Urban Insect Pests: Sustainable Management Strategies - Urban Insect Pests: Sustainable Management Strategies - page 6

As 'green' is synonymized with a clean
and safe environment, there is an urgent
need to protect consumers from being
misled. It is time for consumer protection
and regulatory bodies to take note of this
indiscriminate event. Efforts to move
towards standardization are being sought by
the pest control industry. The National
Pest Management Association's (NPMA)
GreenPro Accreditation or private certifi -
cation resources such as GreenShield
Certifi cation are examples of such efforts in
the USA. This accreditation and certifi cation
under the word 'green' does not mean that
pesticides will not be used but it is a step
towards rationalizing pesticide use. An
example of the scope of the NPMA Greenpro
compliance is:
1. Employ a comprehensive, environmen-
tally friendly approach when treating a
property.
2. Investigate the source of the prob-
lem - and eliminate it - before applying
pesticides.
3. Apply pesticides only when necessary.

inhibited the acquisition of knowledge on
pests, and has kept the introduction of
sustainable technologies, tools and methods
such as integrated pest management (IPM)
away from common practice. Chemical
sprays are often indiscriminate, miss the
source of the infestation and are at times
unnecessary. As the restriction on indoor
insecticide usage and the evidence of
insecticide resistance are growing, an
increased emphasis is now placed on lure-
and-kill control methods. Lure-and-kill
methods are effective in controlling small,
low-density, isolated populations, and also
in eradication programmes of invasive
species by being inverse density dependent
(El-Sayed et al ., 2009). Consequently, lure-
and-kill technology, using insecticides and
non-insecticides, has become increasingly
popular and is widely used in pest control
programmes. This trend is most noticeable
in the current industry. As a result, there is
a fl urry of activity in manufacturing baits,
traps and devices to fi ll the growing
industry.
The pest control industry is sustained on
eliminating pest infestation from homes
and buildings. But most pest control actions
never address possibilities of future infest-
ations and leave gaps for easy re-infestation.
With improved designs, modifi cation of
environment and public awareness, pest
infestations will reduce considerably and
the role of practitioners will shift more
towards keeping human habitats away from
pest invasion. Practitioners' action will
move into monitoring goods and items
getting into buildings and treating infest-
ation outside the building. Their future role
would be to inspect and monitor and run
programmes as auditors.

Conclusion

Pest control is predominantly an art and
requires a dynamic mixture of skill and
knowledge to practise. The dominant work
involved in pest control is, however, the
industry-formalized insecticide spray.
The insecticide spray using poison satiates
the human anger and revulsion towards
invading pests and has remained acceptable
among practitioners and consumers alike.
It is cheap and provides immediate relief.
The popularity of the chemical spray

References

Cottee, P. (2004) Green light: a holistic view; a review of the literature and research on the attraction of
insects to lights of different wavelengths. Available at: http://www.technosa.ch/IOC/insect-O-Cutor/
green_light.pdf (accessed 15 June 2013).
Dhang, P. (2011) A retrospective analysis of structures infested by subterranean termites in Philippines. In:
Robinson, W.H. and de Carvalho Campos, A.E. (eds) Proceedings of the Seventh International
Conference on Urban Pests. Instituto Biologico, Brazil, pp. 183-188.
Diclaro II, J.W., Hertz, J.C., Welch, R.M., Koehler, P.G. and Pereira, R.M. (2012) Integration of fl y baits,
traps, and cords to kill house fl ies (Diptera: Muscidae) and reduce annoyance. Journal of
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