Pest Control

The Water Authority promotes environmentally sensitive pest control. If not properly applied, many traditional commercial pesticides can seep into the groundwater or run off into surface water, winding up at our water supply in Lake Mead. Environmentally sensitive pesticides also help protect our community's air quality, soil, animals and children.

Use these environmentally-friendly methods to get rid of pests in your yard and home:

Aphids

Aphids vary in size and color, but they all have a piercing mouth that sucks out plant juices. They usually live on the underside of leaves and in developing buds. They put out a sweet sap that attracts other insects, including ants. If you see a plant with a lot of ants, check for aphids.

Control: Add 2 tablespoons of Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap to 1 gallon of water and spray the bottom side of plant leaves. You can get Dr. Bronner's soap at a health food store. Another easy and effective solution is to wash aphids off with a high-pressure water spray. Aphids have a short life cycle and most will die before they cause more damage.

Ants

These common pests are prevalent in our desert.

Control: Place crushed dried lavender blossoms, powdered chalk or coffee grounds sprinkled around the house foundation to help repel the ants.

For inside the home, mix the following ingredients and spray in areas where you need to repel ants.

• 1/2 ounce Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap
• 1 quart water
• 2 drops garlic oil
• 3/4 teaspoon of isopropyl alcohol

For a long-term solution, create a feeding station with sardines or peanut butter. Once established, add boric acid to the bait. The ants will carry the boric acid to the queen. Once the queen is dead, the nest dies. Keep pets and children away from the bait.

Cockroaches

Cockroaches are hard to get rid of because they taste their food before eating it and learn to identify chemically treated baits.

Control: Cockroaches like our food, so eliminating access to food is one of the easiest ways to get rid of them.

Bait is very effective for getting rid of cockroaches. To make a boric bait, mix 1 cup boric acid, 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar. Add water to moisten, roll into balls and place behind appliances. Keep away from pets and children.

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Fungus Gnats

These pesky gnats are usually found buzzing around houseplants.

Control: Organic pyrethrum, found at nurseries, does a great job getting rid of these irritating pests from your houseplants. A good repellent is a mix of 1/2 cup Isopropyl Alcohol, 2 teaspoons dishwashing liquid and 1 quart warm water. Spray the mixture on the plants.

Leaf-cutter bees

Bees are important to plant pollination. This little bee is hairy and black, green, purple or blue in color with a metallic sheen to their wings. The damage they leave behind, clean circles or ovals cut out of the edges of a leaf, will not harm the health of the plant.

Control: Rather than kill it, discourage it with a spray of Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap and water on the leaf and flowers. Mix 2 ounces per 1 gallon of distilled water.

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Mosquitos

Mosquito bites can cause severe skin irritation, creating red bumps and itching. They also carry disease that are harmful to people and pets.

Control: There are hundreds of repellents on the market for mosquitos. An environmentally-friendly option is to bathe in Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap, found at health food stores. Mosquitos don’t like it!

The dragonfly and lizard are nature's way of controlling mosquitos. Introduce lizards to your landscape as a natural predator.

Rolly pollies

Also known as pillbugs and sowbugs, these creatures munch on decaying plant material. They are beneficial pests in your compost pile.

Control: Keep fruits off the ground. Drain wet areas. Make paper traps painted with a sticky coating such as Tanglefoot, fold tent-like with sticky side down. You also can sprinkle agricultural grade diatomaceous earth, which you can get at your local nursery, next to your house foundation.

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Sapsucker bird

These birds drill holes in trees and feed on the sap and insects attracted to the sap.

Control: To discourage sapsuckers from feeding on shade trees, wrap hardware cloth or burlap around the trunk or smear a sticky repellent material, such as bird tanglefoot, on the bark. You can find these materials at a nursery.

Skeletonizers

These small caterpillars eat the underside of a leaf, making it look pale and translucent between the ribs.

Control: A strong spray of water knocks them off the plant and they will die of starvation. Spray the plant weekly from May through July. A spray of Bacillus thuringiensis, found at nurseries, also is effective.

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Snails/Slugs

Snails have shells and slugs don't. They both leave a tail of mucus wherever they crawl. They are most active at night.

Control: Sprinkle ground cayenne pepper, crushed eggshells or agricultural-grade diatomaceous earth directly on the soil. Another option is snail and slug bait. Follow all label directions when using the bait and keep pets and children away.

Spittlebug

These are relatives of the cicada and have a foamy mass of spittle. Usually seen from mid-April to June, their favorite plants are rosemary, junipers and pines. Damage is minimal.

Control: Jet of water from the hose will usually take care of them.

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Tomato Hornworm

These large, green caterpillars can eat all the leaves of a tomato plant in one day. They are voracious eaters and live on the underside of leaves and stems.

Control: Till your garden well before planting to expose and destroy the pupae. In small gardens, hand-pick and destroy the caterpillars. Floating row covers can protect the plants. Insecticides containing pyrethrin rotenone, neem or carbaryl are effective. Apply all insecticides according to the label directions.

Tent caterpillars

Tent caterpillars are usually seen once they form a gauzy, web-like tent in the forks of tree and shrub branches. These caterpillars are orange to yellow and black with white dashes and leave their tent during the day to feed on foliage.

Control: Wind the tent onto a broomstick or dowel with nails projecting from it. Wear gloves and a long sleeve shirt as many people are allergic to these pests. You also can spray or dust the tent area with microbial control Bacillus thuringiensis, available at local nurseries. Apply all insecticides according to label directions.

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Thrips

These insects are so small that you generally see the damage long before you identify the insect. They suck out the contents of plant cells leaving silvery or bronzy speckling or streaks on leaves.

Control: Spray dormant oil on fruit trees. Encourage native predators such as pirate bugs, lacewings and ladybugs. Hang blue or yellow sticky traps to catch adults. Spray insecticidal soap, following label directions.

Whiteflies

Very small pests that look like scales or rice on the underside of the leaf. The adults look like small white moths. They feed in packs and will fly up in a "white cloud" when disturbed. Affected foliage may be speckled yellow and then curl and turn brown.

Control: Blue sticky traps hung among the plants work well. These pests don't like garlic, so blend 4 ounces of garlic and 8 drops of liquid soap in the blender. Then mix with water, using a 1 part of blended garlic to 10 parts of water. Spray the mix on the plants.

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