Pest Control Myths vs. Reality: What Jersey City Homeowners Need to Know

Myth: Insect baits work because they are “brought back to the nest.”

Reality: For ants-100% true. The worker ants feed the bait to the pupae who act as the stomach of the colony, the pupae die and the colony starves. For the reason, slower acting bait works best. For roaches-Total Myth! There is no "nest" to go back to and secondary poisoning from necrophagy or coprophagy cannot be counted on. This is why lots of little placements work best.

Myth: Placing rodent baits in an area currently without rodent activity will attract rodents. 

Reality- 50% Myth/ 50% Truth. While Rats can smell foods over a significant distance, in urban environments the competition of scents hampers the ability greatly.  House mice do not have the same olfactory capabilities and suffer from the same limitations of the urban environment.  Mice actually tend to move to new places via population displacement instead of food source questing.  In both cases, should a bait placement attract a rodent of either type, that rodent bait will result in feeding  on that bait and death.

Myth: Pheromone traps work well as a control tool for pest control programs. 

Reality: 90% False.  The majority of pheromone traps are based on sexual attractants which are emitted by the female to attract the male.  Females do not get caught in these traps so there is no population control effect in the long run.  There are very few traps that use aggregation pheromones which would work on both males and females.

Myth: Only bees pollinate plants. 

Reality: 100% False. While bees do a large amount of pollination, any insect that feed on nectar or pollen will pollinate plants. We have butterflies, moths, flies, mosquitoes, gnats and midges (among many others) to thank for our plant life. 

Myth: Insect Growth Regulators have no effect on adult insects

Reality: 70% False. IGRs are designed for exposure early in an insect’s lifecycle where they disrupt molting, development and mating viability, sometimes resulting in insect death as a direct cause. When an adult insect is exposed to an IGR they still have notable effects, most importantly increasing movement leading to greater exposure to residual products and increased appetite increasing bait consumption. 

Myth: Bats control the mosquito population.

Reality: 97% False. Bats fly at night, the mosquitoes that bother humans (and spread disease most) are the Aedes genus, which are day biters. Bats primary food targets are moths and night flying beetles which are significantly larger than mosquitoes. 

Myth: Spider and Centipede control requires both interior and exterior application.

Reality: 50% False. Centipedes range very far looking for prey and have no problem moving in and out of structures through cracks and crevices, requiring interior and exterior application.  Web spinning spiders do not move beyond the area their webs are in unless migrating, treating the webbing and adjacent areas will suffice.  Active hunting spiders tend to have specific prey and hunting environments so their likelihood of moving from inside to outside is unlikely.   

Myth: “I saw one bug, I need a treatment”

Reality: 50% False. Theres plenty of times you might be exposed to insects without actually having an established infestation, think of “just one that came in with a delivery”.  Also there’s a slew of occasional invaders that make their way inside accidentally.  On the other hand, seeing even one bedbug or flea (disease transmitting parasites) would require immediate treatment. 

Myth: “I saw one roach so I probably have other bugs, can’t you just come and treat for everything?” 

Reality: 100% False. Having one type of pest does not expose you to other pests.  Since many control methods are species specific, “treating for  everything” would require multiple types of treatment methods and products, needlessly increasing costs and chemical exposure. 

Myth: Bed Bugs only bite at night

Reality: 100% False. Bed Bugs become active when respiration slows and there has been no activity in the room for several hours.  They have no problem adjusting their activity cycles to your sleeping patterns.  If you work night shift, they’ll still get you. 

Myth: Mice love cheese

Reality: 70% False. Mice are in search of energy (calories) and by that they are looking for the highest concentration of calories available so anything with a high fat content is on the menu.  They also have a bit of a sweet tooth (sugar means easy energy) so high fat items with a bit of sweetness are ideal.  Peanut butter, slim jims, cake frosting and even mayonnaise are all high on the list. 

Myth:  Bed Bug bites can spread disease

Reality: 95% False.   Despite EXTENSIVE laboratory testing for the last two decades, bed bugs are not able to transmit almost any disease.  The only recorded exception to date is Chagas Disease which is not endemic to the Northeast United States. 

Myth:  “I’m seeing bees and wasps, there must be a nest nearby” 

Reality: 80% False. Bees, wasps and hornets are very active foragers that go a long way in search of pollen (bees) or prey (wasps & hornets).  Just because they are moving in and around your home does not mean a nest is nearby. 

Myth: You can chose to “wait it out” and the pests will leave once there is no more food available. 

Reality: 100% False. In almost all cases of commensal pest activity they are getting by on what we forget to clean up, in other words we’re adding to their food supply on a daily basis without even realizing it. 

Myth: Spiders and centipedes are “Bad” insects

Reality:  100% False.  Let’s begin at the beginning, neither spiders nor centipedes are classified as insects, spiders are arachnids and centipedes are chilopods, a class that evolutionary predates the arrival of insects.  Next, both of these bugs are predators and eat other insects, which means they might actually be good to a certain extent.  Lastly, they can be unsightly and even a little spooky, so any “good” or “bad” connotation you attach to them is purely an aesthetic determination by you. 

Myth: Plug in devices (ultrasonic repellers) keep pests away. 

Reality: 100% False. First of all, a great majority of insects are without tympanic membranes (eardrums, so to speak) and can only sense vibration, not sound.  Time and again studies on sound repellents, both ultrasonic and audible are performed on rodents with results coming out the same: after a brief acclimation phase, its back to business as usual.   

Myth: Bugs are all inherently filthy creatures

Reality:  90% True.  By human standards, most insects certainly are filthy.  The majority of insects do have grooming behaviors but they are still the product of their behavior and biology.  Some of the more evolved insects like ants and bees have a very high level of sanitation within their colonies.  But any insect that lives in the soil or roots through the trash will be exposed to pathogens, germs and debris.  Ugh, don’t even get me started on flies. 

Myth: “I think this is the same mouse as last year! I feel like I’m being targeted, do mice hold grudges?” 

Reality: 100% False. Mice, like the overwhelming majority of lesser, creatures are devoid of emotion as they simply do not have the intellectual capacity to experience anything beyond basic instincts.  As for the “same mouse as last year” thought, mice only live about a year, usually significantly less due to the harshness of their environment.  And last years mouse isn’t going to stay with his parents for a few months then come back to you, it’s just a different mouse.  The only thing targeting you as far as mice are concerned is the same attraction and access that other mice have had in the past. 

Myth: Insects are dumb, they only know how to look for food and reproduce. 

Reality: 98% True. Insects have no central nervous system and therefore no ability to process thought. Their interaction with the world is entirely instinctual.  There have been some tests to show that insects can be trained to certain tasks (take bomb sniffing bees- yes, it’s totally a thing, google it) but those training methods are designed to force certain instinctual reactions when confronted by certain stimuli; think of Pavlov’s Dog. 

Myth:  “I don’t see any, so that must mean I don’t have any”

Reality: 100% False. Simply put, EVERY infestation begins at a below detectable level.  As the infestation grows, it will become detectable at some point, triggering a response.  Conversely, not everyone is exposed to pests or have the conditions to create or support an infestation.  So, there’s an overwhelmingly high chance that if you’re not seeing pests, it’s simply because you don’t have any.