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ByRandy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

Blog: Sugar ants like the sweet stuff


Randy Bilesky / Delta Optimist

DECEMBER 17, 2019 02:05 PM
Photograph By CLKER-FREE-VECTOR-IMAGES FROM PIXABAY
Delta BC

The last couple years, Delta has really seen an up spike in the resurgence of sugar ants. Have you ever left behind a crumb on the floor, only to come back a short while later and find a cluster of tiny ants gobbling on it? If you have these pests nesting in your home, it’s because these ants have extraordinary odour-sensing skills and sugar is extremely attractive to many ant species. When it comes to food favourites, these ants are first at the table for sweets (white, brown, and powdered sugars; honey; corn, maple, jams and jellies) and proteins like grease. The term “sugar ants” includes several types of ants that prefer to nest and feed inside a home. Sugar ants will also feed on bread, cake, candy, fruit, nectar, soft drinks, and honeydew (honeydew melon and the sugar-rich liquid secreted by aphids) They infest indoor spaces, including kitchens and pantries, looking for sweet indulgences.
Go Green Pest Control owner Randy Bilesky is a long-time South Delta resident. Trained and certified, Bilesky has first-hand knowledge of the pest problems that local homeowners and business owners encounter.

ByRandy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

Kudzu Bugs – the globular stink bug

Kudzu bugs are a true bug because of their piercing sucking mouth parts. People become concerned about kudzu bugs because of their overwintering habits as they congregate in massive numbers on sun-exposed walls to heat themselves. But it’s when they get inside people’s homes through cracks and crevices to survive the winter that the issues begin. Thousands of kudzu crawling throughout a home is a   rather disturbing sight but it’s the strong odour they release that is the worst. This strong odour is their alarm chemical defense. One bug is slightly smelly but it can be quite pungent when large numbers release the chemical. It’s a bittersweet, pungent, unpleasant odor  earning it the nickname globular stink bug. If crushed, the kudzu bug can stain fabrics and other materials and cause skin irritation.

gogreenpestcontrol.ca insectandrodentexterminators.com Delta Ladner Tsawwassen B.C./, Randy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/kudzu-bugs-globular-stink-bug-randy-bilesky/?published=t

ByRandy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

Delta’s Sugar Ant Crisis

The last couple years, Delta has really seen an up spike in the resurgence of sugar ants. Have you ever left behind a crumb on the floor, only to come back a short while later and find a cluster of tiny ants gobbling on it? If you have these pests nesting in your home, it’s because these ants have extraordinary odor-sensing skills and sugar is extremely attractive to many ant species. When it comes to food favourites, these ants are first at the table for sweets (white, brown, and powdered sugars; honey; corn, maple, jams and jellies) and proteins like grease. The term “sugar ants” includes several types of ants that prefer to nest and feed inside a home. Sugar ants will also feed on bread, cake, candy, fruit, nectar, soft drinks, and honeydew (honeydew melon and the sugar-rich liquid secreted by  aphids) They infest indoor spaces, including kitchens and pantries, looking for sweet indulgences.  

https://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/blog-sugar-ants-like-the-sweet-stuff-1.24036988

 https://gogreenpestcontrol.ca/deltas-sugar-ant-crisis/ ‎

gogreenpestcontrol.ca insectandrodentexterminators.com Ladner Tsawwassen Delta B.C., Randy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/deltas-sugar-ant-crisis-randy-bilesky/?published=t

ByRandy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

Feral Cats – Apex Rat Predator

Feral cats are the offspring of house cats, often confused with stray cats, a feral cat has never actually belonged to a person or had any socialization with people. They prefer to live in colonies, ranging from a few individuals to several dozen feral cats. Multiple generations of the same family will live together if there is a food source nearby. Feral cats then become an aggressive apex predator. They typically eat rodents, birds, fish, insects, garbage, unattended pet food, and even roadkill. Once a cat colony finds an easy source of food, the animals will keep coming back. Feral cats are just one kind of animal that have rat-killing prowess, a natural predator or exterminator. Feral cats are a different beast from pet cats, an adult rat is a formidable opponent for a cat, only cats that were trained by their mothers how to deal with a rat.

https://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/blog-feral-cats-have-rat-killing-prowess-1.24036122

gogreenpestcontrol.ca insectandrodentexterminators.com Ladner Tsawwassen Delta B.C., Randy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/feral-cats-apex-rat-predator-randy-bilesky/?published=t

ByRandy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

Super Duper Rats

In the world of pest control, one of the main pests are rats. Rats survive in both urban and suburban environments and the only time we fight the battle again rats is when someone is fed up with them and requires an eradication. But, efforts to control these rodent populations never results in the complete eradication, rather we attempt to fundamentally reduce the rodent numbers. But the ones we don’t get could cause a local population to quickly develop, leading to super rats or very sickly rats. Because rats don’t have a wide genetic variance, the offspring that are more sickly, which for our purposes can be a very good result, wont survive as well as even normal rats. But, the rats who survived that are the fitter, their genes are passed to the next generations leading to super duper rats that will be harder to eliminate.

https://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/blog-super-rats-1.24035112

gogreenpestcontrol.ca insectandrodentexterminators.com Tsawwassen Ladner Tsawwassen B.C., Randy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/super-duper-rats-randy-bilesky/?published=t

ByRandy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

Our Skunks and their noxious spray

Skunks only have one effective way of defending themselves, although they do have a really good set of teeth and claws. Their cloud of noxious spray creates strong burning sensations in eyes, nose and mouth, and makes eyes tear up. Skunks are reluctant to use this weapon, as they carry just enough chemical for five or six sprays, requiring about ten days to produce another supply. Their predators include the cats, dogs and coyotes, owls, raccoons and humans. When feeling threatened and unable to run away, skunks will go through an elaborate routine of hisses, foot-stamping, and tail-high pattern of bluffing behaviour or threat postures before resorting to spraying . If the threat continues, the skunk squirts out its spray from two glands near the anus. The oily spray contains sulfur-based mercaptans that stink and sting. Each squirt is accurate at short range, but then the droplets spread around in air currents and can be effective in a wider area.

gogreenpestcontrol.ca insectandrodentexterminators.com Ladner Tsawwassen Delta B.C., Randy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/our-skunks-noxious-spray-randy-bilesky/?published=t

ByRandy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

Termites – what a life

One astonishing capacity that termites have is that they never sleep, no sleep and they work 24-7. A termite colony can destroy a  home by eating the wooden foundation of a house. Termites are blind but they get around by sensing vibrations in the ground or walls. In a termite colony, there are 4 castes (a form of social hereditary ) of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, of termites, the workers, soldiers, winged reproductive termites and the king and queen. The queen is able to determine the entire colonies behaviour by using pheromones as well as decide which caste her children will grow into. The queen can also produce 10 million eggs per year and live 30 to 50 years.  

https://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/blog-termites-what-a-life-1.24032737

gogreenpestcontrol.ca insectandrodentexterminators.com Ladner Tsawwassen Delta B.C., Randy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/termites-what-life-randy-bilesky/?published=t

ByRandy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

Spot the early signs of Bed Bugs 

In order to successfully detect the presence of bed bugs you can follow these simple rules to easily identify bed bugs before it becomes an issue. The first thing to do is the simplest, use your nose as bed bug feces and pheromones smell unpleasant and a sickly scent. Next, Bed bugs will hide in small cracks and crevices near the bed, in skirting boards or bedside cabinets, as well as, along the seams, inside covers and around the zippers of sofas and chairs, along the seals of doors and drawers, as well as the joints. Then look for bed bug eggs which are 1 mm in length and are milky white grain-like structure. Their eggs are frequently laid within cracks and crevices, such as the joints of furniture and between floors, walls and skirting boards. If there are signs of bed bugs in one room, do an inspection for bed bugs in adjacent rooms. Bed bugs are tough to get rid of, even for a professional, so don’t hesitate to give a pro a call.

https://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/blog-spot-the-early-signs-of-bed-bugs-1.24030100

gogreenpestcontrol.ca insectandrodentexterminators.com Delta Ladner Tsawwassen B.C., Randy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/spot-early-signs-bed-bugs-randy-bilesky/?published=t

ByRandy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

25,000 bugs live in every Live Christmas Tree  

Nothing compares to filling your house with the aroma of fresh Christmas tree leading up to Christmas. There are a few steps between buying a real tree and decorating it as you need to make sure that it isn’t full of insects. Since most bugs that are on that tree are dormant in November and December, you probably won’t notice them at first but once the tree is inside your home the warm balmy like temperature in your house will wake them up, causing them to become active again. It is estimated that there can be over 25,000 bugs living on a live Christmas tree and most wont stay on the tree once its inside. The major insects include: adelgids, aphids, bark beetles, mites, praying mantises, psocids, scale insects, spiders, moths, sawflies, weevils, bark lice and webworms. So, here are a few tips to get rid of those insects. Give the tree a really good shake before you bring it indoors. Then dust your tree with Diatomaceous Earth and let it sit for at least 24 hours before decorating indoors. And finally, keep your vacuum handy to suck up any roaming bugs.  

https://gogreenpestcontrol.ca/25000-bugs-live-…e-christmas-tree/

gogreenpestcontrol.ca insectandrodentexterminators.com Delta Ladner Tsawwassen B.C., Randy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/25000-bugs-live-every-christmas-tree-randy-bilesky/?published=t

ByRandy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

Delta’s Commensal Rodents

In Delta, there are three principal commensal (they live in close contact with humans) rodents that cause issues,  the common house mouse, roof or black rat and our #1 rat – the Norway rat (making up 85% of our rats).  These rodents cause damages to homes and they harbor and spread disease-causing pathogens to us. They contaminate directly or indirectly through their feces and urine. Direct contact happens when breathing in dust that is soiled with rodent urine or droppings, and bite wounds. Indirect transmission includes insect bites from fleas, mosquito and tick bites. Rodents are responsible for such diseases as: typhus, bubonic plague, hantavirus, salmonellosis, trichinosis, leptospirosis, hemorrhagic fever, rat-bite fever, brucellosis, distemper, leptospirosis, trichinosis and tuberculosis.