating cracks in rooms where the customer reported seeing cockroaches. Surmising that the cockroach involved was the smoky-brown, the author stopped the professional and led him outside to inspect. Using pyrethrum, cockroaches were found harboring in several outdoor sites including the cracks at the soffit level of the house. An attic inspection revealed further activity. Treatment of the attic and the exterior harborages stopped the cockroaches from being seen inside.

In both of these cases, the solution was somewhat easily determined by (1) identifying the pest and (2) focusing the inspection on areas where that pest was likely to be found living. Both times, the service professional did not bother to identify the target pest or the best approach to take to solve an infestation involving that pest. Additional training time spent with both professionals resulted in them “seeing the light” and understanding the SPM process. Their immediate reaction to treat where pests were seen was somehow ingrained in their approach to pest management.

STEP #3: service Where Pests Live. In this step, “treatment” involves both non-chemical and chemical methods. The situation at hand determines which methods/techniques are needed. For example, most of the “treatment” for a fruit fly infestation involves sanitation — cleaning up the breeding sources. For a moderate to severe German cockroach infestation, use of a vacuum and immediate use of insecticides (dusts, baits) is prudent. Cleaning up, removing harborages (e.g., boxes) and sealing cracks will help, but these steps alone will not eliminate a German cockroach infestation.

Once a service professional determines the sites where the target pest is living, he or she must decide which treatment technique is best suited for eliminating the pests from that site. If the technique selected is non-chemical, it will usually involve trapping or vacuuming. If insecticides are involved, would the site be best treated using a crack and crevice treatment, a void treatment, a spot treatment or by baiting?

The key to selecting the right insecticide to use begins with selecting the appropriate treatment technique. Cracks and voids are best treated with dusts, aerosols or maybe baits. If a spot treatment or a general treatment is necessary, the type of surface involved will help determine the type of formulation that should be used. After selecting a formulation, check to see if the site to be treated and the target pest specified are on the label. Is odor a concern? Will the environmental conditions present (e.g., moisture) exclude certain formulations from being used?

Well-trained and experienced professionals can make these decisions quickly. Professionals lacking quality instruction or experience can make poorly informed decisions, which affect the results they may achieve. Examining pesticide use records can reveal service professionals who may need additional training. Such professionals typically use only two or three different insecticide products on a regular basis. No single formulation is right for every situation where pests may be found, so how can a professional rely on just two or three? Professionals should be (1) trained to make informed decisions about which insecticide formulation to use, and (2) provided with the variety of formulations necessary to address most pest situations they might encounter.

Recognizing contributing conditions does little to affect pest infestations unless they are communicated effectively — both verbally and in writing — to the customer. To paraphrase an old saying, “If you have time to go back to finish a job the second time, you had time to do it right the first time.”

STEP #4: conducive Conditions. This step is somewhat self-explanatory. It is important, but is often overlooked. If conditions exist that are supporting a current infestation or that may be conducive to an infestation of another pest, they need to be addressed. Otherwise, the current pest or another pest is likely to quickly return.

Every service professional should be taught the various conditions that support the survival of the common pests in their city or area. He or she should be shown examples of these — in the field — so that he or she will be able to recognize such conducive conditions. These conditions fall into three easily described categories:

1. Sanitation. Conditions that provide food and/or water.
2. Harborage. Items or areas that provide preferred shelter.
3. Entry Points. Cracks, holes, or practices that permit the entry of pests.

Once shown numerous examples of each condition, most professionals will have little trouble recognizing them thereafter.

Recognizing contributing conditions does little to affect pest infestations unless they are communicated effectively — both verbally and in writing — to the customer. The customer need to understand why correcting the conditions is important. In some cases, gaining cooperation from the customer is difficult, which is why documentation is so important. In several situations, the author has corrected minor contributing conditions himself when customers were uncooperative. Although time-consuming, this step stopped the infestation and saved the facility as a customer. Also, the customer was informed that this work was done and was the key to stopping the infestation, and that if the work was required again in the near future, a charge would be added to complete such tasks. In other cases, the customer paid for the work up front because the work was sold as an add-on service. Not all pest control revenue has to come about as a result of treatments.

STEP #5: Evaluation. If pests were present in a building and pest control services were rendered, how can one be sure that the infestation was eliminated without a follow-up? At the very least, a phone call to the customer can be made. Better yet, provide either an unscheduled follow-up inspection or even a scheduled follow-up service. Customers should not be forced to endure pests for several weeks until the next scheduled service. If German cockroaches, Pharaoh ants or rodents are the offending pest, follow-up visits to evaluate the results are not an option — they are usually necessary. Failure to follow up can either help improve the customer’s perception of the service or dilute it. Which is preferable?

Teaching ‘SPM’. Situational Pest Management, in a nutshell, is a problem-solving process. Professionals are taught the components of the process, and then are taught how to apply those components logically.

The identification of insects and other arthropods that infest structures is the most difficult thing for any professional to learn. Having specimens available greatly helps this process, and training time should be spent on learning identification. Pointing out each pest’s identifying characters, allowing the pest management professionals to examine specimens, and then testing their knowledge provides the best results. These three steps should be periodically repeated throughout a pest management professional’s career. It also helps to focus training on the most commonly encountered pests at first, and then add new pests later. One learns pest identification through repetition, and since the identity of the pest is the key to finding the sources of an infestation quickly and effectively, teaching identification requires both priority and effort.

Every professional should be taught the key aspects of each pest’s biology, especially the aspects involved in the pest’s preferred living conditions. Don’t bore professionals with information involving the numerical aspects of pest biology, such as how many eggs are in a cockroach’s egg capsule and how long it takes them to hatch. Focus on what matters. For example, German cockroaches prefer to live as close to food and water as possible. They usually don’t venture more than 10 to 12 feet from their harborages. They prefer warm areas, especially areas with temperatures around 85°F to 90°F.

German cockroaches spend most of their time living in cracks and voids, and they breed faster than any other cockroach found in buildings. Each of these key points of the German cockroach’s biology can be related to the steps necessary to eliminate them from a building. These facts are what is important to learn because they are directly applicable to a professional’s job and the problem-solving process.

Teach inspection techniques! Finding the sources of the infestation is the key to success, so inspection skills are critical. These skills are best taught during field training, and considerable time should be spent demonstrating them to the trainee and then observing him or her in action performing inspections. Teaching inspection skills is also best done in field situations, particularly when pests may or may not be present.

Finding an infestation when one is not apparent is the mark of a true pest management professional. Learning control techniques — chemical and non-chemical — and the situations in which each technique is best employed are necessary parts of the curriculum. Deciding the appropriate treatment technique is an important factor in selecting the right insecticide formulation when an insecticide treatment is required.

Instruction in the types of formulations available, where they are best employed and how to properly apply them is important. Instruct professionals how to recognize contributing conditions. In addition, teach them how to properly document these conditions, as well as how to document pest activity.

CONCLUSION. In principle, Situational Pest Management sounds simple enough. In practice, knowledge and experience are the keys to success. Learn how to identify the key pests in your area and learn their habits and preferred living conditions. Look first to determine where the sources of the infestation are located, and treat those areas. Only then will you be using your time, efforts and pesticide applications to their fullest advantage.