Integrated Pest Management in Schools and Day Care Centers: Tips on Monitoring
West Virginia rules for Integrated Pest Management in Schools and Day Care Centers requires monthly monitoring for pests before pesticides can be applied. The initial inspection of the facility will give the pest manager a good idea of pest-prone locations where monitoring traps should be placed.
A knowledge of the habits of the pest in question is helpful in knowing where to place monitoring traps. For example, German cockroaches stay in narrow crevices and travel along edges where horizontal and vertical surfaces meet (for example, where the floor joins the wall).
Here are some tips on setting up a monitoring program:
- Place traps as close to likely insect harborage sites as possible.
- Try to place traps along likely insect runways. Note that horizontal placement is often more effective than vertical placement.
- Traps placed inside cabinets or behind appliances are more likely to be effective and less likely to be destroyed or discarded.
- Place enough traps in an area to cover all possible harborage sites. For small kitchens and storage areas, six to eight traps should be sufficient. For large commercial or school kitchens, 10 to 20+ traps may be required.
- The "complexity" of an area may dictate whether you need to place relatively few or many traps. For example, a storage area that contains a lot of shelves, boxes, and other items will require more traps than an empty room of the same square footage.
- When you first begin monitoring in an area, you should place enough traps to locate all of the pest's harborage sites. Pay special attention to food storage areas, damp areas, and kitchen areas. Avoid placing traps in areas where they are likely to get wet or to pick up dust and dirt.
- After you have pinpointed harborage areas, your control efforts can be directed toward these spots. You should require fewer traps for follow-up monitoring after treatment.
- Use data gathered from traps to assess the problem. If only adults are captured, the population is probably breeding elsewhere. If nymphs are captured, the trap is likely close to a harborage site.
- If insects are found at only one end of a trap, the harborage is likely on that side as well. If insects are on both sides, harborages are possible on either or both sides of the trap.
- Number and date each trap you put out. Record on a "monitoring diagram" where traps are placed and indicate on it where new traps are placed or delete traps that have been moved.
- Don't forget that West Virginia law requires a copy of the monitoring diagram to be placed in the IPM file in each school or day care center.
Prepared by Jason S. Rulen and Dr. Peggy K. Powell (ppowell@ag.state.wv.us)
Compliance Assistance Program
Pesticide Regulatory Programs, Plant Industries Division
West Virginia Department of Agriculture
Gus R. Douglass, Commissioner
David E. Miller, Deputy Commissioner
