New Guide: Identifying Common Household Insects in Pennsylvania

Posted by on May 21, 2007

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Think you have a pest infestation, but don’t know what they are? A newly revised free publication from the Pennsylvania IPM program can help.

Identifying Common Household Insects in Pennsylvania aims to help homeowners identify common insects found in the home. Proper pest identification is the first step in making an integrated pest management (IPM) decision since very few types of insects are actually pests.

If you do have a pest problem, IPM “integrates” many management tactics for more effective pest management results. If pesticides must be used, only the least toxic products and formulations are chosen. IPM focuses on pest prevention by understanding pests’ habits and needs and removing conditions conducive to the pests. Once they have been identified, other sources of information can be used to determine the insect’s potential as a pest and how to control them.

Each insect identified in the guide includes a full-color image of the pest, some at various life stages. There are also short descriptions of each insect, including habits, where they are typically found, what they feed on and other descriptive information such as color and size.

Hard copies of the publication are available by contacting your local county Penn State Cooperative Extension office. Their contact information may be found in the Blue Pages of the phone book or on Web site http://www.cas.psu.edu/directory/. The publication is also available as a downloadable PDF file from Web site http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/UF021.pdf.

For gardeners trying to identify what six-legged creature is damaging their tomatoes and other garden plants, PA IPM’s publication Identifying Vegetable Insect Pests in Pennsylvania can help them find the answer. Targeting the home gardener, the guide includes pictures and descriptions of vegetable pests commonly found in gardens and flower beds. The publication is available as a downloadable PDF file from Web site http://paipm.cas.psu.edu/pdf/vegpests.pdf.

More information on how to best manage these pests can be found at PA IPM’s Pest Problem Solver Web site at http://paipm.cas.psu.edu/problemSolv.html

The Pennsylvania IPM program is a collaboration between the Pennsylvania State University and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture aimed at promoting integrated pest management in both agricultural and urban situations. For more information, contact the program at (814) 865-2839, or visit Web site http://paipm.cas.psu.edu