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Identifying Pests

Ants

It is possible to find a lot of different kinds of ants in your home. Generally the problem stems from outside your home and the ants are making their way inside. They can set up a colony in different places such as wall voids, behind baseboards, even hollow doors...they are mostly in search of food. One foraging worker finds food and heads back to the colony leaving a trail for the colony to the food.

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Mosquitoes

Mosquitoes are thin, long-legged, two-winged insects and are typically six to 12 millimeters in length. Only female mosquitoes bite humans and other animals for blood to nourish their eggs. Mosquito habitat varies for each species and can include natural areas such as rain puddles and ponds, decomposing material such as wet leaf matter, ditches and marshes. While healthy wetlands are habitat for mosquitoes. Certain mosquitoes are considered domestic species because they breed around the home in small, artificial containers such as bird baths and eaves troughs.

Acrobat Ants

Acrobat ants get their common name from their habit of raising their abdomen over their head and thorax. The workers are known to bite aggressively and to give off a repulsive odor when alarmed. In nature, colonies may nest in exposed soil, under stones, stumps and old trees. They occasionally become pests by invading homes where they are known to nest in woodwork and foam insulation, and infest household foods. They feed on live and dead insects, and they tend aphids for their sugary excrement known as "honeydew." In homes, they show a slight preference for sweets and meats or other high protein foods.

Bees & Wasps

Most bees and wasps will only sting in defense of their nests. Generally they present themselves as a problem around structures and live in colonies. Special precaution should be taken to keep trash tightly closed. This will help prevent foraging yellow jackets.

Fleas

Fleas are brown to black in color. Larvae will make their way into carpet or cracks and remain from 5 days to 3 weeks. The larvae then spin a cocoon, which lasts week to 4 months or more. A disturbance of the cocoon will trigger the emergence of fleas.

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Powder Post Beetles

Adult Powder Post Beetles range from a 1/8th of an inch to 1/4th of an inch in size and larvae are usually less than a 1/4th of an inch long. When fully matured, Powder Post Beetles slender and flattened in shape with short antennae and are reddish brown to black in color. The larvae, which are left behind in the cracks of the wood by the adults, are cream colored and slightly C-shaped.

The long, narrow, flat bodies of the mature adults allow them to easily bore into wood surfaces, the first place to look during powder post beetle control procedures. They prefer the sapwood of hardwoods, especially oak, hickory and ash and creates small, round holes. Common household places to find these holes are in hardwood floors, furniture, molding and fixtures. These pinhole openings are a tell tale sign of an infestation. Powder Post Beetles lay their eggs in cracks of wood and the larvae tunnel into the surface filling it with a very fine powder-like dust, hence the name Powder Post Beetles.

Rats & Mice

Rats and Mice have been spreading diseases to people for years. This threat is not as large as it has been in the past due to proper pest management. Rats and Mice always leave signs that lead to their discovery. Droppings, Urine stains, sounds, odors etc.

Roaches/Cockroaches

There are approx. 3500 species of cockroaches worldwide and about 60 species present in the US. The most commonly encountered is the German cockroach. Most roaches are active at night at which time they forage for food, water and mates. They prefer a moist environment and a high degree of warmth. They generally prefer to live in cracks and crevices.

Silverfish

Silverfish prefer cool damp areas. Generally they are spotted by moving an object they are under. They can be found usually in bookcases, closets and frames, around windows and doors.

Spiders

Spiders are easily identified by their eight legs. Very few species are harmful to people, only a few can pierce the human skin. People are generally afraid of spiders and do not like the webs they spin in their homes. One should watch out for Black Widows, which are known by the red hourglass figure that stands out from the black. Brown Recluse which are known by the violin shaped marking on the back.

Subterranean Termites

Subterranean termites live in underground colonies or in moist secluded areas above ground that can contain up to 2 million members. They build distinctive "mud tubes" to gain access to food sources and to protect themselves from open air. Every day homes are targeted by these dangerous predators-subterraean termites. Often, there is no evidence until it is too late. These termites work 24 hours a day in underground colonies to destroy your home from the inside out.

Bed Bugs

Bed bugs are small, brownish, flattened insects that feed solely on the blood of animals. Although the common bed bug (Cimex lectularius) prefers feeding on humans, it will also bite other warm-blooded animals, including dogs, cats, birds and rodents. Adult bed bugs are about 3/16” long and reddish-brown, with oval-shaped, flattened bodies. They are sometimes mistaken for ticks, cockroaches, carpet beetles or other household insects. The immature bed bugs (nymphs) resemble the adults, but are smaller and lighter in color. Bed bugs do not fly, and they don’t jump like fleas do ― but they can crawl rapidly over floors, walls, ceilings and other surfaces.

Our experienced pest control experts can handle any kind of pest infestation in your home or business.

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