PMU Focus

By: Faith Oi, foi@ufl.edu As other parts of the U.S. head into Fall, we still have a couple more months of summer in Florida and the rest of the Southeast! Hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 1 and it has been an active weather year. If you live in an area that is home to “floodwater mosquitoes” as well as “standing water mosquitoes” or “container breeding mosquitoes,” you will need to adopt an Integrated Mosquito Management strategy (IMM). Some facts that may help you to persuade customers to adopt IMM: “…one female floodwater mosquito has the potential to lay 200 [...]

By: Paul Mitola When applying termiticide treatments to structures with existing infestations it is IMPERATIVE to properly identify a couple of things: 1. The type of termites (Subterranean, (native or invasive), or Drywood) that you are treating. If you misidentify the termites your treatments may not be effective, and you could be in violation of Chapter 482 or Chapter 5E-14. 2. The type of structure (foundation) crawl space, or slab type; monolithic, floating, or supportive. If you don’t get this correct your treatments may fail, and you could be in violation of the termiticide label requirements, which is State and Federal [...]

It is a somber Easter weekend as I write this newsletter. The death toll due to COVID-19 in the U.S. alone is 29,604 and 108,862 worldwide. There are 529,887 confirmed cases in the U.S. and 1,777,517 confirmed cases worldwide.We hope that you are well, healthy, and working safely. Every business and every person must decide on the level of risk they are willing to take while working in the age of COVID-19. The federal guidance document listing “exterminators” as an essential service is exactly that--guidance. It does not require us to work, but this designation recognizes the importance of pest control [...]

The situation with COVID-19 is rapidly changing. Please check back with us by liking us on Facebook (@PMUNews), Twitter (@PMU_News), or subscribing to the newsletter (email foi@ufl.edu) PMPs are critical to protecting public health. Arthropod and vertebrate pests do not decrease because we have a human crisis. In fact, they may become more serious problems. We are heading into mosquito, tick, flea, termite, ant, and stinging insect season all at once due to our mild winter. A couple of years ago I did a series titled "What the World Would Look Like Without Pest Control." We don’t have to go down [...]

I receive many questions from Pest Control Operators (PCO) about issues that they are not sure of. For example, I had a question from a PCO about a separate office space that he was using for storing chemicals. He wanted to know if he had to have a Certified Operator at that location. Based on the definition in Chapter 482.021(2) Business Location means an advertised permanent location in or from which pest control business is solicited, accepted, or conducted. Therefore; I told him that he did not need to have a Certified Operator at that location because it is not considered [...]