Pheromones have wide usages within pest management programs, they can be a real asset in both preventative and reactive strategies when dealing with insect infestations. Pheromones are best seen as a means of chemical communication within the insect family, conveying messages, alarm or instruction.
Within the insect world there are four main types of pheromones;
Aggregation pheromones: Chemicals responsible for the congregation of insects at food sites or reproductive habitats.
Trail-marking pheromones: Chemicals which allow other members of a colony to follow or locate the producer’s position.
Alarm pheromones: Chemicals which stimulate attack or retreat behaviours.
Sex pheromones: Chemicals usually produced by females to attract males for mating.
By Far the greatest use of insect pheromones has been for monitoring existing populations, detecting the presence of invasive species and pinpointing where an infestation is emanating from. A monitoring program using pheromone clothes moth traps allows for other curative measures such as insecticide application to be implemented intelligently. Alongside their monitoring function, sex pheromones can be effectively employment as tools for mating disruption, research has shown that even a small number of pheromone traps relative to the population size can delay the first and second mating in females by over 50%. A further useful application for pheromone traps within pest management is for mass trapping using large numbers of traps at regularly spaced intervals, often called ‘attract to kill programs’, this represents a viable and effective technique for using pheromones directly for population suppression.
Our Pest Expert Demi-Diamond Pheromone carpet and clothes moth traps utilise the sex pheromones, thus allowing for the collation of data for monitoring, aiding early detection of an infestation, offering effective disruption of the breeding cycle and a viable option for attract to kill programs suitable for both the residential and commercial premises.