TECHNICAL REFERENCE
Pest control glossary
30 technical terms defined simply — from ootheca to the CD5 certificate. Written by our certified technicians, so you understand exactly what's happening in your home.
Pest biology
- Ootheca
- Rigid capsule containing cockroach eggs. In the German cockroach, one ootheca holds 30 to 40 eggs and its wall shields the embryos from insecticides — which is why a second treatment is required after hatching.Learn more →
- Frass
- Pile of fine wood particles, insect debris and droppings expelled by carpenter ants from their galleries. Unlike termites, carpenter ants do not eat wood: they push it out. A fresh frass pile indicates an active nest in the immediate vicinity.Learn more →
- Nymph
- Juvenile stage of an insect with incomplete metamorphosis, resembling a smaller adult without reproductive capacity. Bed bug nymphs must take a blood meal before each moult, which makes them bite as much as adults do.Learn more →
- Cocoon (pupa)
- Protective casing in which the flea larva transforms into an adult. The cocoon is impermeable to insecticides: no product kills the flea inside. Cocoons hatch progressively over 2 to 3 weeks, triggered by vibration and carbon dioxide — hence the instruction to vacuum daily after treatment.Learn more →
- Swarming
- Nuptial flight during which winged individuals leave the colony to reproduce and found new nests. In carpenter ants, winged ants appearing inside a building almost always indicate a mature colony established within the structure itself, often for several years.Learn more →
- Satellite nest
- Secondary colony established away from the main nest, containing workers and mature larvae but no queen. Carpenter ants frequently create them inside buildings while the parent nest stays outdoors in a stump or tree — so treating only the visible nest does not solve the problem.Learn more →
- Pheromone
- Chemical substance released by an insect to communicate with others of its species. Ants mark their routes with trail pheromones: this is why trails must not be cleaned before a treatment — they show the direction of the nest and guide bait placement.Learn more →
- Hematophagous
- Describes an organism that feeds exclusively on blood. The bed bug is hematophagous and feeds mainly at night; it can nonetheless survive several months without a meal, which is why leaving a room unoccupied fails as a strategy.Learn more →
- Hantavirus
- Virus transmitted by inhaling particles from rodent droppings, urine or saliva, notably from the deer mouse found in rural areas and cottages in Quebec. This is why rodent droppings must never be swept or vacuumed dry: they must first be dampened with disinfectant.Learn more →
- Polygyne colony
- Colony with several reproducing queens, as opposed to a monogyne colony with a single queen. Polygyne colonies split easily into multiple nests when attacked with a repellent insecticide, worsening the infestation instead of reducing it.
Treatment methods
- Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
- Approach combining inspection, precise species identification, correction of favourable conditions (moisture, food, access) and targeted product application, rather than blanket spraying. It is the professional standard: it reduces the amount of pesticide used while making results last longer.
- Exclusion (sealing)
- Physical sealing of a building's entry points using materials pests cannot gnaw through: steel wool, metal mesh, mortar, sealant. This is the step that makes rodent treatment last — without exclusion, a new population moves back in as soon as outside pressure rises.Learn more →
- Smoke test
- Diagnostic method in which non-toxic smoke is injected into a building's cavities to reveal openings invisible to the naked eye. The smoke escapes through every unsealed crack, joint or pipe penetration, allowing precise mapping of rodent entry points.Learn more →
- Bait gel
- Insecticide in the form of an edible gel placed in small dots inside cracks and along travel routes. The insect feeds, then returns to the nest, where the product is passed to the rest of the colony. It is the reference method against cockroaches and ants, because it reaches individuals never directly exposed to the product.Learn more →
- Cascade effect (horizontal transfer)
- Spread of an insecticide through a colony via contact between individuals, mutual grooming, droppings and cannibalism of carcasses. This effect eliminates an entire colony, queen included, from a minute amount of product consumed by only a few workers.
- Non-repellent product
- Insecticide the insect can neither detect nor avoid, so it walks through freely and carries the product back to the nest. Conversely, a repellent store-bought product drives insects away and often causes the colony to split into several satellite nests — making the problem worse.
- Tamper-resistant bait station
- Locked housing containing rodenticide bait, designed to admit rodents while preventing access by children, pets and non-target wildlife. Stations are placed along walls on identified travel routes — moving them sharply reduces their effectiveness.Learn more →
- Heat treatment
- Controlled raising of a room's temperature above the lethal threshold for bed bugs and their eggs, using commercial equipment. Its main advantage is reaching the eggs, which most insecticides do not destroy, while leaving no chemical residue.Learn more →
- Residual effect
- A product's ability to stay active on a surface for days or weeks after application, killing insects that cross it later. This is what eliminates individuals hatching after treatment — and precisely why treated surfaces must not be washed before the stated delay.
- Anticoagulant rodenticide
- Substance that blocks a rodent's blood clotting and causes delayed death, generally 3 to 7 days after ingestion. The delay is deliberate: it prevents rodents from associating the bait with danger, an avoidance behaviour known as bait shyness.
- Colony budding
- Splitting of a colony into several independent nests under stress, typically after spraying a repellent insecticide. The result is the opposite of what was intended: instead of one colony to treat, you get three or four, often in harder-to-reach places.
- Action threshold
- Level of pest presence at which treatment becomes justified. In residential settings this threshold is near zero for bed bugs and cockroaches, while it tolerates occasional presence of harmless outdoor insects such as sowbugs or earwigs.
Signs and evidence
- Rub marks
- Dark, greasy marks left along baseboards and openings by the repeated rubbing of rodent fur loaded with sebum and dust. They reveal habitual travel routes and are used to place traps and stations in the right spots.Learn more →
- Droppings
- Excrement whose size and shape identify the species and indicate how old an infestation is: 3 to 6 mm for the house mouse, 1 to 2 cm for the Norway rat, and fine black particles resembling ground pepper for the German cockroach. Fresh droppings are soft and shiny; older ones are dry and grey.Learn more →
- Black spotting (bed bugs)
- Small black dots on sheets, mattress seams and behind the headboard, corresponding to digested bed bug droppings. Unlike a dirt stain, they smear and bleed when rubbed with a damp cloth — a simple confirmation test.Learn more →
- Moult (exuvia)
- Empty casing shed by an insect when changing stage. Translucent bed bug or cockroach exuviae are proof of an active, breeding infestation, since they show a growing population rather than isolated individuals introduced by chance.
Regulation and certification
- CD5 certificate
- Certificate issued by Quebec's Ministry of the Environment (MELCCFP) to an individual, authorizing commercial pesticide application in buildings, extermination category. It is obtained through training and an exam, and renewed periodically. Distinct from the permit, which is issued to the business: a pest control company must hold a permit, and each applicator their own certificate.Learn more →
- Health Canada registration (PMRA)
- Authorization issued by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency confirming a pesticide has been assessed for efficacy and safety for its intended use. Every registered product carries a registration number, and using it outside the conditions on the label is illegal in Canada.
- MAPAQ compliance
- Requirements of Quebec's Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food applicable to food businesses. Pest presence is grounds for a violation; establishments must demonstrate a documented pest management program, with an intervention log and inspection reports.Learn more →
- Written guarantee
- Contractual commitment by which the exterminator agrees to return at no charge if the pest reappears within a defined period. Its validity usually depends on the client following the preparation and follow-up instructions, which is why documenting them before the intervention matters.Learn more →
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