http://www.biconet.com/biocontrol/nemas.html

Beneficial Nematodes are microscopic, nonsegmented worms that occur naturally in soil all around the world. Steinernema carpocapsae and Steinernema feltiae prey on ants, termites and the larval and grub stages of various beetles, weevils, armyworms, cutworms, chafers, webworms, borers, maggots, fleas, ticks, fungus gnats (sciarid flies), to name a few. Once they are released, the nematodes seek out host insects and enter their prey through body openings and emit an endo-toxin that results in death for the host insect within 48 hours. The nematodes reproduce and their offspring feed on the insect cadaver and emerge to seek out new hosts.

hope this helps,

palulukon

This just came in the mail today regarding our request for more information...

Thank you for your inquiry. Typically, spiders are less vulnerable to nematode parasitization than other target insects because they do not drag their bodies on the ground and therefore are not in contact with the nematodes. It is possible to parasitize spiders with nematodes intentionally, but in nature it is not a common occurrence. However, nematodes have been demonstrated to be somewhat effective at reducing seed ticks from a treated area, and ticks are technically spiders. The difference is that tick nymphs spend a good deal of time in or on the soil.

The treatment technique for fleas and ticks is "broadcast" over a wide area, which the prescribed technique for termites is "drench" over a limited area, such as around a foundation or pumped into an area known to be infested.

Nematodes should not be used indoors unless you have a dirt floor or you are pumping nematodes into termite galleries in timber. Generally, my recommendation for indoor "structural" treatment is to paint (spray or brush) unfinished timber with a product called Boracare.

Boracare makes wood unpalatable to termites and other wood destroying insects.

If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to write or call.

All the best,

Eric W. Acosta - Director
Biocontrol Network
Bio-rational Alternatives for an Ever Shrinking Planet
***************************************************
5116 Williamsburg Rd., Brentwood, TN 37027
Tel. (615) 370-4301 Orders. (800) 441-BUGS
Fax. (615) 370-0662
URL http://www.biconet.com E-Mail: ebugs@biconet.com
***************************************************

I will write them back and ask about the mantis.

hope this helps,

palulukon

Mantids are nice to have around as general predators but they will not control ticks. There is some research showing that beneficial nematodes can help with flea and tick control and they will not harm mantids.

I'm going way out on a limb here, but have you thought about chickens? My friend has free ranging chickens and hasn't had to deal with fleas or ticks on her animals for years. She loses the occasional chicken to a predator, but she coops the chickens at night and lets them roam all day. Pose your question on the Farm Life forum and see what comes up. Maybe some chicken folks will prove or disprove the good luck my friend has had with chickens and bug control.
Take care,
C. in Austin

hmm. ticks are not, technically, spiders. so that makes me a little suspicious of the company. I, personally, have never heard of Steinernema infesting any arachnids, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
i think it is more likely that if you kill anything with the nematodes, it will be insects in the soil, not ticks. Mantids also will not prey on ticks any more, and probably less, than they do insects. Mantids really like to sit on flowers and snack on visiting pollinators.

An important part of having a successful nematode treatment is soil moisture. if you live in one of the dry spots in AK, this won't be a successful treatment.

If i were you, and were truly wanting to help the environment, i'd use on of the very nice new systemic treatements. it goes just on the animal and no where else. It won't affect any of the other beneficial insects in the region, and your animals will be safe.

"An important part of having a successful nematode treatment is soil moisture. if you live in one of the dry spots in AK, this won't be a successful treatment."

Thanks for that tip...will make sure to do it during the damp times...we do get a fair amount of rain...

"If i were you, and were truly wanting to help the environment, i'd use on of the very nice new systemic treatements. it goes just on the animal and no where else. It won't affect any of the other beneficial insects in the region, and your animals will be safe."

I do appreciate your input. However, there is enough information coming to light on long term usage that makes us question using the systemic products(which we have used in the past)...which is why we are looking at alternatives.

I will be sure and post if we have any success with this. The praying mantis story is something a friend told me, hear say...so I am still trying to research it.

thanks for your comments,

palulukon

How tall is the grass where the dogs roam? If you could keep the grass short then ticks will migrate to areas with less sun (and taller grass). They dry up in the sun, and may (I am not sure) prefer tall grass for other reasons. If possible, keep the dogs away from areas with tall grass and brush.

Also, I was surprised to find that frontline (for my cat) does abolutely nothing to protect against ticks. It prevents fleas, but is not even intended to guard against ticks. I found that out the hard way.

Also, you worry about the long-term effects of systemic treatments on your animals. I understand this, and do not intend to sound antagonistic, but spraying chemicals may be just as bad. I know you want to do as little damage as possible, but if the biological means of prevention do not work then the systemic chemicals may be better than broadcasting chemicals on your environment considering that the dogs will be exposed to toxins either way, and the latter has more of an impact on other species. I do understand you consider chems a last resort though.

Best of luck, and please let us know if you find something that works. I am in the same boat as you.

Hi again,

Thanks for the follow ups...

First, I had no idea that the mantis were wild harvested, and like you, think this is not acceptable. I guess I imagined a mantis farm where they breed thousands...but, no, not if they go and take them from their habitat. However your comment "Mantids not as much because the ones people are buying are not native usually to begin with. " does that imply there are mantis farms? I can certainly research it on the web also, just thought if you knew.

Second, the suggestion for nematodes for specific climate...again...wow, had not thought of that either...and don't know if the nematode place would have brought that up.

Third, no, will not spray permectrin again...it was a last ditch attempt...

And we too have seen the frontline will sometimes work on ticks, sometimes not, same with fleas. Depends on the year and who has resistance...last year we switched to Advantage for awhile and that seemed to work, but we are reading some things that give us cause for pause...most all the products caution against using on elderly or otherwise compromised animals, and that is what we have a preponderance of.

We don't have "grass" to speak of, being on the side of a mountain in the middle of the woods...one year we spread sulfur around the immediate areas and it drove the ticks off...this winter has been very mild so the ticks should be in abundance. Do any of you know if the sulfur would hurt the nematodes? Also, diatameous earth?

We plan to start spraying early, as soon as we are sure the last freeze is over. We are expecting that to come early...will spay liberally and every 2 months we are thinking...a trial and error sort of thing.

Thanks for the many helpful suggestions...

and the link that I will research tonight.

Will keep everyone posted...

thanks again,

palulukon

Hi everyone,

We have ordered a specific product for fleas from www.nematodary.com

The rep said since it was targeted for fleas it would work in any climate. The price was more than reasonable and we will be applying it this week.

Will let you all know our results.

Thanks for being here,

palulukon

"occur naturally in soil all around the world"
the thing I have against releasing predators and such (aldough its way better than insecticides) is that true, they may be there naturally but not in such high concentrations.
anyway there seems to be some misunderstanding about taxonomy :P
spiders,ticks,mantids, etc all belong to the phylum arthropoda (arthropods) which includes arachnids, insects, crustaceans, etc.
now, that is broken up into arachnids and insects (and others) which are different! an arachnid is NOT an insect and an insect is NOT an arachnid. spiders, ticks, mites, windscorpions, scorpions, etc all are arachnids.
mantids, beetles, flies, grasshoppers, etc are all insects (so spiders, ticks, mites, etc are NOT insects)
now... ticks are mites and mites are NOT spiders.
did that clear it up a little? I know it can be confusing but I don't know how to explain it better (a diagram would help...)

I use praying mantis in my garden too, for insect control. But a few years back we had a problem with fleas. I read in a natural remedies book to feed my cat and dogs brewers yeast tablets. They, I believe have worked just great my animals have never had fleas since. A neighbor found a tick on her dog but us we have never had a problem since giving the brewers yeast. Maybe you should try it. Its not expensive and won't hurt the animals.

palulukon, I'm curious if the beneficials you go did any good. I've got about 10 acres of land with some ticks and fleas. I'd like to try some beneficials, but I want to hear more testimonials.

Our weather has been so weird we have not sprayed the nematodes yet...we have had torrential rains for 2 months. We have kept the nematodes in the fridge and are still within our time limitÂand plan to spray this week. DonÂt know why, but we also have not had a flea or tick issue to speak ofÂprobably due to the unusual weather. If August gets hot and dry we will have a problem to so moving right along with our plans this week. The ground is damp enough for a good seeding but not so muddy it is just slosh.

And yes, I do know about yeastÂbut for the tons of animal beings we have it would be cost prohibitive. Does work on the ones we do give it to however.

Ordered frontline from Australia at half the cost and using it on the more hearty dogs and cats, but again, have only had to treat a few so far.

Will report backÂ

palulukon