Economy Pest Control Pest Library

Pest Library Ants Species: Imported Fire Ant, Little Black Ant, Odorous House Ant, Pavement Ant, Crazy Ant Damage: Ants are considered pests when they forage in/around homes for food or water. They can also be a nuisance when excavating nests because they displace soil. Several species of ant can pose health risks, such as the stinging bites of the fire ant, or the disease carried by the argentine ant. Habitat: Ants are highly social insects and they exist in colonies with a social order. Nests can be found in the soil under an object, in cavities in trees/buildings, in mulch or even indoors in potted plants. Feeding & Breeding: The majority of an ant's life is spent looking for food. Depending on the species, ants will eat meats, sweets, fats or oils. The colony has one queen that lays all eggs. When the queen is killed the colony will die. Treatment: Ants are one of the most common, and difficult pests to manage. Our Preventative Maintenance will protect your home from ant infestations. Bees & Wasps Damage: Most species of the bee family have some ability to sting. For some people the sting can be allergic and even fatal. It is important to keep bee nests away from buildings. Habitat: Bees & wasps will build nests in many places. Usually, the area must be protected, such as a tree hollow, under an eave, underground, in the walls of a building, sheds, attics, etc. Feeding & Breeding: Some insects from the bee family forage for nectar and others for protein (such as insects). Bees & wasps are a very important part of the ecological food chain, pollinating plants and controlling insect populations. Breeding occurs during the spring months, the queen lays eggs and her "daughters" feed the larvae. Later in the season some of the larvae will develop into males and some into queen bees. Treatment: Because of the potential danger, bee treatments should be left to a professional. Brown Recluse Spider Damage: one of the most poisonous spiders in North America. The brown recluse can leave a painful and potential scarring or even lethal bite (deaths have only been reported in children younger than 7 years.) Habitat: They seek out dark, warm, dry environments such as attics, closets, porches, barns, basements, woodpiles, and old tires. Its small, haphazard web, found mostly in corners and crevices, is not used to capture prey. Most brown recluse spiders are found living in great numbers. feeding & Breeding: Like other spiders, the brown recluse feeds mainly on insects. Females produce 1 to 5 loosely spun egg sacs each containing about 50 eggs. Egg sacs are incorporated into the large, irregular, sticky webs. Eggs incubate from 6 to 39 days, hatching sooner if temperatures are warm. Treatment: These spiders are usually hidden in dark places, so a proper inspection has to take place in order to locate. They are easy to eliminate once located and the Economy Preventative Maintenance treatments will kill these spiders. Box elder bug Damage: These black and red insects are 1/2" long and can be a real nuisance when they over winter in your home. Their populations can number into the thousands in one area. The box elder bug becomes a pest in many houses each year in fall and spring. They do no damage by feeding, but their excrement spots on draperies are difficult to remove. The bugs cause little damage to trees. Habitat: Box elder bugs normally feed on the leaves, flowers, and seed pods of the box elder tree or silver maple. Large numbers of box elder bugs are usually on the female, or pod-bearing, tree. These insects feed on male box elder trees and other trees and plants, but they usually do not build up to such large numbers. The adults search for a place to over winter which brings them into houses where they hide in small cracks and crevices in walls, door and window casings, attics, and around the foundation. Breeding: The adult bugs lay eggs in the spring and the nymphs emerge in a few days. The nymphs are small and show more red than adults. These nymphs develop into adults during the summer, then mate and lay eggs which hatch into the nymphs of the second generation. Activity of nearly fully grown nymphs is noticed in August and September when they gather in large numbers on the trunks of box elder trees. The migration of the adults begins at this time. Treatment: Since the presence of these bugs is associated with box elder trees, replacement with other tree species is one method of eliminating the nuisance pest. If box elder is grown, it may be best to keep only the male or staminate trees which would help to reduce its numbers. Indoors vacuuming up the bugs and discarding the contents of the vacuum bag when finished. (If bugs are left inside the vacuum they may crawl out in the storage place.) Our Preventative Maintenance Plan will protect your home from the Box Elder Bug. Carpet Beetle Damage: The carpet beetle is destructive to animal based fabrics (i.e. wool, leather, suede, fur, silk etc.)Damage is caused by the larval stage of dermestid beetles. Habitat: Larvae feed in dark, undisturbed locations on a variety of dead animals and animal products, such as wool, silk, leather, fur, hair brushes with natural bristles, pet hair, and feathers; occasionally they feed on stored products such as certain spices and grains. They do not feed on synthetic fibers. Breeding: Adults lay eggs on the larval food source, such as furs and woolen fabric or carpets. Eggs hatch in about 2 weeks and the larvae feed for varying periods, depending upon species and environmental conditions. They prefer dark, secluded places. When ready to pupate, the larvae may burrow further into the food or wander and burrow elsewhere. They may also pupate within the last larval skin if no other shelter is available. Larvae do not make webs as clothes moths do, but their shed skins and fecal pellets, which are about the size of a grain of salt, make it obvious where they have been feeding. Treatment: These pests are difficult to control. There are three keys to reducing or preventing a carpet beetle infestation. First, eliminate their food source (properly clean and store all susceptible materials). Our Preventative Maintenance Program will protect your home from carpet beetles. Centipede Damage: Although some centipede have venomous front legs, they are not usually harmful to humans (unless allergic). Because of its speed, the house centipede is sometimes alarming to homeowners. Habitat: Indoors in dark, cool, moist areas; also found in caves, cliff crevices, and similar habitats. Breeding: Three developmental stages: egg, nymph, and adult; females lay eggs in soil or other protected habitats; upon hatching, nymphs have 4 pairs of legs and increase the number of legs with each molt, until reaching adulthood in 2 - 3 years with 15 pairs of legs. Treatment: Eliminate dark, damp nesting areas inside the home. Our Preventative Maintenance Program will protect your home from centipedes. Clover mite Damage: Clover mites are harmless. They are an annoyance and nuisance because of their presence and tremendous numbers. When they are smashed they leave a red/brown stain. Clover mites will usually be found around sinks and window sills. Habitat: Clover mites are feeders on grasses and weeds and can sometimes be found invading structures from the outside through windows and doorways. Breeding: clover mites can produce two to six generations in one year. Treatment: Homeowners can caulk and seal all crevices that lead into the home. It is also a good idea to keep weeds and grasses away from the home. Our Maintenance Program is effective on clover mite control. Cockroach (American) The American cockroach is also called a "water bug" or the "Palmetto bug". This pest is believed to have originated from Mexico or South America and has worldwide distribution. Damage: There is rarely any clear evidence of the number of cockroaches inhabiting a room. If a few individuals are observed during the day, this is a strong indication of a large infestation. Large infestations of American Cockroaches often give a room a distinctive oily odor. The debris they leave behind, feces, bits of cuticle and hairs can cause allergies and in rare cases lead to asthma. Breeding: The eggs of cockroaches are held in a hard, brown rectangular case. Females produce egg cases and carry them protruding from the tip of the abdomen for about two days, then they glue the egg cases to surfaces behind cupboards or baseboards in damp areas such as kitchens and bathrooms. Immature cockroaches emerge from egg cases in 6 to 8 weeks and require 6 to 12 months to mature. Adult cockroaches can live up to one year, during which time females produce an average of 150 young. Cockroach (German) Introduction: The German cockroach is by far the most important and usually the most common of the cockroaches. In addition to being a nuisance, it has been implicated in outbreaks of illness, the transmission of a variety of pathogenic organisms including at least one parasite protozoan, and allergic reactions in many people. This species has worldwide distribution. Damage: German cockroaches adulterate food or food products with their feces and defensive secretions, physically transport and often harbor pathogenic organisms, may cause severe allergic responses, and in extremely heavy infestations have been reported to bite humans and feed on food residues on the faces of sleeping humans. In addition, some scientists suggest that German cockroach infestations may cause human psychological stress and that the stigma associated with infestations alters human behavior. For example, people with infested houses do less entertaining, and avoid the kitchen at night for fear of encountering a cockroach. Breeding: The German cockroach has three life stages typical of insects with incomplete metamorphosis: the egg, nymph, and adult. German cockroaches breed continuously with many overlapping generations present at any one time. Under ideal conditions, population growth has been shown to be exponential. Actively growing field populations are comprised of 80 percent nymphs and 20 percent adults. Treatment: Homeowners should keep human and pet food securely sealed. Serious cockroach infestations should be treated by a pest management professional. Our Preventative Maintenance will keep your home free of cockroaches. If you have a preexisting roach problem, we will continue to treat your home until the pests have been eradicated. Crickets Damage: Certain crickets occasionally invade homes and become a pest by their presence. Homeowners complain of their monotonous chirping, which can be annoying especially at night when trying to sleep. Indoors, some crickets can feed on a wide variety of fabrics, foods and paper products. Habitat: House crickets normally live outdoors especially in garbage dumps, preferring warm weather, but will move indoors when it gets colder usually in late summer. Adults are very attracted to lights, and become active at night (hide during the day) to crawl, jump or fly sometimes in countless numbers up the sides of houses, entering openings of even second and third story windows and roof skylights. Breeding: Over wintering occurs outdoors in the egg stage. Each female can lay an average of 728 eggs with the immatures (nymphs) resembling the adults except being wingless. Nymphs molt seven to eight times and reach adulthood in about 60 days. Also, these crickets can live indoors, completing their life cycle with eggs laid in cracks, crevices and other dark areas such as behind baseboards. Treatment: Sanitation is the most important means of eliminating cricket populations around a structure. Keep all areas free of moisture, dense vegetation and weeds. Caulk and seal all cracks and crevices. Our Preventative Maintenance Program will control the nuisance of crickets around your home. Earwigs Damage: Earwigs are more of a nuisance insect. Earwigs are harmless to humans, yet they suffer from a bad reputation as "pincher bugs" capable of delivering a painful pinch with their forceps. The forceps (pinchers) on the end of the abdomen are harmless, and are only capable of giving a weak pinch. It is more common for them to do harm to plants/vegetables than humans. Habitat: During the day these nocturnal insects are found on the ground under stones or leaves, in cracks and crevices, under bark of dead logs and stumps, in compost and in other sheltered, damp spots. Earwigs generally feed at night on decaying or living vegetable matter. Earwigs can be serious garden pests, particularly in coastal areas and damp suburban habitats. They are known to attack new growth on many types of plants, as well as fruits and vegetables such as artichokes. Breeding: Earwigs can fly and most commonly do so in the spring when males disperse in search of potential mates. After mating, a female lays eggs in small underground chambers and tends her young for several weeks. She raises one or two broods per year. Treatment: Homeowners can reduce earwig populations by eliminating areas of damp, decomposing organic materials. Earwigs are easy to eliminate and our Preventative Maintenance covers these pests. Fire Ants Damage: Fire ants are so called because their venom, injected by a stinger like a wasp's, creates a burning sensation. They are also active and aggressive, swarming over anyone or anything that disturbs their nest, be it wild animals, domestic animals, pets or people. An encounter with a fire ant nest can leave a lasting memory of burning pain, followed by tiny, itching pustules. Fire ant mounds interfere with farming and mowing operations and turn recreational fields into disfigured moonscapes. Fire ants have caused sections of roads to collapse by removing soil from under the asphalt. Habitat: These pests prefer open, sunny areas such as pastures, parks, lawns, meadows and crop fields. But they also build mounds in rotting logs, around stumps and trees, and in or under buildings. Red fire ants build mounds in almost any type of soil. Breeding: During the nuptial flight of ants, when winged males and female ants couple and mate. After sperm is transferred to the female, the male soon dies. Females land, locates a suitable nesting sites, looses her wings and begins laying eggs. The first brood of larvae are fed and cared for by the queen, and develop into sterile female worker ants. Thereafter, her sole role is to lay eggs. Worker ants care for the queen and brood (eggs, larvae and pupae), construct and maintain the nest, defend the colony and forage for food. Treatment: Because of their painful sting, it is best to leave treatment up to professionals. Our Preventative Maintenance Program will protect your home and family from fire ant infestations. Grasshoppers Damage: Grasshoppers can do damage to plants and turf. Most of the feeding damage comes from the grasshopper gnawing the leaves. They have been known to defoliate fruit trees and some young vegetables to the ground. Habitat: They roost in trees and shrubs, as well as turf areas. Breeding: In late summer and fall, grasshopper eggs are laid in grassy foothills, on ditch banks, along roadsides and fence rows, in pasture areas, and in alfalfa fields. The eggs hatch in spring and the young nymphs feed on nearby plants. Treatment: Our Preventative Maintenance treatment will keep grasshoppers away from your home and garden. Ladybugs (as pests) Attracted to vertical surfaces, they often appear on light-colored walls with a south or southwest exposure. These 1/4" long insects enter wall voids through cracks and settle down for the winter. With lengthening daylight, a warm interior often draws them inside which can be frustrating to human residents. Habitat: Ladybugs prefer to live on vegetation that houses aphids and other soft-bodied insect food sources. They are mobile and will move to find new prey. Once they've laid eggs the females tend to remain in the same area. Breeding: All Lady Bugs have similar life cycles. Eggs are laid in the spring. When hatched the larvae will feed for several weeks and pupate into adults. The adults feed through the fall, then either lay eggs and die or hibernate over the winter, waking in the spring to feed and lay eggs. Treatment: Ladybugs are a very beneficial insect in the garden. Unless they are over wintering in your home, they are usually appreciated outside the home. If treatment is needed, our Preventative Maintenance Program will keep ladybug populations low. Mice Damage: House mice contaminant food sources with their saliva and feces, and damage many structural materials, including wood, fiberglass, insulation, etc. and may pose a fire hazard if chewing on electrical wiring. Habitat: House mice live in and around homes, farms, commercial establishments, as well as in open fields and agricultural lands. The onset of cold weather each fall in temperate regions is said to cause mice to move into structures in search of shelter and food. The nest of a mouse is usually ball-shaped and consists of shredded fibrous material such as paper, burlap, and stems, leaves, twigs, etc. It may be lined with hairs, feathers and shredded cloth. Breeding: Mice usually bear a litter of five to six young, following a 21 to 23-day gestation period. White-footed mice may have more than one litter per year, and house mice living indoors can have up to 10 litters per year. Young mice are weaned at about 21 days, and females can mate at about 35 to 49 days. Life span is usually short, ranging from four to 20 months. Mice do not hibernate, but white-footed mice may become completely inactive for a few days when winter weather is severe. Millipedes Damage: Millipedes will swarm into a home during the warm summer months. Persons handling millipedes will notice a lingering odor on their hands and the fluid can be dangerous to the eyes. It is not advisable to handle millipedes with your bare hands. Habitat:  Damp, protected areas around structures that include piles of grass clippings, a wooded lot, excessive mulch around the house, and similar locations. Breeding: In the spring, millipedes lay from 20-300 eggs in the soil. The eggs hatch in several weeks, and the young millipedes have only the first three pair of legs and not more than seven segments. With each molt they add additional segments and legs until they reach maturity. Sexual maturity is reached in 2-5 years depending on the species. Treatment: Homeowners can eliminate damp, dark hiding places by reducing mulch use around the home and moving wood piles. Our Preventative Maintenance Program will easily take care of any millipede problem. Pantry Pests Damage: There are numerous pests you may bring home from the super market. In addition to roaches, there are beetles, weevils and moths. Many items contain the eggs of these insects. Cereal, pasta, pet food, birdseed, dried beans, granola, cookies, crackers, rat and mouse baits, chocolate, spices, cake mix and even dried flower arrangements or decorative corn are just a few. If the foodstuff is kept for some time, the eggs may hatch and go through their cycle before you know a problem exists. Treatment: Homeowners should be sure to check packages brought home for potential infestations. Proper storage of foodstuffs in sealed containers will help prevent pests from infesting clean goods. Your Economy Professional will help you solve any pantry pest problems. Pill Bugs Damage: None cause damage. The pill bug is a nuisance pest and more of an eyesore than a threat. Habitat: Pill bugs will be found in dark, damp and relatively undisturbed areas of structures. This usually means the basement or crawl space. More specifically, look near (or in) floor drains or nearby damp wood such as paneling or baseboards. Also, look underneath that cardboard box in the basement you haven't moved in quite some time. Breeding: A pill bug begins its life as a tiny egg. The young pill bug looks almost like a miniature adult. As it grows, it molts (sheds its old, outgrown exoskeleton) 4 to 5 times. Rats Damage: Like mice, rats can contaminate human food sources, and cause damage to structural materials. Noises, droppings, rub marks, tracks, gnaw marks, fur, and burrows may all be signs of rat activity. Habitat: The rat most commonly found around homes in North Carolina is the Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus). Norway rats are good diggers and build their nests in holes made around the foundations of buildings, in stream banks, and under piles of wood or trash. Breeding: If not controlled by man or natural enemies, the Norway rat can easily have a population explosion. A female can mate with a male just hours after giving birth, and mating goes on between males and females all year round. Litter mates are well enough developed to leave the nest at three to four weeks of age. Females can breed at three months of age. They can have 2 to 22 young, but 7 to 11 is much more usual. Few Norway rats live out their full three years. A female can have up to 12 litters a year if conditions are very good, but usually has five. Treatment: Eliminating tempting food sources and caulking and sealing all holes larger than 1/2" are good preventative measures for rats. If you have an infestation, your Economy Professional will work to eliminate the problem. Silverfish Damage: These are nuisance pests, which leave surface damage in paper, especially glazed paper, wallpaper, books. Habitat: Anywhere in houses, commercial buildings; can breed in a variety of places, such as wall voids, floors, attics. They thrive at room temperature and in high humidity. Breeding: Eggs are laid in cracks. Nymphs molt a number of times. Silverfish breed in a variety of places, in almost any room of the house, as well as in commercial structures. Some species can digest cellulose. Treatment: Our Preventative Maintenance Program will protect your home from silverfish infestations. Springtails Damage: Springtails may become a pest because of their abundance or because they invade homes through doorways, screens or other openings. Buildings with constant high humidity may be overrun with springtails. Springtails have chewing mouth parts, but they rarely, if ever, damage house plants (roots or leaves). Frequently, plants begin to decline and homeowners blame the springtails. Over-watering is usually the culprit for the unhealthy appearance of plants if springtails are present. Habitat: They live in the soil, leaf mold, decaying logs, organic mulches, termite nests, snow, greenhouses, mushroom cellars, and on the surface of freshwater pools and under bark. Populations are often high, up to 100,000 per cubic meter of surface soil--many millions per acre. Most feed on algae, fungi, and decaying vegetable matter, and they are abundant only in damp, moist or very humid locations. Breeding: Young resemble adults except for size and color. Eggs are spherical. Treatment: Eliminate damp sites where springtails are likely to congregate. Our Preventative Maintenance Program will control these pesky insects. Termites Damage: Subterranean termites are the most destructive insect pests of wood in the United States. They cause more than $2 billion in damages each year, more property damage than that caused by fire and wind storms combined. Dead trees and brush are the original food source of subterranean termites. When land is cleared of this material and houses are built on these sites, termites attack the structures. Termites can enter buildings through wood in direct contact with the soil, by building shelter tubes over or through foundations, or by entering directly through cracks or joints in and under foundations. Habitat: Subterranean termites have a crypto biotic or "hidden" lifestyle. This means that they are always hidden from our view either beneath the surface of the soil, beneath the surface of the wood, or in their mud tunnels. This crypto biotic nature contributes to their success in invading human structures. The termites enter our buildings from beneath the soil surface and forage within the wood. We usually do not detect their presence until damage becomes evident or termite swarming takes place. Often we have no idea how the termites got into our home. This can make it very difficult to control them. The following are descriptions of how termites typically invade structures, building practices that encourage termite attack, and how you can detect the signs of termite infestation. Breeding: The sudden, dramatic appearance of alate termites is commonly referred to as swarming, and when it occurs indoors is often one of the first signs of a structural infestation. Subterranean termites swarm in an attempt to initiate new colonies. Termites are opportunistic-a trait most aptly demonstrated by the variety of developmental options available to this small, delicate social insect. The ultimate caste, or life form, of an immature termite is not determined at the egg stage. Each newly hatched termite can develop into any one of a number of castes. These complexities are highlighted by the subterranean termite life cycle . A worker can remain a worker for its entire life span (estimated range from 1-4 years) as it undergoes numerous molts (sheds its skin) without changing into another caste. Alternatively, a worker can molt twice, where it first becomes a pre-soldier, then subsequently a soldier. The soldier caste can no longer molt and is considered a terminal (final) stage. Worker termites can also develop into winged, adult termites (alates), but they must first pass through an intermediate stage called the nymphal stage. Nymphs can ultimately molt into sexually mature, fully winged adult male or female alates. Nymphal termites are also capable of a unique developmental pathway wherein they sometimes undergo a regressive molt and lose their wing buds, thereby reverting back to the worker stage. These workers are called pseudergates. A colony may contain several types of neotenic reproductives. Secondary (second form) reproductives develop from nymphs, and are therefore characterized by the presence of small wing buds. Tertiary (third form) reproductives develop from workers and hence lack wing buds. The developmental flexibility of termites plays a key role in their ability to disperse and establish new, functional colonies when infested materials are transported to new locations. Additionally, neotenic reproductives may develop functional colonies inside buildings, but only if adequate moisture is available inside the structure. Treatment: Treatment for termites is complex and requires the knowledge of a trained professional.