It Only Takes One Person to Spread Harmful Invasive Pests

PIERRE, S.D. – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has designated April as Invasive Plant Pest and Disease Awareness Month.  According to USDA, each year, harmful invasive plant pests and diseases cost the United States about $40 billion in crop losses, damage to forests and vulnerable ecosystems and expensive eradication and control efforts.  “People wonder if their individual actions really matter. The answer is yes,” said Dale Anderson, South Dakota Department of Agriculture plant quarantine…

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New Zika Vaccine Starts Wider Testing

Federal researchers said Friday they have started a new phase of testing a vaccine to protect against the Zika virus, which has been causing severe birth defects across the Americas. The $100 million trial will test the experimental vaccine in 2,500 volunteers in the U.S., Mexico, Puerto Rico, Brazil and other countries affected by the mosquito-borne virus, the National Institutes of Health said. “A safe and effective Zika vaccine is urgently needed to prevent the often-devastating birth defects that can…

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EPA Denies Activist Petition to Cancel Chlorpyrifos Uses

On March 29, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt signed an order denying a petition to ban the uses of chlorpyrifos, which is a valuable pesticide for agriculture use. Administrator Pruitt stated “By reversing the previous Administration’s steps to ban one of the most widely used pesticides in the world, we are returning to using sound science in decision–making–rather than predetermined results.” In November 2015, under a court order of the U.S. 9th Circuit, the Obama administration…

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Plants have evolved a taste for sand that deters hungry insects

Getting sand in your mouth is an unpleasant experience – and plants seem to know it. Emerging evidence suggests that some plants cultivate a sandy taste to deter herbivores from eating them. Grasses have particularly high levels of silicon – sometimes in excess of 10 per cent of their dry weight – which they suck from the soil. They use some of this to make silica sand particles, which they deploy along their blades making them abrasive, unpalatable and tough to…

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U.S. Structural Pest Control Market Surpasses $8 Billion

The United States structural pest control industry is comprised of an estimated 19,820 pest control firms. Mild summer and winter weather, increased insect pest and rodent pressure, and expanded service offerings for public health pests like mosquitoes, appeared to aid the professional pest control industry this past year. The professional pest control industry generated an estimated $8.175 billion in total service revenue in 2016, a 4.6 percent increase from the $7.815 billion measured in 2015, according to the latest report,…

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Warming world harming insects’ reproduction

A warming world harms insects’ ability to reproduce, which could have long-term consequences, scientists warn. UK researchers also found that insects in northern latitudes were more vulnerable than their southern-dwelling cousins. The team added that many insects were unable to move great distances while they are juveniles. Therefore, they are at risk from a warming climate. The findings have been published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology. “You get an extreme heat weather event that [the insect] cannot escape from…

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This Bug Can Eat Plastic. But Can It Clean Up Our Mess?

Scientists have discovered that wax worms can eat plastic bags. Could that help us reduce plastic pollution? Each year, the world produces 300 million tons of plastic, much of which resists degradation and ends up polluting every corner of the globe. But a team of European scientists may have found a unique solution to the plastic problem. They discovered that a common insect can chew sizable holes in a plastic shopping bag within 40 minutes. “This study is another milestone…

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Have You Downloaded the Field Guide App?

Download the NPMA Field Guide app to ensure you and your team are prepared for the busy season! Available for only $4.99 for both iOS and Android devices, the Field Guide App, powered by eNex, offers users an easy way to access information on over 200 different structural pests, with high resolution photos and charts for confident identification. Ready to get started? Visit the App Store or Google Play Store and search for “NPMA Field Guide.” You can also set…

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Ladder Safety

Our jobs often include working on ladders. Fumigators spend many hours sealing buildings prior to releasing poisonous fumigants in a grain bin or seed warehouse. A ladder isn’t always the best way to work up high. Ask yourself these questions first: Will I have to hold heavy equipment or other items while standing on the ladder? Will I have to use a longer, more unstable ladder to reach the area? Am I going to have to work from the ladder…

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Pheromones “Down Under”

Dr. Greg Daglisch calls himself an “Applied Entomologist”. Working as the Principle Research Scientist with the Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) in Australia, Daglisch has become an expert in postharvest grain biosecurity and has worked extensively with stored product beetles in the “Land Down Under”. As an invited guest speaker at this year’s 12th Fumigants & Pheromones Conference in Adelaide, Australia, Daglisch told the international crowd that he is always looking for ways to exploit pest insects…

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