Ant Control Tips

 If you are experiencing an ant problem, identifying the ant species may be of help when trying to choose control methods. In this article, we review how to identify a few main species and control options available.

There are several species of ants that you may encounter invading your home or outdoor area.  Some of the more common types are carpenter ants, pharaoh ants, sugar ants, black ants, house ants, thief ants, odorous house ants, argentine ants, crazy ants, ghost ant, acrobat ant, big headed ant, pavement ant and red imported fire ant.

Carpenter ants in the United States are some of the largest ants and there can be several different types of carpenter ants infesting one home or business at a time.  You will want to look for a black or red black in color and and they are typically about 3/8 to ½ inch in size.  And you will typically see worker ants.

Carpenter ants are polymorphic meaning that the same species can have multiple sizes of workers.  One of the best methods of identifying carpenter ants from other ants, is to look for their specific characteristics.  They will have a waist with only one node and a thorax with an evenly rounded upper surface.

The Argentine Ant is thin and brown and the size of a grain of rice. If you have trouble determining whether or not you have an Argentine Ant, bring a sample to your local extension service and they should be able to tell you.  The Argentine Ant gets protein from eating insects, but prefers the honeydew liquid that is made by aphids, scales, mealy bugs and whiteflies.  You will often find him under boards, stones, tree stumps and potted plants, searching for his favorite meal. The Argentine Ant may begin to move indoors in the fall, as his food sources dwindle during that time. Although it may be difficult to completely eradicate the Argentine Ant, you can discourage him from sharing your immediate space, and from ruling your outdoor living areas. 

One of the most dangerous ants to have invading your home is the Red Imported Fire Ant. When dealing with a fire ant infestation indoors, it is important to utilize all methods of control and be safe about chemical applications.  Fire ants look like ordinary house or garden ants, but have some distinguishing characteristics. They can vary in size within one nest, from 1/16 to 1/5 inch long. Fire ants are dark reddish brown in color on the head and body, with a darker abdomen. Fire ants are extremely aggressive when disturbed, and if one bites you, you’ll know for sure you’ve been bit.

Options for indoor control include products like; gels, baits, dusters and sprays.  Some of the household ants that will be affected by these applications aresugar ants, Pharaoh ants, Cornfield Ants, Argentine Ants.  Gels and baits are good because your chemical pest control is contained to one area and are not spreading the chemicals onto numerous surfaces in your home.

Outdoor ant control may include products such as granules, liquid sprays and baits.  Granules are able to be broadcast or used to treat individual mounds.  Liquid spray insecticides may reduce populations of other nuisance insects in your area. Look for products that can incorporate in insect growth regulator to reduce the resurgence of ants on your property.

How to Control a Roach Infestation

 

No matter what the season; summer, spring, winter or fall, roaches never seem to take a holiday at all. Roaches come in many shapes and sizes and thrive without much attention at all. There are simple steps that you can take to minimize the opportunity for roaches to flourish in your household.  In this article, we discuss ways to keep roaches under control for the do it yourself pest controller.

There are over 3,500 species of roaches, but some are more likely to be the pests that invade your home.  There are only about 12 species of roaches that are the regular invaders of homes. Roaches belong to a suborder of insects called Blattaria, which means “to shun the light”. The actual word “cockroach” comes from the Spanish word, “cucaracha”, which means “crazy bug”. Texas can boast the most cockroach species of any other state, having as many as 30-35 species. Common household roaches are German, Banded, American, Oriental, and Woods Cockroaches.

Roaches are not only unsightly, but their excrement and decomposing bodies are triggers for allergies and asthma. Cockroaches can also carry diseases like dysentery, typhoid and poliomyelitis, as well as gastroenteritis. It is therefore imperative for your safety and sanity to keep cockroach infestations under control.

Follow the quick and easy steps below to minimize cockroaches in your home:

• Make sure that your home is sealed from cracks and crevices that can allow any roaches in your home in the first place. 
• Check weather stripping, windows and screens, and utility entry points.
• Caulk where you can to seal any opportunity to let the outside pests in. 
• Check any pipes for even the smallest leak. 
• Keep garbage bins sealed and away from your home 
• Cut back any flowers and brush in direct contact with your home.
• Limit access to all food AND water sources for the roach 
• Store pet food in sealed plastic or metal containers
• Keep your dishes washed and dried daily  
• Do not leave water in the sink over night
• Wipe down counter tops as soon as you are finished using them
• Put trash out nightly 
• Enforce NO FOOD restriction in every room except for the kitchen dining area 

 

 

Treatment options for a cockroach infestation include:

• Glue or “sticky” traps that can be used to monitor  for any cockroach activity and species identification
• Boric based products that can be left on tops of cabinets or behind appliances to treat the stray few that wander into your home
• Insecticide sprays on a seasonal basis to stop cockroaches from becoming a full fledge infestation
• Gel based products can be used inside lower cabinets and crevices that may be allowing entry
• Cockroach bait traps set out seasonally can also provide effective long term control solutions

 

Following a regular regimen using the above combination of prevention, monitoring and seasonal treatments can keep your home cockroach free. Your family will thank you for it.

Chinch Bug Problem

If you are a Southerner, nothing causes you quite as much pleasure as a barefoot walk across your beautiful, soft, green St. Augustine lawn. Chinch Bugs are a huge nuisance and can cause brown dead spots with veritable ease. In this article, we discuss the Chinch Bug identification and control methods.

Chinch Bug identification is important. First of all, if you notice irregular patches of dead or stunted grass, surrounded by a halo of yellow, you may have a Chinch Bug problem. Although, a Chinch Bug issue can easily be confused with certain types of diseases, usually, brown patch disease will occur in a circular or semi circular fashion, while the Chinch Bug destruction will be irregular. An easy way to identify that it is a Chinch Bug issue is to witness the little buggers yourself.

One way to locate the Chinch Bug is to simply part the grass with your hands and see what you see. It is imperative to not mistake the Big Eyed Bug with the Chinch Bug. The Big Eyed Bug is a beneficial pest and will eat off many detrimental pests from your lawn. To distinguish the two, the Chinch Bug has a more narrow body in relation to its head. The Big Eyed Bug will have larger protruding eyes and the head is at least as wide as the leg bearing portion of its body(the thorax). The Chinch Bugs head is much more harrow than it’s thorax, the eyes are small in proportion, and the Chinch Bug will have a distinctive white wing with black triangular marks.

Another good method is to cut the bottom and top from a coffee can and simply push it into the ground with a twisting motion, creating a sample. Then fill the can with water, and wait about ten minutes. If Chinch Bugs are present, they will float to the surface. This is called the flotation method. Be sure that you do not test in dead grass, only damaged.

If you isolate that Chinch Bugs are your problem, and they are causing substantial damage to your lawn, you may need to take chemical action to end your Chinch Bug problem. There are a variety of liquid or granular insecticides that will control chinch bugs. The granular type should be applied with a standard fertilizer spreader, and then watered lightly to initiate the insecticide component. Be sure that you do not spread the insecticide onto sidewalks or walkways where it can be washed in to water ways.

Sweep up any excess that has found it’s way to these surfaces.

Using a liquid spray is easiest by applying a hose end sprayer that can distribute 15-20 gallons per 1,000 square feet.

Vector Fruit Fly Control Video

What to Do About Carpenter Bees?

Although Carpenter Bees are common, and usually do no severe damage by their tunneling, they can sometimes be extremely dangerous and cause structural damage if the same timber is used by colonies year after year. In this article, we discuss how to identify carpenter bees and control methods for carpenter bees.
There are a dozen different species of carpenter bee in the United States alone. The different species may each prefer a different nest type, those that nest in sound structural wood can become an expensive pest.
The carpenter bee is a metallic blue black color and measures a substantial ¾-1 inch long. They have orange or yellow hair and can look like bumblebees except for their tail section. The carpenter bee has a black tail section which has no hair.
The carpenter bee likes to over winter in their nest tunnels that were built the summer prior. April or May is the right time for the bees to reemerge and begin mating.
Now, the female will reuse an older egging area, or extend it, or build a completely new one. This is where she bores into the wood, deposits an egg and seals it off with its ‘bee bread’ nutrient for growing. Usually the newly formed adults will emerge in late August or September.
So, now that you know a little about carpenter bees, what can you do to prevent them from nesting near your home?
Well, carpenter bees may often be found around fences, patios, wood shingles, eaves, outdoor ceilings and windowsills. Any wood that is unfinished or painted and well weathered is a good choice for a carpenter bee.
You can locate the next by looking for bee activity and a perfectly round hole about the size of a dime. Once you have located the entrance, apply dusts or insecticide sprays into the nest entrance and on a large area of wood surface surrounding the area. Then, after approximately a half or whole day, plug up the hole. Be very, very careful to wear protective equipment and use the insecticides according to the labeled directions.
If nests are located, it is important that you remove the damaged wood and replace it with pressure treated wood, which will deter further nesting attempts. Also, painting your wood or white washing it will keep carpenter bees from nesting again. Use all of the above strategies to control carpenter bees in your outdoor living area.

Merry Christmas from the staff at ePestSolutions!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Large Animal Pest?! Trapping Suggestions....

The following tips should be used when preparing to live catch your nuisance animal.

Havahart® recommends that you contact the Humane Society, or the local or state game commission before setting a trap to determine the lawful method of releasing a captured wild or nuisance animal. Many species are protected by law in various states.

Following the instructions contained in the carton, you may want to test the trap and spring it a few times to make sure that it works properly. For example, spring it by touching the trip plate from each end, This should be done also after the trap has been set and camouflaged to make sure it works freely. If you feel the doors do not work fast enough, place small stones or other weights on top of the door. This will cause doors to drop faster.

When you receive the trap it will be bright and new. Therefore do not be discouraged in case you do not catch what you anticipated the first night or day. The effectiveness of Havahart® traps usually improve with age. Some animals do not mind a new trap while others do. So instead of setting the trap to catch the first animal to come along, bait the trap, or simply place it where you intend to set it and fasten the doors open by means of a stick or wire.

After a couple of days, when you notice the bait has been disturbed or taken, it is time to set the trap. Camouflaging the trap is an effective means to entice the animal. Place twigs and leaves all over the trap to remove a lot of the glare from the trap. You can even spray it with water and throw dirt on it to give it a conditioned look. Animals will not be discouraged from entering the trap by the smell of your handling the trap or from supposed machine/oil odors in the manufacturing process

Top Trapping Tips

Check traps often and be aware of the weather. Trapped animals should not be left out in the elements as they can die from prolonged exposure to heat and cold.

Check traps FREQUENTLY. Wild animals stress easily and may seriously injure themselves as they attempt to escape.

If you trap a no target animal you should contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator in your state for releasing advice.

Depending on the time of year, check to see if you have trapped a nursing mother, tip the trap over to see her belly. Babies will not survive without mother.

Traps should be washed, disinfected with a bleach solution (1 part bleach to 9 parts of water and let it remain on for 20 minutes), and thoroughly rinsed after each capture to stop the spread of any potential disease.

Facts About Ants

Ant Facts

More than 10,000 species may exist worldwide. Approximately 570 species occur in the United States and of these, fewer than 30 species may regularly infest homes and other buildings with only ten species considered major pests. Ants have succeeded in replacing other types of structural pests as the number one pest in homes in many parts of the United States. In Texas, the imported fire ant has been deemed by pest control companies as the number one structural pest. In the Pacific Northwest, carpenter ants are responsible for most homeowner calls to pest control operators.

All ant species member live in colonies with one to many queens, immature, numerous sterile female workers and occasionally males. The workers are wingless and characterized by elbowed antennae and the constricted first one or two segments of the abdomen.

Ants can be detrimental to human health; their presence under certain situations can pose a serious human health risk. In hospitals, health care facilities, food processing plants, food packaging plants and food preparation areas of various structures, the presence of ants should not be tolerated because of potential for disease transmission.

Ants frequently are annoying and sometimes dangerous because of their bites and or stings. Not all ants sting. In many ants, the sting has practically disappeared, but venom may be injected into a wound made from a bite. Many ants produce a toxin secreted by glands in the head which is deposited in the bite. The substance is called formic acid and is the source of the scientific name of the ants, Formicidae.

Ants commonly attack livestock. Workers of harvester and fire ants have been reported attacking and killing young pigs. There are also reports of fire ants attacking and killing chicks and newborn calves. Some species of the big-head ant are intermediate hosts of various poultry tapeworms.

Ants can damage crops and ornamental plants. The red imported fire ant is known to remove seeds from seed beds and feed on the seeds of corn, peanuts and beans. Workers of the red imported fire ant will chew on the roots, stems and leaves of plants. In some cases, seedlings are girdled and die.

Ants can spoil range land for grazing by building mounds and clearing sites for their nests. Harvester ants clear large areas of all vegetation about their nest structure. These ants have a potent sting which may further discourage grazing about their nests, Fire ants pose a special problem to harvest operations in hay fields as their large, hardened mounds are known to break harvesting equipment.

Enjoyment of parks and recreational areas where the fire ant is prevalent is often spoiled. Fire ants also show a fascination for electricity and have many reports of damage to electrical equipment. Carpenter ant workers will strip the insulation from cables, causing them to short.

Shade trees are damaged by Carpenter ants. Telephone poles are also not immune to ant attack.

Carpenter ants are the major group of ants that cause damage to wooden structures. These ants tunnel through wood but do not consume it for food as is the case with termites.

DIY Home Pest Inspection

If you are planning on doing your own pest control, one thing that will improve your chances of keeping the pests out is doing a complete home inspection. In this article, we cover where and what the DIY pest controller should look for when doing a home pest inspection. Certain conditions give rise to pests entering and flourishing in your home, so what can you do to minimize your chances of inviting pests into your home? Inspect your home for signs and symptoms of pest activity.

In your kitchen, bath and laundry areas follow the techniques listed below:

Exposed Food: Do you have pet food, decorative arrangements, bowls of fruit, or any other items that are openly exposed and available to pests?

Leaks and Moisture: Washing machines, tub/showers, garbage disposal units and sink cabinets should be checked for signs of the tiniest leaks and moisture retention. Spaces beneath tubs/showers can also be an access point for pests, and should be treated if you are able to access them.

Entry points: Dryer vents, windows, screens, door ways, cable/utility entry points, attic accesses are all easy entry ways for pests if not properly sealed. Copper mesh , caulk, and expandable foam can be used to minimize entry access.

Potted Plants: Although lovely, potted plants can be a mini eco system for pests to hide and flourish. Don’t forget to inspect these when looking for pests in your home.

Pantry: Are your foods stored in sealed containers or has there been any spillage left on shelves?

Pet Bedding: Pets can be a host for fleas and ticks and their bedding areas need to be inspected for signs of activity.

Hearth: Check your fireplace area for signs of moisture leaks in walls or ceiling areas and be sure that your firewood isn’t importing or harboring pests.

Bedrooms: Be sure to look in corners, baseboards, bedding and behind dressers for signs of spiders, silverfish, bed bugs, and clothes moths. Drapes and wall hangings should also be vacuumed and inspected regularly. Fleas can hide in low hanging drapes as well.

These techniques should help you to pest proof your home but also give you an adequate inventory of pests that may already be there and require treatment. If you see signs of pests, these are pinpointed treatment areas, since they are places that pests like to hide.

For most any type of pest, you can visit an online pest control supplier for access to professional strength products to treat almost any home pest that you may find.

Precor Flea Fogger at ePestSolutions!

How NOT to Protect Yourself From Mosquitos!

Mice: The Winter Invader

The cool air of fall and approaching winter can bring in unwanted pests, like mice, who are searching for a warm haven from the harsh weather. Before mice can make their way into your home, mouse proof your residence so that the only guests you have for the holidays are the two legged kind. In this article we review prevention techniques and treatment options if mice have already invaded.

• Even a hole the size of a dime, can allow mice access to your home. Be sure to seal any cracks and crevices around your home, and be sure to check your foundation and around pipes and utility wires
• Shrubs and trees that are near your home are an excellent invitation to mice and pests. Keep them neatly trimmed and with no branches touching the structure.
• Try using crushed rock around your foundation, since mice do not like to walk on uneven surfaces
• Don’t store boxes and other containers on the floor and use plastic bins with sealed lids, instead of card board or open topped units. If you have areas that aren’t frequently used, be sure to keep them neat and regularly inspected for signs of mouse
• As always, seal any leaks in and around your home so rodents do not have access to water
• Pet food should never be left out or in bags, they’re like a mouse buffet. Keep them tightly sealed in hard plastic or metal bins
Signs of mice infestations may include chewed electrical wires, gnaw marks on wood surfaces and droppings in your cupboards or pantries.

Treatment options for mice include:

Snap traps: Snap traps are the tried and true mechanics for your mouse control and elimination. Mouse snap traps have been used for centuries. The theory has not changed, but science behind the machine has continued to improve. With better technology and higher grade products mouse snap traps can and will work successfully on any number of mice.
Rodenticides: Rodenticides are pesticides that kill rodents and our modern rodenticides can be broken down into two broad group: anticoagulants and non-anticoagulants.
Exclusion Products: Making your house rodent proof is the process of denying mice entry into a building or home by improving the building integrity. This can be difficult with mice since they can enter in a space small as a pinky finger. Mouse exclusion is the best long term and cost effective method of rodent control, taking the time to do it right and thoroughly can save you lots of frustration down the line. One of the best mouse exclusion products is copper mesh. Copper mesh should be used when trying to prevent entry into a hole and opening. Rodents do not have the ability to chew or gnaw through the copper mesh fibers.
GlueTraps: Glue products can be tossed in the trash after use. Glue boards can be purchased scented and unscented and can be placed in the rats environment covered or uncovered. Glue traps can be placed in runways and use to trap rats and mice. They are easy to use, nontoxic and will get great results.

Drain Gel Organic Drain Fly Control