VPMA Master Tech: Blood Suckers

What: VPMA Master Technician: Blood Feeding Arthropods

When:October 18, 2022, 8:00am - 5:30 pm

Where: Blacksburg, Meeting site TBD

Cost: $190/members; $300/non-members

The VPMA Master Technician: Blood Feeding Arthropods workshop will focus on fleas, ticks, lice, and mosquitoes. This workshop will teach technicians about blood-feeding arthropods that can be found in and around your customers’ homes. First, technicians will learn the biology, behavior, and habitats of fleas, ticks, lice, and mosquitoes that are most common in our region and throughout the country. Next, technicians will be walked through a reference collection of specimens, and using an identification guide and taxonomic key, they will learn to identify blood-feeding pests by their physical characteristics.

After lunch, technicians will participate in interactive laboratory sessions designed to prepare them to address customer concerns and hot topics in the media. These sessions will teach technicians what they need to know about arthropod-borne diseases in humans and pets (i.e. Zika virus, Lyme disease, dog heartworm, and more), the control and management of blood-feeding pests both indoors and outdoors, and how to protect people, pets, and property from these ectoparasites.

 The Master Technican Series provides technicians with in-depth training in insect ID using using state-of-the-art microscopes; and hands-on training in control methods.  The series of eight workshops investigate eight major pest groups – Ants, Bed bugs, Blood Feeders, Termites, Occasional Invaders, Cockroaches, Rodents, and Pest Flies.

Once a technician has mastered at least four of the pest groups, special recognition will be made at the final workshop designating them as a Master Technician. 

 Please note:

• Registration begins at 8:00 am; the class begins at 8:15 am and ends at 5:30 pm.. 
• Lunch will be provided.
• Some lab sessions will be held outside, so please dress accordingly.