Clean garbage disposals at least once a week.Empty indoor garbage receptacles twice per week, at a minimum.Do not keep soiled dishes in the sink or dishwasher overnight.Clean up spills that occur during food preparation or handling.Rotate (use) boxed or packaged foods every 1–2 months.Keep bird food in feeders, as rodents may use spilled food as a food source (Figure 1). ![]() Keep food in tightly sealed containers.Important practices (habits to establish) that may limit insect access to food include, but are not limited to: ![]() Denying pests access to food is an important component of making our living environment less hospitable to pests. General rules of cleanliness during food preparation, storage and disposal is the logical starting point for helping to resolve and prevent certain pest problems. Vegetative matter, if not disposed of or composted regularly, can be a source of pests, especially flies.įood. Spilled birdseed outdoors can be used by numerous pests, including rodents, as a food source.įigure 2. Proactive pest management interventions will vary from one household or business to the next but there are a few overarching themes worthy of comment.įigure 1. The action plan should involve interventions aimed at reducing pest population numbers or the chance for future encounters with that pest. Proactive pest management is a process that begins with identifying the pest and using information on the biology of the offending creature to decide upon a plan of action. Therefore, it is important that homeowners limit pest access to potential sources of food, water, and shelter in and around the home in an effort to keep our personal living space inhospitable to unwanted house pests. The preferred living environment for most humans also provides the necessities many pests need to satisfy their life support requirements. Often the presence of one life support requirement will lead to an abundance of one or more of the other requirements. When pest problems occur there is usually one or more of these requirements readily accessible to the pest population. Those conditions are often referred to as life support requirements, and include:įavorable temperatures, Abundant food and water, and Available shelter/harborage The origin and extent of a pest infestation is often associated with one or more conditions that promote the survival and reproduction of that particular pest. Insects then are considered pests for a variety of reasons, and placing them into that subjective category also may justify our attempts at their elimination. Many more insects are a nuisance simply because they appear in our living space. Other insect species may be dangerous, especially those that bite, sting, transmit disease or cause allergies. It is not surprising that a few of those one million species can-and will-eat our food, clothing or the wood in our homes. This diversity also means that some insects are know to consumer or damage a wide variety of items important to people. ![]() Certain insects spend their early life inside the body of another insect, some grow up attached to a river rock, while others spend their entire life in the grass of a front yard. Insects, because of their diversity, display many different lifestyles. That means as many as 80 percent of the world's insect species are undiscovered and yet to be named! Worldwide, nearly one million insect species have been named, yet entomologists estimate the total number at 2.5–5 million. Insect abundance dwarfs all forms of visible life, and makes up more than 75 percent of all known and named animal species. Insects and other arthropods are found in nearly every terrestrial and freshwater habitat on the plant.
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