Latest Household Pests Articles
Stinkbug
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Skinkbugs have been causing visitors of Ask the Exterminator all sorts of anxiety. People are at a loss as to how to control these invasive insects. Thankfully, our readers have lots of advice and this reader gave one of the most thoughtful courses of action.
Glue Board
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The glue board can be a great insect monitoring tool for capturing spiders, crickets and pantry pests. Glue boards are inexpensive and easy to use.
Fly Control
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Fly control and, specifically, house fly control, can be achieved using new fly bait products. These products kill flies in seconds.
Portable Dehumidifier
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Some insect control can best be done by controlling the environment. Booklice, for example, require high humidity, so reducing the humidity levels below fifty-percent will make the environment less hospitable for psocid. This exterminator did some online searches for the best dehumidifiers and came up with these results.
Shield Bugs
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With shield bugs invading, everyone is looking for ways to control these pests. Here are some suggested shield bug remedies I have received recently.
Flour Beetle
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Have you ever found insects crawling around in your box of Lucky Charms? Could be a flour beetle. The flour beetle will not bite or sting people, but it does millions of dollars in damages to our food supplies every year.
White Flies
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White flies, also known as whiteflies, can suddenly appear uninvited in your pretty fish tank. The fish don't mind, but it takes something away from the beauty and serenity of the fishy environment to see all these flies inside your pristine aquarium.
Weevil
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There are about 40,000 different species of weevils and beetles throughout the world. Weevils may possibly make up one the world's largest family of animals.
Insect Identifications
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Rick Steinau of Ask the Exterminator says insect identification is the very first step to take when planning to treat for an insect pest. Have it properly identified. Collect the insect specimen, but put it in something that will protect it so you do not end up delivering it in unidentifiable pieces.
Insect Identify
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You have captured some type of insect inside your house or apartment. Now, where do you take your insect pests to be identified? Rick Steinau, Ask the Exterminator, tells you where to take your insects to have them identified for free.
Roof Rats
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Roof rats can be a persistent pest requiring a lot of detailed exclusion work to keep them out of structures. This article will provide some good tips on how to fight Roof rat invasions.
Stink Bug
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When is the best time to hire a professional to treat for stink bugs and what should be included in the treatment? Knowing the answers to these questions could save you time and a lot of aggravation.
Dermestid Beetles
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Dermestid beetles can do great damage to woolens and furs and can be a costly pest to have around, but if you can invest some time and work, they can be effectively controlled.
Woodlice
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If you've ever picked up a rock in your garden and discovered little bugs crawling around, you probably were looking at woodlice. These pests can become a nuisance because they will eat garden plants and may even sneak indoors in search of moisture.
Stink Bug Control
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Will there ever be a product developed for stink bug control? Eventually, but the development process will focus on crop protection long before you ever find a can of stink bug spray on retail shelves.
Kill Bed Bugs With Heat
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It's a known fact that you can kill bed bugs with heat treatments. But, I have some issues with heat treatments that need to be addressed by people considering this pesticide alternative.
Insect Invasion
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Sometimes there is little we can do to avoid an insect invasion, especially when a structure happens to be directly in the way of a migratory flight path. Batten down the hatches and grit your teeth until it passes over. Trying to exclude migratory insects can be maddening.
Cockroach Infestation
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Cockroach infestations cannot always be fixed with pesticides alone. Living in clutter and failing to do a good job of cleaning can cause cockroach populations to explode.
Rolly Polly Bugs
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A visitor to the website writes that she is having a problem with rolly polly bugs, also known as pill bugs or sow bugs. Her house was treated, but the rolly pollies continue to invade the house.
Carpenter Ant Damage
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Is it a carpenter ant damage or termite damage? Both dig into wood. Both can ruin your day. This article will give you some easy ways to identify what's eating your wood.
Phorid Fly
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The presence of Phorid flies, also known as humpback flies, can indicate that a serious plumbling issue exists. Sometimes, excavation is required to remove contaminated matter under a floor slab caused by a broken pipe.
Book Lice
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Book lice populations can build up quickly in stored food products that have been left and forgotten at the back of your pantry shelves. You'll find yourself throwing away a lot of never-used food if you don't use some precautions.
Brown Stink Bugs
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Brown stink bugs infest homes every year as cooler temperatures arrive. Learn to set up a good defense before stink bugs can invade your home.
Get Rid of Carpenter Ants
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Have you ever discovered damage to your wooden fence or door frames and wondered about the cause? If moisture is associated, carpenter ants may be the culprit. Read this article to discover do-it-yourself ways to get rid of carpenter ants.
Sow Bugs
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Sow bugs, Roly-poly and woodlice are interchangeable names for the tiny crustaceans you may find in your garden. These bugs are attracted to moisture, so the best way to get rid of them is to eliminate their water source.
Hobo Spider
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The Hobo Spider inhabits Central and Western Europe and was brought over to the Northwest United States in the 1930s. The Hobo spider spins funnel shaped webs and is known to come inside homes during the late summer or early fall. Its bite is venomous.
How To Get Rid Of Squirrels
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Wondering how to get rid of squirrels in your attic? There are always new products popping up on the market that claim to do the trick. Here's one that promises to do it in a flash.
Ground Squirrels
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Ground squirrels differ from tree squirrels because they make their homes in burrows below ground surfaces while tree squirrels live in nests in tree canopies. North America has many species of ground squirrels.
What Do Wild Mice Eat
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When asking, “What do wild mice eat?” the answer is simple. They eat everything that humans and their domestic pets eat and more. Just look in your pantry after an invasion of mice and you will discover their menu is wide and varied.
How Long Do Crickets Live
If you have crickets in your home one of the first questions you want answered is, how long do crickets live. Fortunately, adult crickets do not live too long, but it all depends on the species. Read this article to learn the lifespan of various crickets and learn a few tips on how to keep them out of your home.
Norway Rats
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The Norway rat is the dominant rat species in North America and is also known as the common rat. Norway rats are well adapted to live near humans, so getting rid of an infestation can be difficult.
Mice Traps
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If you've ever had a mouse in your house, you probably felt like you had to walk on tip-toes until you got rid of it. No one likes those kinds of surprises running across their feet. Read this article for a list of inexpensive tips that will help you get rid of mice quickly.
Where Do Gnats Come From
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If you have ever had pesky little gnats flying around your home you may have wondered where they come from and how you can get rid of them. We have compiled some information that will help you out the next time you suffer a gnat infestation.
How to Get Rid of Fleas
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If you want to get rid of fleas you first must figure out how you got them in the first place. No use going through all the flea removal steps if the source is still in the house.
How To Keep Mice Out
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Catching mice is fairly easy. Learning how to keep mice out of your home is more involved. You need to know their habits, what environments they seek and what materials work best to rodent-proof your home.
What Do Bed Bugs Look Like
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By now, we have all seen umpteen million pictures of bed bugs on TV, in the newspaper and on the web. But, for those still uninitiated and curious, I am going to give you some common objects to which to compare bed bugs.
What Do Crickets Eat
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Are you hearing that lone cricket somewhere in your house and you are worried about finding damages? You need to know the answer to what do crickets eat. Find it here.
Eliminating Dust Mites
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Totally eliminating dust mites is not possible. They thrive in bedrooms and other rooms that get high traffic, being found in carpets, upholstered furniture, drapes, clothing and nearly any place where humans have contact. The dust mite feces causes your allergy problems.
Mice Repellents
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Fall is the time that leaves fall, golf courses aerate, baseball plays its World Series and mice come inside to escape the cold. Read about some outrageous and wonderful mice repellent suggestions and recipes.
Psocids
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Psocids are very small insects measuring 1 to 4 mm. They are more commonly called booklice and their presence may be a sign of a mold problem in your home.
Bed Bug Pest Control Treatment
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Bed bug pest control treatments require thorough examination and a willingness to do backbreaking work. Then, the determination to do it all over again in ten days and once again ten days later.
Brown Recluse Spiders
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Brown recluse spider control can take months, but control is possible if you approach it properly. Proper identification, exclusion, elimination of hiding places and proper monitoring and pesticide applications can make you a winner.
Fruit Fly Traps
Fruit flies are a constant source of aggravation for homeowners and businesses. Their presence indicates an available food source on which they can survive. Finding the source is half the battle and there are plenty of products that can assist.
Cockroach Species
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You might have known that cockroaches can survive for a week with its head cut off, but did you know that cockroaches might be able to predict earthquakes? Find out more interesting cockroach facts.
Yellow Sac Spider
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Yellow sac spiders are probably responsible for more spider bites that occur in the US than any other spider. They have a bite that is painful but does not have long term side effects.
Camel Crickets
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Camel crickets do not chirp so you do not know they are present. They like to linger in dark, damp places. If they are in your home, your clothes and carpets may be at risk.
Bedbug Bite
A bed bug bite is difficult to identify even for an expert like a dermatologist. Collect a sample of any insect you find in or around your bed to have it properly identified before buying expensive bed bug treatments or products.
Field Crickets
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Field crickets were often kept as pets in ancient China. They were prized for their songs and kept in golden cages. Today in the USA we often consider field crickets a pest and do not want them in our homes.
Mouse Trap
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Here is the scoop on how to catch a mouse with a snap trap or glue board. Learn the proper method of setting a mouse trap and save yourself hundreds of dollars in professional pest control service fees.
Grasshoppers
Grasshoppers are known for their leaping ability and the chirping songs they create using their back legs and wings. They feed on plants, often causing damages to garden plants and agricultural crops.
Drain Fly
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The drain fly is a little pest that hang out inside drains. It looks like a tiny moth, so it is sometimes called moth fly or drain moth. These bugs love hanging out in stagnant water, so the best way to avoid them is to eliminate standing water and scrub off the slick scum from the inside of drains.
Millipedes
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Millipedes require lots of moisture to survive so look for areas where water accumulates around your house to discover where millipedes are gaining entry.
Signs of Carpenter Ants
The signs of carpenter ants include damaged wood, noises coming from inside your walls and finding foraging ants in your kitchen at night.
Palmetto Bugs
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Palmetto bug is just another word for American Cockroach. These suckers are big, they can fly, and they aren't scared of anything or anyone. Palmetto bugs are creepy, but getting rid of palmetto bugs can be a cinch.
Acrobat Ant
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The Acrobat ant is not as cool as it sounds. In fact, the Acrobat ant is much more annoying than cool. This amazing article will tell you how to identify, locate, and eliminate them for good.
Oriental Cockroaches
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Oriental cockroaches are slow movers, can barely climb and few are capable of flight. But, don't underestimate the Oriental cockroach for what it lacks in maneuverability it makes up in other places.
Brown Banded Cockroach
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The Brown Banded cockroach is one of the smaller cockroaches around. But, what it lacks in size it makes up in numbers. Brown Banded cockroaches hitchhike their way into our homes and our lives.
Firewood Storage
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Improper firewood storage can provide a home to unwanted insect pests that suddenly make their presense known when you bring the firewood inside. Learn what you can do to avoid this experience.
How to Get Rid of Stink Bugs
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Stink bugs are nuisances that will invade homes because they are attracted to light. Be careful when trying to get rid of them because they will release an odor for self-defense.
Carpenter Ant Control
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Carpenter ants can do a lot of damage to your home if gone undetected. The presence of large black ants should send an important signal that all is not well with your house.
Crazy Ants
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The Crazy ant is a small ant, native to Africa. It derives its name from the erratic manner in which it moves, rarely sticking to its own ant trail. Crazy ant colonies are massive consisting of thousands of workers and dozens of queens.
Spider Webs
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Spider webs are not exclusively used by spiders to capture prey. They are also used as protection from predators, to travel by “ballooning”, or to encase egg sacs. Some spiders, by working together, can make huge spider webs that cover several acres of trees.
Centipedes
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Giant centipedes once roamed the earth, or should I say, slithered along the earth. Either way, it would have required a lot more than your average pest control professional to rid a home of one of those big fellows.
Carpenter Bee Holes
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Carpenter bee holes are often discovered in unpainted, exposed wood on siding, window trim, decks, and outdoor furniture. But, don't look upon these holes as damage. Look on the bright side. You've got perfect holes and you didn't even need a drill.
Clothes Moth
Find a moth flying around your house and you are worried it is a clothing moth? Clothing moths like the dark, so you are probably safe. Read on for more info.
Indian Meal Moth
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Picture this. You are opening up a box of cereal that has been in your pantry for half a decade. Inside there are small worms with dark brown heads. You scream in shock and revulsion. You have just found larvae of the Indian meal moth. Want to know how to get rid of them?
Carpet Beetle
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Carpet beetles not only eat carpet but they eat wool, leather, silk, felt, and any other animal based organic material that appeals. Even entomologists hate them because carpet beetles also eat preserved insect collections.
Flying Ant
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It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a….flying ant? Yes, some ants have wings, but the flying ant only comes out once a year; kind of like Santa Clause but with antennae. Find out more about why flying ants fly.
Silverfish Control
Silverfish eat paper, fabric, glue, and other organic materials. They move very quickly and only come out at night, so if your house is infested by silverfish you might not even know it.
Carpenter Ant Bait
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There are many types of carpenter ant baits on the market such as Maxforce Carpenter Ant Bait and Advance Carpenter Ant Bait. Proper placement and timing is key to successful ant control.
Ants Carpenter
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You discover you have carpenter ants and worry that the carpenter ants are hungry and will eat, eat, eat until the wall falls down. Ask the question, "What do carpenter ants eat?" You'll discover it is not your woodwork that satisfies their hunger.
Citronella Ants
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Citronella ants live underground, so you rarely see them, but on occasion, they do find their way into homes. Citronella ants are bright yellow and have a strong citrus smell when crushed.
Carpenter Ant
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Unfortunately, carpenter ants will not build you new cabinets for your kitchen. The carpenter ant earned its name because it builds its nests in damp, decaying wood. Its name implies wood construction, but carpenter ants can actually be damaging to wooden frame houses.
Pharaoh Ant
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Pharaoh ants, despite their small size, are the most invasive of all household ants. Pharaoh ants build colonies quickly and the spread of pharaoh ants is difficult to control.
Spider Control
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Spider control is nearly impossible unless several changes are made to discourage their food source from congregating around and near doorways and windows.
Stink Bugs
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Every year stink bugs invade certain parts of the country and every year people search for ways to keep the stink bugs from getting into their homes. Exclusion! Exclusion! Exclusion is the only answer.
German Cockroaches
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When it comes to cockroach control most people will scream “No mercy!” The problem is that some roach pesticides will poison you too! Here are a few non-toxic solutions to get rid of cockroaches.
Boxelder Bugs
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Fast growing populations of boxelder bugs make control very difficult. As Boxelder bugs migrate from trees they often find houses in their migratory path, making the house likely spots to over-winter.
Weevils
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Through inspection is the key to successfully getting rid of grain weevils once weevils are discovered to have infested your stored food products.
Silverfish
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Silverfish are small, but they are fast and sneaky little prehistoric-looking insects. Silverfish often get trapped in sinks and bathtubs where they are unable to negotiate the slick ceramic surfaces.
Water Bugs
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We often hear homeowners say, “We don't have any cockroaches, but we do see waterbugs in our basement.” The Oriental cockroach is often called a waterbug or water bug.
Roach Control
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Cockroaches still maintain their position of being one of our most common household and commercial pests. In spite of advances in pesticides and roach control techniques, why is roach control so difficult?
Tent Caterpillar
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The tent caterpillar, also known as the eastern tent caterpillar is mostly a nusiance pest, but it can defoliate certain types of trees, leaving landscapes looking bare and ugly.
Cicada
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If mud tubes are suddenly appearing around the base of your trees it probably signifies the emergence of periodical cicadas. One of the cicada species emerges nearly every year.
Millipede
Drought or extremely dry conditions will cause millipedes to migrate towards the shady cracks along foundation walls. These areas usually hold moisture longer than open lawn areas. The millipedes find the smallest of cracks to enter the house, but soon die for lack of moisture.
Pill Bugs
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Sow bugs and pill bugs seem to invade basements out of nowhere. The presence of pill bugs is nature's way of tell you that moisture is collecting along the exterior foundation walls.
How To Get Rid of Ants
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Before you plunge your house or belongings into pesticide oblivion, it's important to know that many ant issues can be resolved without a drop of insecticide spilled. Often, knowing the habits of ants will tell you exactly how to get rid of ants.
Cricket
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The common cricket is heard during warm summer nights. They are part of the environment that surrounds us, so there is little that can be done. But, we do have some choices when it comes to preventing crickets from entering our homes.
Centipede
House centipedes feed on other insects, so having centipedes inside your house can actually be beneficial. But, who wants to share living quarters with a lighting-fast insect that can bite?
Odorous House Ants
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Odorous House ants can be kept from your home or office by carefully observing their daily activity and number. A pest control pro should be able to tell you where the odorous house ants are nesting once you provide certain key information.
Box Elder Bugs
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Box elder bugs are common pests found in most
Cricket Control
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Crickets can certainly do damage to various types of garden plants, but there are ways to stop them using natural cricket control methods. You don't necessarily need to use pesticides for cricket control, if that is your preference.
Earwig
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Stuff your ears with cotton to prevent earwigs from climbing into your ear and burrowing into your brain. Believe that and I'll tell you another. Earwigs head the list of insect urban legends.
Wolf Spider
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The mere mention of wolf spiders make me worry about giant, hairy things ready to pounce. What is it about these the wolf spider that give us the creeps? And how serious are wolf spider bites?
Where Do Brown Recluse Spiders Live
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Where to Brown Recluse spiders live? Anywhere they want to. Old joke, but true. These spiders want to be left to themselves in cultered, dark corners.
Kill Carpenter Ants
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Carpenter ants do millions of dollars of damage to homes every year. Often, the answer to kill carpenter ants is quite simple. Learn what steps you take to kill carpenter ants.
Carpenter Ants
The presence of carpenter ants usually means that moisture is an issue somewhere in the vicinity of where the carpenter ants were found. The follows paragraphs can help resolve your carpenter ant issues.
Pavement Ants
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Pavement ants are some of the smallest ants that invade our houses. The pavement ant often enters looking for food and may become numerous in a short period of time in a kitchen or outside on a patio. The presence of pavement ants or pavement ant swarmers also attracts other insects looking for a meal like spiders and wasps.