Be nice to good guys, and you'll need less bug spray

By STACY STRICKLAND
Published July 10, 2007

The old adage that "a good bug is a dead bug" is antiquated, but ingrained ideas die hard. Each year, millions of innocent and beneficial insects die because of a few bad ones.

Why should anyone want to minimize their use of pesticides? Many of the answers can be tied to cost and the environment. Farmers have adopted "integrated pest management," which uses more than one method to control pest insects.

The integrated system is cost-effective for farmers. They identify problems and treat them as needed. For homeowners with a relatively small management area, cost is not a huge factor, but we are all stewards of the land.

Before World War II, insects were controlled by handpicking some of the larger ones, biological control, cultural control and chemical controls. After the war, we learned that nerve gases were quite effective on insects, and applied that knowledge for a growing country. The old-fashioned ways were cast aside for "better living through chemistry."

The insecticides we developed were effective, but killed the good guys and bad guys. One example, which was eventually phased out, was an organochloride called DDT.

Agriculture developed a near-dependence on synthetic insecticides from the late 1940s to the mid 1960s. During that time, agriculture shifted from small family farms to large-scale enterprises. Even into the 1980s, insecticides fit very well into agricultural systems because they were cheap, killed lots of bugs, were persistent and could be scheduled on a calendar basis.

Just as with many other aspects of life, however, we found that the old-timers knew a little more than they were given credit for. Agriculture returned to methods of control other than chemicals. This swing was based on a number of reasons, including pesticide pollution, resistance issues and pests reappearing in higher numbers. Integrated pest management was a new twist on age-old practices.

With IPM, we know that the bad guys are out there. It's impossible and impractical to kill all of them. But as long as the pest insects are below a level at which they don't cause monetary damage, they're tolerated. Keeping the number of bad guys low, not elimination, is the goal.

For example, you do not need to treat your lawn for chinch bugs at levels under 20 bugs per square foot. Under IPM, we maximize the use of biological controls, or "good bugs."

Another principle of IPM is the use of the most selective control agent. Some biological pesticides, such as Bacillus thuringiensis, will target only caterpillars. Remember, some of those ugly little caterpillars grow into beautiful butterflies.

The first step in control of any unwanted pest is accurate identification. Many times the good guys are killed because they're present on a plant that the pest insect damaged. Less than 1 percent of all insects are what we consider pest insects.

When committing to an IPM approach, you will need to know about the insect. At what life cycle stage does the insect damage your plant? At what stage are they most easily killed? Learn what the beneficial ones look like at all stages.

I once had a farmer ready to spray an insecticide to kill certain bugs that were "all over" his watermelon field. Turns out they were baby ladybugs. He recognized the adults but not the immature insect and almost wasted a lot of money destroying an insect that would help him control the real pests.

The next step is to weigh your control options. I typically make the analogy of IPM to a toolbox and the control measures to tools. Each tool has a specific use just as each control measure does. I compare the hammer to the chemical control. It's the tool of last resort. You wouldn't use a hammer to do the job of a screwdriver. Use chemicals only when necessary and READ THE LABEL!

Gentlemen - I'm speaking to guys like myself who don't like to read instructions - the label on your pesticide is not a set of guidelines. It is the law. More is not better. You can actually change the chemical consistency and reduce its effectiveness by not following directions precisely.

The final step in pest control is to determine the effectiveness of your method and make modifications to your actions if necessary.

If I can be of any assistance with identification of insects, weeds or plant diseases, please give us a call at 754-4433.

Stacy Strickland is a regional specialized extension agent-ag small farms with the Hernando County Cooperative Extension Service.

[Last modified July 9, 2007, 23:18:51]