Our technicians use advanced bioassay techniques to test materials against urban pests in the laboratory or city dwellings for susceptibility to numerous new and existing commercial products. Our inventory of medically important insects includes cockroaches, mosquitoes, fleas, ticks, and even the common housefly. All of these insects can be assayed at our facility for products ranging from repellents to direct toxicants. Other urban pests commonly studied at Pacific Ag include ants, wasps, spiders, and termites. With all insectary studies, our bioassays are conducted with micro-pipettes for direct topical application to test specimens. We follow standard operating procedures for substrate exposure testing, and behavioral studies for repellency through the use of olfactometers and choice arenas.

Garden pests commonly studied include snails, slugs, crickets, sow bugs, pill bugs and earwigs. These studies typically take place in our screen houses or outdoors to include a weathering component for different formulations or carriers of the active ingredient.