Pests in Food and Housing Environments Dini Miller, Ph. D Urban Pest Management Specialist Virginia Tech Department of Entomology Always at Risk Restaurants, schools, shelters, corporate dining, hospitals, food courts, basically any non resident cooking facility is at risk for a wide variety of pests. Large amounts of food being brought in on trucks and in other vehicles. Usually a lot of interaction with the outdoors to get to the dumpster, loading dock etc. Always at Risk Many employees and their belongings Complicated environment Lots of food/waste Lots of moisture Lots of food storage Lots of paper storage Warm temperatures How do Pests Get IN? Access Plumbing or electrical conduit Brought in Open doors and windows Getting under doors Steam tunnels Holes in the building 1
All Pests Need Food Grease Crumbs Half a meat ball A french fry in the drain Fermenting juice on the floor Garbage Cockroaches feeding on rodent bait Moisture Recycling Mops Drains Sinks Spills Condensation Ice Toilets All Pests Need All Pests Need Harborage Dry storage Pallets Cardboard boxes In between stacked paper products In appliances On back of dishwasher door Under trash cans on the floor Anything that has not been moved for a awhile In food, fruit or stored grains Most common Pests of Commercial kitchens 1. Flies 2. Cockroaches 3. Rodents 2
Inspection Equipment Flashlight Knee pads Poking device Extendable Mirror Camera Compressed air Means of magnification Drain brush Willingness to crawl along on your belly through some filth!!! Ask Questions What is the process for receiving and disposing of food (supplies)? How much of the day or night ihtare the dock kdoors open? Has this building ever been remodeled? Are there voids left from the old design? Ask Questions Have they ever had plumbing problems? How old is this carpeting? Upholstery? Are planter boxes hollow underneath? Are building lights attracting ti spider food? Does the staff turn off all lights after closing (including fly lights)? Keep this information in mind as you inspect. The Front of the House Always inspect the front when taking on a new account What you find may surprise you May give you clues to problems in the back Turtle Pond 3
The Front of the House Back of the House Do you have good access for inspection? Back of the House Clutter Cardboard Items that have not moved in weeks Back of the House surfaces fairly clean, walls are not 4
Back of the House Back of the House In Back of the Back of the House In Back of the Back of the House Field mice??? 5
In Order of Filthiness Flies are the Number 1 Pest Drain flies (inside) Fruit fly Phorid fly Moth Fly Filth flies (outside) House or Bottle flies Why can flies walk upside down? Pulvilli The pulvilli are pads of adhesive hairs in between the tarsal claws. Allow flies to stick to surfaces Filth Flies If these are in a commercial kitchen, there is a filth problem! Breeds in fermenting fruit or juice. Larvae feed on microbes in decaying material. Outdoors they breed in decaying fruit Indoors, will breed in drains, on mops, in garbage, in hollow table legs, where grout is missing in tiles, wherever fermentation is taking place Fruit Flies Drosophilidae Small fly: 3 mm in length Identified by the red eyes 6
Fruit Flies Look in quiet areas if breeding persists Suspend mouse glue traps in cabinets etc. with the glue facing downward add lemon as an attractant BASF 960 is a bright orange trap with a vinegar based attractant. Use near fruit bar fruit. IGR (Gentrol) formulations work slowly but stop the breeding. Moth Flies Psychodidae Often found in quiet restrooms. Breeds in the organic materials (slime) that develops inside drains that are infrequently used. Are not an irritating pest. They are simply present. Looks like a moth! Small fly: 3-5 mm Very large wings (for a fly) that are covered in dusty scales. Also called humpback flies and scuttle flies. Flies breed in decaying organic material. Often found in mortuaries Also breed in dead insect bodies, like ladybugs and cockroaches. In commercial kitchens persistent populations are an indicator of a major pipe failure. Phorid Flies Phoridae Looks like the back is hunched. Small fly: 3-4mm Phorid Flies Phoridae Beware of persistent infestations. If there was a pipe failure that has gone undetected sewage will create a large breeding area around the pipe. The area under the slab may need to be excavated even if the pipe has been fixed. Phorid flies are attracted to lights and will get into traps but traps are not a control method, you must find the source. 7
Sustainable Drain Fly Management Sanitation Keep food in sealed containers Dispose of overripe fruit No rodent bait indoors! Empty garbage frequently Clear garbage disposal Drain Cleaners Vigorous brushing!!!! Drain cleaner contains bacteria that eat organic material Indoor Fly Management Prevention Screen doors and windows Install air curtains Install plastic shield curtains for dock doors Keep dumpsters away (30 ) from doors Fly Management Mechanical monitor (not a control) Light traps with sticky boardsmake sure that employees do not turn these off at night. The more monitors the better! Fly Management Baits and Sprays But these are band aids you must keep flies out by exclusion!!! Do not hang electrical fly grid over food prep area Sex pheromone attractant in outdoor fly bait Timed release aerosol 8
Cockroach IPM 1. Monitoring 2. Inspection (in and out) 3. Pest identification 4. Population evaluation How many are there? Where are they located? 5. Decide which control methods to use 6. Monitoring to evaluate treatment 9
Cockroach Monitoring Collects information when the you are not there. Collects information when cockroaches are the most active (overnight). Monitoring Results 17 18 19 16 15 13 10 14 12 21 Kitchen 22 24 23 11 32 9 8 33 Food storage 31 30 29 20 25 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 26 27 28 IPM Control Strategies To be used simultaneously as part of a complete program. Sanitation (Exclusion) Monitoring Baits gels and stations Insect Growth Regulators Poor Sanitation Helps Cockroaches! A filthy environment provides cockroaches with numerous sources of food and moisture. Clutter provides cockroaches with numerous harborages. Lots of food, water and harborage will guarantee a thriving infestation. 10
Poor Sanitation Hinders control! Grease and dirt bind to insecticides. Clutter creates a complex environment so cockroaches may not encounter treatment. The presence of competing food/moisture sources reduce the bait effectiveness. Difficult to tell if your treatment is working. More Competing Food 11
Precision Targeting with Baits Many excellent baits available that cockroaches like to eat. We can control cockroaches with bait if we put it in the right place Take 2 squares of wax paper folded in into a triangle, put bait along the crease and put these envelopes under appliances What is this? Baiting is Challenging Hard to Place Enough Bait 12
How to Place More Bait How to Place More Bait Place it on Clutter Drinking Straws 13
Insect Growth Regulators Mimic Cockroach Hormones Gentrol Point Source Works by disrupting natural cockroach hormones so they do not develop into reproductive adults. Stops reproduction so as older cockroaches die there are no young cockroaches to replace them. Gentrol Point Source Active for 3 months after placement. Twisted wings of the IGR effected cockroach Insect Growth Regulators Translocation Spreads out from the area of application. Pesticide effects are specific to insects. No effect on peopleor or pets. Use as part of a complete program and continue monitoring to determine your success Sterile Cockroaches (above) Normal cockroaches (below) Mice are the single greatest rodent problem in most commercial kitchens and apartments House mouse and field mouse once it turns cold Rodents 14
Inspection and Monitoring Inspect at night when rodents are active 3D inspection for runways Use black light to look kfor urine Look for damage, droppings, and rub marks Use talcum powder to monitor for movement (tracks and tail drags) Sanitation and Exclusion Pull boxes and pallets from the walls to allow for inspection Clean up/ remove clutter Store food and potential nest material in sealed containers Keeps stored items on racks off the floor Close doors Install door sweeps Plug the holes Copper wool ¼ hardware cloth Stainless steel Remove brush from around structures to remove rodent runs Control Options Map the location of all control devices Glue Boards Snap Traps Secured and checked 24h T REX and Mini REX Live Traps Checked every 24h Be sensitive to the client No Baiting Indoors. Only use rodent bait outdoors, never indoors Do not use rodent baits if you can avoid it. Use block bait or grain bait outdoors Never use bait pellets or toss packs or leave bait loose in a station. Secure bait stations. 15
Some last points There is a wide variety of commercial kitchens and apartments facilities There are a wide variety of kitchen and apartment cultures You need to understand dthe culture you are working in You may have to teach clients what you mean by sanitation You will have to teach them about pests and why you approach pests the way you do Questions? 16