Editor’s note: PCT regrets to inform readers that Dale Bagby, age 79, passed away on Dec. 20, 2017, after a brief illness. Dale lived a life devoted to his businesses, his customers and his beloved family. Fortunately, Dale was able to read a preliminary version of this article prior to his passing, which helped him to know just how much he inspired his family. Through his story, we hope he will continue to inspire the pest control community.

Like many in the pest management industry, Dale Bagby, a 54-year veteran of the profession, created a successful business path, which has allowed his children, grandchildren and perhaps further generations to follow in his footsteps. With his exceptional pest control business and customer service skills, plus his inherent desire to assist people, Dale transferred his passion for helping people to four of his seven daughters, their husbands, and one grandson, each of whom own their own pest control company.

“People always say that you need to like your job if you’re going to stay in it. And, I did. I couldn’t wait to get up in the morning to go to work. I was ready to go,” said Dale, a Texan from the Austin area who worked in the pest control industry as a technician, manager or business owner for more than half a century until retiring just last year — even though he wanted to keep working.

IN THE BEGINNING. Dale began his pest control career in 1964 at Orkin. “I answered an ad in an Austin paper. They were asking for service technicians, and I thought it was something I’d like to try.” After two years, Dale moved on to Terminix and stayed for three years. While at Terminix, Dale met and married his third wife, Sue, with whom he celebrated his 50-year anniversary in September 2017. In 1970, Dale and Sue, utilizing Dale’s experience in the industry, decided to open their own pest control business, Modern Pest Control.

Starting “from scratch” with just a truck and a sprayer, Dale knocked on doors and did everything he could to create new business without taking any old customers from his former employers. It took about five years for Dale to build the business and “feel like I was making a living.” In 1977, another pest control company located in Houston called to explain that they had owned the “Modern Pest Control” company name first and would be moving into Austin. They never did, but Dale and Sue changed their company name to Research Pest Control to avoid any potential issues.

Around this time, Dale explains that the “high-tech business hit Austin,” and Texas Instruments began providing him with quite a bit of business. Within six months, Research Pest Control grew from one to three trucks servicing customers. During this time of growth, Sue expressed interest in acting as the secretary for the business. “Dale said the only way you can work the office is that you have to pass your pest control test. I surprised him and I passed it!” she recalled. For the next two years, Sue ran a route, and treated apartments and dorms, before announcing her retirement from the field. She preferred working in the office. Dale and his crew continued to grow Research Pest Control for the next eight years.

THE REST IS HISTORY. Beginning in 1980, Dale continued his pest control business pursuits, while beginning to mentor his daughters, involving them in the industry as they desired. In 1980, he helped eldest daughter Susan Anderson and her husband create a new pest control business in Mexia, Texas, and gave his third daughter Pam Hammonds a job at Research Pest Control. In 1987, Dale decided to sell Research Pest Control to his fourth daughter Tami Hood, who owned the firm for the next three years. Dale continued working at Research through 2001 when he considered retiring. He and Sue moved to Burnet, Texas, and built a house.

But, the pest control bug caught Dale again when he saw an ad in the paper for a small pest control business for sale: Circle S Pest Control. He knew his third daughter Pam and her husband Jeff had expressed interest in owning their own pest control business, so Dale bought Circle S. “I told them I would run it for five years and then they could take it.” Dale bought the business in 2002, worked to grow and establish the company for five years, turned ownership over to Pam and Jeff in 2007 and continued working for the couple until his retirement in May of 2017.

REMINISCING. Dale and Sue owned a 9.5-acre piece of property in the country that required a bit of outside work, keeping them active during retirement. They took care of their place, Sue made and sold jewelry, and the couple traveled frequently. The Bagbys enjoyed taking road trips, they traveled to Alaska and last year they visited Cuba. Dale said, “I retired not because I wanted to, but because I had to [due to health reasons]. I’d be right back working today.”

In reflecting over his 54 years of pest control service, Dale said the industry has changed quite a bit. When he started in the business, all he needed was a truck and a sprayer and he could go to work, he said. Dale explains that the pest control industry wasn’t as structured as it is today. The industry slowly changed throughout the years, as Austin established a pest control board that was eventually taken over by the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA). Dale said he liked the enforcement of annual requirements, including CEU credits, which resulted in the industry becoming more professional over time.

His own business services changed over the years, as well. When Dale first started, he established monthly pest control service calls for his customers. When one of his employees happened to get sick, leaving him short-handed for a while, Dale made the decision to switch his customers to a quarterly schedule instead. “That was one of the biggest changes,” said Dale, “and I liked it a lot better than trying to go out and keep up with everything on a monthly basis. You need less employees and it saves the people money. We had good luck with every three months and it really made a difference.” The types of calls shifted, as well. Early in Dale’s career, German cockroaches generated the most service calls. Once more houses were constructed in his market area, scorpions and ants began to make the phone ring with increasing frequency.

Thinking back on his entire career, Dale said, “The best thing I liked was the different people that you meet. All walks of life. Young, old, rich to poor. You meet them all. There were so many things, I could almost write a book on experiences and things that happened. Funny things, sad things, good things.” When asked what kept him in the pest control industry for more than five decades, Dale said that he enjoyed meeting and helping people. He thoroughly enjoyed his job and oftentimes worked seven days a week.

Dale’s wife Sue concurs. Dale worked constantly, but that’s because he was helping people. Sue added that Dale’s work was always focused on “quality over quantity” and that “his heart was in the quality of doing his service.” She remembers many times when Dale would not charge customers who he knew were suffering financially. He would ask these customers if they would mind if he would “test a new chemical” on their house for free so they would not suspect his intentions. “Anybody that he felt that needed help, he wouldn’t charge them. The people came first,” Sue says. And, he helped his daughters and their husbands to see there were many long-term opportunities in the pest control industry.

CREATING A LEGACY. Before Dale met Sue, he and his first wife had a daughter named Susan. Dale and his second wife had three daughters, Rhonda, Pam and Tami. With Sue, the couple had three more daughters, Teri, Gayla and Sandy, totaling seven in all. While Dale was running Research Pest Control, Dale’s oldest daughter Susan Anderson finished high school and some college, married her high school sweetheart, James, and had two children, Windy and Micah. In 1980, Susan said, “James and dad had a conversation” that led to Dale recommending that the couple open a pest control business of their own.

“We were young and basically said, why not? And just did it,” recalls Susan. As a result, Mexia Pest Control, located in the town of Mexia in the middle of Texas, was created. James worked with Dale for two weeks in Austin, came back to Mexia, studied and took his tests. Susan remembers that they obtained their business license, “set up a little table, a phone and a Rolodex in our living room,” and they were in business. After more than 37 years, the business continues to grow with six full-time and five part-time employees. The couple attributes much of their growth to their son, Micah, who has acted as the company’s salesperson since 2003.

Also in 1980, Dale’s third daughter, Pam Hammonds, began working at Research Pest Control until 1985 when she left the industry for a few years. Pam returned to the company in 1988 as an office manager and stayed for 18 years. Dale bought Circle S Pest Control in 2002 and then sold the company to Pam and her husband Jeff in 2007.

To get the training to own this company, Jeff, who had been employed in “corporate America” previously, worked at Research Pest Control for two years prior to taking over Circle S. Since owning the company, Pam’s son Michael worked there from 2007 until October 2016, when he left to start his own company, Pro’s Choice Pest Control, about 20 miles north of Austin.

In January of this year, Pam and Jeff sold a portion of the company to Dale’s fourth daughter Tami and her husband Bryan. The purchased portion will operate in Burnet, Texas, while the remainder of the business will reside in Lampasas, Texas. “We were ready to downsize a little bit,” Pam said, and run a smaller company that will be called Badger Pest Control.

Tami Hood, who owned Research Pest Control from 1987 to 1990 and currently works as an independent accounting and payroll manager, took over Circle S Pest Control in 2018. Having been out of the pest control industry for 27 years, Tami has been getting reacquainted with the latest industry terminology. Bryan has been learning the ropes at Circle S with Jeff, and also is training with James, Susan and Micah at Mexia. “This is really an exciting time for us,” says Tami, who knows that owning Circle S will be a great opportunity for revenue-earning potential. Plus, Circle S could offer a future business opportunity for their children, Lindsay Warr, Kylie Chapman and Brad Hood.

As for Dale’s seventh daughter Sandy Wilson, her involvement in the pest control industry began with her husband, Chris. A firefighter in Austin, Chris’ second job was with Research Pest Control from 1994 to 2001, and then Circle S Pest Control in 2002. Choosing to move back to the Austin area from Burnet, the couple decided to open their own pest control company, Lakeline Pest Control, in 2003. Other than Chris, Lakeline has one other employee, and occasionally over the years, Dale would help out with the company, too. Although the couple’s oldest son Clint worked for Lakeline for a period of time, Sandy is not sure just yet if he or her other two sons, Colby and Caleb, will be interested in getting involved in the pest control business long-term.

COMMON DENOMINATORS. The recurring theme evident within each of the extended Bagby family pest control businesses, aside from operating an efficient and professional business to assist people with their pest problems, is the importance of family. All four daughters specifically mentioned their family bond, but Dale stated it most concisely, “We’re a close family. Not just next of kin. Very close.” And, often that family kinship is extended to the employees of the family members’ companies. “I know this sounds like a cliché,” says Susan, “but our employees are like family.”

Even though each family member’s business is a unique entity, there have been clear ties, dotted lines and transfers of ownership. They’ve been there to support each other. “When we’re all together, we all compare notes, and I think we learn things from each other,” says Susan. In addition, the family has always been there for the customer. Just like Dale, the second generation of pest control operators truly enjoys helping customers solve problems, and ultimately, this is a major component to being and staying in the pest control business.

Most importantly, though, these four daughters and their husbands relied on Dale Bagby for his support and his extensive knowledge and experience in the pest control industry. Tami is “super excited to go back to her roots” and is “ready to continue the legacy.”

Pam sums up her family’s experience by saying, “I was blessed when my Dad offered us the opportunity to purchase Circle S Pest Control in 2007,” and “the most important thing is that I have been able to work alongside my Dad for many years. He as my boss, he as my co-worker, and finally, he as my employee.”

The author is a Cleveland-area freelancer.

It all started with an unhappy CEO.

Lyell Clarke III was “churning” in 2008; he knew that “something deep down in his gut wasn’t what it needed to be,” recalled Julie Reiter, who heads human resources at Clarke, a privately owned company providing global solutions for mosquito control and aquatic habitat management.

At an executive retreat Lyell shared his frustrations: The pace of change in the mosquito control industry was too slow; the industry’s reputation wasn’t great and people didn’t value what it did to protect public health. He felt a growing sense of responsibility as a maker of pesticides.

But instead of dealing with these issues privately, Clarke invited the entire company to join him in “this discovery of becoming a more sustainable, greener, responsible organization,” said Reiter. “It was Lyell’s mid-course correction,” where he admitted something was troubling him, where he wanted to figure it out and he wanted employees to help him do it, she recalled.

It was a radical move for a small, third-generation company where “people’s value was measured by whether they were at their desk” and nearly every decision had to be vetted by the company’s top executives, said Reiter.

THE GREAT UNKNOWN. With both uncertainty and commitment, the initiative kicked off later that fall. Employees met with consultants, who introduced sustainability concepts and sought workers’ input in crafting a path forward.

In an early vision exercise, employees were asked to find magazine pictures that represented the company. They chose images of Bruce Willis, Rambo, Ronald Reagan, Chevy Silverado pick-up trucks and black bears, signifying a sturdy, dependable, strong and macho organization. But when asked to find pictures that represented Clarke if it was the best version of itself, they chose images of birds, nature and a salmon swimming upstream, risking itself to protect future generations.

At this point, Lyell realized he wasn’t the only one struggling to reconcile himself with the business; “it was something a lot of us were struggling with but we didn’t know how to talk about it,” said Reiter.

Over the next year, employees explored reputation, society’s attitudes about the work they did and how they could affect change. They brought in speakers, attended classes on sustainability, set goals and “we started to try stuff,” said Reiter, who leads the company’s sustainability efforts.

A HUGE IMPACT. Those first goals mainly focused on things like reducing Clarke’s carbon footprint by changing up its fleet, minimizing its waste stream by improving recycling efforts and improving operations efficiencies by implementing technology.

The company made quick progress. “In the first few years alone, we probably cut about $300,000 worth of expenses from our operations just by doing it smarter,” said Reiter.

Clarke also began donating 1 percent of revenue from its growing line of certified-organic mosquito control products to environmental groups. And it introduced the EarthRight mosquito control service featuring organic products and the use of hybrid vehicles, all-electric sprayers and bicycles. Yes, bicycles.

Before 2011, crew members drove trucks to each neighborhood catch basin where they dropped in a larvacide pellet. It was “incredibly mind numbing” work and the “tediousness of it” made it difficult to attract and retain workers, recalled Reiter.

Now 80 percent of this work is done on bicycles, which has eliminated trucks from the fleet, reduced fuel costs and the firm’s carbon footprint, and increased operations efficiency. Plus, it presents a better image and “there’s a waiting list for this crew because who doesn’t want to ride around on a bike all summer?” asked Reiter.

Employees also embraced goals that had social impact, such as serving the community through volunteerism and improving employee health, wellness and knowledge of the industry.

HOW DO YOU SEE ME NOW? All of this gradually began to elevate “our internal sense of identity,” said Reiter. Employee retention increased to 94 percent and employees started to view themselves and their work in a different light. And because of this, so did people outside the company.

By 2015 there was a significant shift in Clarke’s ability to attract high-caliber talent. People were drawn to its mission, sense of purpose, culture and the opportunity to work in an innovative environment; “we were not that in 2008,” Reiter said.

The company also began attracting more innovative partnerships. “We have organizations coming to us now to talk about their new chemistries and molecules” where before Clarke had to beg to be recognized, said Reiter. Now, “they know what we’re capable of doing and they want to work with us,” she said.

A new headquarters in St. Charles, Ill., embodies the new Clarke. Employees developed the “campus of the future” concept and shared it at a company summit. It was a surprise to management; “we did not see this on our horizon,” recalled Reiter. But the next year the company found a building and the following year employees moved in.

The facility is a far cry from the stodgy office space of yore. It is flooded with natural sunlight, has more than 300 solar panels on the roof, an eight-station electric car charging bay with solar panels and a restored prairie. A second building was built from scratch. “Our buildings now are consistent with our culture and with our beliefs and our mission,” said Reiter. “Now when people come to visit us and interview, they walk into a building that is really different” and know “who we are,” she said.

The transformation at Clarke over the past 10 years has been “profound,” said Reiter, who likened it to moving from a palette of black and gray to one of brilliant color.

Sustainability has become “a whole way of being” from how you treat the environment to your people, the community, customers and partners. It’s not just about measuring improvement, but creating “an enterprise where people flourish,” she explained.

The author is a frequent contributor to PCT.

Alfie Treleven loves wearing his TOMS. He owns several pairs of the trendy loafers. And though the shoes are stylish, he’s also a fan for another reason: For every pair purchased, TOMS donates a pair — 60 million and counting — to children in need in developing countries.

“That’s a really good idea. I’ve really embraced that in buying TOMS,” said the president of Sprague Pest Solutions in Tacoma, Wash.

TOMS isn’t the only company with a strong social mission. Bombas socks and Warby Parker eyeglasses donate pair-for-pair. D.light provides affordable solar light and power to those without access to reliable electricity, so far improving the lives of 77 million people in 62 countries.

In fact, making a profit and helping solve social or environmental issues is gaining ground with companies, big and small. Why? Several reasons: First, when done right, corporate social responsibility (CSR) pays off. According to the authors of the book “Firms of Endearment” (Pearson FT Press, 2nd edition, 2014), public companies like Amazon, Costco, Starbucks and Southwest Airlines, which are “fueled by passion and purpose, not cash,” have outperformed the S&P 500 by 14 times.

Second, a higher purpose helps attract and retain employees, namely millennials, the largest working demographic in the U.S. It’s a great “side benefit” to making a difference in the community and really has a positive impact on company culture, said Carl Braun, owner of Quality Pest Control in Omaha, Neb.

Data confirms this: Millennial workers who have opportunities to contribute to charities and causes at multinational corporations “show a greater level of loyalty, have a more positive opinion of business behavior, and are less pessimistic about the general social situation,” reported The Deloitte Millennial Survey 2017.

Finally, customers increasingly want to do business with socially responsible companies. Thanks to science and social media, consumers today are very aware of how products, services and business practices impact society and the environment. As such, they prefer to buy from firms with the same sensibilities. According to the 2017 Cone Communications Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Study, 87 percent of American said they will purchase a product or service because a company advocated for an issue they cared about.

Millennials are the most likely to seek out responsible products when possible compared to Americans overall (85 vs. 79 percent), found the Cone Communications study. Even more: 80 percent of millennials believe business should take actions to improve issues, even ones that may not be relevant to everyday business operations.

That might include issues like helping the homeless, which is the very reason Green Frog Pest Control was founded two years ago in Vancouver, British Columbia. Green Frog donates 60 percent of net profits to the Simpson Society, which provides training, employment and independent living support to persons at risk of homelessness in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside neighborhood. It also hires people hindered by poverty, disability and other barriers to employment, providing the training, support and encouragement they need to become certified applicators.

The company was started after CEO Dylan Goggs suffered a serious health scare. He realized that a good many people who face health injuries and mental trauma don’t have safety nets and can end up homeless as a result. “I started to think about ways that we could actually help this marginalized community,” recalled Goggs, who was reluctant to rely on government or grants. Instead he chose to compete in the marketplace and “be dependent upon our professionalism and our success in delivering services” to fund the cause.

MANY WAYS. Green Frog Pest Control was founded as a community contribution company, a business classification in British Columbia that bridges the gap between for-profit and non-profit entities. Other companies, like Method, King Arthur Flour, Patagonia and Solberg Manufacturing in the U.S., are structured as benefit corporations, which have legally defined goals of making a positive impact on society, workers, the community or environment in addition to making profit. (B corp classification is available in other countries too.)

But you don’t have to re-structure the organization to get on-board with corporate social responsibility. A growing number of companies, for instance, practice “conscious capitalism” (consciouscapitalism.org), a reform movement advanced by the founders of Whole Foods, Panera Bread and The Container Store to elevate humanity through business. While free-market capitalism is “the most powerful system for social cooperation and human progress ever conceived,” it can do even more to make a positive impact on the world, states the non-profit organization on its website.

Conscious companies embrace four tenets, explained spokesperson Dan Dement. They have a higher purpose that involves more than making money. They seek shared prosperity for all stakeholders (customers, employees, partners, vendors, investors, communities). They have leaders who seek solutions that benefit these stakeholders, and a culture based upon trust, accountability, transparency, integrity, loyalty, fairness, personal growth and love.

PRACTICAL IMPROVEMENTS. This doctrine works for Clarke, a global public-health company in St. Charles, Ill., that provides mosquito control and aquatic habitat management. Clarke is a sustaining member of Conscious Capitalism and CEO J. Lyell Clarke III regularly speaks at the group’s summits. “We recognize that every action we take, big or small, can directly impact the environment and significantly affect future generations,” Clarke states on the company website. In 2009 he shifted the firm’s business model, prioritizing environmental sustainability, innovation and community.

As such, Clarke employees actively initiate projects designed to make communities around the world more liveable, safe and comfortable.

In 2016 these projects had a big impact, according to Clarke’s most recent sustainability report. The company developed an innovative rapid response protocol to help partners in Florida stop local Zika transmission. It advanced development of its green Next Gen chemistries, returned 17,000 kilowatt hours to the local power grid via its solar arrays, and re-purposed or recycled nearly 80 percent of waste company wide. In addition, employees contributed 1,400-plus volunteer hours during its annual Day of Caring and the company donated 1 percent of annual revenue from Next Gen products to seven environmental groups, among other milestones.

Clarke’s sustainability goals for 2020 raise the bar higher with targets to achieve carbon neutrality and zero waste, generate 30 percent of revenue from Next Gen products and services, and have 100 percent of employees engaging in volunteer activities.

While practicing conscious capitalism is deliberate at Clarke, other companies unconsciously do so, like Cooper Pest Solutions in Lawrenceville, N.J. With a mission to “WOW our community,” the company has raised money and awareness for the National Multiple Sclerosis Foundation for 25 years. Employees participate in the MS bike ride and volunteer at rest stops along the route where the company also provides yellow jacket trapping (a $12,000 a year in-kind donation involving 400 traps). Cooper Pest Solutions donates 200 services each year to charities for silent auctions and supports numerous other employee causes as well. “We do it because it’s the right thing to do,” said CEO Phil Cooper. “We don’t measure it back to return on investment; we don’t do cause marketing at Cooper.”

Cause marketing is when a company teams up with a charity for mutual benefit, usually as a limited-time campaign to raise funds and awareness for a cause as well as to drive product sales. When done well it can make a positive impact, such as when Starbucks donates five cents ($14 million and counting) from the sale of each beverage on World Aids Day to Project (RED) to fund HIV/AIDS prevention, education and treatment.

But it gets a bad rap when consumers feel it exploits a cause for publicity or financial gain. If you align with an environmental cause, for example, but don’t walk the talk, you may (rightfully) be accused of greenwashing.

MAKE SURE YOU MEAN IT. It all comes down to authenticity. Corporate social responsibility “has to be sincere or people will read right through it,” said Cooper. In fact, 76 percent of millennials and 65 percent of Americans overall said they will research a firm’s stand on a social or business issue to determine if it is authentic, reported the 2017 Cone Communications CSR Study. Fifty-one percent of millennials and 39 percent of Americans reported they have researched a company’s business practices.

And while many pest management companies have long histories of raising money for cancer research, supporting the environment, providing free bed bug treatments for the local homeless shelter, and the like, not many are strategic about it.

“Just like you have a business plan you should have a social responsibility plan” in order to maximize what your company has to offer so you can deliver the most good, advised Cooper.

What cause do you want to support? Where can you make the biggest impact? Do you want to donate money (the easiest), provide in-kind donations, encourage employees to volunteer?

“Beyond the money, we actually want our people donating their time,” said Cooper, who believes volunteer time eventually may get characterized like paid time off or vacation. It already influences the hiring process at Cooper Pest Solutions: The company looks for a specific value set in employees; “if they don’t want to give back, then they’re just not the right fit in our organization to begin with,” he said.

Likewise, how will you communicate and measure your CSR? You can’t assume customers and community know about these efforts and their impact, so share in e-newsletters, blogs, annual sustainability reports and on websites and social media.

More than half of millennials (54 percent) and 45 percent of Americans overall have told family and friends about companies’ CSR efforts via social media in the last year, reported the 2017 Cone Communications CSR Study. And 21 percent of consumers would choose brands if sustainability credentials were clearer on product packaging and in marketing, according to May 2017 study by Unilever.

To help companies transition to the new mindset, Conscious Capitalism (also a book of the same name) offers support at chapters across the U.S. and elsewhere and also is publishing a how-to manual, “A Field Guide to Conscious Capitalism,” in April 2018.

FAD OR FUTURE? Could this be the end of capitalism as we know it? “It’s already happened. It’s shifted,” said Treleven, who is exploring ways to more fully integrate a social mission at Sprague even though it already donates hundreds of thousands of dollars to various causes in the markets it serves.

Not everyone believes do-good capitalism is a lock, though. Jeffrey Miron, a senior lecturer at Harvard University and director of economic studies at the Cato Institute, said companies are entitled to embrace social entrepreneurialism but believes it is a marketing effort to gain recognition and appeal to younger workers. Business leaders “should realize the current pressures are for them to do stuff like that,” he said. As for the future of capitalism, “alleged changes in attitude sort of come and go every 10 or 15 years in reaction to a previous generation” but “the reality of how people behave (as consumers) really doesn’t change all that much,” he said.

Still, some business leaders believe companies will continue to step up given decreasing environmental regulation and diminished government support of nonprofits. A great opportunity exists, especially as millennials “want to make a difference and they want their company to be making a difference,” said Cooper. Firms that are multi-generational-friendly and can wrap this around civic/environmental responsibility are “going to be winners,” he said.

Dement expects conscious capitalism to eventually become capitalism. “There no longer will be a difference between the two;” consumers will vote with their dollars and “businesses will be forced to make that change,” he said.

The author is a frequent contributor to PCT.

PCT announced in January that Tom Myers, owner of All-Rite Pest Control, Lexington, Ky., was the winner of our 16th annual Best Pest Photo Contest. Myers won $500 from PCT for his winning photo of a mosquito feeding on his arm.

The photo was taken in a central Belize rainforest, where Myers was exploring in pursuit of beetle photos.

Myers said one of the concerns with mosquitoes in Belize are botflies (Dermatobia hominis), which can lay eggs on mosquitoes. “So, when a mosquito feeds on you, the egg hatches and the larvae bores down into your skin,” Myers explained. According to the University of Florida Department of Entomology’s website, “D. hominis will infest the skin of mammals and live out the larval stage in the subcutaneous layer, causing painful pustules that secrete fluids. The infestation of any fly larvae inside the body is known as myiasis.” [If you are curious what this looks like, Google “botflies in human skin.” Warning, the images are pretty gross!]

One of the great qualities of this photo is that the mosquito’s head is in sharp focus, while it’s body is slightly blurred. “When you are doing high-magnification photography (aka, macro-photography), you have a shallow depth of field, so you focus on that one point, and the rest of it goes out of focus,” Myers said. “So, I didn’t put any effects on the photo; it was really the mechanics of the lens.”

Myers is well-known in the pest control industry for his photography. His photos have been featured on the covers and within the pages of countless entomological and pest management books (e.g., PCT Guide to Commercial Pest Management and Truman’s Scientific Guide to Pest Control Operations) and publications (e.g., PCT, American Entomologist). NPMA, the Entomological Society of America (ESA) and other organizations use his images extensively for educational purposes.

In addition to Myers’ winning photo, the finalist photos from this year’s contest are included in the following photo review.

©Cheryl Crittenden