Pest Management Professional, November 2017
The Big 5 PMPs rank the prevalence of different species of ants bed bugs cockroaches rodents and wood destroying insects organisms in their markets By hEAthER gooch Editor C arpenter ants top our State of the Industry lists this year in two places Camponotus spp are No 1 in prevalence among all ant species and all wood destroying insect organism WDI WDO species That means they outranked last years WDI WDO favorite the Eastern subterranean termite which actually came in at No 3 behind carpenter bees Editors Note For a discussion on which pests generate the most business and profit please turn to p S6 Paul Morrow says hes been seeing lots of carpenter ants after being called out for termites You just never know what youre going to get when you arrive says Morrow owner of Glen Rose Texas Pest Control Most new homes have no ant problems But it seems carpenter ants are finding their way from live oak trees to the homes that are in the 30 to 100 year old range Photos courtesy of and coPyrighted by gene White Pmimages@ earthlink net Morrow who majored in agriculture and minored in entomology in college notes that interestingly some carpenter ants are outdoor only residents For his accounts that have ants but never inside he just keeps an eye on them You dont even know you have them until you see a pile of insulation outside he adds Generally thats how a customer will catch it and think they have termites Bed Bugs stay in the game Bed bugs continue to be of importance to pest management professionals PMPs While bat bugs among them Cimex pilosellus and C adjunctus and the tropical bed bug C hemipterus are also encountered most bed bug accounts deal with the humble common species C lectularius Jeff King president of The Pest Rangers Hanover Township Pa says revenue is up 71 percent He attributes the growth to bed bugs even though he did nothing different marketing wise While King is stumped on the precise reasons why theyre getting more calls he hypothesizes that offering a combination heat and chemical approach is gaining more popularity When consumers research how to treat bed bugs heat is coming up as a viable solution SURVEY SAYS MoRE thAn 80 of PMPS offER bEd bUg MAnAgEMEnt People used to be turned off by the higher cost but that no longer seems to be as big a factor he adds Theyre calling up and specifically asking for heat treatment The Pest Rangers try to reassure customers that trying to prevent bed bugs is akin to trying not to be struck by lightning It can happen to anyone Were getting calls from rehab centers doctors offices and professional call centers accounts that we wouldnt have before he says Jeff King S10 November 2017 Pest Management Professional mypmp net
You must have JavaScript enabled to view digital editions.
