Not Sure What Pest You Have?

Things to know about Carpet Beetles:

• Can damage fabrics, furniture and clothing that contains NATURAL ANIMAL FIBERS (wool, silk, hair, bristles, fur or feathers) 
• Synthetic items are resistant, but mixtures of synthetic and natural fibers CAN BE damaged. 
• Live naturally in nests of birds, rodents, insects and spiders, can be carried into homes on cut flowers. 
• Found in closets, drawers or inside furniture. 
• Larva requires 9 months-3 years to complete growth, tend to avoid light, feed in dark cracks or folds. 
• Adults are attracted to light and are found on windows or around flowers.
• Feed on dust and lint- good housekeeping prevents infestations 

Types of Carpet Beetles:

• Black Carpet Beetle: Life cycle is 180-650 days. Inhabit carpeting, clothing, furs, furniture, leather, books, bird nests, milk powders, pollen. 
• Common Carpet Beetle: Inhabit fabrics, furnishings and clothing retaining wool, silk, hair, bristles, fur, feathers, etc. Life cycle 77-110 days. 
• Furniture Carpet Beetle: Life cycle 149-422 days. Inhabit woolen upholstery and padding such as feathers and hair, as well as natural fibers. 
• Varied Carpet Beetle: Inhabit carpets, woolen goods, furs, silks, and materials containing animal products and natural fibers. Life cycle is 249-354 days. 

Sources of infestations:

• Can be found in sparrow, starling or pigeon nests.
• Wasp nests under eaves or in attics, the larvae will feed on the skins and larvae of wasps.
• Inaccessible areas like air ducts still a problem though.
• Dead insects in attics can be an area of infestation as well. 
• Cedar Products, Cold Storage, Heat.

Things to know about Panty & Stored Food Pests:

• All food items are susceptible including spices, hot pepper, ice cream cones, cereals, grits and cake mixes. 
• Dried flower arrangements, stuffed animals, furniture and toys can harbor infestations. 
• Presence is NOT an indication of un-cleanliness since infestation can be brought home in purchased food.
• Locate source of infestation by inspecting susceptible foods, discard badly infected items.
• Vacuum storage area, cabinets and shelves and wash with water and soap.
• Caulk cracks; apply residual spray to cracks, corners and surfaces of shelves after removing foods that could become contaminated.
• Keep all containers of food tightly closed.
• Put susceptible items in sealable containers or screw top jars.
• Do not overstock shelves with infrequently used products.
• Rotate use of stored items frequently. 

Common Pantry Pests are:

Things to know about Fleas:

• Fleas may attack a variety of warm-blooded animals including dogs, humans, chickens, rabbits, squirrels, rats and mice.
• Female can lay 500 eggs over a period of several months by laying batches of 3-18 eggs at a time.
• Tiny white eggs hatch in 1-12 days.
• White larva avoids light and feed on particles of dead animal or vegetable matter in cracks and crevices.
• Within 7-14 days 3rd stage is completed and larva spins a tiny cocoon and pupates.
• After 1 week adult flea emerges and begins search for blood.
• Fleas can remain in pupal stage from 5 Days to 5 Weeks: Adults emerge from pupal case when vibrations from pets or humans let them know a host is near. People returning to an unoccupied home may suddenly be attacked by fleas.
• Must feed on blood to reproduce, however adults can live for long periods without feeding.
• Fleas CANNOT go through several generations without a blood meal.
• Many people do not react to flea bites at all while others are sensitive and suffer severe allergic reactions.
• Fleas may also vector plague, typhus, and tularemia.
• Pet owners must: treat pet and treat the premises.
• Frequent cleaning and vacuuming. 
• Flea infestations become evident when infested pet is removed, the fleas overrun the home. 
• Pets must not be allowed to access infested areas outdoors.

Things to know about Ants & Termites:

• Ants have a narrow waist with one or two joints (nodes) between the thorax and abdomen. Have elbowed antennae.
• Winged reproductive’s have four wings, with the first pair being much larger than the hind pair.
• Ants are frequently confused with termites. However termites have a broad waist between the thorax and the abdomen.
• Termite reproductive’s have four wings of equal size.
• Ants have an egg, larva, pupa and adult state: 6 weeks to 2 months are required for development from egg to adult.
• Ants establish new colonies by flights of winged reproductive’s and budding. Budding is when queen leaves nest accompanied by workers who aid in establishing new colony. Some of the most difficult ant species to control spread colonies by budding.
• Most ants eat a variety of foods including: Honeydew, sugars, proteins, oils, seeds, plants and insects. Require Water.
• Carpenter ants do not eat wood (as termites do) but excavate galleries in it to rear their young.
• Best approach to control is cleanliness. Any type of food or food particles can attract ants.
• Remove plants that can attract ants or control aphids, whiteflies and other insects that produce honeydew.
• Reduce moisture sources and leaks.
• Location of the nest is the key to control because ants are social insects. Individual ants can be killed without ever solving the problem.
• Nests may be in walls, behind baseboards or under a house. Some ants may nest in decayed or rotted wood in the house.
• Baits exploit the foraging and nest mate feeding behaviors. Baits can kill foraging members as well as the queen so no other ants are produced. Always use fresh bait.

Things to know about Ants & Termites:

• Ants have a narrow waist with one or two joints (nodes) between the thorax and abdomen. Have elbowed antennae.
• Winged reproductive’s have four wings, with the first pair being much larger than the hind pair.
• Ants are frequently confused with termites. However termites have a broad waist between the thorax and the abdomen.
• Termite reproductive’s have four wings of equal size.
• Ants have an egg, larva, pupa and adult state: 6 weeks to 2 months are required for development from egg to adult.
• Ants establish new colonies by flights of winged reproductive’s and budding. Budding is when queen leaves nest accompanied by workers who aid in establishing new colony. Some of the most difficult ant species to control spread colonies by budding.
• Most ants eat a variety of foods including: Honeydew, sugars, proteins, oils, seeds, plants and insects. Require Water.
• Carpenter ants do not eat wood (as termites do) but excavate galleries in it to rear their young.
• Best approach to control is cleanliness. Any type of food or food particles can attract ants.
• Remove plants that can attract ants or control aphids, whiteflies and other insects that produce honeydew.
• Reduce moisture sources and leaks.
• Location of the nest is the key to control because ants are social insects. Individual ants can be killed without ever solving the problem.
• Nests may be in walls, behind baseboards or under a house. Some ants may nest in decayed or rotted wood in the house.
• Baits exploit the foraging and nest mate feeding behaviors. Baits can kill foraging members as well as the queen so no other ants are produced. Always use fresh bait.

Things to know about Flies:

All flies have an egg, larva (maggot), pupa, and adult stage in life cycle. They are scavengers in nature and capable of transmitting diseases to man.

In warmer months can produce a generation in less than 2 weeks.

• Eggs are laid in any type of warm organic material.
• Eggs hatch within 24 hours
• In 4-6 days the larvae migrate to drier portions of breeding medium and pupate.
• Pupal stage varies but is about 3 days.
• House fly can go through entire life cycle in 6-10 days, can live an average of 30 days.

Stable Fly or Dog Fly 

• Primarily attack animals but can bite man
• Can fly up to 70 miles from breeding sites

Flesh Flies 

• Scavenger species feeds on carrion or meat scraps in garbage
• Can breed in dead rodents and birds in attics or wall voids of houses.

Blow Flies and Bottle Flies 

• Can breed in dead rodents and birds in attics or wall voids of houses.
• Garbage cans have been known to produce 30,000 blow flies in one week.

Hump-Backed Flies 

• Breed in decaying vegetation, animal debris, garbage, an in ant and termite nests.

Filter Flies or Moth Flies 

• Breed in decomposing organic matter such as plant litter, garbage, sewage, around kitchen or bathroom sinks and water traps.

Vinegar (Fruit) Fly 

• Breed in fruit, dirty garbage containers, or slime in drains feeding on yeasts.
• Attracted to fruit, vegetables and soda bottles and cans.

Sanitation is the best method of control

• Do not let garbage accumulate, make sure garbage cans have sound bottoms and tight fitting lids.
• Good fitting screens on windows and doors prevent flies from entering homes.

Things to know about Cockroaches: 

• Secrete an oily liquid that has an offensive odor.
• Cockroach has three life cycles: Egg, Nymph and Adult. Eggs are deposited in groups in a capsule called ootheca, it is usually dropped or glued on a surface by the female.
• The German cockroach carries the capsule until the eggs are ready to hatch. The newly hatched nymphs have no wings and molt several times before becoming winged adults.

Types of Cockroaches: 

Prevention and Sanitation

Exclusion 

• Keep screens in good repair
• Weather stripping or Caulk cracks and gaps around doors and windows, attic vents, and plumbing encased in common walls
• Screen floor drains
• Screen exhaust vents to your dryers • Seal all cracks and crevices

Elimination of Food, Water and Harborage 

• Cockroaches can survive only 12 days with food but no water. 42 days if only water is present and no food.
• Regularly vacuum and sweep. This will not only eliminate skins and feces that attract other roaches, but will decrease food sources.
• Keep clutter from accumulating.
• Discard Cardboard boxes, cockroaches breed prolifically in corrugated cardboard boxes

Pediculosis can spread rapidly:

• Factors such as age, race (blacks rarely are infested with head lice), sex, crowding at home, family size, method of closeting clothes, and socioeconomic status influence the course and distribution of disease.
• The length of hair does not appear to be a significant factor.

Three types of lice infest humans:

• Body 
• Head 
• Crab 

Things to know about Lice:

• Head Lice and Body Lice are almost indistinguishable, although head lice are smaller than body lice.
• Head lice and pubic lice are highly dependent upon human body warmth and will die if separated from their human host for 24 hours.
• Body lice are more hardy since they live on clothing and can survive if separated from human contact for up to a week without feeding.
• Eggs are called nits.

Human Lice:

• Eggs hatch in 7-11 Days, young lice must feed within 24 hours.
• Adults live up to 40 days, surviving only 1-2 days without a blood meal.
• The body louse is the vector of 3 human diseases: Epidemic/lice borne typhus, Trench fever, Lice borne relapsing fever.
• Head Lice infestations not caused by filthy conditions.
• Insecticidal shampoos are necessary to control head and crab lice.
• Adequate sanitation, frequent changes and laundering of clothing is enough to prevent body lice, since they remain on clothing and are killed by the cleaning process.
• Use of lice sprays to treat objects such as toys, furniture or carpet is not recommended because lice cannot live off the host longer than a couple of days. The same holds true for classrooms.

Things to know about Rice & Mice:

• Can eat any kind of food people eat.
• Contaminate 10X as much food as they eat with urine, droppings and hair.
• Carry at least 10 diseases including plague, typhus, jaundice, leptospirosis, rabies, ratbite fever, and bacterial food poisoning.
• Norway rat, Roof rat, and House mouse are the most common.
• Rats will use any method to get food, water or harborage. Can run on pipes, ledges, wires, and walls.
• Rats are excellent swimmers, often live in sewers and enter homes through toilets.
• Are afraid of strange objects or strange food and may avoid both, like to use regular paths to get as close to food as possible.
• Norway and Roof rats are very aggressive, the Norways usually more so driving Roofs from their territory. Both species are seldom found in the same building.
• Rats and mice are most active at night, will be active during daytime hours if food is scarce, when there is an overpopulation of rats, or when poison has been used and the population is sick.

Types of Rats:

Norway Rats

• Can survive on 1oz per day of garbage along with 1oz of water.
• Are burrowers and dig in rubbish and under buildings or concrete slabs.
• Live about 1 year and reach sexual maturity in 3-5 months, have 8-12 young per little and up to 7 litters per year.

Roof Rats

• Thrive in attics, roof spaces, trees and shrubbery. Prefer to nest off the ground.
• Prefer vegetables, fruits and grain.
• Live about 1 year and reach sexual maturity in 3-5 months, have 6-8 young per litter and up to 6 litters per year.

House Mice

• Live outdoor in fields, in houses behind walls and in cabinets and furniture.
• Prefer grain, but nibble on a wide variety of foods. Requiring only 1/10oz of food and 1/20oz of water daily.
• Live about 1 year and reach sexual maturity in 6 weeks, have 5-6 young per litter and up to 8 litters per year.

Signs of activity:

Rodentproofing:

• Rats can squeeze through cracks ½ inch wide, mice ¼ inch wide.
• Rats can climb the inside of vertical pipes 1.5-4in. in diameter.
• Rats can climb the outside of vertical pipes up to 3in. in diameter, and any size if 3in. from wall.
• Rats can jump vertically 36in., horizontally 48in., and reach 15in. horizontally or vertically.
• Rats can jump 8 feet from a tree to a house if branch is 15ft above roof.

Sanitation:

• Clean up garbage and store it properly.
• Store pet food and bird seed in rat proof containers.
• Remove harborages
• Dry up sources of water

Predators:

• Because pets are well fed, they are too lazy to hunt. Rats eat pet food that is often left out.
• Although cats and dogs may be able to keep an area rat free, they cannot remove an existing population.

Trapping:

• Can be used to eliminate rats where poison baits would be dangerous, to avoid dead rat odors and to eliminate bait-shy rats.
• Since mice travel only 10-30ft but rats travel 100-150 feet from harborages, more traps are needed to trap mice than rats. 

Bait:

• Whole nuts for rats and mice.
• Raisins or grapes for roof rats.
• Sardines packed in oil for Norway rats.
• Peanuts or peanut butter (soak whole peanuts in water overnight).
• Dry rolled oatmeal for mice.
• Bacon squares.
• Small wads of cotton.
• Gumdrops for mice.
• Baited traps should be set at right angles to rat runs.

Rodenticide:

• Acute toxins
• Calcium releasers
• Anticoagulants

• Stink bugs are true bugs in the insect order Hemiptera. There are many different types of stink bugs, but the one that is plaguing us now is the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys. Accidentally introduced ten years ago in Pennsylvania, it bears the classic shield shape of its family and grows to be about Vi long. Dappled brown, it has a tan underside and a series of black and white markings along the edge of its body.
• The good news is that stink bugs aren't harmful. They are just a nuisance. Stink bugs are attracted to the outside of our homes on warm fall days, hunting for protected places to spend the winter much like ladybugs and box elder bugs. When it gets colder they sneak inside, coming out in warm spells and again in the spring.
• The brown marmorated stink bug is an agricultural pest of shade and fruit trees, vegetables and soybeans in its native range of China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. It sucks the sap from plants, damaging their buds, leaves, flowers and fruits. Since it pierces the plant to feed, it causes spotting, distortion and a pathway for disease.
• Producing four to six generations each year in Asia, this stink bug graciously limits itself to one generation annually in our climate. It hasn't proven itself a serious pest here at least to crops. But, it has been spotted in Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New Jersey and is being watched closely by both growers and scientists.
• How do stink bugs get inside your home? Most of them sneak in through tiny cracks around doors and windows. So, grab your caulk gun and seal around your window and door trim. Fill cracks under and behind baseboards and around exhaust fans or lights in the ceiling. Repair or replace any damaged screens. A stink bug's body looks chubby, but it is soft and can squeeze through a very small opening. So, seal up your home and reap the benefits of a bug-free zone and lower heating bills.
• What should you do with the stink bugs you find, both dead and alive? You can toss them outside, where the freezing temperatures will kill them or vacuum up a few if you are squeamish. However, if you vacuum up many of them, toss the bag into the trash afterward. Otherwise, you will find out why they are called stink bugs. Their smell when squashed or gathered in numbers is quite unpleasant.
• Don't spray insecticides inside your home to combat stink bugs. Most insecticides don't work against stink bugs and none are safe to use inside your home. There are a few insecticides that can be applied in the fall outside your home to kill stink bugs. However, they only last a few days and won't kill the many stink bugs that will be around long after you spray.
• Stink bugs stink. Like the Japanese beetle and other invasive insects, they were introduced by accident, have few predators and fewer controls. Fortunately, they aren't harmful, just pesky, the perfect test of our ability to "take the bad with the good."