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The
Indian Meal Moth
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The Indian Meal moth is one of the household
nuisance pests commonly called a flour moth. You are familiar with these if 1)
you open a box of hot cereal mix and it has worms that are about ½ inch long,
white or possibly pinkish or greenish or 2) you see medium-size moths, roughly ¾
inch from wing tip to wing tip that are gray or reddish brown. They can be
found even in the dead of winter. They can be found in cereals, nuts, dried
fruits, pet food birdseed and many other products. |
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Oh, oh – time to clean house!
Clean shelves and storage bins. Inspect all food and food in
packages and containers. Toss out everything infested. Vacuum
the shelves – sucking out all of the corners and cracks. Follow
with a good scrubbing. Bleach won’t help; it’s murder on
bacteria and fungi – but insects pay little attention to
bleach.
Store your food in
containers that close tightly. Those thin plastic bags like
supermarket produce bags can be eaten through easily – don’t use
them for storage. Rotate your foods and inspect occasionally
used items frequently. For long-term storage use the freezer.
A new tool for use against
pantry pests are pheromone traps. These are available for
specific pests. They contain an attractant in a sticky trap
which lures the in insects and traps them. Monitor your traps
and when insects are spotted, check your cupboards for the
source. For examples of the types of traps you can buy, go to
www.doyourownpestcontrol.com.
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VOLES
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Identification:
Voles, also called meadow mice or field mice, belong to the genus
Microtus. Voles are compact rodents with stocky bodies, short legs,
and short tails. Their eyes are small and their ears are partially hidden.
Their underfur is generally dense and covered with thicker, longer guard hairs.
They are commonly brown or gray, though many color variations exist. |
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Habitat:
Voles occupy a wide variety of
habitats. They prefer areas with heavy ground cover of
grasses, grass-like plants, or litter. When two species are
found together in an area, they usually occupy different habitats.
Though voles evolved in "natural" habitats, they also use habitats
modified by humans, such as orchards, wind breaks, and cultivated
fields, especially when vole populations are high.
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Food
Habits: Voles eat a wide
variety of plants, most frequently grasses and forbs. In
late summer and fall, they store seeds, tubers, bulbs and
rhizomes. They eat bark at times, primarily in fall and
winter, and will eat crops, especially when their populations are
high. Occasional food items include snails, insects and
animal remains. |
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Damage
and Damage Identification:
Voles may cause extensive damage to
orchards, ornamentals, and tree plantings due to their girdling of seedlings and
mature trees. Girdling damage usually occurs in fall and winter.
Field crops (for example, alfalfa, clover, grain, potatoes, and sugar beets) may
be damaged or completely destroyed by voles. Voles eat crops and also
damage them when they build extensive runway and tunnel systems. These
systems interfere with crop irrigation by displacing water and causing levees
and checks to wash out. Voles can also ruin lawns, golf courses, and
ground covers.
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Damage
Prevention and Control Methods: Before
undertaking control, consider the extent of the problem in relation to the cost
of control. For example, a few voles could damage a highly valued
tree or flower bed and demand control.
At other times, they may go nearly unseen, making control unnecessary.
Reducing the suitability
of habitat for voles lessens the likelihood of potential damage. High vole
populations cannot become established without food and protection from
predators. Grass and weeds can be controlled around young trees and shrubs
through cultivation, herbicides and mowing. Normal cultural practices used
in establishing windbreaks, orchards and other woody plantings often are
successful in reducing vole habitat and potential population highs.
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Exclusion
methods: Place woven wire or hardware cloth cylinders around
individual trees or shrubs, or around flower beds. Again, the cylinder
should be tight to the ground or buried slightly, but should extend higher than
the maximum snow depth in winter, including drifts. Where rabbits also are
a potential problem, the height should be at least two feet above the snow
depth, if possible. When making the cylinder, overlap the edges at least
one inch and fasten securely so gaps do not form that could admit voles.
These cylinders should last about five years, so make them large enough in
diameter to accommodate expected trunk growth if they remain in place during the
growing season.
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A cylinder of hardware cloth or other wire mesh to
protect trees from vole damage.
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Cultural
Methods and Habitat Modification:
Eliminate weeds, ground cover, and
litter in and around crops, lawns and cultivated areas to reduce the capacity of
these areas to support voles. Lawn and turf should be mowed regularly.
Mulch and leaves should be cleared 3 feet or more from the bases of trees.
Damage to lawns can be reduced by close mowing in the fall before snow arrives
and by mowing and removing tall grassy cover near lawns. To repair damage to
lawns from runway construction, rake, fertilize and water the affected area.
Close mowing and weed control in grassy borders adjacent to agricultural crops
will reduce the habitat for voles and should reduce damage. If suitable, plant
crown vetch (a legume unpalatable to voles) in orchard and field boundaries to
reduce vole populations.
Soil tillage is helpful
in reducing vole damage as it removes cover, destroys existing runway burrow
systems and kills some voles in the process. Adjacent crop fields can be
cost-effectively protected by controlling vegetation through mowing, spraying,
or grazing.
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Repellents:
Repellents utilizing thiram (also a fungicide) or capsaicin
(the "hot" in chilies) as an active ingredient are registered for meadow voles.
These products may afford short-term protection, but this has not been
demonstrated. Check with your state pesticide regulatory agency for
availability.
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Toxicants:
Zinc phosphide is the most commonly used toxicant for vole control. It
is a single dose toxicant offered in pelleted grain bait formulations and as a
concentrate. Zinc phosphide baits generally are broadcast at rates of
6 to
10 pounds per acre or are placed by hand in runways and burrow openings.
Zinc phosphide baits are potentially hazardous to ground-feeding birds,
especially waterfowl. Placing bait into the burrow openings may reduce
this hazard.
Anticoagulant baits are
also useful in controlling voles. Anticoagulants are slow-acting toxicants
requiring from 5 to 15 days to take effect. Multiple feedings are needed
for most to be successful. In many states, one or more anticoagulant baits
are registered for controlling voles.
Check with your state pesticide
regulatory agency for availability.
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Predators:
Important predators of voles are short-tailed shrews,
badgers, coyotes, foxes, bobcats, owls, and some snakes. Predators will not
likely keep an orchard vole-free, but they can help reduce the vole population.
Orchardists should tolerate predators and protect them if they do not form a
pest problem.
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100 meadow voles
per acre destroy about 4% of an alfalfa crop, which amounts to about 1,000
pounds per acre over 7 months.
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Populations of 1700
voles per acre in Washington State apple orchards decreased production by 35%.
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Voles have a very
short gestation period of 21 days. After less than 40 days, females are
sexually mature. With up to 12 litters a year and litter sizes of up to 10,
voles can increase in number very rapidly.
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There are 23
species of voles in the United States.
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You MUST
have a current ISDA/USDA pesticide license to purchase Zinc Phosphide, as
required by law.
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Read and Follow ALL label directions!
All
information in this article is from the book "Prevention and Control of
Wildlife Damage--1994", author John M.
O'Brien, Agriculture Programs Coordinator, Nevada Department of Agriculture,
Reno, NV 89510
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