The number of leisure places in public and private areas is increasing. These places are very important for citizens and any pest infestation could deprive them of the leisure grounds and impose health hazards on their life as well.

Pests commonly encountered in leisure places mainly include mosquitoes, midges, wasps, termites, ants, urticating moths, centipedes and rodents.

Baguio has more than 20 years experience in managing leisure places such as playgrounds and gardens. Our integrated pest management can serve different types of leisure places including rest areas, playgrounds, sports venues, landscapes, gardens, etc. Our management approach mainly comprises the following steps:

• Identify pest hazards.
• Select appropriate control measures.
• Assess effectiveness.

Pest Hazards Identification

Our experienced pest management technicians will first identify the pest existence and the species concerned. They will then conduct surveys to find out the locations and causes oaaf pest infestation.

Control Measures

We will discuss and plan with clients for the most appropriate control methods after the pest infestation is identified. Since there are people visiting leisure places most of the times, chemical control will be at a lower priority to environmental control that can eliminate breeding grounds for pests. If avoidable, pesticides selected will fulfill the following criteria:

• Target specific.
• Non-toxic or with very low toxicity to human beings, non-target animals and plants.
• Formulations and dosages should be effective and appropriate.
• Less environmental polluting.

Control measures against common pests found in leisure places are outlined in the following paragraphs.

Mosquitoes and Midges

Biting mosquitoes and midges will cause nuisance to leisure grounds visitors. Accumulated waters are suitable for breeding of mosquitoes and midges. Midges can also breed in wet soils or organic matters in bushes.

• Environmental Control ------ Clear drain sludge; fill up holes in plants; fill up uneven grounds; clear rubbish, leaves and other debris from landscape; remove decay matters from soils; prevent over irrigation; trim overgrown vegetations.
• Chemical Control ------ Use B.t.i. or temephos to kill larvae of mosquitoes and midges. Fog adult habitats with pyrethroid insecticides to kill mosquitoes and midges.
• Mechanical Control ------ Install trapping devices near potential breeding places of mosquitoes and midges to reduce their populations.

Wasps

Attacks are usually caused by social wasps which build their nests on trees or external structures. Solitary wasps living in ground or tree holes may also cause nuisance.

• Environmental Control ------ Trim trees and turn over top soils regularly to prevent wasps from building their nests; clear garbage frequently to minimize wasp attraction; conduct inspections to locate and destroy newly built wasp nests.
• Mechanical Control ------ if necessary, install wasp bottle traps to catch adult wasps in minor infestation.
• Chemical Control ------ Apply insecticides to kill wasps in nests and foraging wasps in the surroundings simultaneously.

Termites

Termites feed on cellulose materials in woods and often attack and damage landscape structures such as trees, fences, frameworks, benches, etc. Beside economic loss, damaged trees and structures could threaten the life of visitors in leisure places.

• Environmental Control ------ Clear wood debris regularly; conduct tree and structure inspections regularly to detect any signs of termite activities.
• Preventive Monitoring ------ Install EXTERRA^TM termite baiting system at high-risk areas to monitor any termite activity. Apply bait with pesticides to eliminate the termite colony when infestation is detected.
• Chemical Control ------ Beside the EXTERRA^TM baiting system, contact insecticides can be used to prevent or kill termites but this method is less effective than the baiting system.

Ants (including Red Fire Ants)

Ants, red fire ants in particular, would damage plants, soils and facilities in leisure places. Red fire ants may also bite and sting people. Ants would build their nests in grasslands, tree trunks, underneath rocks and leaves, crevices, etc. while red fire ants normally nest deep under grasslands and pavements.

• Environmental Control ------ Clear rubbish, vegetations, debris, etc. regularly; fill up crevices; and conduct inspections to detect any ant infestation.
• Chemical Control ------ Mainly use slow-acting poisonous bait to let worker ants bring the bait back to the nest to kill the colony. For foraging ants, apply residual insecticides along ant trails.

Urticating Moths

The body of urticating moth larvae bears hairs and toxin glands. The hairs and toxin are irritating and would cause itching, pain and inflammation to skin of the contact person. The scales and hairs of some adult urticating moths are also carrying toxins. Urticating moths usually pupate under the topsoils.

• Environmental Control ------ Trim bushes and clear moth pupae from soils regularly; conduct regular inspections to detect any infestation.
• Chemical Control ------ Apply pyrethroid insecticides to kill larvae on plants.
• Mechanical Control ------ If necessary, use black light to attract and trap adult urticating moths.

Centipedes

The centipedes that may harm people are Scolopendrids which have a pair of claws with toxin glands. Scolopendrids like to live in groups at hill slopes and roadside bushes. They are most active at night from 8 to 12 pm.

• Environmental Control ------ Clear bushes, leaves and debris regularly; conduct inspections to detect any infestation.
• Chemical Control ------ Apply residual insecticides to infested areas.

Rodents

Rodent problems in leisure places are usually caused by Norway rats. They like to make burrows as harborages and for breeding in flowerbeds, grasslands, tree bottoms, etc. Rats will leave the burrows and search around for food and water. They will also bite and damage plants and structural materials.

• Environmental Control ------ Clear garbage and weeds; trim bushes; fill up holes and crevices in walls, etc.; and conduct regular inspections to detect signs of rodents.
• Mechanical Control ------ Use fresh bait and cage traps to catch live rodents.
• Chemical Control ------ Install bait boxes with poisonous bait at infested areas and affix warning notices at conspicuous places.

Assessment

We will conduct monitoring surveys and assess the effectiveness of control measures.

• Records shall be properly maintained. During the pest management, we will make records for planning, monitoring, control measures implementation, etc. Details include locations, dates and times, weather conditions, field situations, pest infestation status, effectiveness of control, and difficulties encountered, etc.
• A full report on the assessment will be prepared for clients’ reference.

To learn more on Baguio Pest Control Services, please contact us.