Table of Contents
Pests: Under ordinary conditions of nature, any creature, it may be animal, insect or plant, can only exist in such numbers as can succeed in evading natural enemies, in finding adequate food supply and in securing shelter and suitable conditions for breeding. If these conditions are disturbed, there is an immediate response in the survival rate-up or down. As the case may be, and in general it is only when the favourable factors-sometimes quite obscure and therefore, difficult to counter act-become excessive that the creature develops into a pest.
These considerations lead to an obvious deduction that if favourable factors can be traced and either removed or counterbalanced with unfavourable conditions introduced by human agency, a fair amount of control over the pest would soon be obtained, and this is exactly what is aimed in scientific pest destruction.
A Pest is an organism that competes with human, animals for food and water, damages structure, transmit diseases to humans’ wildlife and annoys humans.
Types of Pests
- INSECTS-COCKROACH, TERMITE, BEETLE, FLEAS
- ANTHROPODS-SPIDER, ANTS. TICKS
- RODENTS-RAT, MICE
- MICROBIAL ORGANISMS – BACTERIA
NOTE – A Species may be a pest in some situations and not in others.
Categories of Pests
- CONTINUOUS-Always present and require regular control
- CYCLICAL/ Sporadic – Which require control occasionally
- POTENTIAL-Do not require control under normal conditions but may require control in certain circumstances.
Importance of Pest Control
Pest control is made up of all the methods and practices of keeping pests away. Its application goes beyond what we usually know of it in homes. It is used in agriculture and in other vital industries.
Importance of Pest Control- Beyond its use in homes, pest management is very important for us for a number of reasons. Here are some of those reasons:
- One of the most important reasons why pest control is needed is because of health. Pests can bring diseases that can be quite serious. One of the most serious epidemics, the bubonic plague which caused millions of death in the World in Medieval times came from rats and other rodent pests. Cockroaches and other pests can also carry germs into their body. That should be your main concern when it comes to having pests in your home.
- Pests can have an impact on production and resources. This is the main reason why pest control is vital to in agriculture and other industries. Sometimes pests can be such a huge problem that they will seriously affect the production of one industry. They can wipe out production and bring it down to zero if they are not controlled.
- Aside from the damage that they can do to resources and production, they can also cause some serious damage to the existing structure and things. Sometimes the damage can be so severe that a whole structure would be rendered useless because of it, like in cases where termites have eaten away at a wooden structure.
- Then there is also the fact that pest control is needed in order to keep appearances. Whether it is a home or an office, having pests running around is never going to be a good thing. It would have to be taken care of.