Delta Dust Insecticide - Questions & Answers

Delta Dust Insecticide can be applied to listed areas for controlling many pests which geckos eat. If treating theses pests with insecticides such as Delta Dust, it should reduce the gecko/lizard population. They are driven to seek food elsewhere. There are no toxic products labeled for geckos, lizards or any reptiles or amphibians, and given the highly beneficial nature of these creatures there is not likely to be any product for them any time soon. The reason they are on your property are because they can find food and proper habitat. Take away their food and they will forage somewhere else. Take away the conditions they need for hiding and they will seek refuge someplace else.

You really have two options here:

1.Exclusion. Total exclusion can be hard to achieve particularly around the roof-line where there are going to be gaps that would be very hard to close off, but there also could be some obvious flaws such as broken vent screens, holes around cables, pipes or wires, or gaps under doors. All of these can easily be closed with brush strips, caulking, copper mesh (Stuf-Fit), or some other suitable material. Exclusion is the best choice, because it is permanent, and eliminates or reduces the problem in the future too.

2.Outdoor habitat modification. In short, get rid of the reasons geckos are there in the first place. They are there because they are finding the food they need to survive (insects) and a place to harbor. If you can eliminate either of these essentials, you can get rid of the geckos. Spray a good residual insecticide such as Cyzmic CS around the outside of your home to help cut down on the number of insects the geckos are eating. If geckos cannot find enough food they will either move on or starve. Eliminate as much clutter and debris around the outside of your home as possible to eliminate the places geckos like to hide. Rake back mulch or rocks at least 6 inches from the structure. If you need to get rid of the geckos that are already indoors the only options are catching them by hand or using glue boards placed in areas where the geckos travel.

You will need to apply about 0.5 lbs -1.0 lbs of Delta dust for each 1,000 sq ft of the crawl space. Spreading the dust over the entire crawlspace using a hand duster can be a labor intensive job. Most folks choose to use a Dustin Mizer Duster to help cover the area and save their hands from pumping a hand duster 100's of times.

We do not carry any products that will repel bed bugs. If you share an adjoining wall with someone who has bed bugs, we would recommend using a dust, such as Delta Dust, in the wall void if you can put anything under the baseboards. This is a long term treatment for bed bugs, as well as various other pests as well. You will do a thin layer on the floor so that the bed bugs walk through it and dry out. This is not instant and should be done every seven months. This could be a possible solution so that they do not keep coming into your unit.

There really are not any products that are labeled for use in a chimney or fireplace. We recommend burning a fire in your fireplace for about 30 minutes as the heat will drive any hibernating insects out. You will want to check the screen to see if there is any finer mesh you can use that will still be safe for air/smoke flow at the top of the chimney.

You can spray an insecticide like Cyzmic CS or Delta Dust Insecticide / Tempo Dust into crevices around the outside of the fireplace and chimney of the home to help reduce the numbers flying around and gaining access. Treating the exterior foundation of the home, around windows, doors, under the eaves along rooflines, overhangs but also to bushes, trees, shrubs, etc where wasps may land or hide will also help. 

 In the winter when its cold, wasps and hornets cannot move much at all so this would be the ideal time to have the nest manually removed since they would be unable to fly or move quickly.  Spraying monthly to quarterly throughout the main wasp and warm weather seasons will help achieve this. 

 

You can use Delta dust for ground dwelling hornets though you should note that Delta dust does not offer an instant knockdown. We recommend applying Delta dust with a hand duster directly to the hole and to the area immediately around the hole. Applications should be made very early in the morning or very late in the evening when the insects are less active. As long as you follow the product label you can use Delta dust safely in a yard with a dog. If you feel that you would also like an immediate knockdown spray you should consider a spray such as Eco PCO Jet-X. Eco PCO Jet-X provides instant knockdown and kill of stinging insects (does not offer residual control). The Jet Spray can be sprayed up to 15 ft.

If you already have the Delta Dust Insecticide, you could certainly use that to dust the area the carpenter ants are coming in and out of along the tree. Any that walk through it will pick it up on their bodies and transfer it through the colony. However, if you have not yet purchased the Delta Dust, drenching the root zone, trunk and activity points of the tree with a product like Dominion 2L would likely provide a more thorough elimination of the carpenter ant colony in its entirety. You can also apply Maxforce Complete Granules around the trees and structure as well once the drenched areas are completely dry (when it is not raining also). Please take a few moments to review our treatment article/videos on How to Get Rid of Carpenter Ants for a successful eradication.

 

 

Delta Dust is labeled to treat both bedbugs and carpet beetles.  However, it would not be applied in areas where walking on it would be an issue. It is labeled for application in cracks and crevices only.  For bed bug control, Delta Dust will not eradicate an infestation and is meant to be used along with other products.  It would be a good idea to take a look at our Bed Bug Control Guide for more information on how to do a complete treatment for bed bugs. 

Many products that will treat bed bugs will also treat for carpet beetles, but with different application instructions.  Please see the below for tips on treating for carpet beetles, and always follow the product label instructions.

How to Get Rid of Carpet Beetles

Carpet beetle infestations can be very difficult to control. The best weapon for getting rid of them is to combine cleaning and insecticides.

• Vacuuming: Carpet beetle larvae like to feed in dark, undisturbed locations like closets, attics, basements, and storage areas. The wide availability of food sources for the larvae (including dust and lint, and pet hair) makes vacuuming the best way to ensure there is minimal food for the larvae to feed on. Vacuuming can also help to remove the larvae and adult beetles already in the home. Regular vacuuming and laundering of rugs, furniture, and linens can help to ensure the beetles are removed and have no food source. If you find a contaminated item, bag and remove this item from your home, if possible.

• Proper storage: Before storing silks, woolens, or furs, dry clean as the beetles are attracted to stains and soiled garments. Store in a well-sealed container, using mothballs. Mothballs can limit the beetle’s attraction to the wool or silk. Store pet food, dried meat, and other dried animal products in a well-sealed container.

• Insecticides: For things that cannot be washed or dry cleaned, insecticides are the best bet for prevention and eradication. Temprid SC is an excellent products to use.

Insecticides can be used for spot-treatments, as a boundary at the edges of rugs, under rugs, under furniture, walls and floors of closets, shelving, cracks, and lint or dust accumulating areas. Be careful around oriental rugs or other fabrics, as some insecticides can stain. Never spray clothing or bedding with insecticide, and always read instructions.

• Outdoor maintenance: Adult carpet beetles are most commonly found outside. They feed on pollen and nectar, but lay eggs in bird, rodent, bee, or wasp nests or old spider webs to give the larvae an abundant food source. Clearing these away from your home, along with checking near highly pollinating plants near your house and checking cut flowers for the beetles before bringing them inside. 

Yes, Delta Dust Insecticide is effective for killing roaches. Delta Dust Insecticide would be best used in the wall voids. You cam remove the faceplates of your electrical outlets and dust inside the wall voids. However, if you have a roach infestation we would highly recommend our Roach Control Kit #2. This professional kit includes 1 packet of Demon WP Insecticide (which makes 4 gallons of finished solution) for spraying the outside perimeter of the home and inside underneath appliances, behind cabinets, under toilets and sinks, etc. You'll also get 4 x 35 gram tubes of Invict Gold Roach Bait Gel--one of the best roach baits on the market. Invict Gold can be applied up high in the kitchen in the corner of cabinets and in cracks and crevices in kitchens and bathrooms. The bait contains a slow-acting poison that attracts and kills feeding roaches, who also spread the bait to other roaches by contact or by sharing food. Finally, 20 Gentrol Point Source stations provide an IGR (Insect Growth Regulator) that will stop roaches from laying eggs, helping to halt the infestation. The combination of an IGR with roach bait is a highly effective roach control strategy that is widely used by pest control professionals. Demon WP must be applied with a 1 gallon pump sprayer, like the Chapin 1 gallon sprayer.

We generally would not recommend creating new ways for bed bugs or other insects to access voids or hide by drilling holes into the walls. A remote wall void would be the last place for bed bugs to go, and they are usually only present there in cases of severe infestations that have been present and untreated for years; you would be able to see bed bugs easily in other areas of the structure. We suggest using Delta Dust or another dust such as CimeXa Dust where you fairly easily treat using a hand duster such as the Long Shot Puffer Duster. (CimeXa Dust is very successful as part of bed bug treatments and cannot break down over time.) Keep in mind that bed bugs, like other insects, wants to stay close to their food source. I recommend taking a few moments to review our Bed Bug Inspection Guide and performing a thorough inspection of the area if you believe there are still bed bugs but are having trouble locating harborage areas. You can also use monitoring tools such as ClimbUp Insect Interceptors or Trappit BB Detectors to help monitor areas where you suspect there may be insect activity.

We do not recommend treating inside the kitchen cabinets with Delta Dust or any insecticide dust as it could contiminate your utensils or food. Chances are that the ants are coming from outside and getting inside the kitchen and other areas.  99% of the time ants are nesting outside and coming inside for food or water.  

The best treatment for ants outside is Termidor, hands down.  It is sort of a liquid bait when used for ants, and any ants that walk over where you spray pick up the Termidor on their bodies and bring the product back to the colony where they spread it around to all other termites, including the queen, and typically within a few days to a week all of the ants will be dead.  Termidor is used around your home like any other pest control product and is applied using a one gallon hand pump sprayer.  You should re-apply every 3 months for optimum ant control.

For inside, labeled to apply indoors only in cracks and crevices and/or inaccessible areas, only to treat active infestations inside though.  These would include the void underneath your cabinets, underneath and behind appliances, inside wall voids, water heater closets, etc.  You would not want to place this bait inside a cabinet with plates and silverware or on any food handling surface.

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