Nematodes Provide Unacceptable Control
Better To DO NOTHING Rather Than Use Nematodes
In the City of Newmarket, Ontario …
Newmarket is a town located 25 kilometres north of the City of Toronto, Ontario.
It is part of the Greater Toronto Area, and has a population of 80,000.
Newmarket has been INFESTED with weed and insect pests.
Because of Anti-Pesticide PROHIBITION, Newmarket’s Green Spaces have been RUINED by weeds, and DESTROYED by White Grubs called European Chafer.
White Grubs are larvae that attack the roots of turfgrasses, creating damage that first appears as drought stress, eventually causing death in large irregular patches.
They also attract SKUNK AND RACCOONS that dig-up, or shred, turf like roto-tillers.
There are several types of White Grubs that damage RESIDENTIAL and COMMERCIAL LAWNS ―
● Bluegrass Billbug
● European Chafer
● May-June Beetle
● Japanese Beetle.
White Grubs also damage GOLF COURSE FAIRWAYS and ROUGH ―
● Black Turfgrass Ataenius
● European Chafer
● May-June Beetle
● Japanese Beetle.
One type of White Grubs damages GOLF COURSE PUTTING GREENS and TEEING GROUNDS ―
● Annual Bluegrass Weevil.
History of the European Chafer
Of all the types of White Grubs, European Chafer has been historically VERY DESTRUCTIVE.
In 1940, in the State of New York, the European Chafer was officially identified as a turfgrass pest.
It was accidentally introduced from the Orient and Europe.
Forty years later, in 1980, it reached the Niagara Peninsula in South-Western Ontario.
Its rampage continued across the Greater Toronto Area throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
In 1997, William H. Gathercole first reported its spread in Montreal, Quebec.
By 2001, this insect had also spread across several states of the North-Eastern U.S.
In 2001, Mr. Gathercole also first identified the insect in the Pacific North-West, in New Westminster, British Columbia, while local experts and entomologists were somehow baffled about an insect pest that had created a well-documented ECOLOGICAL DISASTER in Urban Landscapes throughout Eastern North America.
Additionally, Mr. Gathercole exhaustively investigated the introduction of this pest into British Columbia and Quebec.
In both cases, the European Chafer was imported by contaminated nursery sod products originating from grower locations in the Province of Ontario.
Nematodes Do Not Provide Acceptable Control
Turf Managers, Government Officials, as well as the public at large, may be under the MISTAKEN IMPRESSION that there exists a vast array of biological-natural-ecological PRODUCTS and PRACTICES for controlling White Grubs.
Overall, these PRODUCTS and PRACTICES DO NOT PROVIDE ACCEPTABLE CONTROL against White Grubs.
Sadly, the promotion of these BOGUS PRODUCTS and PRACTICES was INFLUENTIAL when some jurisdictions IMPOSED PROHIBITION against the use of pest control products in the Urban Landscape.
One example of a BOGUS PRODUCT is Entomo-Pathogenic Nematode Insecticides.
Nematodes Suppress But Do Not Control
Nematode Insecticides are NOT viable, efficacious, or economical GREEN ALTERNATIVES to replace conventional insect control products.
Overall, Nematode Insecticides are DISMAL FAILURES since they merely SUPPRESS BUT DO NOT CONTROL insect pests of turf.
Nematode Insecticides CANNOT be consistently considered as true alternatives to conventional insecticides, since the insect pests are often only SUPPRESSED, BUT NOT CONTROLLED.
Laboratory and field tests indicate that even the most highly-rated Nematode species are only MARGINALLY EFFECTIVE in controlling insect infestations.
On the other hand, several conventional pest control products will FULLY AND EFFECTIVELY CONTROL INSECT PESTS, such as imidacloprid ( Merit ) and carbaryl ( Sevin ).
Better To DO NOTHING Rather Than Use Nematodes
In order to VALIDATE PROHIBITION, Anti-Pesticide Government Officials and Activists had somehow assured the public that safe, effective, and affordable Green Alternatives, like Nematode Insecticides, were already available to replace conventional pest control products.
They were WRONG !
There are NO viable, efficacious, economical, or low-risk alternatives to replace conventional pest control products.
In those jurisdictions where PROHIBITION has been IMPOSED, it would be preferable for the home-owner, or Professional Lawn Care company, TO DO NOTHING rather than use Nematode Insecticides.
Public and residential Green Spaces will simply become GARBAGE DUMPS.
Nematodes Provide Unacceptable Control
Nematodes Insecticides will kill NO MORE THAN FIFTY TO SIXTY-FIVE PER CENT of the damaging insect population, which is NOT ACCEPTABLE.
Some Nematode species are even TOTALLY INEFFECTIVE CONTROL, with SUPPRESSION levels AS LOW AS TWENTY-FIVE TO FORTY PER CENT.
Some reports have indicated that, under ideal conditions, some Nematode Insecticides MAY BE AS EFFECTIVE as some conventional insecticides.
However, this comparison was made with conventional insecticides like chlorpyrifos, which DOES NOT PROVIDE EFFECTIVE CONTROL White Grubs.
University of Guelph ― Nematodes Marginally Effective
Research conducted at the Guelph Turfgrass Institute has shown NEMATODES TO BE MARGINALLY EFFECTIVE IN CONTROLLING INFESTATIONS
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture ― Nematodes Marginally Effective
According to Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, in a Factsheet on Lawn Maintenance ―
Apply beneficial Nematodes for the MARGINAL CONTROL of European Chafer and Japanese Beetle larva.
Art Drysdale ― Nematodes Do Not Work
Art Drysdale is the nation’s best-known celebrity horticulturist, plant expert, writer, speaker, radio and television broadcaster.
According to Drysdale ―
NEMATODES DO NOT WORK, and I DO NOT RECOMMEND THEM.
Currently, Nematodes have NOT BEEN WIDELY-ADOPTED for use by the turf industry because of their HIGH COST and because the environmental conditions necessary to guarantee the success of the Nematode treatments RARELY EXIST.
In addition to all of this, Nematode insecticides are NOT REGISTERED as pest control products in Canada.
Neither the federal nor the provincial governments have officially scheduled or classified Nematode insecticides as a pest control product.
Consequently, there is NO OBLIGATION on the part of the manufacturer to divulge a full range of safety information such as human toxicity and environmental impact, which is the case with conventional pest control products.
This information will eventually be required, not just concerning the Nematodes themselves, but also for the SYMBIOTIC BACTERIA that they carry.
It is inevitable that the failure to regulate Nematode products will eventually create a public relations problem.
It will not be taken for granted for very long that an organism that is defined as INFECTIVE will require the need for more safety information in order to justify its status as reduced-risk.
Additionally, the failure to regulate Nematode products appears to be in direct contravention of the federal definition of a pest control product ( or pesticide ), as interpreted by the federal Pest Control Products Act.
THE WISDOM OF DRYSDALE, ART C. – CELEBRITY EXPERT HORTICULTURIST ( Web-Page )
Nematode Insecticides Not Considered As Effective Products
Nematode Insecticides CANNOT be consistently considered as a true alternative to conventional insecticides, since insect pests, like White Grub larvae, are only SUPPRESSED AND NOT CONTROLLED by Nematodes.
Furthermore, not every species of Entomo-Pathogenic Nematodes will be equally effective against a particular insect pest.
Laboratory and field tests tend to indicate that the BEST species of Nematodes provide only SUPPRESSION, BUT NOT CONTROL, where up to fifty to sixty-five per cent of the damaging insect population may be killed.
Other Nematode species have been shown to provide INEFFECTIVE CONTROL, with SUPPRESSION levels as low as twenty-five to forty per cent.
In fact, even conventional insecticides have provided varying levels of control.
Based upon the review of research reports and practical field experience, here is a summary of the EXPECTED PRODUCT EFFICACY for the control of White Grubs ―
● imidacloprid ( Merit )
75 to 85 per cent
preventive only
conventional insecticide
● carbaryl ( Sevin )
75 per cent
preventive or curative
conventional insecticide
● diazinon ( Basudin )
50 to 65 per cent
preventive or curative
conventional insecticide
NOT CONSIDERED AS AN EFFECTIVE PRODUCT
● chlorpyrifos ( Dursban )
40 per cent
preventive or curative
conventional insecticide
NOT CONSIDERED AS AN EFFECTIVE PRODUCT
● Entomo-Pathogenic Nematode Insecticides
25 to 65 per cent
preventive only
green alternative insecticide
NOT CONSIDERED AS EFFECTIVE PRODUCTS
Letters From Newmarket Residents …
PESTICIDE BAN TOUGH ON LAWNS ― WHITE GRUBS.
Is it possible Premier Dalton McGuinty is seeking to extend the vote to the SKUNK AND RACCOON populations of Ontario ?
If so, he has a rapidly growing electorate that would ensure him majority governments for as long as he desires to remain in office.
The reason for my suspicion lies with my SHREDDED LAWN, which has become MORE SHREDDED with every passing year since Premier Dad [ a.k.a. McGuinty ] brought in his PESTICIDE BAN in 2009.
Convinced the critters were using a ROTO-TILLER to dig up my lawn looking for grub, I went out late one night to find a small army of skunks TEARING UP MY LAWN without the use of any mechanical assistance.
This occurred despite my neighbour having a battalion of seven skunks removed from under his porch the previous week.
Since we can no longer spray an effective grub killer on our lawns, the urban skunk population seems to have SOARED.
So what about the eco-friendly solution ?
Here are the instructions for the Ontario-born-and-bred brand of NEMATODES I use ―
1. Pre-water area being treated 2 to 3 inches ( 5 to 8 cm ) deep.
2. Apply the nematodes using a hose-end sprayer.
3. KEEP SOIL WATERED FOR THREE TO FOUR DAYS after application to ensure the nematodes get into the soil to find grubs.
So, FLOODING MY LAWN WITH NEAR-BIBLICAL LEVELS OF WATER IS THE ECO-FRIENDLY SOLUTION ?
Even applying during a heavy rainfall, there is NO WAY the six to ten inches of water required over four days can be applied to any lawn larger than a postage stamp.
Therefore, the nematodes are rendered INEFFECTIVE and the SKUNKS AND RACCOONS have a buffet dinner every night.
I wonder if Premier Dad’s [ a.k.a. McGuinty ] Ottawa neighborhood has a similar problem ?
If not, I’d be happy to buy my skunk interlopers bus tickets and cab fare directly to his house so they can provide him with the endless fun and expense they have given me.
Mike Murphy
Letter to the Editor
yorkregion.com
August 7th, 2012.
HERBICIDE BAN IS NOT WORKING.
This town is beginning to LOOK LIKE A MESS.
Lawns and gardens are FULL OF WEEDS, and parks are OVER-RUN WITH WEEDS.
It’s time to revisit the ban on herbicides.
Organic herbicide is great in theory, but it DOES NOT WORK.
I hope the do-gooders who engineered the ban are pleased with their work.
Let’s think again.
Malcolm Jones
Letter to the Editor
yorkregion.com
August 7th, 2012.
For the original copy of this Force Of Nature Report, go to the following link …
Here are previous reports about NEWMARKET, ONTARIO, just in case you missed them …
2012 08 07 — GARBAGE DUMP — Pesticide Ban Tough On Lawns — White Grubs — Newmarket, Ontario ( Reference )
2012 08 07 — GARBAGE DUMP — Ban Not Working — Town Looks Like A Mess — Newmarket, Ontario ( Reference )
2012 08 07 — GARBAGE DUMP — Is it possible Premier Dalton McGuinty is seeking to extend the vote to the skunk and raccoon populations of Ontario ? — Newmarket, Ontario ( Report )
https://pesticidetruths.com/2012/08/07/yorkregion-article-pesticide-ban-tough-on-lawns/
2012 08 07 — GARBAGE DUMP — This Town Is Beginning To Look Like A Mess — Newmarket, Ontario ( Report )
https://pesticidetruths.com/2012/08/07/yorkregion-article-herbicide-ban-not-working/
NORAHG has archived more information on The Pesticide Truths Web-Site …
THE PESTICIDE TRUTHS WEB-SITE
PROVINCE OF ONTARIO – LIVING IN ENVIRONMENTAL INFAMY ( Web-Page )
PROVINCE OF ONTARIO – 2011 POLL REGARDING PROHIBITION ( Web-Page )
GREEN ALTERNATIVES … BOGUS & DISMAL FAILURES ( Web-Page )
PESTICIDE BANS ARE A FARCE ( Report )
VICTORIES AGAINST TERRORISTS ! – TREND TOWARDS PESTICIDE BANS HAS STOPPED ( Web-Page )
CARNAGE LEADING TO GARBAGE DUMP GREEN SPACES – WHO WANTS TO LIVE IN #@!!% PEST-INFESTED GARBAGE DUMPS ?!?! ( Web-Page )
CARNAGE LEADING TO GARBAGE DUMP GREEN SPACES ( Photo Gallery )
THE COMPLETE LIBRARY OF WEB-PAGES, REPORTS, & REFERENCES
SEND US YOUR PHOTOS OF GARBAGE DUMP GREEN SPACES CAUSED BY ANTI-PESTICIDE PROHIBITION …
