Disinsection or insect control

Insects have the highest diversity of all organisms. There are more than 14 000 species in Lithuania. Insects include herbivores, omnivores, predators and parasites. Disinsection is therefore sometimes necessary. Insects are the most abundant class of tracheal respirators. They are omnivorous, land-dwelling, ubiquitous, with only a few in water, but they breathe atmospheric oxygen.

Many insects do not pose a risk to humans, but there are a number of insects that can cause serious health problems for people and animals and damage to your property. The most common insect pests are cockroaches, flies, ants, mosquitoes, lice, fleas, fleas, moths, gnats, etc. It is important to understand the dangers and know how to protect yourself and others.

WHAT IS DISINSECTION?

Disinfestation is the control and elimination of flying and crawling insects. Disinfestation involves the monitoring, repelling and eradication of insects using specific methods and tools.

When disinsectisation is carried out, the personal and environmental safety rules and the requirements specified on the product labels must be strictly observed.

The frequency of disinfestation in facilities depends on the degree of contamination, the effectiveness of the chemicals and preparations and the results of monitoring. The infestation of the facility with arthropods shall be determined using traps and sticky paper.

The sticky traps shall be numbered and stored overnight. After a day, they shall be checked and collected. The number of arthropods caught by each trap shall be counted and the number of arthropods divided by the number of sticky traps. A facility shall be considered highly infested if 10 or more arthropods are found clinging to the trap per day. A low infestation shall be considered if less than 10 arthropods are found adhering per day.

BEFORE DISINSECTION IS CARRIED OUT

• Test the site for insect infestation beforehand;
• Identify the species of arthropods;
• Identify and define insect localities;
• Determine the cause of the presence of arthropods in the facility;
• Evaluate the pathways and causes of their spread.

Depending on the type of insect, the size of its population and the sanitary status of the facility, different control measures can be chosen. In any facility, control measures should range from the least hazardous to humans, domestic animals and the environment to the most hazardous.

DISINSECTION AGENTS

Mechanical control agents for arthropods shall be selected according to the species of arthropod, and chemicals and preparations according to the active substances, taking into account the specificities of the site. In fact, not only mechanical means but also all other means and methods must be selected according to the arthropod species.

Similarly, preparations are not only selected on the basis of the active ingredients and the specificity of the object. This choice also depends on the type of insect.

Disinfestation measures are preventive and destructive. The aim of preventive measures is to create unfavourable living and breeding conditions for insects and to prevent them from entering the premises.

Cleanliness, personal hygiene, correct storage of food and waste, and the tightness of rooms, doors and lids are essential for preventive measures.

FLYING INSECTS AND THEIR ERADICATION

Window screens are used to protect against flying insects. Eliminating the breeding sites of harmful insects is an important preventive measure.

The abundance of insect species and the diversity of their biology determine the method of eradication – biological, mechanical, physical or chemical. The greatest effect is achieved by not limiting oneself to any one of them, but by using several methods at once.

DISINSECTION METHODS

Disinfestation is carried out by mechanical, physical, chemical, biological methods, by spraying, coating surfaces with insecticides, repellents, attractants, fumigants and insecticidal baits.

Mechanical disinfestation is used to trap insects by cleaning, shaking, vacuuming, as well as with special traps and sticky paper (flies). Physical disinfestation involves the use of high or low temperatures, special electric heating apparatus, boiling and heating, hot air and steam to kill insects.

A chemical method of disinfestation where arthropods are killed with chemicals – insecticides. More than 600 different insecticides are known worldwide. Insecticides can be sprayed as various solutions, suspensions, emulsions, some in microcapsule form. They can be incinerated, powdered, aerosol treated, or incorporated into bait. Insecticides act on insects by dissolving in or coming into direct contact with cells.

BIOLOGICAL METHOD OF DISINSECTION

The tools of the biological approach are natural enemies, sterile males, pheromones, juvenile hormones, pathogenic microorganisms. Most insects have a variety of natural enemies that limit their numbers.

Birds of prey prey on insect larvae, caterpillars, aquatic invertebrates, birds and fish kill mosquito larvae. Laboratories sterilise male insects by exposing them to X-rays and gamma rays.

After mating with such males, the females either lay sterile eggs or develop sterile offspring. Large numbers of sterile males can greatly reduce or even eradicate a particular insect species. This can be successfully used to reduce the population of acorns, which attack livestock and humans, as female acorns lay eggs only once.

THREE INSECTICIDES

Insecticides are divided into three groups according to their mode of entry into the insect’s body: respiratory (fumigants), which enter the insect’s body along with the air it inhales; enteric insecticides (which enter through the gastrointestinal tract and disrupt the insect’s normal bodily functions); and contact insecticides, which kill the insect through direct contact (it is sufficient for the insect to touch the poison with the external body coverings of the body).