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14 Jun 2013
A very well reviewed Boston restaurant called for an estimate to control Rats, Mice, Flies and Cockroaches. Before we proceeded we pointed out some of the sanitary problems they need to address. The General Manager was apologetic, but we explained, no need to worry, fixing this situation will save them money in the long run and greatly help with their condition. After all, Sanitation is Pest Management! We like helping restaurants and it shows!
Johnny Pest
26 Oct 2012
In professional pest control we must train our eyes to see what others overlook! That is not me, it is Sherlock Holmes that said this. I use it all the time in pest control. Investigation for pests is a true science and it takes an expert. In this case a tenant in an apartment building was complaining of a massive fruit fly infestation. She said she is spotlessly clean. I told her there must be a source somewhere.
Something rolled under an appliance? Dirty trash receptacle? Recycling container? Rotten fruit or vegetables? Spilled liquid? NO was the answer to all these questions. THEN she gave me her fruit fly trap she bought at a hardware store. SOLVED!!! Looking inside the trap I saw exactly why she has so many fruit flies. The picture tells the whole story! When it comes to pest control you need the CSI talents of EHS!
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George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist
06 Aug 2012
The flies are starting to boycott EHS in commercial facilities! Having EHS in your restaurant or business means NO MORE flies!
Unless of course you still enjoy……….
George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist
03 Aug 2012
One of the things people think about the coldest part of winter is, "at least it will kill the bugs." However, that is not true for all species.
Each species has its own life cycle characteristics, so the stage an insect overwinters in and how tolerant it is to temperature tells the true story.
Below are some examples of the area's more common insects and how they overwinter in Fairfield County.
Let's begin with the honey bee. The queen and sterile female workers overwinter in the hive. In spring, the eggs are laid, and the workers will feed the larvae and tend to the pupa. In late spring or summer, the fertile males and females appear, and the queen will leave the hive with a swarm of workers to start a new colony.
Bumblebees have hibernating queens that arrive in spring to establish underground colonies. Again, the workers -- all sterile females -- forage and tend to the larvae and pupae. Late in the season, males and young queens emerge, leave the nest and mate. Males, workers and the old queens die, with new queens overwintering to repeat the cycle.
The common house fly female lays her eggs in clusters on garbage or manure. Eggs hatch within a day, and the larvae mature in five days, pupate and emerge as adults in another five days. House flies produce many generations per year. That is why you will see adult flies in a sunny windowsill on warm winter days.
Fireflies, also known as lightning bugs, lay their eggs on the ground during warmer weather. The larvae become active, preying on snails and other small animals. The larvae then hibernate and enter the pupa stage. Adults will emerge the next summer. Fireflies produce only one generation per year.
An aphid's life cycle is variable. Eggs survive winter and hatch into wingless females that give birth to more wingless females, but no males. They then progress to a winged generation that moves to another host plant where more wingless females migrate back to the initial host plant. Finally, males are produced, mating occurs and eggs are laid.
Lastly is the dreaded mosquito. Their eggs are laid singly or in small clusters on water or damp ground prone to flooding. Wiggly larvae feed on tiny aquatic plants and animals, then molt into active pupae. The adult mosquito emerges at the water's surface from floating pupae. Mosquitoes have one or more generations per year.
This winter, it seems unlikely Fairfield County will experience extreme cold or even the annual spring thaw. Keep an eye on those insects as they emerge.
George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist
11 Mar 2011
“The lord in his wisdom made the fly. Then forgot to tell us why.” ~ Ogden Nash
The reproductive capacity of flies is tremendous. Thankfully for us they can never be fully realized. If you took just a pair of flies in April and they were all progenitors (originator or direct ancestor), and they all survived (flies typically only live 30 days) until August you would have 191,010,000,000,000,000,000 flies!!!! That is in just four months!
To give you a visual idea of how many flies that is, it is enough flies to cover the entire earth 2.5 feet deep!
Unfortunately flies are downplayed in society ala “Waiter there is a fly in my soup. What’s he doing? I believe the backstroke!” The hard fact is that flies transmit over 25 diseases and are VERY serious pests especially in food handling facilities. The risk of bacterial transmission is enormous. Call EHS at 877-507.0698 to protect your brand!
George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist
28 Dec 2010
The U.S. air force is studying fruit flies to mimic swarming behavior for military needs.
The US Air Force is engaged in wacky research on fruit flies maneuvering within a heavily instrumented "simulation tunnel" in order to develop tiny, potentially murderous insect-sized flying robots.
According to a statement issued yesterday by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), research underway at in Californian labs will teach military designers how to build tiny robot aircraft which can fly around indoors or in built-up areas the way flies do.
"This work investigates sensory-motor feedback mechanisms in the insect brain that could inspire new approaches to flight stabilization and navigation in future insect-sized vehicles for the military," said Dr Willard Larkin of AFOSR.
Dr Andrew Straw of Caltech, leading the project for the Air Force, has built a special arena for his test flies to aviate around in, with video walls allowing a simulated environment to be presented to the fly. The insect test subject is tracked using a cunning multi-camera system.
"We developed a 3D fly tracking system which was our most significant technical challenge: localizing a fly in 3D nearly instantaneously," says Straw. "Next, we developed visual stimulus software capable of making use of this information to project virtual edges and textured floors in which we could modify the fly's sensory-motor feedback mechanism."
According to the AFOSR:
"The scientists have found that, counter to earlier studies suggesting that insects adjust their height by measuring the motion beneath them as they fly, flies in fact follow horizontal edges of objects to regulate altitude. Remarkably, this edge following behavior is very similar to a rule they use for steering left and right and always turning towards vertical edges."
If Straw and his colleagues can work out the rules the flies use to navigate - thought to be primarily visually based - it could be possible to design control systems for so-called Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs, small robot aircraft already in development) which would let them maneuver in places where there is no GPS signal.
Then the dark/exciting future shown in the vid above could become reality, with tiny military swarm droids scattering across towns or cities to locate or spy on persons of interest to the US authorities. They might even, as shown in the vid at around three minutes, be able to land on the back of your neck and blow your head off using some kind of tiny warhead.
Amazing what they can do nowadays.
By Lewis Page
Posted in Rise of the Machines, 8th December 2010 17:00 GMT
13 Dec 2010
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The correct terminology is larva or larvae. For all intents & purposes they are MAGGOTS! I happen to snap this picture of something that happens in every city & town and that is flies. What you are looking at is about 2,000 maggots in some stagnant water in a garbage can cover. In about 5-7 days these 2,000 maggots will be 2,000 flies. Those flies will continue to reproduce in alarming volumes and at a very fast pace. In fact that 2,000 flies if uncontrolled & they survive can easily be 100,000 in just 30 days!!!
Most people see a roach or rodent in a restaurant, their business, or their home and they freak out and need something done immediately. It is the fly that should cause this type of reaction in people yet all we do is swat at them & do not give them a 2nd thought. We even joke about them….
Waiter, there is a fly in my soup!
What’s he doing?
I believe it is the backstroke.
Flies are one of the most disgusting insects on the planet and they are capable of transmitting so many diseases through the bacteria they contact. Next time you see a fly take it VERY seriously!
30 Jun 2010
Location = Norwood, MA
“I am seeing TONS of flies in my house please come and bomb or fog the place!!!” I can understand the emotion + urgency to get rid of the flies as the person’s house looked like a horror movie. However we do not “fog” or “bomb” for pests, that terminology pre-dates the 1980’s but in the minds of consumers it is still being done. With pests you NEED to locate the source and treat it. Without finding the source and infestation point you will keep getting new pest activity, this is even more accurate with flies. You can treat & kill adult flies but within a few days you have new adults emerging from the infestation source.
Like a bloodhound my inspection followed the odor. The house had a thousand flies in it but inside was not the culprit. With flies you often find a source by using your nose Vs eyes. Sure enough my nose led me to the trash cans just outside their kitchen window. Right above the trash cans? An air conditioner with the vents open to pull in fresh air. Spilled garbage becomes pretty rancid in warm temperatures and is a perfect breeding ground for flies as you can tell by the pictures. Larvae (maggots) turn into pupae which turn into adult flies. The development process takes about 4-7 days in warm weather. Solution??? Close the air conditioner vents, throw away the garbage, clean the garbage cans…..pest problem solved!!!
One other piece of advice in this area, drill numerous holes in the bottom of trash & recycling cans to let moisture escape. Without moisture & garbage pooling up at the bottom of receptacles flies have less of a chance to breed.
Bruce Lopes Jr.
Service Manager
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