- Author: Cheryl Reynolds
Are you in need of some last-minute CEUs for 2022? We're pleased to announce that a new online course on runoff and surface water protection is available and offered for free. If you are a pest management professional working primarily in structural pest control or landscape maintenance, then this course is for you! Developed by pest management experts from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation and the University of California, this course presents information on the Surface Water Protection Regulations that are found in Title 3 of the California Code of Regulations sections 6970 and 6972. These regulations were put into place to prevent pesticide runoff into California waterways and to reduce surface water contamination from pyrethroid insecticide use. In this course, you'll learn about the types of pesticide applications that are allowed under the regulations as well as application types that are prohibited and also application types that are exempt. The course takes a close look at pyrethroids, particularly bifenthrin because of its high use in urban areas, high detection in surface waters, and high toxicity to aquatic organisms. Fipronil, another commonly used ingredient in structural and landscape products, is addressed in the course as well because it has similar water-quality concerns as the pyrethroids. Specific label restrictions of bifenthrin and fipronil products in California are also discussed.
The Urban Pyrethroid and Fipronil Use: Runoff and Surface Water Protection course has been approved by DPR for a total of 1.5 continuing education units (CEUs), including 0.5 hour of Laws and Regulations and 1.0 hour of Other; and by the Structural Pest Control Board (SPCB) for 1.5 hours of Rules and Regulations.
UC IPM currently offers 22 other online courses with continuing education units from DPR. Many of our courses are also credited by the California Structural Pest Control Board (SPCB), Certified Crop Adviser (CCA), the Western Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture (WCISA), and the Arizona Department of Agriculture.
In addition to our newest course, this year we are offering another course for free: Providing IPM Services in Schools and Child Care Settings.
Don't forget that if you are a license or certificate holder with the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) and your last name begins with the letters A through L, then this is your year to renew. DPR encourages all license holders to send in renewals as soon as possible. If you have specific questions about renewal with DPR, please see their new Licensing Renewal Information page.
Do you have general questions about our online courses and DPR and SPCB CEUs and want them answered live?
Join us on Zoom December 6. Drop in anytime between 3 and 4pm (PST).
https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/98437300331?pwd=R0s4NklJZjBpeU5neVlva2lYV3Y2Zz09
Meeting ID: 984 3730 0331
Passcode: 532183
[From the Spring issue of the UC IPM Green Bulletin]
Argentine ants can be a damaging ant pest species in both agricultural and urban environments in California. Outdoors, they disrupt biological control by tending honeydew-producing pests and protecting them from natural enemies. Argentine ants are also common invaders of urban residential settings, making them the nuisance ant species most often treated by pest management professionals (PMPs).
Application restrictions
In an effort to reduce pesticide runoff, in 2012 the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) issued restrictions for pyrethroid use on hardscapes by licensed professionals. In addition, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved new label amendments in April 2017 for fipronil products that will significantly change the way PMPs can apply fipronil in outdoor settings for Argentine ant control. While it is not yet known how these new changes will reduce off-site pesticide contamination, it is a good time to start investigating effective alternatives for ant control.
Improving baiting
Baiting with sugar-based liquid baits has been shown to be an effective control method for Argentine ants but requires bait stations to store and dispense the bait. Bait stations can be expensive and labor-intensive to maintain. To overcome these challenges, a group of researchers at UC Riverside—Drs. Jia-Wei Tay, Mark Hoddle, Ashok Mulchandani, and Dong-Hwan Choe—developed a natural hydrogel matrix to deliver liquid ant baits (Figure 1). The use of hydrogels may allow practitioners to apply liquid bait directly to the surface of the ground where ants forage without the need for a bait station.
What is hydrogel and how does it work?
Beads of alginate hydrogel, derived from seaweed, were mass-produced using a modified shower head nozzle (view the 11-minute video at youtu.be/NVMql2xClBk or the 36-second video below). The hydrogel beads were conditioned for 24 hours in a liquid bait (25% sucrose solution with a small amount of the insecticide thiamethoxam). This amount of thiamethoxam is significantly less than the percentage found in current commercial ant bait products. The highly absorbent hydrogel acts as a controlled-release formulation that keeps the liquid bait available and palatable for an extended period. The team determined the hydrogel's properties such as water uptake and water loss characteristics, pesticide intake, and the acceptance by foraging Argentine ants. In small-scale laboratory tests, the hydrogel bait provided excellent control against all stages (e.g., workers, brood, and queens) of the Argentine ant colony within 14 days.
Field results and future uses
To determine the efficacy of the alginate hydrogel bait in urban areas, it was field-tested around residential homes in the summer of 2016 (Figure 2). Argentine ant activity levels were estimated by consumption of a sucrose solution put out in monitoring vials over a 24-hour period. Based on the monitoring data, hydrogel bait containing 0.0001% of thiamethoxam provided a 79% reduction in ant activity eight weeks after treatment.
In 2017, the team coordinated field trials to evaluate the effectiveness of alginate hydrogel baits in controlling Argentine ant populations in commercial citrus groves. While this bait delivery system is currently only experimental, the research team hopes to find a pesticide manufacturer interested in commercializing this patent-pending technology to provide a highly-efficient, low-impact outdoor baiting option for Argentine ants and other sugar-seeking pest ant species.
/span>- Author: Ryan Krason
Hey Bloggers,
A new PSA from our Healthy Garden Healthy Home program is available via our YouTube Channel. It describes what a watershed is, how it works, and how pollutants like pesticides and fertilizers make their way to the ocean.
As you can imagine, these toxic substances can have a huge impact on the plants and animals they come in contact with along the way. They also have an impact on our own lives. For those who have seen the warning signs posted near stream outlets at the beach, this video will provide a little insight into just how important we are in protecting and preserving the quality of water in our watersheds. So please enjoy and feel free to share this link.
CE San Diego
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Researchers who studied runoff from agriculture, sewage treatment plants and urban neighborhoods found that the main source of pesticide concentration was from urban run-off, according to an article published in the Daily Californian. Portions of the American River and San Joaquin River contain pesticide levels high enough to kill some invertebrates, such as gadflies and mayflies.
"On the source side of things, urban run-off consistently has pyrethroids at levels that are toxic to some organisms," the story quoted Donald Weston, a UC Berkeley biology professor and co-author of the study. The study was published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
The researchers found that nearly all residential runoff samples had pyrethroid levels that were toxic to the test organism, Hyalella azteca. Pyrethroids are found in many common household insecticides - such as Raid.
Weston told the Californian that the prevalence of pyrethroids in household insecticides was due in part to a ban on organophosphate insecticides in such products. Pyrethroid use has increased about three-fold over the last 10 years, he said.