Good Bugs Die as Pests Find Home

Cold weather has turned the insect world in Ventura County topsy-turvy.

So-called beneficial insects released to kill agricultural pests as an alternative to pesticides have perished in the freeze, but armies of household pests are thriving by penetrating the warmth of indoors.

Jerrell Larmon, manager of Associates Insectary in Santa Paula, said it is difficult to determine how many bugs froze to death last weekend, but he said it was “a significant number.”

In citrus groves around the county, “we haven’t seen any beneficial insects in the extreme cold areas where we’ve been working,” said Larmon, who manages the largest beneficial-insect-breeding cooperative in the county.

Many of the nearly 11,000 acres of farms that use Associates Insectary’s bug stock must replace batches that were released only two weeks ago and killed off in the latest freeze, Larmon said.

Beneficial insects are used by farmers in place of chemical pesticides to control and eradicate predators that threaten commercial crops.

Associates Insectary breeds 410 million beneficial insects each year on its five-acre farm in Santa Paula, including parasitic wasps and ladybugs, which prey on the enemies of citrus fruit, Larmon said.

Already fighting frost damage, fruit trees are vulnerable to attack from a host of pests, an agricultural official said.

“If the trees are already weakened by the frost, a mealybug and red scale bug increases the likelihood of damaging the tree,” said county Deputy Agricultural Commissioner David Buettner.

Another pest-control operator said he has actually seen the number of pests increase after a freeze.

“In past years where we’ve had a severe freeze, we’ve had an increase in pest activity afterwards,” said Ed Frost, manager of Oxnard Pest Control.

After the 1987 freeze, for example, Frost said he noted a jump in the population of black scale bugs, which attack citrus and pepper trees, as well as oleander.

In addition to insects that protect crops, the freeze threatens the honeybee population, beekeeper Don Schram said.

The drought has already dried up some of the wildflowers on the hills. But cold weather has destroyed eucalyptus blooms and other flowers that provide an important source of nectar to the bees during the winter. In extreme cases, the freeze can turn an unprotected outdoor hive into an icebox, he said.

“We lost half of our bees in 1987,” Schram said. “We could have that happen now.”

If farmers are concerned about the dearth of good bugs in their fields, homeowners are antsy about the proliferation of bugs in their houses. Pest-control operators such as Dennis Gottlieb in Moorpark say their phone lines have been jammed by demands for pest eradication.

“Right now we’re getting an increase in ants and earwigs,” said Gottlieb, owner of the Bug Mechanic. He said the number of calls has tripled compared to business before the freeze. “If a cold snap hits Saturday and Sunday . . . the phone rings off the hook on Monday.”

The cold also has driven crickets and sow bugs indoors, said Mike Nikbakht, quality assurance manager for Candlelite Pest Control Co. in Camarillo.

Nikbakht said the freeze is compounded by the continuing effects of the drought, which has dried up supplies of water. Pest control operators are finding nests in the dead space of walls and under foundations, particularly near kitchens and bathrooms, he said.

“If I was an insect, I’d much rather live in a house than in a yard,” he said. “There’s food sources. There’s water sources.”

Nikbakht said calls have increased about 50% since the freeze, and most of them are coming from Ventura and inland cities such as Simi Valley, Moorparkand Thousand Oaks.

Ants can enter houses through cracks in walls and crawl into foundations through pipes, he said. Pest-control operators recommend treating the exteriors of houses and sealing cracks to keep bugs out.

Gottlieb said one homeowner was frantic about an invasion of ants over the Christmas holiday.

“She was ready to move out,” he said. “The ants were ready to serve her with an eviction notice.”