Integrated Pest Management Flashcards
Chapter 3
What is an integrated pest management?
IPM is a decision making process that considers the use of all available tools to control a pest problem.
Describe some of the components of an IPM program for mosquitoes and black fly management.
An IPM for mosquito or black fly management may include:
-vector, host, human surveillance
- use of GPS to assist in mapping the date with land use, water bodies, demographics, etc.
-general public education, awareness and outreach programs
-promoting the proper use of repellents, screening on windows, proper clothing
-reduction of artificial breeding habitats (specifically for mosquitoes that breed in containers that can retain stagnant water such as old tires, wheel barrows, buckets, pots, barrels, pans, cans, pool covers, bird baths, small boats, etc.)
- consideration of biological or mechanical control
-use of pesticides (specifically larvacides) as required
What are some control strategies for reducing mosquito populations, besides larviciding?
Consider the following strategies to reduce mosquito breeding sites prior to the use of larvacides:
- Remove old tires or drill drainage in tires used for playground equipment
-Check for trapped water in plastic or canvas tarps used to cover equipment and drain it
-Flush water in the bottom of plant holders and bird baths twice a week
-Fix dripping outside water faucets
-Check to ensure that ditches drain properly, and water holding low areas are graded on the property only after consulting with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources that these changes will not violate wetland or fish regulations
- Clean out catch basins and storm drains during droughts to remove stagnant water and sediment
-Aerate ornamental ponds, fill in tree holes, and cover rain barrels
-Check to make sure septic field beds are functioning properly
-Empty pool covers so that stagnant water does not accumulate and ensure that pool water is well chlorinated
What factors should be known in order to plan a larvaciding program?
Larvicides should only be used when and where they are needed. If larvaciding is considered part of an IPM , you must know:
- Which target, and non-target species are present
- Where the breeding sites are located
- When the mosquitoes or black flies are developing in these breeding sites, numbers of generations per season and when the larvae are most vulnerable to a larvacide
- What larvacide control measures are available and which of these can be applied effectively, economically, and safely with minimal impact to the local environment and health of the public
- What resources are available to coordinate and execute the control program
How do life cycles of mosquitoes and black flies impact a larvacide program?
- Mosquitoes and black flies are a valuable part of the food chain and spend their egg, larvae, and pupa stages in water, wheras the adults are free flying.
-Female mosquitoes require a blood meal to provide protein for their eggs to develop. Eggs are laid on the surface of standing water and moist soil.
-Female black flies lay their eggs on aquatic vegetation and rocks in flowing water.
Only a few of the many species of mosquitoes and black flies in Ontario actually feed on humans; most prefer to feed on the blood of frogs, turtles, small and large mammalss and birds.
-Species differ greatly in the complexity of their development such as the stage in which they over-winter, preferred water temperature for development, types of water body in which they live, number of generations per year and the time of year they emerge as adults.
- a thorough mosquito or black fly surveillance program should be conducted prior to any application of larvicides and may be a requirement of the support documentation that accompanies the permit application.
What is the purpose of surveillance programs as part of an IPM strategy?
When considering a control program for mosquitoes and black flies, it is necessary to review information compiled from surveillance activities in order to:
- determine the potential or existing breeding sites
- identify the species and establish population densities
- access the available control methods
- evaluate the effectiveness of control methods
- The risks of using larvicides must be weighed against the benefits of reducing nuisance mosquitoes or black flies or human disease such as WNV caused by biting flies.
- factors such as the impact of awareness and education campaigns
- available resources
- effectiveness of the larvicides
- potential impacts on the environment and human health must be assessed
** any control program must be designed to determine mosquito and black fly population levels throughout the season. The purpose of the surveillance is to develop criteria, thorugh pre and post sampling, and to determine larval poplation levels, which will be the basis of determining the necessity of future larviciding programs. Adult monitoring of mosquito or black fly populations (i.e light trap counts) will also help to evaluate the need and the effectiveness of the control program.
