Training

Home IPM Workshop planned for August 13

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UGA Urban Pest Management ProgramHome IPM Workshop planned for August 13

Home IPM Workshop

Thursday, August 13 ~ UGA-Griffin Campus 

Register Now!

Find all info here

Georgia Credit (credit also available in FL, AL, SC, TN)
5 HPC Hours (Cert/Reg)

The registration fee ($75) includes the 1 day workshop, instructional materials, lunch, and refreshments during the course of the workshop.

IPM Workshops are limited to 25 participants, so register early to reserve your spot!

Urban and structural pest management is the protection of property, food, and health from insect and rodent pests commonly found in homes, restaurants, and other businesses. The goal of this workshop is to teach participants how to generate and interpret the information required for effective Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs.

The IPM Workshop Program addresses the development of critical thinking skills required for pest management professionals to develop an IPM mindset. Workshop programming addresses, through classroom lectures and discussion, on-site demonstrations, identification laboratories, and interactive field activities, such topics as:

  • Logical components of IPM programs
  • Inspections: The driving force and cornerstone of the IPM process
  • Inspection tools and techniques
  • Decision making – when to treat, not treat, or do nothing
  • Using trap data in the decision-making process
  • The role of pesticides in IPM

A Unique Training Opportunity. An insect identification laboratory is part of the workshop. During the laboratory session, participants will see dozens of pest species, and/or signs of their presence, commonly found in and around Georgia’s urban environment.

Completion of the 1-day workshop provides 5 HPC hours (Cert/Reg) and 4 hours credit in Category 35. A “Certificate of Completion” will be awarded at the completion of the workshop.

Find more info here or contact Dr. Daniel Suiter at 770-233-6114.

UGA Urban Pest Management Certificate Program runs through June 11

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UGA Urban Pest Management Certificate Program

Thursdays through June 11 – Griffin

Credit (24 hours total) 18 HPC & 6 WDO Cert/Reg Hrs

See agenda for details.

Registration Form

Certificate programThe Urban Pest Management Program on the UGA Griffin campus has established a 10-week lecture series resulting in the awarding of a Certificate in Urban and Structural Pest Management. The goal of the program is to provide Georgia’s pest management companies new service technicians exposed to various aspects of the industry, and to award current pest management professionals a University of Georgia-sponsored credential. Georgia Department of Agriculture-approved credit (Certificate Program) will be granted to currently registered and certified employees.

What is Urban and Structural Pest Management?

Urban and structural pest management is the protection of our property, food, and health from insect and rodent pests commonly found in homes, restaurants, and other businesses. The service technician is the front line of this defense, and thus the backbone of the pest management industry.

Who is this Certificate For?

This Certificate is appropriate for:

  1. individuals with no experience in the pest management industry, but who are looking to enter a stable and exciting field;
  2. individuals who, even though they might have extensive pest management experience, would like to energize their career by acquiring a professional credential, and;
  3. owners and managers of pest management companies looking to improve the skills of current and future employees.

The Certificate’s Lecture Series

Classes are held once per week, in the evening, on the UGA Griffin Campus. The Certificate’s curriculum is designed to expose students to various aspects of the pest management industry, including sales, customer service, and legal affairs. More than half of the Certificate’s 10 lectures are about the identification, biology, and management of the most common urban insect pests found in Georgia.

A Unique Training Opportunity

Certificate program 2Because a laboratory session is part of each technical lecture, the Certificate provides a unique training opportunity even for the most experienced technician. Over the course of the Certificate’s various laboratory sessions, students are shown specimens of the 100 or so most common insect pests most likely to be encountered in and around Georgia’s urban environment.

Program Fee

The Certificate fee is $195. Individual lectures can be taken for $20 each. Military veterans with a valid DD Form 214 attend free of charge.

For more information, contact Dr. Daniel Suiter at 770-233-6114.

To register for an upcoming Certificate Lecture Series, print the registration (PDF), fill it out, and return the bottom section with your payment to the address listed on the form. Faxed registrations are also accepted at 770-228-7287.

Directions to the training facility and a list of local hotels are available.

For more information see http://www.caes.uga.edu/departments/ent/upmp/certificate.html

Online training available on kudzu bug & brown marmorated stinkbug

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Kudzu bug Jeremy Greene, Clemson University, Bugwood.org
Kudzu bug Jeremy Greene, Clemson University, Bugwood.org

Learn about two new invasive insects, the kudzu bug and the brown marmorated stinkbug, in this webinar presented by Dr. Michael Toews, Associate Professor of Entomology, University of Georgia, Tifton, GA; and Dr. Tracy Leskey, Research Entomologist, USDA ARS Appalachian Fruit Research Laboratory, Kearneysville, WV.

Click here to view the webinar which was presented on September 5, 2014.

For more webinars in this series, see All Bugs Good and Bad 2014 Webinar Series.

UGA Webinar Series Now Offers 2 Hours of Credit!

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Dan Suiter, UGA Department of Entomology

The Urban & Structural IPM program at the University of Georgia started a webinar series this year for pest management professionals. Go to www.gabugs.uga.edu to learn more, including upcoming dates, speakers, and topics. Our series now provides CCU/CEU credit in GA, AL, FL, NC, SC, and TN.

We are announcing the doubling of credit for our series, from 1 to 2 hours. Webinars from this point forward will begin at 8:00 AM and finish at 10:00 AM, while providing 2 CEUs for attendees.

Our next webinar is August 20, 2014 from 8:00 to 10:00 AM. Dr. Brian Forschler will discuss the Biology and Management of Subterranean Termites, and Dr. Dan Suiter will talk about Demystifying Wood-eating Beetles. GA operators will receive 2 hours of WDO credit.

Should you have a question about this or any other upcoming webinar, don’t hesitate to contact me at 770-233-6114 or dsuiter@uga.edu. Alternatively, visit our website at www.gabugs.uga.edu.

 

UGA Urban Pest Management Program

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Urban IPM videoUrbanization creates pest problems that threaten the health and welfare of all Georgians. Insect and rodent pests consume and contaminate our food anywhere that it is grown, prepared, cooked, served, or stored. Insects also consume the wood from which our homes are built. Some pests are life-threatening, especially those that bite, sting, or trigger allergies.

The Urban Pest Management Program on the University of Georgia’s Griffin Campus is responding to these challenges by researching key problems and disseminating information to those who can use it best, specifically Georgia’s residents and the owners and operators of Georgia’s termite and pest control companies.

The Griffin Pest Management Program is dedicated to the continuing education of employees of all of Georgia’s pest management companies. To that end, the Program offers multiple training opportunities for the pest management professional. Annually, more than 30/40 continuing education hours are available to Georgia’s registered/certified pest management company employees through a multitude of training programs.

The Georgia Structural Pest Control Training Facility is located on the University of Georgia’s Griffin Campus. The facility was built to train and educate pest management professionals, regulatory inspectors, and Cooperative Extension personnel on the biology and management of pests in the home, business and school environments.

For more information on our programs, contact Dr. Dan Suiter at 770-233-6114 or email dsuiter@uga.edu. Watch this video (YouTube) for an overview of the training programs offered on the UGA Griffin Campus.

Visit the Urban IPM Pest Management website here

Can You Identify Formosan Subterranean Termites?

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The Formosan Subterranean Termite in Georgia

Taken from this website

The Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki, is native to China, was accidentally introduced into the southern U.S., and has since been found in nine southern states. Since 1993, several dozen infestation sites have been found in Georgia.
Formosan termite inspectionThe Formosan termite is most commonly imported into Georgia by movement of termite-infested railroad crossties. As railroad companies replace crossties, some of the used ones are sold and re-used to build retaining walls and other landscape features. Some of the used crossties are infested with Formosan termites. The termites survive transport and become established in previously un-infested areas when the crossties are installed.Formosan termites remain extremely rare in Georgia, and the presence of railroad crossties in the landscape in no way implies the presence of the termite on one’s property.
Termite Control Technicians and Homeowners Should Learn to Recognize the Formosan Subterranean Termite

It is important that termite control professionals and homeowners be able to differentiate between Formosan subterranean termites and Georgia’s more common native subterranean termites. The primary differences in the two types of termites are in the size, color, and behavior of the swarmers and soldiers.Click on the following link to view a PDF file of the publication Identifying the Formosan Subterranean Termite.
Swarmers 

Formosan termite swarmers are larger than native subterranean termite swarmers, measuring about one-half to five-eighths of an inch from tip of head to tip of wings, and the body is caramel-colored (native termite swarmers are black). Formosan termite wings are hairy, while native termite wings are not hairy.In Georgia, Formosan termites swarm at night in May and June and are attracted to lights, whereas native subterranean termites typically swarm during the day and are not attracted to lights.
Formosan termite soldierSoldiers

Formosan termite soldiers exude a white, glue-like secretion from the top of their head when disturbed.Most notably, however, Formosan termite soldiers make up as much as 15-25% of the termites in a colony compared with just 1-3% in a native subterranean termite colony. Formosan termite soldiers are also aggressive, and will often attempt to bite ones finger tip if challenged.
Formosan termites in cross tieMud Tubes on Crossties 

During swarm season (May and June in Georgia) Formosan termites often build extensive mud tubing on crosstie walls. Unfortunately, these mud tubes are washed away with the first rain.

 
To Confirm a Formosan Termite Discovery if you are a termite control professional or a homeowner and you think you have found a Formosan termite, we can confirm the termites’ identification. Please collect swarmers and/or soldiers (do not send workers), place them in a small, airtight vial filled with rubbing alcohol, and take the vial to your nearest county extension office, or contact Dr. Daniel R. Suiter on the UGA Griffin Campus at 770-233.6114.

 

Amended Rules of the Georgia Structural Pest Control Commission effective April 1

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GDA emblemA new webpage has been created to host the amended Rules of the Georgia Structural Pest Control Commission (SPCC) which became effective on April 1st.  The new page includes:

  • All chapters of the rules of the SPCC
  • The 2014 Residential Building Code (RBC) for under-floor ventilation
  • The rule implementation, assistance & compliance timeline
  • Structural Pest Control Act of 1955 and
  • FIFRA.

The new page  named Laws and Regulations is found on the SPCC website and the Structural Pest Control Section webpage.  All licensees were notified of the proposed rule changes in October 2013.  Based on the comments received during the public comment period, the SPCC revised some of the proposed rules.  As part of our outreach and compliance assistance effort, this announcement  was sent to all licensee email addresses that we have currently on file.

The SPCC is currently working closely with the Georgia Department of Agriculture to develop guidance policies and fact sheets to assist the industry with compliance.  As these resources become available, they will be posted on the SPCC website under “Guidance Policies”.

Laws & Regulations webpage – http://www.agr.georgia.gov/laws-and-regulations.aspx

The Georgia Structural Pest Control Commission

Chris Gorecki, Chairman

Derrick Lastinger, Vice-chairman

Maurice Redmond, Georgia Department of Public Health

Dr. Brian Forschler, University of Georgia

Bodine Sinyard, Adams Exterminating

Greg Holley, Zone Pest Solutions

Laurie Padgett, Consumer Protection Representative

New Urban Pest Management Webinar Series

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Come experience the future of training for Georgia’s pest management industry! The University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, powered by the Digital Innovation Group, has developed a training program that will allow pest management professionals to obtain re-certification and re-registration credit on-line, in the comfort of their home or office.

All your computer will need is the ability to access the internet. No special software is needed on your part. Logging on, watching a live online presentation (called a webinar), and then going back to work is just a few mouse clicks away. No more long drives and time off work to acquire credits!

Mark your calendar for the 2014 webinar series (all webinars 8:00 to 9:00 am).

April 16. Dr. Susan Jones, The Ohio State University on Bed Bug Monitoring
June 18. Mr. Elmer Gray, University of Georgia on Mosquito Biology
August 20. Dr. Brian Forschler, University of Georgia on Termite Biology
October 15. Dr. Karen Vail, University of Tennessee on Ant Pests of the Southeast
December 10. Dr. Ron Harrison, Orkin Technical Services on Bed Bug Control

How the Program Will Work. Several weeks prior to the event, Dr. Dan Suiter will announce the webinar by email. In the email will be instructions on how to register. If you’d like to be put on his mailing list, simply send an email to Dr. Suiter at dsuiter@uga.edu, and note that you’d like to be notified when registration for each webinar opens. Or, if you’d simply like to learn more about the series feel free to call Dan at 770-233-6114 to chat.

Hope to see you on-line February 19!
Dan Suiter, Ph.D.
Department of Entomology
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
University of Georgia, Griffin Campus
1109 Experiment St, Griffin, GA 3022

Check out the UGA College of Agriculture & Environmental Sciences Social Media

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Social media CAES 2Do you like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or blogs? If so, the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences may have something of interest for you!

The college has a list of many of its social media sites all in one location! Visit this site to see a list of the College’s many social media or blog sites.

Examples of information you can find include:

  • Your local Extension Office Facebook site
  • Twitter account featuring new and revised college publications (and research articles)
  • Blogs (online articles) for the landscape, pest control, row crop, and greenhouse industries
  • The UGA Trial Gardens or Coastal Botanical Gardens Twitter sites
  • Facebook pages covering invasive species, forage production, the Griffin Research and Education Garden and more …

Check out the college’s list of social media sites today at http://extension.uga.edu/about/social-media/

Online Information from EPA on Protecting Pets from Fleas & Ticks

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Dog flea, Pest and Diseases Image Library, Bugwood.org
Dog flea, Pest and Diseases Image Library, Bugwood.org

Source: SR IPM News South

As a part of the Agency’s effort to build a more user-friendly website, EPA has redesigned its online information about protecting pets from fleas and ticks to make it simpler for visitors to find the information they need quickly and easily.

The Agency has reformatted the content using various tools to allow readers to scan content quickly. Additionally, these resources are now easier to read on mobile devices.

Visit the Protecting Pets from Fleas and Ticks Resource Directory at http://www2.epa.gov/pets.

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