How Does Wind Affect Pest Control?
Wind plays a significant and often overlooked role in pest behavior and pest control. While temperature and humidity are commonly considered, wind influences how pests move, seek shelter, and reproduce.
For some pests, wind can make it harder to find food or suitable nesting spots, while others thrive in windy conditions, using it to travel farther. Understanding the effects of wind on pest populations is essential for effective pest management, especially when wind patterns shift seasonally.
Wind and its Affects Pest Control
There are both pros and cons for pests when it comes to wind speeds. When wind speeds are slowed down, some pests gain advantages. This could increase the need for pest control during winter months.
Affects on Crops
Feeding on crops is one common food source for pests. When a food source is constantly on the move, it makes it harder to catch a meal. Look at most carnivores, for example. The fastest animals are usually at the top of the food chain as they can escape other threats and catch their prey. Asian lady beetles feed on aphids on crops. When wind speeds are very high, it’s more difficult for them to latch on to the crops.
Research Findings
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison did a study where they controlled the wind speeds by building barriers. They found that these Asian lady beetles can eat almost double the amount of aphids when wind is slowed down. As humans build up more buildings and homes and plant trees near crops, the wind has more potential to slow down.
Wind Slowdown
This decrease in wind speed could potentially reduce aphid populations, but also greatly increase Asian lady beetle populations. Asian lady bugs can be an effective form of natural pest control for crops in the spring and summer. Come winter, they will be looking for a home.
This could potentially lead to more pest issues in your home. Especially when other pests will benefit from lower wind speeds as well.
How Higher Wind Speeds Affect Pest Movement: Boosting Some, Hindering Others
Higher wind speeds can deter some pests, like wasps, from expanding and creating new nests and hives, which could reduce the number of pests issues from them. However, lower wind speeds that are typically occurring in more developed areas tend to make it easier for wasps to move about the neighborhood with relative ease. These diminished wind speeds make it easier for wasps to gather supplies to build their nests and build more nests in shorter time frames.
Some pests do benefit from higher wind speeds in the form of easier travel. Not a pest per se, but butterflies have been clocked up to nearly 60 miles an hour with the assistance of extreme winds. This means wind-aided insects can migrate and travel to new places and increase their habitat with the aid of the wind. Spiders are another pest that uses high wind speed to their advantage.
Spiders and Box Elder Bugs
Some types of spiders use a technique called ballooning, where they climb as high as they can on various plants or structures and shoot out a line of their silk web into the sky. As wind speeds are high enough, the silk strands will be picked up in the air currents, and spiders can take flight, in some cases for many miles.
In a few cases, it has happened to hundreds of spiders simultaneously, and they have been caught up in the upper atmosphere. Then, they all came down together several miles away in a sort of spider rainstorm, which is terrifying, to say the least.
Other pests like box elder bugs typically live in trees like box elder, maple, and ash trees during warmer months. If these tree-based populations are too far away to reach your homes, you don’t have much to fear. However, with increased or significant wind speeds, the wind can boost their flight, making it possible for these once tree-dwelling pests to become a nuisance in your home.
The Impact of Wind on Pest Control: What To Watch For
Overall, whether wind speeds are increasing or decreasing, pests can take advantage of the changing conditions in different ways. Slower winds may help some pests thrive, while higher winds can aid others in traveling longer distances or making it more difficult for them to settle in. It’s important to stay vigilant for any shifts in pest activity, especially when significant wind changes occur, as these can lead to unexpected infestations or the movement of pests into your home.