Recently two individuals from Reliable Exterminators attended the 81st annual Purdue Pest Management Conference. Philip Patrie and Andrea Patrie spent the three days of the conference attending various lectures and demonstrations having to do with mosquito control, particularly relating to two specific species of the insect. One of these two mosquito species was the Aedes mosquito, which carries the Zika virus, with the other being the Culex mosquito, carrier of the West Nile virus. The differences in the habits of these two potentially-dangerous species mean that they don’t respond to the same treatment methods. The Aedes mosquitoes live under bushes and shrubs and feed during the day time, but the Culex mosquitoes live and nest in tree tops. So pest management companies need to take different approaches in their treatment methods for these two species of mosquitoes.
Another key topic of this year’s conference was in the treatments for bed bugs in multi-unit housing. It was suggested that full building inspections are needed in order to keep any bed bug infestation from spreading from one or two units, through the entire building unit. A
common problem is in individual tenants not reporting bedbug infestation in their own unit, and attempting to treat the problem on their own. This is a key reason why whole-building inspections are needed to stay ahead of any potentially spreading beg bug infestation.
This year’s conference was dedicated to Greg Campbell who is stepping down after chairing this conference of the past 16 years. This year is the 81st year that Reliable Exterminators has been represented at the conference. For many years, Andrea Patrie’s grandmother Phyllis Hanstra attended the conference, as well as her father, Bob Hanstra. Andrea is glad to be carrying on with her family’s tradition of attending these annual conferences because it helps the business to stay ahead of the latest and best methods of pest control.