Proper identification of the species is critical to correctly manage and develop an effective strategy to stop and eliminate ants. If you’ve discovered ants in your kitchen and cannot find the source, you may be dealing with sugar ants, these guys are attracted by multiple foods changing daily. There are a number of home remedies and over-the-counter products that promise to kill sugar ants but few work and most are not safe to handle. One of the best solutions for handling this pest problem is to call Go Green Pest Control, we can help you assess which problem areas of your home need to be addressed.
Pantry pests infest stored foods and can carry diseases that can make you sick. When you think of pantry insects, moths might come to mind but did you know that there are several other pests that can be in your pantry, like the cigar beetle, drugstore beetle, merchant grain beetles, flour beetles and rice weevils. Here are some things you can do to avoid pantry insects: store pantry items in hard plastic or glass storage containers with tight-fitting lids. Most of these pests originate from grocery store, so look for tears in the packaging and don’t buy bulk foods- or at least be very vigilant. Keep your pantry clean by vacuuming often and cleaning up any spills.
Centipedes do have a lot of legs, they can actually have anywhere from 15-177 pairs of legs with one pair per segment, always have an odd number of pairs of legs, and they can be 10 cm long. Nocturnal by nature, the house centipede searches for food during the night. They have little mouths and large claw-like structures that contain a venom gland. What they really like to eat are other pests like fleas, ants, beetles, cockroaches, silverfish, spiders, and termites. They bite and sting, which may feel like a bee sting. Those people that are allergic to bee stings, centipede poison can be dangerous too.
Sugar ants are attracted to fruit, sweets, spills, stains, other food and are usually found in your kitchen, pantry, and food containers. So how did you get them inside? Well they can bubble up from sandy soils or
sometimes sugar ants are not content to only live outside and they invade and become bothersome situation for homeowners. These ants can gnaw through paper, cardboard, or even plastic containers to feed on and pollute food that they are in. When you have these guys they attract other pests, such as spiders and centipedes, into homes. They don’t sting but they do bite when disturbed, the bites are not painful but can cause allergic reactions.
Some ants are common and harmless, but others can be treacherous and you need to get them out of your home. Thatching ants may seem like trivial insect but they can be very challenging. They are drawn to moisture (like almost every insect), and their nests are usually found near flowerbeds that have mulch. Pet food and plants in containers attract these ants. Once they make a nest around your home, they will soon move indoors. Thatching ants can damage your home in a similar to carpenter ants. But not only can they damage to your landscaping and home they also bite and sting, causing pain that is itchy, swelling, redness around bite. And in some people, potentially an allergic reaction.
A flea infestation can cause chaos on your family and house. Any furry animal that goes outside can pick-up fleas, so a trip to the vet for topical flea and tick prevention should be done periodically. Maintaining your landscaping outside can protect your pets from fleas by cutting back tall grass, weeds, and shrubbery. Beds of mulch around your house perimeter repels fleas. Next, vacuuming indoors is really important as the growth stages of fleas, from eggs to pupae, will hide in in carpets and baseboards until they are ready to jump on your pets or your own legs. Wash all pet bedding in hot water.
We often don’t think about carpenter ants in the cold wet months but they still exist and continue their never ending destruction of your house. Their role in the environment is waste processors as they tunnel through dead plants, trees and soil, aerating it. Regrettably, these ants see our homes as piles of sticks that they can covert into their satellite nests. Ants are the most damaging wood destroying insects in the lower mainland and they are active 24/7 365. When the temperatures drop, most outdoor carpenter ants hibernate and remain dormant during the colder months but the ones in your walls continue to burrow through wood, feed the larvae, and maintain the satellite nest in your walls.
Indoor insects can do many things to you, including nasty bites to contaminating your food. Read on and discover what lurks under your bed.
-Spiders are in and under your furniture, appliances, the attic and craw space. When a spider bites, it can cause allergic reaction – to necrotic wounds to…
-Silverfish can ruin anyone’s day by eating wallpaper and clothing, to contaminating food. Their diet also include dried products, flours, glue, paper, dander, hair and grandma’s vintage wedding gown.
-Ants, once these guys get in, they can eat you out of house and home, literally from eating everything we eat to chewing away the wood that holds your house up. Some bite, some sting you, but the common denominator is there are very hard to get rid of.
-Flies can get into your house through just about any opening. More than just an aggravation, they infect all food they land on as they travel from trash to feces to our food.
-Carpet beetles don’t need any introduction, they damage natural fibers in carpets, furniture and clothing. But the elephant in the room is the carpet beetle larvae, often confused with flea or bedbug bites, they have sharp hair-like needles that cause allergic reactions all over your skin.
-Cockroaches multiples rapidly, eat everything, live for years, cause allergic reactions and are usually found in filthy environments.
Although winter weather is heading our way we only usually only get a few really cold freezing days and the rest of the season is just wet and miserable. Mild winters allow insects and rodents breeding season to be longer and more successful. And, over the last couple years a lot of pests have been showing up earlier in the spring. In the winter, some pests burrow into the ground, lay their eggs deep in the soil and others reduce level of activity or survive in our homes where there is heat, shelter, food and moisture. A few things that you can do is removing any surplus water from melting ice and snow – as all pests need water. Rake leaves and avoid piling anything close to your home.
Now that its getting closer to freezing at night, you know who is looking to keep warm in your house? insects, spiders, squirrels, rats and mice ! Here are a few DYI fixes to keep them out. Look for cracks, crevices and holes on the outside of your house. Areas that most people miss are the cracks and holes around pipes and electrical wires that lead into the house. Make sure there isn’t any areas in the soffits that have been open up, and get mesh put on chimney tops to keep squirrels out. Move firewood and other clutter away from the bottom areas around your house. Trim trees and shrubs at least 6’ from the house especially the roof line. In the house, store all of your pantry foods in sturdy plastic containers, always clean up spills and vacuum regularly. Cardboard boxes in the attic should be converted to hard plastic as rodents use the cardboard to make nests, and silverfish love cardboard.
