To capture pests in the home, use fly paper, glue boards, funnel traps, and snap traps. Be careful to place these devices where people, especially children, and pets will not become entangled. Also, glue boards are useful for monitoring the type and abundance of pests in the home. Pesticides may also be used in an IPM program. Pesticides come in many forms but sprays, dusts, and baits are most commonly used in the home.
Baits are a mixture of a pesticide and food or an attractant.
Baits are ideal for an IPM program in the home because they can be used in tamper resistant containers and target specific pests. It is important to identify the species when using baits, especially with ants because different species prefer different foods. Sprays and dusts can often be applied to inaccessible areas where pests hide thereby lowering the chance of human contact. If you use pesticides to control a pest problem, you should be aware that pesticides also represent a potential risk to groundwater, to the environment, to wildlife and to our health. This risk is increased when a pesticide is incorrectly used, improperly stored or carelessly discarded.