Identify Your Pest
Not sure what kind of pest you've got or how to deal with it? Read on.
Ants are now the number one pest problem for which homeowners rely on professional advice and remediation. Some do-it-yourself products may provide short term relief, but may in fact, make a problem worse. Ants are easily repelled by some common residual remedies and, without finding the colony, their repeated use can often cause a colony to move or even split into multiple colonies.
Bed Bugs are blood-suckers commonly found in motels, hostels or boarding houses where itinerant travelers stay overnight. Do NOT attempt do-it-yourself pest control using a surface spray on bed-linen or mattress. Such a use could be a DANGER to the health and safety of the occupants.
There are over 1 million different types of beetles. In a square mile the beetle population is 70 times the human population. And guess what... all of them are harmful to plants. The one and only way to solve this problem is with an effective pest control spray.
Carpenter ants vary in color from black to dark brown to a brownish orange. The workers are 6 to 12 mm in length. Carpenter ants often enter buildings to nest and forage. They excavate their nests in wood (hence the name "carpenter" ants), creating smooth tunnels and galleries.
Carpenter bees do not eat wood, but they can be a huge hazard to a structure's foundation. They make nests by tunneling into wood, vibrating their bodies as they rasp their mandibles against the wood, each nest having a single entrance which may have many adjacent tunnels. The tunnel functions as a nursery for brood and storage for the pollen/nectar upon which the brood subsists.
The carpet beetle is a 3 mm-long beetle that can be a serious household pest. It feeds on natural fibers and can damage carpets, furniture and clothing. Adult beetles usually lay their eggs in air ducts, in closets, under furniture, or under baseboards. Signs of an infestation include the presence of damaged articles, molted larval skins in dark areas, and an abundance of adult beetles near windows.
Crickets are insects somewhat related to grasshoppers. They have somewhat flattened bodies and long antennae. They tend to be nocturnal and are often confused with grasshoppers because they have a similar body structure including jumping hind legs. Other than producing an annoying chirping sound, crickets are harmless to humans.
Fleas are a parasite which feed on the blood of warm blooded animals, including humans. They often enter a building on dogs and cats, and are commonly deposited in carpeted areas, in the garden, yard and under the building. To help prevent reinfestation, home owners should regularly vacuum carpets and wash their pets with shampoo containing a flea control product.
Lady bugs are a species of beetle that can actually be helpful. They feed on aphids, scale insects, mealybugs, and mites throughout the winter. They can also prove to be harmful, however, such as when they infest vineyards and cause ladybird taint in wines produced by the grapes.
Mice can at times be harmful rodents, damaging and eating crops, causing structural damages and spreading diseases through their parasites and feces. In North America, breathing dust that has come in contact with mouse excrements has been linked to hantavirus, which may lead to Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome. Professional knowledge of the rodents habits is essential to eradicate a problem.
Rats are commonly a problem where a building is located near waterways, creeks and canals or other places where ready water supply is available. They must constantly gnaw on hard objects to cut back their constantly growing incisor teeth, which often cause electrical fires in buildings when they gnaw through plastic electrical junction boxes. In addition, they live in the most unsanitary places, and are carriers of serious health risks to humans.
Cockroaches are known carriers of serious diseases, such as, salmonella, dysentery, gastroenteritis and other stomach complaint organisms. They adulterate food and spread pathogenic organisms with their feces and defensive secretions. Cockroaches must molt regularly throughout their life-cycle. The discarded skin becomes airborne and can cause severe asthmatic reactions, particularly to children, the elderly and people with bronchial ailments.
There are thirteen families and about 1,400 described species and subspecies of scorpions. Though the scorpion has a fearsome reputation as venomous, only 25 species have venom capable of killing a human being. Even so, a scorpion infestation is a serious matter that should be handled by a trained professional.
There are a large variety of spiders, and some can be EXTREMELY dangerous. If you have a spider infestation, please use the chart found at http://termite.com/spider-identification.html to determine what type of spider you're infested with.
The termite is a serious economic timber pest causing millions of dollars of damage throughout the areas where it is located. It is estimated that more than 1 in 5 homes in the high activity areas, been or will be attacked at sometime by these voracious little insects. If you find live termites or termite damaged timbers DO NOT disturb the area. DO NOT use spray can or insecticides on the termites. If sufficiently disturbed, the termites are likely to move elsewhere, and may not be rediscovered until further obvious damage has been done.
The Yellow Jacket Wasp can be deadly. They can attack as a group and may sting many times which is very painful and highly inflammatory particularly if stung around the throat or other glandular parts of the body. DO NOT attempt to eradicate a wasp nest yourself, unless you have the complete range of protective equipment and professional knowledge essential in the circumstances.
