Becoming an ACE (Associate Certified Entomologist)

Join Bryan and Steve On Their Quests to Become Associate Certified Entomologists!

Start Date: May 21st or TODAY!
Deadline: November 1st
Goal: A total of 40 hours study time

Progress Report

Bryan’s Progress: 6 Hours
Steve’s Progress: 5 Hours

To become an A.C.E. in the United States, you must:

Hold a current pesticide applicator’s license issued by a state, federal, military, or tribal authority.
Have a minimum of 5 years experience in the structural pest control industry.
Submit two letters of reference from professional colleagues (ACEs, BCEs, employers, past employers, major clients, government officials, etc).
Sign the ACE Code of Ethics
Submit your application 30 days in advance of taking the test (and pay membership fee $355-$395).
Pass the examination with a score of 75% or higher.

Study Tips

The certification board recommends a minimum of 40 hours study time and discourages “Cramming”. The following suggestions have proven helpful to past applicants:

Start with the Content Outline
Spend 15 minutes per day
Form a study group
Consider a review course
Read, Read, Read
Start studying early

Don’t worry about the scientific names, the common name will be listed on the test as well as the scientific.

Difficulty- Many claim the ACE exam will be the most difficult structural pest exam you will ever take. There are 150 questions that will be randomly pulled from a pool of several hundred. For every six questions, two will be considered easy, three will be of medium difficulty, and one question will be of high difficulty.

Inspection and Identification is 45% of the exam
Selection/Implementation of Control Methods is 28% of the exam
Monitoring is 12% of the exam
Evaluation is 18% of the exam

What Pests Could Appear on the Exam?

One hundred and thirty-one pests are categorized into eight different groups: Biting and Stinging, Flies, Ants, Cockroaches, Stored Product and Fabric Pests, Wood Destroying Insects, Occasional Invaders, and Common Commensal Pests. Each category is equally likely to be found on the exam, but the pests beneath the headers indicate the likelihood of presentation. For example, Bed bugs are much more likely to appear on the exam than Chigger mites.

BITING AND STINGING (33 Total)

Bed bugs and bat bugs (Cimex spp.)
Yellowjacket wasps (Vespula, Paravespula and Dolichovespula maculata (The bald faced hornet)
Paper wasps (Polistes spp.)
Mosquitoes (family Culicidae)
Honey bee, (Apis mellifera)
Black widow spiders (Latrodectus spp.)
Brown recluse spiders (Loxosceles spp.)
Hornet (Vespa crabro)
Cat flea (order Siphonaptera)
Brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus)
American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis)
Scorpions (class Arachnida: order Scorpiones)
Wolf spiders (family Lycosidae)
Bumble bees (Bombus spp.)
Black legged tick (Ixodes spp.)
Solitary bees (Members of the families Apidae, Andrenidae, Megachilidae, Halictidae and Colletidae)
Flesh flies (family Sarcophagidae)
Mites (rodent and bird)
Stable fly (Stomoxys calcitrans)
Black & yellow mud dauber (Sceliphron spp.)
Lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum)
Sac spiders (family Miturgidae; previously Clubionidae) including Cheiracanthium
Hobo spider and other funnel weaver spiders (family Agelenidae)
Soft ticks (Argasidae)
Cicada killer, (Sphecius speciosus)
Ground spiders (family Gnaphosidae)
Jumping spiders (family Salticidae)
Organpipe mud dauber (Trypoxylon spp.)
Head louse (Pediculus humanus capitis)
Dust mites (Dermatophagoides spp.)
Body louse (Pediculus humanus humanus)
Crab louse (Pthirus pubis)
Chigger mites(family Trombiculidae)

FLIES (ORDER DIPTERA) (13 Total)

Small fruit (vinegar, pomace) flies (Drosophila spp.)
House fly (Musca domestica) and lesser house fly (Fannia canicularis)
Moth (drain, filter, sewer) flies (family Psychodidae)
Phorid (humpbacked, scuttle, mausoleum) flies (family Phoridae)
Fungus gnats (families Mycetophilidae (formerly Fungivoridae) and Sciaridae)
Blow flies (family Calliphoridae)
Cluster flies (Pollenia rudis)
Flesh flies (family Sarcophagidae)
Stable fly (Stomoxys calcitrans)
Horse and deer flies (family Tabanidae)
Small dung flies (family Sphaeroceridae)
Crane flies (family Tipulidae)
Soldier flies (family Stratiomyidae)

ANTS (FAMILY FORMICIDAE) (14 Total)

Carpenter Ants (Camponotus spp.)
Odorous house ant (Tapinoma sessile)
Red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta)
Pavement ant (Tetramorium caespitum)
Pharaoh ant (Monomorium pharaonis)
Argentine ant (Linepithema humile)
Little Black Ant (Monomorium minimum)
Acrobat Ants (Crematogaster spp.)
Crazy ant (Paratrechina longicornis)
Ghost Ant (Tapinoma melanocephalum)
White Footed Ant (Technomyrmex albipes)
Big Headed Ants (Pheidole spp.)
Field Ants (Formica spp.)
Harvester Ants (Pogonomyrmex spp.)

COCKROACHES (ORDER DICTYOPTERA; ALT. BLATTARIA) (9 Total)

German cockroach (Blattella germanica)
Asian cockroach (Blattella asahinai)
American cockroach (Periplaneta americana)
Brownbanded cockroach (Supella longipalpa)
Smokybrown cockroach (Periplaneta fuliginosa)
Oriental cockroach (Blatta orientalis)
Australian cockroach (Periplaneta australasiae)
Woods cockroach (Parcoblatta spp.)
Surinam cockroach (Pycnoscelus surinamensis)

STORED PRODUCT AND FABRIC PESTS (22 Total)

Indian meal moth (Plodia interpunctella)
Cigarette and drugstore beetle (Lasioderma serricorne and Stegobium paniceum)
Carpet/domestic beetles (Anthrenus and Attagenus spp.)
Clothes moths (family Tineidae)
Flour beetles (Tribolium spp.)
Sawtoothed and merchant grain beetles (Oryzaephilus spp.)
Warehouse & Cabinet Beetles (Trogoderma spp.)
Psocids (Order Psocoptera)
Rice Weevil (Sitophilus oryzae) and Corn Weevil (Sitophilus zeamais)
Hide and larder beetles (Dermestes species)
Angoumois Grain Moth (Sitotroga cerealella)
Mediterranean Flour Moth (Ephestia kuehniella)
Foreign Grain Beetle (Ahasverus advena)
Plaster Beetles (family Lathridiidae)
Spider beetles (family Ptinidae)
Mealworm Beetles (Tenebrio spp.)
Dust mites (Dermatophagoides farina)
Bean Weevil (Acanthocelides obtectus)
Flat Grain Beetle (Cryptolestes pusillus)
Cowpea Weevil (Callosobruchus maculatus)
Red Legged Ham Beetle (Necrobia rufipes)
Cadelle (Tenebroides mauritanicus)

WOOD DESTROYING INSECTS (12 Total)

Subterranean termites, (Reticulitermes and Coptotermes spp.)
Carpenter ants (Camponotus spp.)
Formosan termite, (Coptotermes formosanus)
Carpenter bee (family Xylocopidae)
Drywood termites (Kalotermes approximatus, Incisitermes and Cryptotermes spp.)
Lyctine powderpost beetles (formerly lyctids in the family Lyctidae) (family Bostrichidae, subfamily Lyctinae)
Old house borer, (Hylotrupes bajulus)
Anobiine beetles (formerly anobiids in the family Anobiidae) (family Ptinidae, subfamily Anobiinae)
Bostrichid (false powderpost) beetles
Long horned beetles (Cerambycidae)
Dampwood termites (Zootermopsis and Neotermes spp.)
Metallic wood boring beetles (family Buprestidae)

OCCASIONAL INVADERS and GENERAL HOUSEHOLD PESTS (20 Total)

Silverfish (order Thysanura)
Springtails (order Collembola)
Earwigs (order Dermaptera)
Brown marmorated stink bug (Halymorpha halys)
Millipedes (class Diplopoda)
Centipedes (class Chilopoda)
Boxelder bug, (Boisea trivittata)
Sowbugs and pillbugs (order Isopoda)
House cricket, (Acheta domesticus)
Cellar spiders (family Pholcidae)
Multicolored Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis)
Ground Beetles (family Carabidae)
Field cricket, (Gryllus spp.)
Clover mite (Bryobia praetiosa)
Firebrat (order Thysanura)
Comb footed (cobweb) spiders (family Theridiidae)
Camel (cave) cricket (Ceuthophilus spp.)
Thrips (order Thysanoptera)
Elm Leaf Beetle (Xanthogaleruca luteola)
Aquatic Insects Adults (Trichoptera, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera)