1 WHAT’S BUZZING? News from the World of Pest Management IN THIS ISSUE President’s Pen 1 From the Editor 3 Member wins Prestige’s Award 5 Improved Asthma Outcomes 8 Cockroach Baiting Program 9 Ant Communication 12 News Bites 14 NEW ZEALAND NEWS The Seven Big Questions 15 MPI Glueboard Update 20 Technical Hints 21 P M A N Z PO Box 133215 Eastridge Auckland 1146 New Zealand Free phone: 0800 476 269 (0800 4PMANZ) Email: [email protected]Website: www.pmanz.nz PRESIDENT Steve Hunn [email protected]EXECUTIVE SECRETARY Denise Faulkner / Jo Wright [email protected]PRESIDENT’S PEN – STEVE HUNN Happy New Year to all members It’s great to start the New Year with a success story! PMANZ wishes to recognise and extend our congratulations to PMANZ member Amalgamated Pest Control (Fiji) in winning the 2016 award for Excellence in Business Leadership. The Prime Ministers International Business Awards celebrates Fijian business success by providing an opportunity for Fijian businesses to benchmark perfor- mance, build capability, inspire to innovate, showcase service excellence, sup- port job creation and boost employee morale. As such we congratulate Mr. Mohammed Tazim to be the first to win “The Prime Ministers International Business Award for Excellence in Business Leadership”. The Excellence in Business Leadership Award was presented to Mr. Moham- med Tazim who has shaped his business in Fiji through steadfast leadership, vision, tenacity and dedication; being a true leader and role model for other companies. This award was created to honour and recognize the dynamic, in- spiring and visionary men and women who create the products, services and jobs that help our economy and communities grow. This award indicates the many significant achievements of Mr. Mohammed Tazim, applauding him for taking the road less travelled - to launch new companies, open new markets and fuel job growth. You can read all about it in the newsletter on page 5. At the time of writing, the council has yet to have its first meeting for 2017. How- ever, an important item on the agenda is work to be completed with the feasibil- ity of moving the Level 3 NZCPO qualification towards becoming the new train- ing qualification for commercial use of Class 9 pest control products in lieu of the approved handlers certificate (which will fall under the umbrella of the new EPA Hazardous Property Control Notice). Watch this space! That’s it for now! Best wishes Steve February 2017 •Volume 10 No. 1
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WHAT’S BUZZING? · the following awards in 2016 as well: Amalgamated Pest ontrol – Prize Level award for the Fiji usiness Excellence Award 2016 Hygiene & Sanitization Services
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WHAT’S BUZZING? News from the World of Pest Management
PMANZ is pleased to announce that we will have the renowned former All Black, Frank Bunce open our con-ference deliberations on Thursday 24 Au-gust, so make sure you are there to hear his story. Frank Eneri Bunce
(born 4 February 1962) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player and current coach. He played international rugby for both Western Samoa and New Zealand in the 1990s, appearing in the 1991 and 1995 World Cups. He played in four interna-tional matches for Samoa and 55 for New Zealand (the All Blacks). Bunce was born in Auckland, New Zealand and
attended Mangere College. He has two daugh-ters, Samantha and Victoria, and three sons, Chance, Jordan and Joshua. He is the great neph-ew of Sir Robert Rex, the premier of Niue,[1] and a direct descendent of King George III. In addition to the wonderful line of speakers al-ready confirmed we will also have our own local Entomologist Dr Gene Browne talking to us in his humorous way about different treatment applica-tions. He is the principal consultant at Bioscien-tific Solutions and specialises in medical entomol-ogy, marine biology, biostatistics, fresh water and terrestrial ecology, biosecurity and quarantine work. Full details of the finalised programme, registra-tion and hotel accommodation will be posted to the PMANZ website later this month – ensure you follow through to secure your place at the PMANZ 2017 Conference and AGM.
L to R - Representative from Golden Manufacturers the Sponsor of the Award; Mr. Mohammed Tazim (Managing Direc-
tor of Amalgamated Pest Control Fiji); The Attorney-General and Minister for Economy, Mr. Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum ; CEO
of Investment Fiji Mr. Godo Muller - Teut
The Prime Ministers International Business Awards celebrates Fijian business success by providing an opportunity for Fijian businesses to benchmark performance, build capabil-ity, inspire to innovate, showcase service excellence, support job creation and boost em-ployee morale.
As such we congratulate the Managing Director of Amalgamated Pest Control, Fiji, Mohammed Tazim to be the first to win “The Prime Ministers International Business Award for Excellence in Business Leadership”. Excellence in Business Leadership Award The Excellence in Business Leadership Award sponsored by Golden Manufacturers is presented to an individual who has shaped the business world in Fiji through steadfast leadership, vision, tenacity and dedication; who is a true leader and role model for other companies. The award is created to honour and recognize the dynamic, inspiring and visionary men and
women who create the products, services and jobs that help our economy and communities grow. The Excellence in Business Leadership Award was presented to Mr. Mohammed Tazim who has shaped his business in Fiji through steadfast leadership, vision, tenacity and dedication; being a true leader and role model for other compa-nies. This award was created to honour and recognize the dynamic, inspiring and visionary men and women who create the products, services and jobs that help our economy and communities grow.
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This award indicates the many significant achievements of Mr. Mohammed Tazim, applaud-ing him for taking the road less travelled - to launch new companies, open new markets and fuel job growth. This was the first year that the award for Excel-lence in Business Leadership was given out and a Pest Control Company. It has picked up and boosted the industry profile in Fiji and the Pacific. This is something very unique. Mr. Mohammed Tazim’s companies have won the following awards in 2016 as well:
Amalgamated Pest Control – Prize Level award for the Fiji Business Excellence Award 2016 Hygiene & Sanitization Services (Fiji) LTD – Commitment to Business Excellence at the Fiji Business Excellence Award 2016 Mr. Tazim’s companies have been consistently winning these awards since 2013 making this the First Pest control company to win the award for Fiji Business Excellence Award in Fiji. More information can be found on http://www.iba.org.fj/
humans. With the increasing preference for the use
of insecticidal baits in the control of these species,
this Insight reviews recent scientific studies with re-
spect to cockroach behavioural responses to feeding
and foraging strategies, to enable professional pest
managers to optimise their control programs.
Control of B germanica using the fundamental ele-
ments of IPM (inspection-guided baiting) has been
proven to significantly reduce cockroach populations
compared with conventional residual spray treat-
ments, but correct application techniques and a
sound understanding of cockroach foraging behav-
iour is paramount for success.
CREATING EXCELLENCE IN COCKROACH BAITING PROGRAMS
Cockroach baiting has over recent times become the primary method of control in urban cockroach manage-ment programs. Cockroach baiting offers a precise, targeted solution that employs significantly lower levels of toxicant, in keeping with the principles of Integrated Urban Pest Management. It is also perceived as offering a lower risk approach to pest management.
Whilst many think of cockroach baiting as a rela-
tively recent strategy, following the introduction
of the first gel bait in Australia in 1997, baiting of
cockroaches in fact dates back more than a centu-
ry. The first commercial bait was sold in 1896 in
the UK and USA, and consisted of phosphorus
added to a sweetened flour paste. Prior to that,
DIY baits consisting of one part plaster of Paris
and 3-4 parts of flour were widely used.
Since then, a range of active constituents have
been employed in cockroach baits in Australia
including boric acid, chlorpyrifos, hydramethyl-
non, abamectin, imidacloprid, fipronil, and in-
doxacarb. A range of sophisticated bait formula-
tions are also now available in the market includ-
ing the now ubiquitous gel baits, a liquid micro-
encapsulated bait, granular baits, and a dry flowa-
ble magnetic powder bait.
Compared to residual spray formulations, cock-
roach baits are generally less toxic and leave less
residues, since they are applied in low doses di-
rectly to cockroach harbourages or areas of
known cockroach activity. Consequently, they
tend to be favoured in sensitive environments
such as zoos, child-care facilities, electrical/
computer areas, and food premises. A further re-
ported benefit is that baiting for cockroaches
does not harm beneficials in the environment,
thus enabling the conservation of oothecal parasi-
toids of cockroaches, e.g. nematodes and fungi
(Suiter, 1997). Though it is questionable whether
this would present a sound marketing basis for
baiting programs!
For a bait to be attractive when placed in urban
areas with a number of competing food sources, it
must contain nutrients that are both limited and
unique in the environment. The nutritional value
of foods has a very significant impact on cockroach
development and reproduction. Given the relative-
ly simplistic nerve structure of cockroaches, with
the brain a supra-oesophageal nerve ganglion
(cluster of nerves) formed by the fusion of three
pairs of ganglia; it is surprising to learn that cock-
roaches are actually able to ‘self-select’ the nutri-
ents they require to correct nutrient deficiencies
that arise from feeding on unbalanced food
sources.
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Carbohydrates are mostly consumed during the first week after hatching, i.e. during the first sta-dium (instar), with lesser amounts required in each subsequent stadium. In contrast, protein is required during all life-stages, though in a lower proportion. When cockroaches were reared in an environment where they were able to self-select the nutrients required, they grew optimally by selecting the requisite nutrients for each nym-phal development stage. It is also reported (Raubenheimer and Jones, 2006) that when nu-trient deficiencies exist in a food source, German cockroaches (Blattella germanica) prefer to self-select an unbalanced food, provided it will com-
pensate for the nutrients they were lacking from a more balanced food.
It is believed that cockroaches can in fact distinguish food of different nutritional value through a process known as spe-cific nutrient learning. They learn which nutrients their body requires most and then seek these out. Associative learning has also been reported in the American cockroach (Periplaneta americana), where the insects were able to associ-ate the smell of a food and asso-ciate this to the proteins present and required.
The consequences of this are most important in the development of cockroach bait, since it be-comes vital to have a food source within the bait that provides a complete and balanced diet containing all the nutrients required by the
cockroaches in order to optimise the success of the baiting program.
Typically, three macronutrients are included in the matrices of cockroach bait: carbohydrates, lipids and proteins, though it is essential to in-clude further ingredients to provide a complete dietary food source. (Sadly many baits are based on sugars only which leads to less than optimal results in the field, as will be discussed later.)
Attractant and feeding stimulants are also im-portant to draw the cockroaches to the bait and then to ensure they consume larger amounts of the bait and achieve increased uptake of the tox-icant. Other additives are added to prolong the lifespan and retain moisture content in the baits.
In addition to considering the attractiveness of the bait and its nutritional value to the cock-roaches, to effectively compete with other food sources, one needs to address the issue of feed-ing stimulation.
A food item can act as both an attractant and a feeding stimulant, but this is rarely the case. A substance that is attractive may not necessarily stimulate feeding. Similarly, an item that is a feeding stimulant may not attract cockroaches to
bait. Attractants function by drawing cockroach-es towards the bait, and laboratory studies have shown that a high quality bait formulation can even draw cockroaches from upwind of the bait, away from corners and edges of walls, to bait placed 25-30 cm away.
American Cockroaches
German Cockroaches
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In contrast, feeding stimulants are required to induce and promote increased consumption of baits. Understandably the amount of the bait eat-en at a single feed is very important in a control program, particularly when we consider second-ary kill effects. This determines if sufficient toxi-cant is consumed to both kill the cockroach and have toxicant available for secondary transfer. This is because cockroaches that consume larger amounts of bait defecate and regurgitate more substances containing the toxicant.
Studies have shown some baits are more attrac-tive to the cockroaches, and the cockroaches are drawn to them by preference. However, the cock-roaches eat significantly less since they feed on these baits for a shorter time period. This is why the targeted addition of feeding stimulants is im-portant.
Feeding stimulants are often species specific, though mixtures of these substances frequently show synergistic effects. This means that, by care-fully combining different stimulants, we can greatly improve the performance of cockroach bait.
The use of carefully designed bait stations can
also improve bait performance. German cock-
roaches are often attracted to novel objects intro-
duced into their environment. When the com-
plexity of the introduced object is increased, for
example by using a station with several entranc-
es, the cockroaches spend more time exploring
the station, and are most attracted to it when a
food source is added.
Suiter, D.R. (1997) Biological suppression of synanthropic cockroaches. Journal of Agricultural Entomology 14, 259-270. Raubenheimer, D. and Jones, S.A. (2006) Nutritional imbalance in an extreme generalist omnivore: tolerance and recovery through complementary food selection. Animal Behaviour 71, 1253-1262. This article is courtesy of Ensystex New Zealand Ensystex New Zealand Ltd Postal Address: P O Box 301 710 | Albany Auckland 0752 Telephone: 0800 ENSYSTEX | 0800 367 978 | Mobile: (021) 882 715
www.ensystex.co.nz
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New Zealand has embarked on a mission to rid the nation of pests by 2050. Photo / File
It is now six months since the Government announced an ambitious plan to rid New Zealand of pest predators by 2050. Now that scientists have had time to chew over the concept, is it possible, or even safe? The New Zealand Science Media Centre put the burning questions to top researchers.
1. The use of genetic engineering has been mentioned as a potential avenue to eradicate pests. What possible technologies does this encompass and how might these work? "I suspect genetic technologies will be the key to developing pest control that is species-specific, works at a large scale, and is cheap and persistent," said Professor Neil Gemmell, of Otago University's De-partment of Anatomy. Fundamentally, these would predominately focus on exploiting genetic weaknesses in a given species, and he suspected key areas to target would be around reducing reproductive potential. "Prior work surveying people's view on issues such as possum control suggests that there is more pub-lic support for tools that might impair an animal's fertility compared with any other form of manipula-tion or control measure that may cause the animal harm and suffering." The first target of eradicating a pest species by 2025 was only eight years away - and this was likely going to be hard to achieve, he said. "If we start today we need six months to plan, likely several years in the lab, then a few years for controlled field trials, before eventual deployment at landscape scales, which will take mas-sive effort and years to achieve eradication. "This is the New Zealand version of the space race and we need commitment and resource to achieve this. It was likely, Gemmell said, that a quasi-business/military model, as seen during the space race, might be needed to achieve this goal. Professor Neil Gemmell of Otago University. Photo /
2. The announcement of the initiative came with additional funding; what sorts of technologies or programmes should be advanced to get an effective technology mix? Landcare Research scientist Dr Andrea Byrom, who is director of the Biological Heritage National Sci-ence Challenge, said people often asked about the new technologies for killing pests or reducing their populations to extremely low numbers. "There is no question that we will need new tools in the toolkit. "For example, we will need to re-consider biological control, which is a catch-all term for approaches like causing infertility in mammals or using a virus to reduce a population to very low levels." Byrom also noted the development of promising new methods such as gene drive technology - a new approach of breeding an all-male line into a pest population until eventually it declines to extinction with no females to breed with. "This all sounds futuristic and scary to most people, but the reality is that there are many technological hurdles to overcome in the world's laboratories before we can apply these technologies in a field situa-tion - many years down the track - and when we do take them to the field, we could trial them on a remote island first, which would guard against any risk of an unwanted organism escaping." "I would prefer that we take a step back and consider the wider picture, and in my mind there are is-sues other than a technological 'fix' that are equally important. "For example: will we need to alter legislation to allow the release of a virus or new organism into the environment? "How should we make use of existing tools in the toolkit, as well as developing new ones? "Should we begin with peninsulas or islands, and how should we 'roll out' predator-free status across the North and South Island? "How will we respond to public concerns about new technologies? "How will other pests respond when rats, stoats and possums are removed? "And how can we incentivise the level of investment required to make PFNZ [pest-free New Zealand] a reality? "All these questions point to the need for a 'whole system' approach: thinking about all the pieces of a gigantic jigsaw puzzle together rather than one piece at a time. "But it will be worth it."
Conservation Minister Maggie Barry announces New Zealand's bold Predator Free 2050 bid at Wellington's Zealandia sanc-tuary in July 2016. Photo / File
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3. What are the barriers or risks to using genetic techniques to control pest populations? "Take the risks of GMO crops and livestock, then imagine that the modified organisms will not be con-fined to field or paddock but will be released to range freely in the environment," said Professor Phil Seddon, of Otago University's Wildlife Management Programme. "Environmental release of GMOs introduces new levels of risk and uncertainty, such as unanticipated expression of new genetic sequences, or the undesirable transfer of the modification to other species." A major barrier would be public acceptance in the face of the "Monsanto effect", whereby GMOs are seen as being tied to big business and driven by corporate interests rather than having environmental and human health concerns a priority, he said. But it was "essential" that genetic approaches gained social acceptance - which perhaps would be a big-ger challenge than getting the technology right. "We need a careful, controlled, early and successful case study to allay public fears and to demonstrate how environmental release of a GMO might be beneficial for conservation - perhaps getting rid of the mice on a small offshore island, where there are natural barriers to dispersal and the ability to apply conventional control to eradicate the mice should things not work out as planned." "I think the general public might be more accepting of GMOs for conservation than some people think - we need to give an informed public a chance to consider the issue." 4. Has research so far pinpointed any risks with potential genetic control measures? Assistant professor Kevin Esvelt, head of the Sculpting Evolution Group at the MIT Media Lab, who is leading a team developing gene drives, explained there were two basic kinds of gene drive: those that will affect a local population and then stop, and those that were likely to spread globally. Standard CRISPR-based gene drives were extraordinarily efficient at copying themselves, so it took very few escaped organisms for them to spread. "To be blunt, I am highly sceptical that these global drive systems can be reliably contained, and strong-ly recommend against their use for conservation," he said. "Local CRISPR-based drive systems such as the 'daisy drives', which my lab are developing, are still early in development." Esvelt added it was important to note that humanity had no experience engineering systems that could evolve outside of our control. "We're developing nematode worms, which reproduce twice per week and are readily grown in the hundreds of millions, as a model in which to study gene drives in the laboratory. "Since evolution is a numbers game, we need to run experiments on populations of comparable size to those we anticipate affecting in the wild to predict the behaviour of these systems once released." CRISPR-based gene drive systems were "unfailingly" detectable by sequencing, spread slowly over gen-erations, and were readily blocked and overwritten should something goes wrong. "However, we haven't yet demonstrated a way to reliably restore populations to their original genomic sequences, though we're actively working on it." 5. How important is it that we get this right? What is at stake and how will New Zealand benefit from these outcomes? "It's critical that we ramp-up our efforts to preserve our native species to prevent any more of them going extinct," said Dr James Russell, a conservation biologist at the University of Auckland. "It's critical that we ramp-up our efforts to preserve our native species in order to prevent any more of them going extinct." It was no longer enough to rely on conservation in the "back-country" in the face of pervasive threats such as invasive species and climate change, Russell said. "It is, therefore, important that we find solutions for their conservation that have longevity and provide good returns on conservation investment. "Otherwise, we risk wasting labour and resources."
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"New Zealand had to make sure the pro-gramme was imple-mented properly, so that it didn't have unin-tended side-effects, or distract or delay from other urgent conserva-tion issues." It won't just be New Zealand's native spe-cies that benefit from PFNZ though. "Benefits of eradicating these [pests] will also extend to primary in-dustries - where inva-sive pests are vectors of disease - as well as offer boosts to tourism and public health. "Generally, the economic benefits of eradicating these eight species are predicted to outweigh the costs, especially when you consider that we already invest millions every year in their control just to stay in a 'holding pattern'."
University of Auckland conservation biologist Dr James Russell. Photo / Supplied
Article continues on the next page
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A rat raids a fantail nest. Photo / File
6. The goals for Preda-tor Free NZ were ambi-tious but do you think it's possible for the pro-ject to meets its targets by 2050 using current methods and technolo-gies? "No, but ongoing im-provements and wider use of current technolo-gy are essential to minimise short-term damage to vulnerable populations," said Professor Carolyn King of the University of Waikato. "We must do whatever we can to protect what is left of our heritage from continuing stress, otherwise, by the time it becomes possible to achieve eradication, there may not be much left." King said it had to be accepted that at this stage, pests removed could always be replaced. "So pest control is like cleaning toilets, you just have to keep on doing it. "Above all, it's important not to get carried away with ideas that turn out to be impractical, as these ex-haust everyone's emotional capital and lead them to give up. "There is no need to despair, only to be realistic, and patient." King said the biggest challenge would be to accelerate fertility control or, if possible, render impossible any breeding and reinvasion of the pests removed. "Killing pests is easy and getting easier - but the most important thing is not how many are killed, but how many were left, and how quickly those that are removed can be replaced. "Preventing that is much more difficult, which is why we still have pests after centuries of throwing eve-rything we can think of at them." 7. How important will public buy-in and support be to achieving the PFNZ goals? Emeritus Professor of Ecology Professor Charles Daugherty, of the Victoria University of Wellington, said in many respects, public backing was the single most important key to success. "New programmes to educate the public to understand the need for predator removal and the many benefits that will arise from doing so will need to be implemented in coming years." Many schools were already contributing significantly. "People often do not understand, for example, that doing nothing regarding introduced pest species is a decision to impose large ongoing costs on all New Zealanders - for example, on our national wealth arising from dairy, horticulture and tourism. "Doing nothing is also a decision to violate our national and international commitments."
The New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy 2000-2020 committed New Zealand to stopping the decline of indigenous biodiversity. New Zealand has been a party to the Convention on Biological Diversity since 1993. "This commits us to the same goal - halting the decline in indigenous biodiversity, and predator control is a key element of achieving this goal. "We have a simple choice as a nation: eradicate the most dangerous introduced predatory species, or accept that they will eradicate our native species. "Only New Zealanders can save our rarest and most unique species which, like the kiwi, are often na-tional symbols."