Physical Control of Insect Pests

Alternatives to Chemical Control of Insect Pests

“…Indeed, the cornerstone of an effective IPM program is prevention, which can be achieved, in part, through physical control. Physical control strategies include methods for excluding pests or limiting their access to crops, disrupting pest behavior, or causing direct mortality (Vincent et al, 2009). Physical control methods can be categorized as active and passive (Vincent et al, 2009).…”

“…Pneumatic control involves removing pests from crops by use of a vacuum or blower and subsequently destroying them. Field crop pests such as Colorado potato beetle and lygus bug have been controlled in this manner, although care must be taken to avoid negatively impacting natural enemies (Vincent et al, 2003(Vincent et al, , 2009. Another example of mechanized destruction is the entoleter, an impact machine that is used in mills to remove and kill all life stages of insect pests (Vincent et al, 2003).…”

“…Physical control strategies include methods for excluding pests or limiting their access to crops, disrupting pest behavior, or causing direct mortality (Vincent et al, 2009). Physical control methods can be categorized as active and passive (Vincent et al, 2009). Active methods involve the removal of individual pests by hand, pruning out infested plant tissues, and rogueing out heavily infested plants.…”

“…Heat has been shown to be a very effective control method for bed bugs, which are difficult to control and are becoming more prevalent in domestic dwellings worldwide (Pereira et al, 2009). A wide variety of stored product pests can be controlled by pumping hot or cold air into the food storage facility, or modifying the storage environment with elevated temperatures and carbon dioxide (Vincent et al, 2003(Vincent et al, , 2009). Hot-water immersion, flaming, steaming, and solar heating are other thermal control options (Vincent et al, 2003).…”

“…Vincent et al (2009) list several strategies that inflict mortality on pests including freezing, heating, flaming, crushing, and irradiating. One of the most common mechanical methods requires no specialized equipment -many gardeners derive great satisfaction from hand picking pests from a plant and crushing them.…”