colorado coalition for school ipm newsletter · dirty dishes were piled in the sink as well as food...

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Colorado Coalition for School IPM Newsletter | March 2017

Inside this issue: Featured School: St. Vrain Valley

School District

Featured Agency Partner: EPA Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Program

Pest of the Month: Indoor Ants

Current Pest Sightings

Colorado Coalition for

School IPM Newsletter

March 2017

CCSIPM School District Spotlight:

St. Vrain Valley School District -

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

By Kent Holle

In the summer of 2015, the St. Vrain Valley

Schools operations team received a report that

an insect that looked like a small cockroach

had been spotted in the teacher’s lounge of an

elementary school.

“I don’t ever remember having a cockroach

problem in any of our schools at any time, and

surely thought it was another kind of insect

that someone thought looked like a

cockroach,” said Kent Holle, IPM Technician.

During the initial investigation, the

responding staff member surveyed the space -

a small room with a table, chairs, counter, sink,

dishwasher soda machine and refrigerator.

Dirty dishes were piled in the sink as well as

food crumbs on the counter and open food

containers. Monitoring traps were set to see if

any the team could collect any evidence of a

cockroach infestation.

When the monitoring traps were checked

the next day, all six traps were full of German

cockroaches. As the investigation continued,

hundreds of cockroaches were found

underneath the refrigerator. The floor was wet,

as was the inside area underneath of the

appliance. Upon further inspection the ice

maker line had a slow leak and was creating a

perfect harborage with the heat of the motor

and pump.

“The moisture from the ice maker line, as

well as the dirty dishes and food scraps on the

counter made the perfect environment for an

infestation,” said Kent. (continued on pg. 2)

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growth regulator were also used.

The population was closely monitored over

the next couple of weeks, with significant

population decreases seen each day.

“Finally, with 6 monitoring traps set, I came

into 1 cockroach on those traps one morning,

and then none,” said Kent. “And hasn’t been

one since.”

Since the outbreak, the school staff and

faculty have kept the lounge very clean and

the custodian has expanded this strategy into

other areas of the school. For example, they

keep all areas of the school clean and order

clean trash dumpsters when the current ones

become very dirty. These things have helped

with reducing other pest issues such as flies,

yellowjackets and mice.

“I cannot stress enough, the effectiveness

of the cooperation of the custodial staff at this

school, the ownership they took, as well as all

the other staff in getting this situation under

control,” said Kent. “One person would never

have achieved these results.”

Points to Ponder

IPM is NOT hanging an IPM sign on your

door or title and saying you implement

IPM.

IPM is NOT a one-person job.

IPM is NOT hard to do.

IPM is training, communication and

cooperation. You may still have to use

some pesticides, but generally at a greatly

reduced level.

IPM is a culture change – it takes everyone

to contribute. One person storing

unprotected food in a facility will bring

pests in.

Happy pest controlling!

(continued from pg. 1) “Who knows how they

got in there in the first place, but we knew we

needed to take action.”

The school custodian met with the

operations team and decided on an IPM

strategy to get these things under control. The

first thing was to deep clean the room. All

shelves, clutter and dishes were cleaned and

disinfected. The area underneath the sink, was

also de-cluttered and cleaned. Teachers and

staff were instructed by the custodian to not

leave any dirty dishes in the sink and be

mindful of what they leave behind. The

refrigerator was removed at once and replaced

a little later on.

“The next day when I returned it was

awesome how clean this room was.” said Kent.

“It was pretty interesting to see that just these

few integrated pest management steps really

put stress on this cockroach population – they

were in disarray already.”

As the team continued to work on

eradicating the insects, some pesticides were

used after the initial cleaning, in addition to

some crack and crevice treatment for walls

and under sinks. Bait stations and an insect

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Colorado Coalition for School IPM

Agency Partner Spotlight -

EPA Indoor Air Quality (IAQ):

View EPA’s On-Demand Professional

Training Webinars to Gain Buy-In

From School Personnel!

Contributed by Clyde Wilson, Assistant Regional

School IPM Coordinator, EPA Region 8

Here’s what a school

district representative

has to say about these

online trainings:

Acquiring Knowledge:

“I thought I had a good

understanding of

indoor air quality (IAQ),

yet in every webinar,

the presenter has given at least one more thing I

want to add to my program. Before attending

the webinar series, we had several segmented

programs related to IAQ management, which

were maintained by different departments. Now

we collaboratively meet and work with everyone

who is involved with IAQ management and have

created one master plan for everyone to use.

Before, we were good at assessing and

remediating IAQ issues, and now, we are

continually improving our prevention practices.

In addition, the knowledge we have gained has

given us much more validity.”

To learn more, view Healthy Schools, Healthy

Students: Taking Action to Improve IAQ in Your

School District.

Converting Knowledge into Action: “The knowledge we have gained has helped to

empower us to make the case with teachers and

others to improve buy-in. As an example,

explaining how air fresheners aren’t allowed

because they can trigger asthma has helped

teachers understand that it’s about children’s

health.”

To learn more, view Making the Case for

Environmental Health, Academic Performance

and High-Performing Facilities.

Buy-in from everyone is critical to a

successful IAQ management program: “To gain buy-in, I used the webinars to provide

tailored education unique to each staff member

by showing specific clips from the webinars. In

addition, if a staff member had a specific

question, I was able to refer to the webinars and

add validity to my answer because this is what

EPA was showing in their webinar.”

To learn more, view Better Together: Gaining

Buy-In for Optimal Ventilation.

DID YOU KNOW?

After viewing the IAQ Knowledge-to-Action

Professional Training Webinar Series, 70 percent

of the webinars’ attendees thought their

knowledge of IAQ management best practices

and technical solutions had increased!

http://links.govdelivery.com:80/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTcwMzA4LjcwODU4MTkxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE3MDMwOC43MDg1ODE5MSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3MTc2NDY0JmVtYWlsaWQ9d2lsc29uLmNseWRlQGVwYS5nb3YmdXNlcmlkPXdpbHNvbi5jbHlkZ










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Current Pests:

What Are You Seeing?

Statewide

Ants: Field ants forage in homes for sweet materials.

(Exception: High Country Areas)

Boxelder bugs: Active inside buildings.

Clover mites: Migrations of mites from lawns into

buildings may begin during warm days.

Cluster flies: Active in buildings.

Firewood insects: Emerge inside buildings if firewood is

brought in.

Ips (engraver) beetles, twig beetles: These bark beetles

may be active during warm periods. Recently transplanted

pines may need protection. Pinyon Ips may attack new

trees at this time; preventive insecticides should be

applied before trees are attacked.

Millipedes: Movements into homes occurs following wet

weather.

Nightcrawlers: Tunneling during spring can create lumpy

lawns.

Oystershell scale: Scrape scales with eggs off limbs of

aspen, ash, and other host plants.

Vole injury: Tunneling injuries in lawns and girdling of

shrubs may be evident as snow melts.

Arapahoe, Douglas, & Elbert Counties

Carpet beetles: Some species of carpet beetles are

noticeable in spring when they transform to adults.

Conifer seed bugs: Active inside buildings.

Flickers: Males are actively drumming on buildings and

defending territories during mating season.

Poplar twiggall fly: Larvae begin to leave galls and pupate

in soil at the base of trees.

Southwestern pine tip moth: Adults begin to emerge from

pupae at the base of trees.

Spider mites on conifers: Spring activity of spider mites on

junipers, pines, arborvitae and spruce increase during

spring.

Subterranean termites: Winged adults of the aridland

subterranean termite fly in late winter.

Swallow Bugs: Overwintered swallow bugs become active

in anticipate of returning migrant birds and bite humans.

Eastern Plains Counties






Winged termites: Winged reproductive stages continue to

swarm in late winter.

El Paso & Teller Counties






Spider mites on juniper: Platytetranychus libocedri

populations may begin to increase on arborvitae.





Tiger moth: Tents and actively feeding larvae may be

observed in pinyon and juniper.

Winged termites: Winged reproductive stages of the

aridland subterranean termite fly in late winter.

High Country Areas




Fungus gnats: Adults commonly are observed around

windows and around the soil of potted plants where they

originate.





Spider mites on juniper: Platytetranychus libocedri

populations may begin to increase on arborvitae.





Pueblo & Fremont Counties







Southwestern Counties

Bullpine sawfly: Overwintered larvae may be observed

feeding on older needles of ponderosa pine.


Swallow bugs: Overwintered bugs become active in

anticipation of returning migrant birds and can bite

humans.



Tri-River Counties



White pine weevil: Adults may be expected to be laying

eggs around this time.



Source: http://bspm.agsci.colostate.edu/outreach-button/

insect-information/ (Yard/Garden Insect Calendars)

Photo: Julid millipede

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Featured Indoor Pest of the Month:

Indoor Ants

By Whitney Cranshaw, CSU Professor & Extension

Specialist. Article reposted from CSU Extension

Fact Sheet No. 5.518.

Almost anywhere in the state one travels, ants will

be the most common insects that can be found in

yards, gardens, fields, and forests. Most ants found

indoors in Colorado are merely foragers, seeking food

or water in a building, but returning to colonies they

have established outdoors. A small number of the

ants found indoors may become more permanent

residents and establish a nest within a building. This

ability to nest indoors is most often associated with

pharoah ants; some colonies of pavement ants and

carpenter ants may establish within a building.

Pavement ants are often the most common species

that people notice.

The first and most important step to reducing

problems with ants occurring in buildings is to

eliminate sources of food and water that are

attractive. In addition to obvious sources of food left

on counters, sinks or floors, spilled food in cupboards

and food associated with trash baskets may also be

visited by foraging ants. Dripping faucets and leaking

pipes may also be important water sources that ants

will use. Also, if ants have been foraging in a building,

wash down counters or floors with some household

cleaner to eliminate the odor trails the ants have

established to locate sources of food or water.

Most ants found in buildings nest outdoors,

sometimes adjacent to building foundations. Keeping

the area around the building foundation free of cover

(mulch, leaves, etc.) can reduce the likelihood of ants

foraging indoors. Insecticides can be useful to control

ants and a wide range of ant control products are

available. These are primarily used either to: 1)

generally suppress ant numbers in a yard; 2) establish

perimeter barriers around a building; 3) spot treat

foraging ants found in buildings; or 4) incorporate

into baits to kill colonies.

Most ants that occur within homes originate from

outdoor colonies. An insecticide barrier maintained

around the building perimeter can inhibit much of

this activity. Such treatments are generally applied as

sprays or dusts to the soil immediately adjacent to

the building and/or the lower areas of walls.

Particular attention should be given to areas where

ants are known to be able to enter buildings, such as

near foundation cracks or windows. However, such

treatments will not be able to well control ants that

enter buildings through below ground openings in

building foundations. Essentially, all such perimeter

treatments involve insecticides of the pyrethroid

class and these typically may persist to control ants

for a week to around a month under outdoor

conditions.

Use of ant baits

will usually provide

the most satisfactory

control. This strategy

involves use of

acceptable food into

which a small

amount of an

insecticide is incorporated. The ants feed on the bait

and return it to the colony where it is shared with

nest mates. The types of insecticides used for baiting

ants are very different than those used as sprays.

Boric acid, borax and arsenic trioxide are some of the

older insecticides used as baits. Steps to take for

effectively using ant baits: clean up areas of the

home to deny ants alternate sources of food, fix

water leaks and other sources of moisture, avoid

using other insecticides that might deter ants visiting

the baits, choose an ant bait that is acceptable to the

type of ant found in your building, place the bait in

an area that is visited by ants, and replace ant baits if

they dry out or are consumed.

Effects of ant baiting usually start to become

apparent within a week or two after they are begun.

Under optimum conditions the ant colony may

ultimately be eliminated by a bait program.

Homemade ant baits are sometimes prepared. These

involve incorporating a small percentage (ca 5-10%

by weight) of boric acid or borax with some

acceptable food. Since feeding preferences of ants

vary, test several foods to see if they are visited.

Among the commonly available foods accepted by

ants are either sweet materials, such as honey or

apple jelly, and/or greasy, protein rich materials, such

as peanut butter. If these baits are made, they must

be applied in a manner so that pets or children

cannot reach them.

For more information, visit: http://

extension.colostate.edu/docs/pubs/insect/05518.pdf

Pavement ants visiting mint apple jelly.

http://extension.colostate.edu/docs/pubs/insect/05518.pdf

http://extension.colostate.edu/docs/pubs/insect/05518.pdf

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Additional Resources

Video: Reducing Disinfectant Exposures

in the Workplace (*a must view for facility

and custodial staff!)

https://youtu.be/rfkzHv40Pz0

The Funnies

Credits

Editors: Pierce Hansen, CEPEP; Thia Walker, CEPEP;

Clyde Wilson, U.S. EPA Region 8.

Design & layout: Pierce Hansen

“Pest of the month” and “Current Pest” photos:

Whitney Cranshaw, CSU Professor & Extension

Specialist

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to post a message to the entire group! Simply

write a message to [email protected]!

Did we miss something? See an error?

Please contact us at: [email protected]

http://cepep.agsci.colostate.edu/

(970) 491-3947 (Below) Comic by Gary Larson, The Far Side ©

https://youtu.be/rfkzHv40Pz0

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