Household Pests
American Cockroach
(Length: 1 1/2" – 2")
The American Cockroach is the largest of the roaches infesting homes. Hospitals and warehouses are also targets. It has reddish brown wings and is a good flyer. American Cockroaches often invade from sewer systems and heavily mulched areas. Grocery packages are also a favorite transport. The female attaches the egg capsule, containing about 12 eggs, in high areas in garages, closets, utility rooms and fireplaces. The young mature in 12 months. Found nearly anywhere in the house, American Cockroaches contaminate food, carry disease, damage book bindings, fabrics and wallpaper.
German Cockroach
(Length: 1/2" – 5/8")
This roach, with two dark brown vertical stripes behind the head, is found throughout the world, thriving wherever man lives, eating the same foods, sharing the same habitats. It is commonly found in restaurants, kitchens and stores where food, moisture and harborage are abundant. German roaches are rarely seen outdoors. Populations build rapidly from egg capsules being produced about every 20 to 25 days. Each capsule contains 30 to 35 eggs. The young mature in four to six months. German roaches contaminate food, leave stains, create foul odors and carry disease organisms. They hide during the day, closely packed in small cracks and crevices near food and water.
Oriental Cockroach
(Length: 1” to 1 ¼ ”)
These pests often called water bugs are actually cockroaches. They are usually shiny black, but may vary to dark reddish brown. In many areas, the oriental cockroach survives quite well outdoors and is typically found under debris, stones and leaf litter, but can easily survive indoors as well. They usually enter buildings via door thresholds, under sliding glass doors and along utility pipes. They are most commonly found in basements, crawlspaces, kitchens, and other damp areas, hence their name.
Clovermite
(Length: 1/64”)
These pests, which are plant feeders, show preferences for bluegrass and fescue lawns. It has also been shown that they prefer lawns which are well fertilized and watered. Clover mites thrive in the spring and fall, are not too fond of the summer heat and usually hibernate from June until September. They will often enter a home or business around windows and doors and often congregate around walls with a brick exterior. If found inside you should not touch them. Although they won’t sting or bite, they crush very easily which may cause staining on walls, drapes, or carpet. Try a vacuum with a hose attachment to pick them up.
Box Elder Bug
(Length: ½”)
This pest which gets its name from the trees it infests, is more a problem for homeowners based on its over wintering habits. Box elder bugs like several other pests will try to come inside during colder months to stay warm and hibernate through the winter. Typically they will enter on the south or west sides of a home, and often are attracted to light colored houses. Once inside they are pretty docile, and pose no threat. As spring approaches and the weather warms they will try to get out, with some inadvertently coming inside instead. Exclusion along with regular exterior treatments is the best prevention for these pests.
Silverfish
(Length: 3/8" – 1/2")
These slender, wingless insects are common in homes. The Silverfish are covered with shiny and silver or pearl-gray scales with three long tail-like appendages and two threadlike antennae. The scales help them escape the grip of ants and spiders. Silverfish cause damage by eating foods, cloth or other items high in protein, sugar or starch. They eat cereals, moist wheat flour, paper on which there is glue or paste, book bindings, wallpaper, starch in clothes and linens. They will breed in bookcases, storage boxes and linen closets. Oval white eggs are dropped in a few places week after week. Eggs hatch in two to eight weeks with adulthood reached in about two years. They thrive in moist hot areas from the attic to the crawl space.
Flea
(Length: 1/32" – 1/16")
Fleas are small, hard-bodied, wingless insects with a flattened body and legs adapted for jumping on to a host. The cat flea, most commonly encountered in Florida, seeds mammals for the blood meal needed to sustain them. They can be a direct health hazard, transmitting disease and tapeworm. Humans are often attacked when other food sources aren’t available. Their bite leaves a red, itchy spot on the skin. Their saliva is irritating to the host, causing dermatitis and hair loss in allergic animals.
Tick
(Length: 1/16" – 1/2")
The tick is an eight-legged relative of the spider. It must feed three times before hiding and producing up to 3,000 eggs in a crack or crevice. The tick can live without food for up to 200 days, waiting for a host, usually a dog, to supply a blood meal. Many serious diseases can be transmitted through ticks: Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Typhus, Lyme Disease, Relapsing Tick Fever and other disorders.
Black Widow Spider
(Length: 3/8" long)
The Black Widow is glossy black with a red hourglass marking on the underside of its abdomen. The female is much larger and more distinctly marked than the male. It makes a strong, sticky irregular web in protected areas where prey is likely to wander in and be trapped. Foundations, vents, shrubs, outside seats, trash and woodpiles at ground level are common habitats. Their poisonous venom can cause concern for small children and older or sickly persons. Medical attention should be sought if bitten.
Brown Recluse Spider
(Length: 1/4" – 1/2")
The brown recluse is a brownish spider with a distinctive violin-shaped mark behind its eyes, which has earned it the name "fiddle-backed" spider. It is found in undisturbed areas such as sheds, garages and dark closets. Garments left hanging, coats and shoes are favorite spots. Their bite causes a severe systemic reaction that develops a crust and a surrounding red zone. The crust falls off, leaving a deep crater, which may take several months to heal. The crater may require extensive medical attention.
Black Carpenter Ant
(Length: 1/4" – 1/2")
These ants are completely black instead of two-toned. The black carpenter ant does damage to sound, undamaged wood. They don’t eat wood, but they hollow out "galleries" in wood for nesting that are so smooth they appear to be finished by sandpaper. They normally nest in dead portions of trees, stumps or logs and invade homes in search of food. They feed on living or dead insects and nearly all sweets or meats inside and outside of the home. They will often be found in homes around windows, doors, decks and gutters. All of these areas may have wood softened by water, which makes it more attractive to these pests.
Odorous House Ant
(Length: 1/16”–1/8”)
The odorous house ant is quickly becoming the most common ant to infest homes in our area. They are similar in size, shape and color to pavement ants and will readily nest indoors. The easiest way to identify them is when they are crushed: They give off an odor like coconut or citronella. These ants will have larger nests, and since they easily live indoors, they may be harder to control. Their preferred meal is honeydew produced from aphids, but they will readily eat sweets and protein of all types.
Pavement Ant
(Length: 1/16”–1/8”)
These are the most common ants in the Mid-west. They are generally black and most often will nest outdoors coming into homes and businesses only to forage for food. They will feed on almost anything, including meats, sugar and bread. Many times, a single ant will be seen only to be followed by many more. This forager will go back to the nest and bring others to the food source that was found inside the home.
Pharaoh Ant
(Length: 1/12" – 1/16")
These small red-to-yellowish ants can be found trailing anywhere within a structure. They can nest in wall voids, cabinets, boxes of food and any other accessible crevices and spaces. They are known to invade sick rooms and feed on blood plasma and wound dressings. Their colonies have multiple queens and can split into small groups, spreading very rapidly. In subtropical areas, Pharaoh Ants readily nest outside in leaf debris found on or near structures. Re-invasion of the structure can occur during warm periods. These ants should not be sprayed with insecticides. This will cause a budding of nests to occur, which causes ants cut off from the colony to start a new colony elsewhere in the home or building.
Earwig
(Length: 3/8" to 1")
Earwigs were named by a superstition that the insect would crawl into people’s ears when they are asleep. More easily recognized by its forceps-like tail appendage, the Earwig is a major garden pest as well as an annoying household pest. It is one of the few insects that takes care of its young. Earwigs feed on green plants and other vegetation and do little damage indoors. The pinch of their forceps is neither painful nor poisonous, but does an effective scare job.
Springtail
(Length: 1/32”–1/8”)
Springtails, sometimes referred to as sand fleas, are often just an outdoor nuisance. They get their name from the fact that they have a small springlike appendage on their underside that allows them to hop in the air if disturbed. They will usually infest damp areas around a home, such as mulch beds. Since springtails are so small, the moisture in their environment controls their actions. After a rain, these pests will often be more prevalent as there is less chance of dehydrating. If there is little or no rain, they may look to new environments, such as your home, for shelter.
House Cricket
(Length: 3/4")
The tan House Cricket can be found in warm, damp, dark places, such as shrubs, grass, basements or crawl spaces. Active mostly at night, they will eat almost anything they can chew from rugs to drapes, and they usually enter a building from harborage right outside. Their common song is a triple chirp. Their courtship song is a continuous trill.
Ladybugs
(Length: 1/32”–3/8”)
Ladybugs are generally beneficial insects. Originally bred to combat aphids and scale insects, these pests have a certain knack for nuisance when they spend the winter inside homes and businesses. They enter buildings in the fall to escape the coming cold of winter. They are most often attracted to light-colored walls and will usually appear on the south and west walls that typically face the sun during the winter. Once inside, they will huddle inside walls and basements until the outside warms up again and signals their escape. The problem is they don’t have a good sense of direction, and instead of returning outside, they may enter your home again by mistake. The best control inside is a vacuum cleaner to remove the pests. Spraying inside walls is not effective.
Pill Bug
(Length: 1/4" - 3/8")
Pill Bugs are found in lawn turf, under leaves or other moist areas of decaying vegetable matter. Extremes of wet, dry or hot weather drive them inside, where they do no damage, but are an annoyance. Pill Bugs roll into a ball or "pill" when they are disturbed.
Millipede
(Length: 1" – 1 1/2")
Brownish and worm-like in appearance with many body segments, Millipedes have two pairs of legs on each segment. They typically live outside in moist vegetation, leaf litter and mulch and feed on decaying organic wood and plant matter. When conditions are right, migrations can occur, and large numbers will find their way inside homes through cracks and crevices. When disturbed, they curl up like a watch spring.
Centipede
(Length: 1" – 2")
A Centipede’s color varies and depends on the species, but most are brown to orange-brown with many body segments. Unlike Millipedes, Centipedes have only one pair of legs per segment. They usually live outdoors in dark, moist areas and are seldom seen inside homes, except for the house Centipede, which is identified by its extremely long legs. The house Centipede is usually found where dampness occurs. They are nocturnal, and when disturbed, they move swiftly towards dark hiding places.
Flying/Stinging Pests
Clothes Moth
(Length: up to 1/2")
These are small yellowish or brownish moths. Larvae spin a silken tube or case which they drag around themselves to protect them from the environment and their natural enemies. Eggs are laid on products the larva will consume such as: wool, feathers, fur, hair, animal and fish meals and milk powders. Adults do not feed on fabrics. Only the larvae damage household goods. They are not attracted to light, preferring dark, protected areas. Cedar closets will not prevent them from entering.
Hornets
(Length: 5/8”–3/4")
Hornets usually are responsible for the large, football-shaped nests around homes and businesses in trees and on the sides of buildings. These pests are extremely aggressive and have been known to repeatedly sting anyone or anything that disturbs them. They are black and white and will live in colonies of hundreds to thousands. Control can be accomplished at any time of day, but treating at night will ensure that most hornets are in the nest at the time of treatment. Do not use a flashlight during treatment, Hornets will follow the beam of light and attack its holder.
House Fly
(Length:1/8” to 1/4”)
This is the most common fly to be found in this area. They have clear wings that are longer than their body, and protruding eyes, which are quite noticeable. The house fly is a vector for many types of diseases and pathogens and they will lay between 350 – 900 eggs in a lifetime. Under ideal conditions a house fly can fully mature in as little as 6 days. They generally breed outside near garbage or other waste. A combination of methods is needed to control these pests including exclusion, exterior baiting, and insect light traps.
Honeybees
(Length: 1/2")
These "hairy" bees have yellow and dark brown coloring and thick bodies. They are not aggressive and will leave people alone if not provoked, but they are defensive and will attack anything that threatens the colony or individual. They forage on pollen and nectar, which they use to produce honey to feed the colony. Honeybees usually nest inside tree cavities, but will also nest in gaps beneath rock formations. Queens lay eggs at intervals, producing a colony of 60,000 to 80,000 workers. Their stings can be painful and can cause a serious reaction (anaphylactic shock) to allergic individuals. Settlers brought the Honeybee to North America in the 17th century.
Indian Meal Moth
(Length: 5/8”–3/4")
The Indian Meal Moth is the most common of insect stored product pests. This moth, which is readily found in homes and grocery stores all over the country, readily infests all types of grain products, such as cereal, flour, cake mixes, rice, beans, pet food, and especially, birdseed. The adult lives only a very short time and is only capable of reproduction. It does no damage to food products. The larval stage of this species does much of the consumption and damage to products. In the store, inspect packages for damage, expiration date and moth presence. A cocoon often will be visible on the outside of infested product packaging. At home, inspect your pantry, both on product packages as well as on shelves and in corners. If a product is outdated, damaged or suspected of infestation, throw it away immediately.
Mosquito
(Length: ¼”)
These pests breed in ponds, lakes, and any standing water. They have a short reproductive cycle which allows them to become a problem very quickly. They are most active around dusk, and are strongly attracted to light, body heat, and Carbon Dioxide. Only the female mosquito actually bites, and that is right before she is about to lay eggs. These pests are carriers of many diseases and other parasites, most notably the West Nile Virus. A comprehensive plan to eliminate breeding sites, standing water, is the best way to prevent these pests. Fogging and misters only provide temporary relief from these pests.
Paper Wasps
(Length: 1/2 - 1")
These can be found in a variety of colors from reddish brown to dark red to orange with varying bright stripes of yellow and red. Paper Wasps are predators and feed on insects, spiders and caterpillars. Several females build nests of paperlike cells (wood pulp and saliva) that are usually attached to the underside of a support (an eave or window) and hang down. Mated young queens spend the winter under leaf litter and in stone walls. They are very protective of their nests and will defend against invaders with a painful sting.
Yellow Jackets
(Length: 1/2" – 5/8")
These are often confused with Honeybees because of their yellow and black markings, but they can be distinguished from bees by their thinner waistlines. Yellow Jackets are social insects and will aggressively defend their nests, which are typically located in stumps or fallen logs or in the ground. They prey on a variety of insects and also forage on foods people eat, especially sweets and meat. Their stings can be painful and can cause a serious reaction to allergic individuals.
Wood Destroying Pests
Carpenter Bee
(Length: 3/4" – 1")
These large dark bees that resemble bumble bees are often seen hovering around the eaves of a house, wooden fences or the underside of deck in the late spring. They bore round holes into wood to nest. They will nest in a wide range of woods, but prefer weathered and unpainted wood. Typically they do not cause serious structural damage unless a large number of bees are involved over a long period of time. Male carpenter bees tend to be territorial and can become aggressive towards humans by hovering close by. But this is merely a show as they have no stinger.
House Borer
(Length: 1/2" – 3/4")
This is a member of the group known as "long-horned beetles". Eggs are laid in crevices of the bark of cut logs. The whitish larva live 3-5 years or more, eating through the wood. During quiet times, their feeding may be heard as clicking and rasping sounds. Adults leave infested wood through oval holes about 1/4" in diameter.
Powder Post Beetle
(Length: 1/8" – 1/4")
Adults are reddish brown to black and very slender. The Powder Post Beetle damages seasoned hardwoods such as flooring, furniture and structural woods. The larva, living in and eating the wood, can take up to four years to develop. Their presence is often indicated by piles of fine dust and by small exit holes in the wood. Control requires treatment by fumigation or replacement of the infested wood.
Subterranean Termite
(Length: 1/8" – 3/8")
These are social insects living in colonies in the soil. The colony is made up of workers, soldiers and reproductives. Subterranean Termite colonies feed on wood (where humidity is high) or other cellulose material such as paper, cardboard and fiberboard. They do excessive damage in the U.S. every year. Workers are blind and cream colored, entering homes while foraging for food, through cracks as small as 1/64". The workers return to feed the other members of the colony on a regular basis. Winged reproductives (swarmers) are dark, and many lose their wings shortly after their swarming flight. Founding queen may live more than 3 years.
Subterranean Termite Swarmer
(Length: 1/2")
These dark brown to black winged insects are the male and female reproductives. They emerge from the colony in a dark cloud at least once per year. Their short flight drops them to the ground where they then seek the proper conditions for the king and queen to start a small brood chamber in the soil. The swarmers are often confused with winged ants. The major visible differences are the waist (pinched in the ant, broad in the termite), the antenna (elbowed in the ant, straight in the termite) and the wings (two different sizes in the ant, all the same size in the termite).
Rodents/Animals
House Mouse
(Length: 2" – 4" head to tail)
Light brown or light gray, the House Mouse is small and slender with large ears and small eyes. They have a keen sense of hearing, taste, smell and touch. While they are mostly active at night, they can be spotted during the day searching for food. Although they usually feed on cereal grains, they will eat almost anything. They nest within structures or burrows and establish a territory near food sources, generally 10 to 30 feet from their nest. The House Mouse is a prolific breeder.
Mole
(Length: 5”-6”)
This small mammal, which weighs between 6 and 8 ounces can consume up to 45 pounds of earthworms and insect larvae a year. They are prolific eaters that are built to dig. A Mole can dig up to 18 feet an hour and travel 80 feet a minute through existing tunnels. They are active year round, but will spend more time burrowing spring through fall. In the winter, mounds may appear where they have begun to dig deeper to stay warm.
Norway Rat
(Length: 7" – 8" head to tail)
The Norway Rat is the largest domestic rodent and responsible for large amounts of damage to world food sources as well as being a disease carrier. It has small eyes and ears and a tail that is just shorter than the length of its body. The most common evidence of infestation is rub marks along common pathways or droppings approximately three-fourths of an inch long. They will usually burrow outdoors and will travel up to 100 feet for food. They travel mostly at night and will be more cautious of new things, like traps, than mice.
Pigeon
(Length: about 13”, weight: 13 oz.)
Pigeons, which were introduced to North America in 1606, are among the most prevalent domestic birds across the United States. These birds are of major medical concern because they can carry more than 50 diseases, most notably histoplasmosis. They nest in all types of environments, and their nesting materials and droppings are the most common ways for diseases to be spread. Pigeons nest for life, and once they choose a roosting area, it is hard to make them leave. Control typically involves exclusion, baiting or trapping, or a combination of all three methods.
Raccoon
(Length: varied, Weight: up to 15 lbs.)
These animals often take up residence around our homes and businesses. They are scavengers that will use all of their means to survive and feed themselves. They will damage garbage cans in search of food, and in general, make a mess. They are usually not dangerous, but will defend their territory if disturbed.
Starlings/Sparrows
(Length: 5” 7”)
Pigeons, which were introduced to North America in 1606, are among the most prevalent domestic birds across the United States. These birds are of major medical concern because they can carry more than 50 diseases, most notably histoplasmosis. They nest in all types of environments, and their nesting materials and droppings are the most common ways for diseases to be spread. Pigeons nest for life, and once they choose a roosting area, it is hard to make them leave. Control typically involves exclusion, baiting or trapping, or a combination of all three methods.
Vole
(Length: 3”- 4” and up to 2 oz.)
The Vole, a relative of the Mole, typically will consume plants and roots while the Mole eats worms. They typically will travel on the surface of the soil in well-defined runs. They will burrow into the soil for a shallow nest with an opening about the size of a quarter. While they are not as destructive as moles, they can damage lawns permanently.