Pest Management Professional, July 2016

Ask the expert Q From time to time a homeowner will give me a piece of clothing and ask whether the holes in it were caused by moths How do you tell insect damage from other damage What else can cause damage to clothes If it is insect damage what should I do to stop it rIChArD h NeW YOrk A The first thing Id look for is a label If the clothing has no wool in it the damage probably is not due to insects If there is no label or if the clothing contains wool look around the edges of the damage for webbing silverfish scales or carpet beetle frass or hairs These are the insects usually associated with wool damage If you cant find evidence of insects look at the location of the damage If it is on sleeve cuffs the tail of a shirt or sweater elbows or other wear areas the damage is probably mechanical from normal wear and tear some people refuse to accept that clothes wear out If the wool fibers are curled up on the ends of the hole it could be You can reach Dr Mampe an industry consultant at dentomol@ aol com chemical damage caused by bleach or other caustic substances If the damage is caused by insects have the clothing and other wool products stored in the same area dry cleaned This will kill all stages of insect development If theres evidence of silverfish or carpet beetles try a crack and crevice treatment Clothes moth larvae remain on clothing so an area treatment is unnecessary A little aerosol will knock down any flying moths Q We frequently have palmetto bugs American cockroaches Periplaneta americana show up inside customers houses even though we have done a thorough job of treating the exterior of the building The individual insects are usually dead only an occasional live one shows up at any one time Is there anything we can do to prevent such occurrences Even though the cockroaches are dead their presence doesnt help customer relations GArY C FLOrIDA A This is a common problem There must be one or more entry points the cockroaches enter from outdoors Most often its the door seal at the bottom of the door They wear over time If you can slide a credit card under any door have the seals replaced pmp By Dr Doug mampe Technical Consultant Email your questions about insect identification and pest management technologies and techniques to Dr Mampe at dentomol@ aol com They will most likely will be printed and answered in one of Pest Management Professionals upcoming Ask the Expert columns Q A homeowner has a cigarette beetle infestation in her pantry She buys large quantities of organic food and stores them for months In one glass container I found cigarette beetles along with tiny black wasp like insects In the container is a foodstuff that looks like cornflakes What are the tiny insects What recommendations can I make to this customer to prevent these problems FreD h VerMONt A I suspect the tiny insects are one of the parasitic wasps that attack other insects in this case the cigarette beetle larvae The wasps lay their eggs in or on the cigarette beetle larvae The wasp larvae bore into the cigarette beetle larvae and complete their life cycle If you eliminate the cigarette beetles youll eliminate the wasps These wasps are harmless to humans Id recommend that the homeowner microwave the food products she buys when she brings them home Then they should be stored in sealed plastic or glass containers to prevent infestation Microwaving will kill all stages of stored product insects 72 July 2016 pest management professional mypmp net Photo Brian LittLe the University of GeorGia BUGwood orG Cigarette beetles can fall victim to parasitic wasps