FAQs — EntomoBiotics Inc. 1

1. In a nutshell, what kind of work, does EntomoBiotics Inc. do?

We are a full-service pest management firm, servicing homes, commercial structures, restaurants, medical, laboratory and hospital facilities, to control pests such as ants, roaches, caterpillars, spiders, flies, termites, snakes, mice & rats, armadillos, squirrels, skunks, opossums, and raccoons. We also perform in-depth applied research in entomology, arachnology, herpetology, and nematology. And we do all of this all over the state of Texas. Our applied research program has resulted in the development of  an advanced pest management system we call IRIM-P.A.™. Embedded within it is another system that we developed — devoted to termites — that we call i³™.

2. How does your approach to Pest Management differ from those of other companies?

Quite simply, while others promise Pest Elimination, we practice Pest Avoidance. The difference is that our IRIM-P.A.™ program, which is described more fully below, is as effective as any pest elimination program known, yet it works by eliminating the use of pesticides and producing an environment that does not attract or nurture pests. Pest Avoidance, via our exclusive IRIM-P.A.™ system, actually results in Pesticide Elimination. That’s good for you and for us, and good for the environment.

3. Do you use Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques?

EntomoBiotics Inc. was among the first to use and champion genuine IPM techniques in Texas. We were pioneers in the use of IPM methods in Texas hospitals, laboratories, nursing homes, medical clinics, residences, and schools. Today, however, claiming to use IPM techniques doesn’t distinguish one kind of Pest Management Company from another, because governmental regulations now require the adoption of most core IPM techniques, industry-wide. Now companies advertise they are “Green,” which is to say, über-IPM. Yet “Green” is often used as a symbolic springboard to the so-called “Environmentally Friendly” bandwagon. Unfortunately, the term (along with the bandwagon) is so poorly defined that companies can use it without having to take positive steps toward good, ecologically-sound stewardship.

Both “IPM” and “Green” are broad, value-laden terms with indistinct meanings, and are—more often than not—misused as advertising gimmicks. For those reasons, we avoid them. We practice IRIM-P.A.™, or “Integrated Reduced Impact Methods, focused on Pest Avoidance.”  IRIM-P.A.™ is a serious, value-neutral but well-defined approach to environmental stewardship that uses IPM and RIS (Reduced Impact Services) methods, but doesn’t merely try to use the least amount of the least toxic pesticides available. Instead, that system relies on scientific analysis to make subtle environmental changes. The object is to produce an environment where pests are not nurtured or attracted. With IRIM-P.A.™, pest avoidance, in its most ideal expression, is synonymous with pesticide elimination.

4. Does IRIM-P.A.™ cost more?

IRIM-P.A.™ costs less, often much less, in the long run. It resonates with the proverb “Give me a fish, feed me for a day; teach me to fish, feed me for a lifetime.” We teach our clients how to use the IRIM-P.A.™  system at their homes and businesses, so they can benefit from its capabilities, on their own, for as long as they choose to take advantage of them. Furthermore, our initial and periodic treatment charges are never higher than those associated with traditional IPM or RIS pest management practices. We guarantee our prices to be comparable to or often lower than the competition for comparable services provided.

5. Besides ordinary Pest Management, do you also control snakes?

Our snake control expertise was developed over thirty years of dealing with serpents throughout Texas. Venomous rattlesnakes, copperheads, cottonmouths, and coral snakes are not a problem; we are equipped to handle them all. And, regardless of the species, we handle them humanely. We start with an analysis of the elements of the problem. For example, if a snake skin is found in an attic or garage, we first determine its species by conducting a careful examination of the skin.

The species of snake(s) involved, and the site’s ecosystem figure into any plan of correction. We have developed snake avoidance programs for every species-ecosystem combination found in Texas, whether the site is primarily terrestrial, in an underground cavern, on a lake, or on a river or creek. Snake problems in commercial structures, barns and homes are different from those in docks, marinas, and shipyards. We are familiar with those differences, and we handle them all.

We analyze the site to determine why a snake problem exists, and design a plan of correction that solves the immediate problem and insures it does not recur in the future. The crucial part of the job is not over until the client’s immediate snake problem is dealt with, and we have never failed to finish that job. However, the rest of the job—keeping their snake problem solved into the future—is just as important. Besides implementing an immediate plan of correction for the client, we also teach how to continue a program of snake avoidance into the future.

6. Do you control snakes in Marinas, Docks, Boat Houses, and aboard Ships?

Water snakes, venomous and non-venomous species alike, often present special problems for docks and marinas. We have developed special methods for dealing with such problems. Besides solving those problems for our clients, we teach them how to use our specialized snake avoidance program on their own, so they can take charge of ensuring they have a snake-free marina, dock, and boat-house.

7. Do you also control spiders? Even Brown Recluse and Black Widows?

Like snakes, spiders can present special challenges, especially brown recluse and black widow spiders. We have developed a brown recluse spider avoidance program that changes the microcosmic ecosystems of homes and businesses, so the nooks and crannies, where these spiders hide and forage, no longer attract or nurture then. Brown recluse spiders within such ecosystems should not be repelled, to infest other locales nearby, but must be dealt with in such a way that they die naturally, yet more quickly than usual (a quiescent brown recluse can live more than a year without food or water). We don’t use pesticides to cause this to happen, but impose environmental modifications that, while not causing them to flee, make it impossible for them to survive there for long in a quiescent state. Once they have ceased to exist within the modified ecosystem, we monitor for continued presence of the spiders, to ensure that the present infestation no longer exists. Then we teach the client how to continue an on-going habitat modification program, on their own, to make sure that new infestations of brown recluse spiders do not occur.

Black widow spiders pose recurring problems in certain areas of Texas. We use specialized programs that are similar to those used with brown recluse spiders, to deal with them as necessary. We then teach our customers and clients how to continue those programs on their own.

8. How about spiders in Marinas, Docks, and other Marine Environments?

Spiders in marine environments, particularly spiders in the Tetragnathidae family, become serious pests at certain times in the year, when they festoon boats, docks, and marine structures with their webbing, egg sacs, and fecal spotting. Over the years, we have formulated special non-toxic, dock-and-boat-friendly cleansing solutions that deal with all the problems that these spiders present, and—as part of our IRIM-P.A.™ program, described above—we use those solutions to make our client’s docks and marinas spider free. Best of all, we do this, not by using pesticides, but by creating an ecosystem that does not attract or nurture spiders. In the process, our client’s docks and marinas smell sweeter and sparkle like new. That’s important, both for the marina and for those who dock and store their boats there.

As with our other programs, we analyze the client’s site to determine the extent and nature of the problem, along with a microscopic identification of the various species of spiders involved. Using that information, we design a complete plan of correction that includes a concurrent mosquito and lake fly avoidance program. Once that plan has been activated, we teach the client how to continue it, using their staffing, in a program that is both spider-effective and cost-effective all season long. The costs involved with our spider-avoidance program are a fraction of the charges associated with traditional and so-called “advanced” spider-control programs. Best of all, our program works, while many other, higher-cost systems, often do not.

In conjunction with this program, we supply marinas with materials they can use to teach their boating clients how to carry out good spider avoidance programs on their own vessels. In the process, the marina earns extra points with the boating public, while increasing their revenues at the same time.

9. Do you treat homes and businesses for subterranean termites?

Over the past thirty years, we developed an exclusive i³™ termite avoidance program. We have been issued a number of patents, by the U.S. Patent Office, covering various designs of termite interceptors and inoculators that we developed in our laboratory and tested all over Texas and in portions of other states (including New Orleans, Louisiana.) That program has been honed and refined in the course of treating a host of residential homes, businesses, and sensitive facilities like nursing homes, hospitals, schools, and scientific laboratories throughout Texas.

i³™ combines termite interdiction, interception, and inoculation, using natural, least-toxic, and minimum-risk/reduced-risk entomopathogenic nematodes, along with natural mineral-based termiticides and wood preservatives, to interdict termites in structures (denying them further access to homes and businesses,) intercept them in the soil around economically valuable structures subject to termite attack, and inoculate them in our exclusive termite interceptors that have been optimized to allow the use of natural, non-toxic agents (including entomopathogenic nematodes) that destroy termite colonies before they can enter a structure and cause damage.

10. How long has EntomoBiotics Inc. been in operation?

Our founder, Jerry Cates, started the company as a sole proprietorship in 1980. The company was incorporated in 1996. Mr. Cates presently serves as president and chief executive officer.

11. Do you provide inspections and estimates?

Yes. Call Jerry at (512) 331-1111 to set up an appointment.

12. How large is your service area?

We provide IRIM-P.A.™ pest management services and i³™ termite elimination throughout Texas.