March 2014 

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

     



 

 

SPMAO Call for Nominations  

Deadline for Submission: March 21, 2014

SPMAO is currently seeking nominations to serve on its 2014-2015 Board of Directors. SPMAO members may nominate any qualified active member as a candidate for the Board of Directors. Such nominations shall be made by emailing Dominique Stumpf, SPMAO Executive Director, no later than March 21, 2014.

 

Questions? Call 800-461-6722
 

 

Notice of Annual General Meeting

Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the members of the Structural Pest Management Association of Ontario (SPMAO) will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn Toronto, Vaughan on Tuesday, April 15, 2014 at 10 a.m., followed by lunch.

 

The following matters will constitute an agenda:

  1. Call To Order   
  2. Treasurer's Report 
  3. President's Report 
  4. Board of Directors Election   
  5. Such other business as may properly come before the meeting (please send any agenda requests to spmao@pestworld.org by April 11, 2014)

Please RSVP your attendance to the AGM by email to spmao@pestworld.org by April 7, 2014.  

 

By Order of the Board
STRUCTURAL PEST MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION OF ONTARIO 


Sandy Costa
SPMAO President

 

 

Feasibility of Licensing Wildlife Control Operators Report 

The City of Toronto's staff report on the Feasibility of Licensing Wildlife Control Operators is now available here.

Council members will discuss the report and make a decision during the meeting of the Licensing and Standards Committee on Tuesday, March 18th in Committee Room 1, City Hall.

If you want to make your views known to Councillors, you can submit comments or request to speak during the Committee meeting. For more information on this process, click here. 

 

Register Today for Pest Management Canada 

The Canadian Pest Management Association and the Association Québécoise de la Gestion Parasitaire, in conjunction with the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), are proud to present Pest Management Canada 2014 - three days of networking, education, exhibits, and your opportunity to meet with fellow pest management professionals from across the country.

March 20-22, 2014
Fairmont Mont Tremblant
Mont Tremblant, Quebec

Click here to view the educational program.
Click here to register today! 

 

Oriental Cockroaches in Ontario

The oriental cockroach, Blatta orientalis, was introduced to Ontario decades ago and has managed to persist since then. You may only rarely encounter oriental cockroaches, but being able to identify and understand them can be quite helpful when you are inspecting a structure. Oriental cockroaches have a uniformly dark brown body and pronotum and an overall greasy sheen to them. Females (3 cm) of this robust species are slightly larger than males (2.5 cm), but wings are the best way to tell males and females apart; males have ¾ length wings, while females have only wing pads. Given the reduced wings, it is no surprise that oriental cockroaches can't fly. The length of the wings is a useful feature to help separate this species from other cockroaches that you may encounter.  

 

This species is unique as it prefers to live in cold and damp environments.

Oriental cockroaches are usually found at or below ground level and are common in basements, sewers, crawlspaces, and outdoors in dumps, mulch, animal enclosures, and under wood. These environments offer decaying organic matter and biotic slime that these roaches love to eat. They also don't have a lot of competition from other insects in these cold places. Oriental cockroaches are poor climbers and have a sluggish disposition in general. This may be attributed to the cold and damp environments in which they live, because insect activities levels are generally lower at colder temperatures. In addition to being inadvertently carried into homes in bags and boxes, these cockroaches often gain entry to structures through doors, windows, service ducts, and structural cracks and crevices.  

 

Adult oriental cockroaches usually do not live more than a half year. However, this does not mean that this is a short-lived species. Due to living in a cold environment, development is slow, taking a year or two for an oriental cockroach egg to develop into an adult. Oothecae are reddish brown to black, less than a 1.25 cm long, have only 8 segments (containing 16 eggs), and are dropped or glued in areas where they are protected by debris.  

 

Oriental cockroaches can harbor a variety of food-borne pathogens, in addition to the usual problems caused by having pests in the home. A combination of moisture reduction, sanitation, harborage removal and chemical control strategies is the best approach to controlling an infestation of these cockroaches. Their preferred habitat may keep them out of sight for homeowners, but be on the lookout for oriental cockroaches when you're inspecting a structure.  

 

New Garlic-Based Mosquito Product Registered for Use in Canada   
PCT Magazine, March 4, 2014 

Upper Canada Organic Products, Toronto, Ont., Canada announced the issuance of the Canadian Pesticide Registration for Mosquito Barrier. The active ingredient is 100% garlic juice. Mosquito Barrier is labeled to repel mosquitoes from outside areas such as backyards, parks and campgrounds. Read more...