Extermination, Termite and Pest Control

The Bug Man has been blessed with another successful year thanks to our loyal customers.  We want to wish them, and any future customers, a very prosperous and Happy New Year!

Both males and females feed on blood and a blood meal is necessary to move on to the next stage of development.

Bed bugs can go for a long period without a meal, generally months. Reports indicate that they can live for over one year.

Bed bugs can survive temperatures near refrigeration if acclimated and can survive to about 113 degrees F.

Bed bugs will feed on other animals, both warm blooded and cold blooded, to obtain blood meals.

Spilled food and sanitation are irrelevant, which is why the fanciest and cleanest places can have bed bugs. Since bed bugs feed on blood, spilled human food is not a factor.

Since bed bugs are such good hitchhikers, clutter removed for inspection and treatment can lead to spreading of the bed bug problem.

There are similar pests to bed bugs such as the swallow bug, the bat bug, the poultry bug, and the tropical bed bug.  While the difference are in some cases minor, it is important to identify the pest observed. Swallow bugs have different biology and habits than bed bugs and the source will be different.

If you have infested items that are heat tolerant, such as stuffed animals, shoes, and clothing, bed bugs and their eggs can be controlled by placing them in a clothes dryer on high heat for 15 - 20 minutes.

Camel crickets are fall invaders. They enter homes and buildings in the fall but rarely live through the winter, unless they are in a very damp indoor area.

Camel crickets, also called cave crickets or humpback crickets, are about 1 inch in length and are light brown with darker banding. They have humped backs, long antennae, and long thin legs.  Many people describe them as "jumping spiders," although they are not related to spiders.  Camel crickets do not chirp and like dark, damp places.  They are most active at night and tend to scare people, because they randomly and repeatedly jump.

Camel crickets feed on fruits, vegetables, dead insects, pet food, fabrics, paper, glue, and wallpaper.

In late summer or early fall camel crickets will begin to appear in sheds, garages, and in cool, dark, damp areas indoors.  You rarely find them in upper living areas.

Outdoor Camel Cricket Sites

     - sheds and garages

     - animal burrows

     - caves

     - under stones or mulch

     - in log or debris piles

     - in stacked lumber or firewood

     - in drainage pipes

Indoor Camel Cricket Sites

     - basements or crawlspaces

     - laundry or utility rooms

     - in cardboard boxes stored on floor

     - in stacks of newspapers, old books, other paper products

     - in stored clothing or rags, especially if soiled or in dark, damp areas

     - in stacked firewood

     - ground floor bathrooms, especially inside shower stalls

     - near stored fruits or vegetables

This is the time of year when you may see quite a number and variety of spiders coming up to your outside areas, around outdoor lights, or even inside your home. Most spiders do not pose any health risk, and can be reduced by: 1) keeping the outdoor lights turned off as much as possible after dark, 2) changing the light bulbs to yellow or amber, 3) moving the light well away from the house, 4) repeatedly cleaning down their webbing, or 5) having a Pest Management Professional apply a limited area treatment with a residual insecticide to keep them away for a least a while. Anything you can do to reduce the populations of whatever the spiders are feeding on will similarly reduce the populations of spiders which are attracted to or build up at any site.

Spiders are generally considered to be helpful because they prey on a lot of insects, many of which are pests. All spiders have venom and use it to subdue their prey, as well as to pre-digest their prey's body contents. You may not have known that spiders do have voluntary control of how much venom they inject during any bite - sometimes not injecting any venom at all (that could be called a "defensive" bite, and usually occurs when a spider perceives it is being threatened or maybe when a leg is pinched.)

Only a few spiders which live near or inside humans' homes pose very much of a threat to bite people or cause illness or death via their venom. These may include: Widow Spiders, Brown Spiders, Sac Spiders, and Jumping Spiders. Several other spiders have been reported to occasionally bite people, including Wolf Spiders, House Spiders, Ground Spiders, Orb Weavers, and even "pet" Tarantulas. Of all spiders occurring naturally in North America, only the Widow Spiders and Brown Spiders pose a threat of serious long-term debilitation or death.

If you are having a problem with spiders near or in your house, call our trained professionals to evaluate your situation and implement an efficient strategy to eliminate these pests and help prevent their return.

The house mouse is the number one household rodent pest in all parts of the country, urban and rural areas as well. The meaning of the word "rodent" is "to gnaw," and rodents are well equipped to carry out this activity.  Sharp, constantly-growing upper and lower pairs of chisel-like incisor teeth are their gnawing equipment. Mice are notorious nibblers, eating very little at one time, but they can chew what looks like a lot of materials when preparing a nest.

The house mouse can produce 8-10 litters each year, and each litter contains five to seven young mice. Within 21 days, the young are active outside the nest and within 42 days are sexually mature and ready to reproduce. This exceptionally short life cycle explains why seeing one mouse (or a sign of a mouse) suggests that several are hiding behind the scenes.

Mice aren't long-distance travelers. They stay very close to their nest if food and water are present, and contrary to what you may have heard, they eat very little, about 1/10 of an ounce a day. Their preferred menu includes seeds, grains, and generally any food materials they contact. When they do move about, it's usually under the cover of night.

You may notice signs of mice in your home during the fall when they naturally enter to escape cooler weather.  You can take several precautions to prevent mice from entering your home.

1.  Be sure all screens and doors fit tightly and that there are no gaps.  Check the space under the door as well.  A mouse needs only a 3/8-inch crack or hole to get inside.

2.  Eliminate any grain materials from your storage area or house.  This includes fall decorations containing wheat or corn that you may have stored.

3.  Keep all garbage in tightly closed, metal cans.  Also keep the cans and the area around them clean.

4.  Keep shrubbery and vegetation trimmed away from the house to remove natural pathways into your home. Plants serve as shelter and food for these culprits.

5.  Seal up any holes on the outside of the building that may allow mice to enter. This includes points where utility lines enter the structure such as conduits for water, electricity, air conditioning, drain pipes, and vents.

Call us today to help eliminate rodents from your home!

About the time of the first frost, ladybugs may come into your home through any crack, crevice, open window, or hole.  They just want to hibernate until spring and do not cause any big problem except for their presence. They will become active when it gets warm again and try to find their way back outside, where they continue their very helpful work of eating other insects, especially severals kinds of major plant pests. Ladybugs may also become active during any unusually warm periods during the winter. They will often fly to windows or lights. Some kinds of ladybugs, such as the Asian Ladybug, can come into a house literally by the thousands. That can be very disturbing to people living in the house.  Contact our trained pest management professionals today to schedule a treatment.

If you're among the millions of American's who live with pets, you should be aware that you're more likely than ever to also be living with fleas.  In our area of the country, fleas can be found from March through December.

Fleas can transmit the disease organisms that cause bubonic plague, typhus, tularemia, and tape worm.  They can also cause anemia in your pet, and they can bite humans.

To help defeat fleas......

Check your home and animal frequently.  Pay particular attention to the pet's resting areas and carpeted area where the pet frequents.

Vacuum carpeting, baseboards, furniture and pet's bedding frequently.  Seal vacuum bags and dispose of them immediately.

If fleas persist, give our pest management professionals a call!

It's possible to stop common household pests before they come into your home or business.  Do what you can to make your building unattractive and inhospitable, and you might avoid pest problems entirely.  Here are a few tips.

INDOORS

Before bringing plants, grocery bags, and soft drink containers into the house, inspect for bugs that may be hiding in them.

Keep garbage pails, floors, and the kitchen clean.

If you have a pet, take up its food dish at night and wipe up any food spills.

Most pests need water.  Fix leaky faucets and pipes, and keep drains unclogged.

Pay special attention to paper products and food containers that you're storing for recycling; they're particularly tempting to insects and rodents.

OUTDOORS

Store firewood outdoors, away from the house and off the ground.  Shake off the logs before you bring them into the house.

Inspect your home for possible entry points.  Caulk or screen areas to seal openings around windows, door frames and pipes.  Fill cracks and holes in the foundation of your home.

Trim tree limbs so they don't touch or hang over the house.  Trim bushes and shrubs back and away from the house so they don't become a hiding place for insects and rodents.

Your home can be a luxurious resort for the most bothersome pest in the nation:  the lowly cockroach.

German cockroaches, for instance, will feast on everything from dirty garbage cans to the glue in a dresser drawer.  American cockroaches, a larger variety often found in older city dwellings, love your left-overs and crumbs, but will also enjoy your book-bindings, soap, and glue.  Most roaches can live for a week without water, and four weeks without food.  Roaches can carry and pass along dysentery, typhus, and salmonella.

It's easy to see why cockroaches are consistently picked as the most hated and disgusting pest.  However, there are things you can do to control cockroaches.

*Store food in airtight glass or plastic containers.

*Wipe up food spills immediately.

*Keep counters, floors, and cabinets clean.

*Vacuum frequently.

*Keep garbage cans tightly covered.

*Seal cracks and crevices.  Caulk openings around pipes, fixtures, and cabinetry.

Subterranian termites live underground or in protected areas such as wood.  There is always at least one queen and many more reproductives may also be present.  Most people never see a queen, but may have seen swarmers or workers.  The total number of individuals in a colony of subterranean termites may be more than a million.  Imagine a million insects attacking your house!  Workers are small white insects, which are blind and are very sensitive to heat, cold, and dry air.  This sensitivity is why they build shelter tubes or "mud tubes."  In fact, they need to maintain an atmosphere of nearly 100% humidity.  Sometimes finding sheter tubes, a little smaller diameter than a pencil, is the first sign of a termite infection.  Workers are just that...the workers of the colony.  They find new food sources (vegetation or wood containing cellulose.)  Upon finding a food source, the termites put down a chemical signal or pheromone to lead the other workers to the feeding site.  Termites do not "attack" your house or building.  They forage, attracted by moist areas, and find good sources.  Termites do a very good job of breaking down cellulose in the soil.  When they discover your house or other buildings, they become a real pest and that is where the professional pest control company comes in.  In the spring in most areas of the country, and depending on the species, healthy subterranean termite colonies will "swarm" or send out winged reproductives to start new colonies.  The swarmers are darker in color, some species almost black, and have four wings.  One frequent question is how to tell termites from ants.  Ants generally do not swarm the same time as termites, but it can happen.  The following is a description of how to tell termites from ants.

                                                                          

         *  Ants swarm througout the                              *  Termites swarm at a very      

             year depending on species.                                limited time of the year.

                      

         *  The body of the ant will                                 *  The body of the termite

             vary in size depending on                                   swarmer is about 3/8" in

             the species.                                                      most species.



         *  Ants have four wings; two                              *  Termites have four wings

             smaller and two large                                        of equal size.

         

         *  Ants have a pinched waist.                             *  Termites have a straight waist.

         *  Ants have elbowed antennae.                          *  Termites have straight antennae.



         *  Ants are good fliers.                                       * Termites are clumsy fliers.