Box Elder Bug
Boisea trivittata
Characteristics
Size: Up to 1/2-inch long.
Color: Ranges from gray to black with red criss-crossing stripes on the wings. Nymphs have bright red abdomens.
Behavior
A number of insects have discovered that heated buildings are ideal for surviving the cold of winter. Such pests include box elder bugs, cluster flies, and lady beetles. As the weather cools in late summer and early fall, the sun warms the southern and western walls of buildings. The warmth attracts these insects to buildings where they crawl inside cracks and stay there for the winter. This would be fine, but during warm winter days, some insects "wake up" and end up on the inside of the building.
Habitat
Box elder bugs feed on maple and box elder trees and usually infest buildings where these types of trees are nearby.
Tips for Control
The best way to control such pests is by prevention as described below. If it's too late and they are already inside, it takes a professional to find and treat the right areas to minimize the numbers of pests seen inside. If your home has experienced a problem with overwintering pests, take the following steps next summer to prevent a recurrence:
- Seal as many cracks and holes on the outside of the home as possible, especially on the south and west walls where the sun heats the home during the late summer and fall.
- Be sure that all foundation and attic vents have tight-fitting screens.
- Check the soffit vents and any gable vents or turbine vents on the roof.
- Have your Terminix professional treat the outside west and south walls of the home near the eaves. This treatment should be completed in mid- to late August.
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Centipede
Class Chilopoda
Characteristics
Size: Most centipedes found around buildings rarely measure longer than 2 inches. In Texas and the desert southwest, however, a couple of species can measure 6 inches or longer and may wander into homes and other buildings.
Color: Varies depending on the species. Most are brownish or orange-brown. The large Texas species has a bluish-black body, orange-red head and yellow legs.
Behavior
Centipedes are predators that live in moist areas. These nocturnal creatures hunt down insects and spiders at night. Centipedes are distinguished from millipedes in that they have only one pair of legs per body segment, while millipedes have two pairs of legs per body segment. They are seldom seen inside homes, except for the house centipede, which may breed in crawl spaces and basements. The house centipede is recognized by its extremely long legs.
Habitat
Outdoors, centipedes keep to moist, protected areas such as landscape mulch and beneath items in contact with the soil. Indoors, they will usually be seen near baseboards and around doorways and windows. The house centipede may be observed wandering on walls in crawl spaces, basements, garages, and sometimes in other rooms of a house.
Tips for Control
The following actions will help in controlling centipedes:
- Sealing cracks and holes in the home s exterior should help prevent centipedes from entering.
- Mulch and heavy vegetation, such as ivy, should be kept away from the foundation to reduce the number of centipedes and their food supply.
- House centipedes may require treatments that are best applied by a professional.
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Clover Mite
Bryobia praetiosa
Characteristics
Size: Clover mites are tiny, the adults being smaller than the head of a pin.
Color: The larvae of the clover mite, freshly emerged from eggs, are bright red. The older stages and the adults are darker reddish brown.
This mite is easily distinguished from other mites by its very long two front legs.
Behavior
Clover mites feed on plant fluids, such as grass, and are common outdoors around most buildings. During the fall, however, the mites may crawl onto building foundations in large numbers and deposit eggs within cracks found in the building exterior. In the spring, the tiny red larvae hatch and may crawl up the foundation and through cracks around windows and in walls and then into the building. Dozens, sometimes hundreds, of these mites then may be seen on window sills, curtains, and on walls. When smashed, a red stain may result that may be difficult to remove from fabrics. Inside, the mites cannot find food and will soon die. These mites do not bite people or pets.
Habitat
During most of the year, clover mites are found outside in lawns and on other landscaping plants. They may be seen inside during the spring.
Tips for Control
Obviously, removing all vegetation next to the home will eliminate clover mites; however, this is not practical.
- Homes that have regular annual clover mite infestations will benefit from sealing exterior cracks and holes where the adult mites might deposit their eggs.
- When clover mites are a significant problem, treatment of the building foundation and perimeter, together with treatment of cracks and holes in which mites may have crawled, can greatly reduce the problem.
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Cricket
Family Gryllidae
Characteristics
Size: Varies, though usually no larger than 1-1/2 inches in length.
Color: Generally black or brown.
Crickets are easily recognizable to most people. They are typically thick and square in shape with enlarged back legs designed for jumping. Camel crickets range from tan to brown in color and are characterized by the severely humped thorax. They have very long rear legs and long, thin antennae.
Behavior
Crickets generally live and breed outdoors and invade buildings searching for food, moisture, or shelter. The adults are attracted to bright lights on buildings and may fly to homes and other buildings by the dozens or even hundreds (in mid- to late summer). Once near the building, crickets will crawl through any crack or hole that allows them access inside. These insects have been known to feed on and damage clothing, usually items that are soiled and awaiting laundering. Camel crickets do live and breed indoors, usually in a crawl space, cellar or basement. They occasionally wander up into the living areas of the home where their quick jumping ability can startle the unwary person. Camel crickets may also invade homes from wood piles and similar areas outside.
Habitat
The natural habitat of crickets is a field or wooded area. Near buildings, they will be found living among tall weeds and heavy vegetation (e.g., ivy), under boards, stones and other items, and in piles of lumber, firewood, or debris.
Tips for Control
The best way to limit crickets is to eliminate as much potential harborage as possible outside the building. The following tips should prove helpful:
- Store firewood away from the home and off the ground.
- Dispose of piles of lumber or store such items off the ground.
- Clean up piles of leaf litter and clean up any debris that could provide shelter.
- Remove any heavy ground cover in landscaping within 10 feet of the home.
- Install yellow "bug" light bulbs in outdoor fixtures to attract as few crickets as possible.
- Seal as many exterior cracks and holes as possible in the outside walls.
- Improve crawl space ventilation to make the subspace less attractive to camel crickets.
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Earwig
Order Dermaptera
Characteristics
Size: About 1 inch long.
Color: Dark brown.
This insect can be recognized by the forceps-like cerci extending from the rear of its abdomen. On males, the forceps can be quite large and ornate.
Behavior
Earwigs are omnivores that will catch and eat other insects. Long-term relief from these insects is achieved by finding and treating the harborages outside from which the home will be invaded. The experience of a professional company such as Terminix is helpful in situations where large numbers of earwigs are present.
Habitat
The European earwig is common in the eastern United States west to Illinois and is found in Oregon and Washington . These insects live together often in large numbers in tree holes, in landscape mulch, under landscape timbers, and under objects lying on the ground. They will also harbor in the exterior cracks of buildings from which they may wander inside.
Tips for Control
If earwigs are invading your home, finding and treating the harborages outside achieve long-term relief from these insects. The experience of a professional company such as Terminix is helpful in situations where large numbers of earwigs are present.
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Elm Leaf Beetle
Pyrrhalta luteola
Characteristics
Size: About 1/4-inch in length.
Color: Medium green with a dark stripe on each wing cover.
Behavior
Elm leaf beetles infest elm trees where the larvae feed upon the trees leaves. The larvae eat between the leaf veins, leaving the leaf with a "skeletonized" appearance. During late summer, the larvae fall off the tree into the leaf litter underneath to pupate. The adults emerge and search for a place to overwinter. They are attracted to the warmth emitted by nearby buildings and will crawl into cracks and holes in the buildings' exterior walls. They crawl as far back as they can into wall voids and attics. During warm winter days, some beetles may make their way into the interior of the building. Beetles, therefore, may be seen throughout the winter and spring.
Habitat
Outdoors, elm leaf beetles are associated with elm trees. During the fall, they may enter buildings through exterior cracks and holes looking for a protected place to overwinter. Usually, the south and west walls of a building are affected as the fall sun warms these walls.
Tips for Control
The best way to control elm leaf beetles is by prevention as described below. If the beetles are already inside, it takes a professional to find and treat the right areas to minimize the numbers of beetles seen inside. If your home has experienced a problem with elm leaf beetles, take the following steps next summer to prevent a recurrence:
- Seal as many cracks and holes on the outside of the home as possible, especially on the south and west walls where the sun heats the home during the late summer and fall.
- Be sure that all foundation and attic vents have tight-fitting screens. Check both the soffit vents and any gable vents or turbine vents on the roof.
- Have your Terminix professional treat the outside west and south walls of the home near the eaves. This treatment should be completed in mid- to late August.
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Ladybug
Harmonia axyridis
Characteristics
Size: Usually about 1/4-inch in length and round in shape.
Color: Many colors, but wings are usually red or orange.
The number of spots present will vary or the wings may have no spots at all.
Behavior
A number of insects have discovered that heated buildings are ideal for surviving the cold of winter. Such pests include ladybugs, box elder bugs and cluster flies. As the weather cools in late summer and early fall, the sun warms the southern and western walls of buildings. The warmth attracts these insects to buildings where they crawl inside cracks and stay there for the winter. This would be fine, but during warm winter days, some insects "wake up" and end up on the inside of the building.
Habitat
Ladybugs are predators of aphids and other plant pests so they may be found on a wide variety of plants outside.
Tips for Control
The best way to control such pests is by prevention, as described below. If it's too late and they are already inside, it takes a professional to find and treat the right areas to minimize the numbers of pests seen inside. If your home has experienced a problem with overwintering pests, take the following steps next summer to prevent a recurrence:
- Seal as many cracks and holes on the outside of the home as possible, especially on the south and west walls where the sun heats the home during the late summer and fall.
- Be sure that all foundation and attic vents have tight-fitting screens.
- Check the soffit vents and any gable vents or turbine vents on the roof.
- Have your Terminix professional treat the outside west and south walls of the home near the eaves. This treatment should be completed in mid- to late August.
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Millipede
Class Diplopoda
Characteristics
Size: Generally small, about two inches or less in length. Some forest species in the southeastern United States may grow to four or more inches.
Color: Brown or black.
Behavior
Millipedes live in moist vegetation, leaf litter, and mulch. They feed upon decaying organic matter found in these areas. Millipedes are distinguished from centipedes in that they have two pairs of legs per body segment, while centipedes have only one pair of legs per body segment. Although dozens of millipedes may be found outside buildings, few may wander inside. If they do, millipedes usually die very quickly due to lack of moisture. They can, however, survive indoors in moist basements and crawl spaces. Under the right conditions, millipede "migrations" can occur. Where considerable amounts of decaying organic matter are found, such as thick leaf litter under trees or thick thatch layers in lawns, thousands of millipedes might be produced. If the area where they live dries out, becomes too wet, or the millipede population grows too large, a migration may occur. Thousands of millipedes begin crawling in search of better living conditions. In a few cases, hundreds of thousands of millipedes are present. In such cases, keeping all millipedes out of a building is likely impossible. Treatments can help minimize the numbers, however.
Habitat
Outdoors, millipedes are found in leaf litter, landscape mulch, lawns, and under items in contact with the ground. Indoors, millipedes may survive in moist areas of garages, crawl spaces, and basements.
Tips for Control
The following actions will help in controlling millipedes:
- Reduce potential breeding sites and harborages next to and near the building.
- Keep mulch and heavy vegetation, such as ivy, away from the foundation.
- Seal cracks and holes in the home s exterior to prevent millipedes from entering.
- Millipede migrations may require repeated treatments to the exterior and to cracks in the outside of the affected building.
- Determine the area where millipedes are originating and remove the material in which they are breeding (e.g., leaf litter, mulch), if possible.
- Remember that total elimination of millipedes indoors may be impossible - especially when huge numbers are involved.
Professional treatment, sealing cracks and holes, and removing breeding material should greatly reduce the numbers of millipedes.
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Silverfish
Order Thysanura
Characteristics
Size: Small, elongated, triangular insects, usually between 1/2-inch and one inch in length.
Color: Typically a shiny gray or silver.
They have three characteristic long, thin appendages extending from the rear of the abdomen.
Behavior
Silverfish feed on fungal molds and organic matter. They can damage natural fabrics, paper and book bindings. Treatment of cracks and voids as well as attic and crawl spaces is necessary to minimize silverfish. This pest, however, is one of the most difficult insects to totally eliminate even for a professional company.
Habitat
Silverfish live in cracks and voids and are commonly found in larger numbers in attics, basements, and crawl spaces. They are also common outdoors in southern states. Homes with cedar shake roofs seem to experience more serious infestations of silverfish. This may be due to the additional molds that form on this type of shingle. More available food results in more silverfish. Inside, silverfish will be seen occasionally or on a regular basis in kitchens, bathrooms, and other rooms.
Tips for Control
Silverfish can be very difficult to control, especially in those homes which have wood shake (shingle) roofs. Shakes hold moisture and permit surface molds to grow which serve as food for silverfish. Shake roofs are also very difficult to treat completely -- to reach all the areas where silverfish can possibly live. In addition, silverfish often live in the soffits and
behind the fascia board behind gutters. Individual silverfish then invade the interior of the home from this "reservoir" site. Compounding the problem in attics is blown-in
insulation that prevents a professional from safely venturing into the attic to look for silverfish harborages. A professional should be consulted when silverfish are a
regular problem.
Areas that may require treatment include:
- Voids where plumbing is located.
- Voids behind electrical outlets.
- Molding around windows and doorways.
- The attic, crawl space and basement.
- The soffits.
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