Stink Bugs are another pest that finds its way into your home to over-winter seeking warmth and food.  They are not harmful they are just an annoyance.

Here are some tips to prevent stink bugs from entering your home:

One of the most common pests that over-winter in homes is the asian lady beetle. These beetles enter our homes by the thousands thru every possible crack, crevice and opening that they can find. They congregate in warm places such as attics, ceilings and wall voids then exit into the living areas of the home.

Have you ever been sleeping soundly and suddenly awakened to a chirping noise that just wouldn’t go away?

The noise that you’re hearing is coming from a male cricket attempting to attract a female cricket. The noise is caused by a file and scraper body part on their wings.  So once the chirping starts we can’t sleep until the culprit is caught.

Don’t let pantry pests ruin your holiday baking fun! Indian meal moths and merchant grain beetles can quickly turn your kitchen in to a nightmare as they infest cupboards and pantries, call Permatreat to keep them out!

We get dozens of calls each day similar to this one:

Question: “I don’t know where to post this but I thought this might be the best spot. I have these tiny, tiny bugs in the bathroom and there are so many of them!! I don’t know what they are or how to get rid of them!! I’m wondering if the bugs appeared because I didn’t use the bathtub enough? I want to use it more now since I want to bathe our children in that bathtub (more space). What could these bugs be?! They are so tiny, tiny that my husband didn’t even know they were bugs until he looked super close because they just look like specs. They are just little dots with a couple antennae.

What are they and how do I get rid of them?!?! They are creeping me out and I want to use that bathtub but I’m too grossed out right now!”

Answer: “If you can see them, they’re probably not mites at all. If they are psocids — also called book lice — they’re harmless. But they are attracted to moisture, so keep the bathroom dry. PermaTreat Pest and Termite Control offers free inspections and estimates! What is a convenient time to schedule your appointment?

If you have a similar buggy situation and need professional analysis and treatment, call today!

Ant control is a common pest control problem across the country. While there are many different types of ants that find their way into our homes, including pavement ants, carpenter ants, odorous house ants, thief ants, fire ants, and pharaoh ants, just to name a few, for the most part the strategies for dealing with them are all the same.

PermaTreat can apply what’s called a transfer insecticide, which is the most effective method for eliminating a sugar ant colony.

Click here to contact us today!

You are trying to enjoy a warm sunny afternoon on your deck when suddenly what looks like a gigantic bumble bee begins to hover around you and seems to be diving at you in an attempt to scare you away. The good news is that this bee is most likely not going to sting you, it looks much scarier than it really is, the bad news is that you are looking at a carpenter bee. They are not called carpenter bees because they belong to the union. They are called carpenter bees because they bore a perfectly round, about 1/2″, hole into wood and then hollow a cavern along the grain in which they will store food, insects and pollen, with which to feed the eggs they lay.

Although the damage from one carpenter bee may seem insignificant, this years couple of bees will become next years six or eight bees and so on and so forth until the holes in the wood and deterioration of the caverns makes the wood weak and unsightly. Telltale signs of carpenter bee activity beyond the nuisance the bees create would be the 1/2″ holes described here, small piles of saw dust under exposed wood and occasionally you will see what looks like an upside down ‘v’  or an arrow head shaped mark on a wall below a carpenter bee hole. This mark consists of droppings and pollen or honey dew being carried into the carpenter bee nest.

There are a  few venomous spiders in this country but in Virginia the venomous spider you are most likely to encounter is the Black Widow. The female black widow is capable of inflicting a bite with enough venom to cause dicomfort but in most cases the bite is not fatal. The black widow spider is usually found in a dark and secluded area and they are not aggresive unless they are disturbed, most often by accident.

The black widow spider is shiny black with red markings on the underside of the abdomen. Sometimes the markings resemble an hourglass and sometimes they are just spots. In any event it is worthwile to be wary of spiders that resemble this description. To avoid an encounter with one of these spiders avoid reaching into areas where these spiders might build their nest such as dark corners in a basement or garage, boots or shoes that have been sitting on the porch or in the garage undisturbed etc.  If you are bitten by one of these spiders you should seek medical attention.

Small, brown to reddish brown, eight legs, and a hard body… TICKS. Usually unless the weather remains very cold the tick season begins in March. Tick larva have six legs until they molt into nymphs (immature) ticks and then they have eight. As with most blood feeders the tick requires a blood meal to molt and advance to the next stage in it’s life cycle. If you spend time in the woods or even in your yard there are some things you should be aware of. Ticks hang on tall grass and low branches that are found around the perimeter of your yard or the edges of trails through the woods. They wait here for a host, an animal or a human, to brush against the grass or branch and then they attach themselves to that host. Ticks are disease vectors, they are responsible for spreading Lyme Disease, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, to name a couple, so it it smart to be aware of their presence.

Wearing light colored clothing makes it easier to see ticks if they get on you, insect repellents are helpful, and always check yourself and children after being in an area similar to those described here. Ticks can attach anywhere so be thorough when you check. Pets also should be protected, your pet can bring ticks into the house and although some ticks do not survive indoors it is possible for the pets to carry ticks to where people could be exposed to them.

It is a surprise to most people when they open their pantry to retrieve a bag of potato chips or perhaps a bag of flour and a couple of moths fly out of the closet in to the kitchen. The fact of the matter is that many of the grain or flour products we buy have stored product pests such as indian meal moths, saw tooth grain beetles, or weevils already in them or on them. For example the insects sometimes deposit eggs on the packages of cereal, flour, dog food , etc; , the eggs hatch into larva, the larva then look for an opening which may be so small we would not see it without scouring the package with a magnifying glass. If the product is open for use and not resealed, when stored again the infestation will flourish and just like that you have moths flying out of your pantry or cabinet.

Pet foods are more likely to be the starting point of these stored product pest infestations because the processing, warehousing, and retail facilities are slightly less regulated than facilities handling food for human consumption. Control of stored product pests begins with finding and eliminating the infested product and then continues by making sure that all forms of the insect outside the product are eliminated. Treatment of cracks and crevices and cleaning up any spilled product in the area the product was stored are also important steps to complete control.

Mosquitoes are once again in the headlines. The latest news is that of the Zika virus, especially dangerous to women that are or could become pregnant. Before Zika it was the West Nile virus, Chikingunya and of course Dengue fever and Malaria have been making people ill for a very long time. The mosquito at the center of the Zika scare is the (aedes aegypti) or yellow fever mosquito. These mosquitoes found all over the world in moderate to temperate climates, are day biters so you must protect your self at all times not just early morning or at dusk. Wearing long sleeves and long pants to avoid bites is not very comfortable in the summer so here are some suggestions to minimize mosquito encounters while we spend time outdoors.

Mosquitoes begin their life cycle in water, so it is important that we do not allow even the smallest amount of water to collect and stand around our homes. They can develop in as little as a cup of water in just a few days. Clogged gutters, toys, tires, and flower pots are just a few of the many possible breeding sites for mosquitoes. Dense shrubs around your home provide resting sites for adult mosquitoes and all doors and windows in your home should have screens that are in good repair. Using a repellent if you are going to be outdoors in an area where mosquitoes are prevalent is a good idea and there are some very good mosquito treatments to reduce adult populations around your home available.

Have you ever seen a dark brown insect with black markings and a body shaped like a shield and wondered what it was?. It is very likely if you haven’t dealt with these pests you will. The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) is a crop pest and also one of several insects that invade homes in the late summer and early fall to find a place out of the weather where they can survive until the spring. The BMSB then emerges when the weather turns warm again and that’s when they can be quite a nuisance. If the insects emerge on the inside of the house they might fly around the lights or just rest on the ceiling or walls. If you kill them by crushing them you will find out why they are called stink bugs. These bugs do not harm people but they are ugly and disturbing when they appear in large numbers.

Spraying inside the house to control these pests is not recommended because you will likely end up covering the interior of the house with insecticide. So how do you deal with them? I think the best defense in this case is a strong offense, which is preventing the insects from nesting in your house in the first place by treating the cracks and crevices and any other opening on the exterior of the house that would allow them access and sealing it up. Treatments on the exterior to diminish insect populations are available.

10 Tips to Eliminate Indoor Allergy Triggers

Cleaning and Prevention Tips for an Allergy-Free Home

The arrival of spring also means the start of sneezing, wheezing and itchy eyes for the more than 50 million people who suffer from allergies, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA). Outdoor allergens like pollen and mold are much to blame during the warmer months, but indoor allergens can also cause symptoms to flare.

Dust mites, dander and even cockroaches can cause problems for allergy sufferers when indoors. In fact, about 20 million Americans have a dust mite allergy and 63 percent of American homes contain allergens from cockroaches, which are most commonly introduced through cockroach saliva, droppings and decomposing bodies.

So, how can you allergy-proof your home to make it a haven, and not a source of stuffiness and sneezing, during the spring season?

In addition to visiting the allergist and taking proper medications, it’s equally as important to eliminate potential allergy triggers in the home, which – in the case of cockroaches – are often found scurrying from room to room. Simple household chores like cleaning and vacuuming can help you find relief. Consider these 10 tips to allergy-proof your home:

• Patch it up: Exclude pests by sealing cracks and gaps in walls and floors using a silicone-based caulk. Pay special attention to where utility pipes enter.
• Manage moisture: Maintain the humidity level in the house at about 50 percent by properly ventilating basements and crawl spaces. Consider running a dehumidifier in these areas to prevent moisture buildup.
• Bring out the vacuum: Vacuum at least once a week using a vacuum with a HEPA (high-efficiency particulate) filter.
• Banish dust: Dust hard surfaces frequently using a dust rag or damp cloth. Limit the amount of fabric items in each room since they attract airborne allergens like dust mites and pet dander.
• Clean filters: Clean or replace the filters in your furnace and air conditioner each month.
• Keep the kitchen clean: Wipe surfaces daily, including counters, stovetops and sinks. Don’t leave dishes to pile up in the sink and make sure to clean crumbs and spills right away.
• Properly package food: Store food in airtight containers and avoid leaving pet food out for long periods of time.
• Take out the trash: Dispose of garbage regularly in a sealed trash bin.
• Protect your pillows: Encase pillows and mattresses in allergen-proof covers to control dust mites. Avoid down pillows or comforters.
• Launder the linens: Wash blankets, throw rugs and bedding in hot water, preferably at 130 degrees F, or take them to be dry-cleaned.

Each year, the AAFA designates May as “ Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month” because it’s one of the toughest months for allergy sufferers. However, it’s also the perfect time to ensure the home is free of allergens, and the air you are breathing in is fresh and clean. To learn more about common household pests that can cause allergies, watch our new ‘First Responder’ PSA.

Spring is here! The birds are building nests, the trees and plants are starting to bloom, and the insects, including bees are becoming active.

It is worth mentioning bees because over the past few years the decline in pollinators, especially bees, has become alarming. Bee colonies have been dying and it is not clear why, but there might be a link to untrained applicators improperly using insecticides. 

It is evident that not only is it important to know what type of insecticide to apply but you must also know where and when it should be applied. All of the reasons for the colony decline and which products may be harmful to pollinators are not yet identified but it only makes sense to avoid treating the flowering plants and trees while they are blooming.

Although it seems that bees are everywhere at the moment consider making your living area a bit safer by planting flowers away from the areas that people frequent like entrances to homes and buildings, childrens play areas, etc. Also keep outdoor trashcans covered and away from high traffic areas.

The last thing we want to happen is someone that is allergic to bee stings get stung. We must balance this with saving the pollinators….. the world would not be the same without them.

Multicolored Asian Lady Beetles were introduced into the United States in the late 1970s. They were brought here to help with the control of aphids, scale and other pests that do damage to crops.

The lady beetle population flourished over the years and the beetles began moving into houses and buildings in the fall to spend the winter out of the weather. Orange, red, or light brown with black spots and even occasionally black with red spots they are all the same species and all can be found indoors this time of year as they emerge from their winter resting place.

If these pests have moved in to your home it is best not to waste your time and money trying to kill them with over the counter sprays. The fact is that they can be a beneficial insect.

They eat the pests that can harm your garden. The downside are the stains on the walls, curtains, and upholstery if they die or are crushed while on these surfaces.

If you are experiencing a lady bug invasion the best thing to do is vacuum them up and release or dispose of them outside. Further control begins with sealing up the exterior to prevent the lady beetles from getting into the structure.

Pest Control’s Public Enemy Number 1: The Bed Bug

Bed bugs are blood suckers, they cannot complete their life cycle without a blood meal which is most often taken from their favorite host….PEOPLE!

Bites from bed bugs make you itch and for some people the bites can cause swelling and ugly welts with the possibility of other unpleasant reactions.

Bed bugs are expert hitchhikers, they can catch a ride to your home with you or your children from your office, a friend’s house, a relative’s house, or just about anywhere.

Once the bed bugs get to your home they will find tiny cracks and crevices to hide in, places you would never think to look or treat. They will only emerge when everything is still, most often when all are asleep, to take their blood meal and then return to their hiding place until they need another.

This secretive life style makes eliminating them once they have set up housekeeping very difficult.

Here are some suggestions for you when visiting family, friends or traveling:

• Check the bed you are sleeping in, especially the seams on the mattress and box spring.
• Check the bed frame and headboard for tiny insects that look like apple seeds or small blood smears on the beds. The eggs and young insects are very difficult to see until they have had a blood meal.
• Place your suitcase on a hard surface like the top of the dresser, the the bathtub, or a luggage rack, not on the bed or floor until you have done your inspection.
• When you return to your home place your clothing into the washer or at least a very hot dryer.
• Check your luggage thoroughly and store it away rather than leaving it in the bedroom.

Flies are one thing you can count on as the warm weather arrives and like most insects, flies will flourish given the right conditions.

There are many types of flies that we deal with in and around our home and it is possible to reduce or eliminate the populations of some of these flies with an integrated pest management approach.

• Most flies develop in decaying organic matter. For example, if we over water our indoor plants, fungus will grow in the flower pot or the tray beneath it. This can result in fungus gnats. The solution is simple … give the plants only as much water as they need.
• If you store fruit on your table or vegetables in a cabinet and one piece of fruit or one vegetable is over ripe or begins to decay you will have fruit flies. The solution is to keep the fruit and vegetables refrigerated.
• If there is a sewer line break in a crawl space or under a slab there is an opportunity for phorid flies (also known as coffin flies because they can access areas that are said to be sealed) to develop. The solution is to inspect and maintain sewer and septic lines and repair any leaks or breaks quickly.
• House flies are also very common. We must all, especially in the warm weather, keep our trash in tightly sealed containers and wash these trash containers once in a while and clean up after our pets or wildlife that leave droppings in the yard.

If we eliminate one of the three items necessary for all living things, food, water, or shelter (a place to develop), we reduce or eliminate the pest. This is integrated pest management.

When it comes to pest control, the old saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” could not be more accurate. Here are a few suggestions that might help you avoid pest problems in the future.

• Keep bird feeders at least 25 feet from the house, rodents will be attracted to the seed that falls to the ground when birds feed.
• If you store pet food outside make sure it is in a container that can not be chewed through, one that closes tightly.
• In warm weather do not allow water to collect in the gutters, in toys that stay in the yard, or any other item that might hold water, this will help to prevent mosquito breeding, mosquitoes can breed in just a couple of ounces of water.
• Do not stack wood against the house, this practice will create a home for all kinds of pests, among them rodents, snakes, and ants including carpenter ants (wood destroying).

Overwintering insects can be a real nuisance this time of year. Boxelder bugs, lady bugs, stink bugs, and cluster flies are probably the most common overwintering insects in the Virginia area. The adults of these insects survive the winter by finding a crack in the caulking, an opening caused by settlement or weather, or perhaps a screen that has torn or come out of the frame.

Once these pests gain entry into your home they find a place out of the weather and remain dormant until the arrival of warm, sunny days at which time they can emerge.  Because the air is still too cold for them to begin their life cycle outside they wind up in your home or business gathered on a window sill or a wall inside the structure.

These pests are plant feeders so they will not harm anyone, but they can stain surfaces or emit a foul odor and they certainly are unsightly. The best way to remove a large group is to vacuum them up, but if you want to prevent the problem in the future you must attack it from the exterior.

Treating areas around your property to reduce pest populations and treating and sealing the openings that might allow these pests into the structure is the key to eliminating these types of infestations. 

Spring is just around the corner which means that it’s time for the termites to swarm!

All mature termite colonies are getting ready to release alates. Alates are the reproductive termites also known as swarmers, they are black unlike the workers and soldiers which are a white or cream color, and they have two sets of wings that fall off shortly after they emerge.

An indication that you have a termite problem is an accumulation of wings (all about the same size) near a source of sunlight such as an open door, a window, or a skylight. These termite swarmers will emerge from an opening sometimes as small as a sixty fourth of an inch. There will be males and females in the mix and their purpose is to establish new termite colonies.

Sometimes the termites swarm in an area which does not allow them access back to the soil where the nest must be established, and the result is a pile of dead termites on your floor, window sill, or counter. This does not mean that the termites in your home are dead, it’s a warning sign that needs immediate attention.

Mature colonies produce swarmers and the colony that is invading your home will produce more of these alates next year.

Remember…when swarming termites appear at your house call your local pest management professional for a free inspection.

To learn more about termites click here.

To schedule an inspection click here.

It may sound strange to many but little black ants have been appearing on many kitchen and bathroom walls, window sills, and counters recently. These may be, believe it or not, “little black ants” or they may be a more common indoor ant pest “odorous house ants”.

An interesting fact odorous house ants smell like rotten coconut if you crush them between your fingers.

These ants are appearing because something has disturbed the nest, possibly the very cold weather or water from the melting snow. But more than the fact that they are annoying and not something you want crawling on your counters, they are telling you that there is a nest somewhere in your home because they are not trailing in from outside this time of year.

Here are some interesting facts to consider before you buy the over the counter spray and and attempt to control the ant infestation yourself:

• The ants you are seeing are foragers, a small segment of the population nesting in your home and they are easily replaced.
• The nest or colony may contain as many as 10,000 ants so eliminating a couple dozen foraging on the counter doesn’t even put a dent in the infestation.

The best way to eliminate the ant infestation is to follow the foraging ants back to the nest and destroy the colony. This takes patience and you must fight the urge to squash them where you see them but it does pay off in the long run.

With Spring just around the corner, now is the time to think about protecting your yard against pests. The most common pests that invade your home in the spring are ants, spiders, fleas, ticks and mosquitoes. With west nile and zika virus spreading throughout the country, isn’t it time you should consider incorporating a mosquito program into your regular pest control?

Why is the zika virus so important?

The zika virus is transmitted through bites from mosquitoes in the Aedes genus. Not all Aedes mosquitoes carry this virus. If you have a  reaction to the bite the common symptoms are fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis (pink eye), which normally lasts 2 to 7 days. To date, most symptoms are mild and do not require hospitalization. Also, the Aedes mosquitoes are day time biters. Staying inside is not an option for most people, but wearing protective clothing such as long sleeved shirts and pants and using repellent might help.

Spending time in your yard should be enjoyable and worry-free. Permatreat’s yard guard program will reduce the threat of mosquitoes as well as fleas and ticks and help you understand how eliminating entry points and removing mosquito habitats will lead to making your outdoor experience pest free.

Take back your yard with PermaTreat’s yard guard.

Fleas have been around for a very long time, infesting both animals, pets and homes.  Listed below are some interesting flea facts:

• Carpets, bedding, pet beds, and upholstered furniture make cozy homes for fleas, flea eggs, and flea larvae. Fleas can also live in the cracks and around the edges of wood, laminate, or tile floors.
• Pets usually bring fleas into your house, but they can also hitch a ride on clothing, and have even been seen to jump right into the house on their own.
• If your pet or your house had fleas during the warm months, you're likely to have fleas during the winter months as well.
• The female flea can lay 2,000 eggs in her lifetime.
• A flea can jump up to 8 inches high, or approximately 150 times its own height.
• Fleas often target the legs and feet of human victims.
• Fleas are approximately 2.5 mm in length. Their bodies are flat and they have six long legs.
• The life cycle, or stages, of the flea is composed of the egg, larval, pupal and adult stages. Cycle length is largely dependent upon environmental conditions and usually ranges from several weeks to several months.
• Once the flea has fed just once it can survive for up to a year on that single meal. Yet if the flea feeds 24/7, it will actually only live for about two weeks, and this is usually the case.
• Fleas love to live in areas where it is both moist (slightly humid or wet areas are ideal) and typically warm.
• Scientists have shown that fleas can jump up to 1.2 meters!
• For every flea that you find in your home, there are statistically about 80 others hidden from your sight.

If you suffer from a flea infestation in your home contact your local pest management professional. A thorough inspection of your home and yard and a pest control program will quickly get those fleas under control plus any other pests that you were not aware of inhabiting your home.

Many yellow jackets are ground-nesters. They get their name from their yellow and black bodies. Yellow jackets include a number of wasp species. They measure 10 to 16 mm in length. Most yellow jackets are yellow and black, others can be white and black. They are equipped with lance-like stingers with small barbs. The yellow jacket is capable of stinging repeatedly and this may induce severe allergic reactions in some people.

Killing these insects can be hard because underground nests are often far from their ground level entrance holes.

These nests are buried in the ground with only a small, hard to see entrance hole. Usually the bees are discovered quite by accident during mowing or weeding, which causes them to become quite aggressive.

Their colonies can be found both above and below ground in places such as:

• under porches or steps

• in sidewalk cracks

• around railroad ties

• at the base of trees

• inside a dense bush

• in or near a flower bed

• deep inside a wall void of a building

A nest can actually be hundreds of feet from where you are noticing their activity. Multiple nests can also be a problem in backyards or public areas.

Some recommendations for preventative efforts are:

• keep your trash cans closed and clean – yellow jackets tend to feed on food residues on both the inside as well as the outside of these containers

• removing fallen fruit from trees – rotting fruit on the ground is a major attraction for hungry yellow jackets

If you are experiencing problems with yellow jackets or bees in general, contact your local pest management professional for advice on eliminating the nests.

Have you ever noticed hairy ants moving erratically and rapidly and not following trails as often as other ants? These small insects are called crazy ants. The adult crazy ants are dark brown to black in color and measure approximately 2.2 to 3 mm in length. Their antennae have 12 segments without a club, and are elongated. They also have extremely long legs giving them a very distinct appearance. There is no stinger but the crazy ant may bite an intruder and curve its abdomen forward to inject a formic acid secretion onto the wound.

Nesting spots outdoors include rotten wood, soil, the cavities of trees and plants, trash and under rocks and buildings. Indoors nesting spots may be found in wall voids, under floors, behind baseboards and window frames, near hot water pipes and heaters, in potted plants, and under stored items. Crazy ants cannot survive extremely cold climates and may infest houses and buildings when the weather changes.

Signs of a crazy ant infestation include evidence of crazy ants trailing to and from their nests, or crazy ants seen indoors foraging for food and water. Crazy ants may be more difficult to control than other ant species because they dwell both indoors and outdoors. In addition, crazy ants forage long distances from their nests, making it difficult to identify their colonies.

Crazy ant workers are omnivorous, feeding on both dead and live insects; honeydew produced from insects, fruits, plant secretions, seeds and a variety of household food items such as sweets, meats, grease and liquids.

Protecting your home against infestations of crazy ants should first start with a thorough inspection from a pest management professional. 

Favorable locations for termites to forage during the summer can include tunneling under bark mulch, stone and ground covers. Soil temperatures and moisture under these products can be favorable for these foragers.

Termites may feed on the mulch in your flower beds but there is no nutritional value so they move elsewhere to such things as roots and construction debris and continue on until they find structural wood.

Mulch can make the appearance of the landscaping around your home quite inviting but it can also provide termites with a bridge over termiticide-treated soil and access to structural wood.

Consider the fact that all homes, regardless of their construction type, can provide ideal conditions for a termite infestation. These conditions are food, moisture, shelter and optimal temperature. Removing conditions conducive to termites in and around your home will help in the battle to protect your home as opposed to making it an open invitation for these wood destroying insects.

Below are some additional areas where warning signs may appear:

• Attic is not properly ventilated.

• Slab line shows the presence of water or moisture.

• Old rotted wood in areas around your home.

• Wood debris on the ground and around your home.

• Stacked firewood close to the home.

• Soil and/or mulch in contact with wood siding or skirting.

• Kitchen and exhaust fans installed, but improperly sealed ducts.

• Dryer vent with improperly sealed duct.

• Plants and shrubs planted too close to the exterior of the home.

• Gutters in need of repair or cluttered and downspouts not correctly positioned away from house.

• Plumbing leaks under the kitchen and bathroom sinks, around toilets, under your washing machine, under the dishwasher, and around the outside of your home.

• Cracks in the foundation could indicate a crack in the footer.

• Areas with no gutters showing moisture problems.

Consider protecting your biggest investment, your home.  Contact your local pest control company and ask for a free termite inspection.

With Fall fast approaching, pests that have wandered away to gather food and got into the mating season are now looking for safe places to hide in time for Winter. For the most part the insects that invade your home are only seeking shelter. So the Fall season now becomes “home-coming” for these overwintering pests.

Homeowners should consider undertaking measures as early as now to prevent overwintering pests from invading their homes.

The most common overwintering pests that are normally seen during this season are stink bugs, mice, asian lady beetles, boxelder bugs and winged-termites.

Insects invading your home don’t reproduce during winter. Many won’t even survive. Those that do, however, will awaken from their long winter’s nap as they encounter warmer temperatures, which is why you’ll often be surprised by scampering insects on a sunny day in the middle of winter.

Most insects have trouble regulating their body moisture, so they reside in damp places. This is why you’ll encounter many fall invaders, like elm leaf beetles, spiders, millipedes or crickets, in the basement. Keeping your basement as dry as possible will help reduce the number of pests looking for a damp spot to spend the winter.

In living quarters, you’ll often encounter moisture-craving insects in the kitchen and bathroom. It’s not uncommon to discover centipedes, ants, or earwigs in the kitchen or bathroom sink. Make sinks less appealing by wiping them out with a towel after their final nightly use.

To prevent overwintering pests this fall, the following measures are very important to accomplish as soon as possible:

1. Inspect the house and yard for potential areas for pests to hide.

2. Check for cracks or holes where mice and other insects can get through your house.

3. Remove yard debris such as firewood, piles of unused construction materials, old and damaged furniture.

4. Repair torn screens.

5. Seal cracks with high quality silicone or silicone-latex caulk.

6. Fill holes with cement or around utilities with steel wool and install door sweeps on exterior entrances.

7. If you suspect an infestation, a qualified pest management professional can evaluate the problem and recommend an action plan.

Were you aware that excessive rainfall may be affecting your crawl space? Wet areas beneath the occupied space invite mold contamination and structural rot and may also contribute to bacterial hazards.

Most crawl spaces are last on the list for maintenance and upgrades, therefore leading to deterioration as well as pest infestations over the years.

Where you aware that:

• Wood Moisture Content (WMC) is a measurement of how much water your wood is holding. The ideal WMC is 10% -12%.

• Closed crawl spaces consistently out perform vented crawl spaces in terms of moisture control and energy use.

• High Moisture Content in crawl spaces can lead to Mold, Mildew, Fungus, Bacteria, and damage to the structure.

• Relative Humidity (RH) for extended periods of time makes vented crawl spaces in the Southeast an ideal location for mold growth and wood decay to take hold.

• RH is at its lowest in Winter and highest during the Summer. The ideal RH is 50% – 60%.

• The air inside your home is the air that was in the crawl space.

• Crawl space insulation that has absorbed water from the air and through condensation becomes heavy and falls out of place making it useless.

• Many types of insect pests seek out dark, damp areas to live in.

Crawl space encapsulation can turn a wet, unhealthy crawl space into a clean healthy storage area.

Most mosquitoes usually attack during the hours around dusk and dawn. Very rarely do the insects come out for a meal during daylight hours unless the sky is cloudy. The dry heat that often occurs during daylight hours in the summer can quickly kill mosquitoes by causing them to become dehydrated.

But Asian tiger mosquitoes, one of the most common and widespread mosquitoes in Virginia, bite only during the daytime (sun-up to sundown).  They will sometimes bite after dark, but only when there is illumination from outdoor lights, or when they get indoors. 

Asian tiger mosquitoes are persistent biters, but they are also cautious and sneaky.  They will often flit away in response to a sudden movement, and generally, they bite only when people are standing relatively still, or moving slowly.  They tend to bite the ankles, legs and backs or undersides of arms where they are less likely to be noticed.

The Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) is a small black and white mosquito, about 1/4-inch long. The name "tiger mosquito" comes from its white and black color pattern. It has a white stripe running down the center of its head and back with white bands on the legs.

Male mosquitoes feed on plant juices and do not bite. Female mosquitoes seek blood to help their eggs develop. As with other mosquitoes, though, Asian tiger mosquitoes are attracted to dark clothing, perspiration, carbon dioxide and certain other odors. The mosquito will bite squirrels, dogs, deer and other animals as well as people.

Adult tiger mosquitoes live from a few days to several weeks, largely depending on weather conditions. Hot, dry weather reduces life expectancy. Regardless of life span, adult tiger mosquitoes seldom move far from the containers in which they were born. Most adults will be found within a few hundred yards of the breeding container. These mosquitoes only breed in containers or tree holes and would never be found breeding in puddles, ditches or ground pools.

Mosquitoes are very annoying and can be very dangerous.  Listed below are some interesting facts about mosquitoes:

• An average mosquito weighs 2 to 2.5 milligrams, which would seem to enable them to fly more swiftly, but not so. Mosquitoes fly at speeds between 1 and 1.5 miles per hour, making them one of the slowest flying insects of all. 

• More deaths are caused by mosquitoes than any other animal, thanks to bugs' aid in spreading malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever and encephalitis. A single malarial mosquito can infect more than 100 people; and according to the World Health Organization, malaria kills a child every 45 seconds in Africa.

• Some people really are mosquito magnets. Mosquitoes are drawn to the smell given off by the bacteria that live on everyone's skin, and some people give off an odor that makes them especially attractive to the tiny beasts. And contrary to what a lot of people say, eating garlic and using natural repellent for the most part doesn't do much, if anything, although DEET-containing bug repellents are indeed effective.

• Mosquitoes don't need much to survive. Any small water container — or anything that will catch rainwater is enough to provide a breeding ground. Mosquitoes are also becoming resistant to commonly used insecticides, like pyrethroids, which are used to treat bed nets.

• Mosquitoes go from egg to adult in five to 14 days. They then inflict from four to eight weeks of annoyance on animals and humans alike, depending on species.

• The itch from mosquito bites is caused by an anticoagulant injected by the mosquito. The most famous diseases that they carry are West Nile disease, dengue fever and malaria, all of which are very nasty. They also carry several types of encephalitis, yellow fever and Rift Valley fever. Those are all very nasty as well.

• Methods such as taking vitamin B, using Skin-so-Soft and rubbing one's skin with tumble dryer sheets does not do anything to deter mosquitoes. Draining all standing water regularly, using mosquito nets, staying indoors at dusk or dawn, and wearing DEET does.

• Mosquitoes hone in on a mixture of body heat and carbon dioxide from your breath. According to Pest World, they can fly up to 14 miles in search of lunch.

• Dragonfly larvae eat mosquitoes. Therefore, be nice to your dragonflies.

• Mosquitoes have been annoying people and animals since the Cretaceous period, some 79 million years ago. There are now more than 3,500 species.

Carpenter ants can be black, black and red, all red, or dark brown, the ant nest contains major and minor ants, that is ants of different size, and the ant colony will even produce winged swarmers but here is the most important fact, carpenter ants destroy wood.

The black carpenter ant is a common invader of homes in the northeastern United States. In their natural habitat, carpenter ants aid in the decomposition of dead, decaying trees. They normally nest in logs, stumps, and hollow trees. However, the large, dark-colored workers often invade homes in search of food. These ants seldom tunnel into dry, sound wood, but they may excavate moist, rotting wood and other soft materials (such as foamed plastic insulation board) to make satellite nests. Rarely will the expansion of a nest into a building’s wooden timbers cause structural damage. Homes built in wooded areas are especially subject to infestation.

Carpenter Ants:

• Workers are wingless, dark shiny brown to black in color, and 1/4 to 1/2 inch in length. They may be seen crawling around inside a residence.

• Winged reproductive forms resemble workers in color and shape but are up to 3/4 inch long.

• The body is constricted between the thorax and the abdomen.

• The antennae are elbowed.

• The front wing of a reproductive ant is longer than the hind wing.

Development from egg to worker requires a minimum of about sixty days.

The presence of large (1/2 inch), wingless, dark-colored ants inside a home is usually the first sign of an infestation. However, this does not necessarily mean that a nest is present indoors. The nest may actually be located outside, near the building.

Homeowners should watch for ants that are foraging indoors and try to find their nests. Look for piles of coarse, stringy wood particles, dead insect parts and other debris that are sifting from cracks in the siding, behind moldings, in the basement and attic, and under porches. Because carpenter ants do not consume the wood as food, excavated particles are dumped outside the nest. Unlike termites, the tunnels or galleries of carpenter ants are smooth-sided and contain no soil particles or fecal pellets.

Prevention

• Remove stumps, logs, and waste wood within 100 yards of the building.

• Do not allow vegetation, especially evergreen shrubs and trees, to be in contact with the house.

• Store firewood away from the house and off of the ground, and bring it into the house only when needed.

• Keep wooden parts of the house and other structures dry by making necessary repairs to roofs, flashing, gutters, and downspouts.

• Replace any water-damaged, decaying wood. Usually, carpenter ants will not infest wood that is sound and has moisture content of less than 15 percent.

• Keep exterior wood surfaces painted and sealed.

• Seal holes through which pipes and wires enter the house.

• Use pressure-treated (CCA) wood for parts of the structure that will be in contact with the soil.

• Place a moisture barrier (plastic sheet) over soil in crawl spaces and under wooden porches, and provide adequate ventilation for such spaces.

Homeowners that want to try controlling the ants should locate and eliminate all of the ants nests. If this becomes more than you can handle, our advise is to contact your local pest control company. 

Earwigs are one-inch long dark brown insects that are easily identified by their pincers. They use these pincers for defense and for sparing with rival earwigs. Depending on the species, adults range in size from 5-25 mm. They are slender insects with two pair of wings.  Some species produce a foul smelling liquid that they use for defense. 

Earwigs are outdoor pests that occasionally find their way indoors. They enter homes by crawling inside through cracks, gaps and holes that lead inside the structure. These common entry points include gaps around poorly sealed doors and windows; through crevices and gaps in the areas where foundations meet siding; through unscreened attic and foundation vents; and through access doors leading into crawl spaces.

They cannot survive long indoors unless it is very damp. While taking up residence in your home the earwigs feed on food scraps, live or dead insects, mold or house plants. Prime indoor hiding places are cracks and crevices near kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room sinks or in house plants and stacks of damp newspaper.

Not only are they quick movers, they are also nocturnal, and tend to hide out during the day. They like decaying wood and plant material, and dark, damp spaces. Often times they can be found in basements and woodpiles.

Generally, Earwigs are not much of a threat, they are just a big annoyance!

Here are some tips to prevent earwigs from entering your home:

• Look for ways to eliminate damp moist conditions particularly around crawl spaces, faucets, and along the foundations.

• Rain gutters and spouts should direct water away from the house foundation.

• Caulk or use weather stripping at all possible entry points such as doors, windows, pipes and other entry points at the ground level.

• Change landscaping by creating a clean, dry border immediately around the foundation wall. Gravel or ornamental stones can make an attractive barrier against earwigs and other pest invaders.

Termites and ants look similar, especially when they are swarming. This causes both confusion and concern to a home owner. 

Here are some ways to identify the differences between termites and ants:

1. While both species have four wings, termite wings are uniform in size. Winged ants have noticably larger wings in the front than the pair in the back.

2. Termites antennae are almost straight where the ants antennae are elbowed.

3. Termite wings are twice as long as their body. Ant wings are shorter and more proportionate to their bodies.

4. Ants appear distinctly segmented, because of their thin waist. Termites have a broad waist and are mostly a uniform width along their entire body.

5. Termites may eat wood, but what they are really after is the cellulose that the wood is made of. Ants are omnivours, and can eat just about anything a person can eat. This includes all of the four food groups and just about anything else in your kitchen that is left out! That means fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy, sugars, oils, herbs, nuts, juice, etc. are all on the menu for ants.

6. Subterranean termites daily food consumption rates vary, among six species of termites common to the United States, from 0.015mg to 0.2mg, averaging about 0.08mg per termite per day. Formosan termite workers tend to eat slightly less than average, but make up for that with huge colonies. The amount an ant will eat will vary from species to species, but the average ant consumes approximately 1-2 miligrams of food per day – About 20-35% of their body weight. 

If you discover a termite or ant infestation in your home or yard you should contact your local pest control company and request a free inspection.

If you've used over the counter baits and sprays, and kept your kitchen clean, but you still find that those ants just keep coming back. Then it's probably never crossed your mind that you need to treat outside as well. For every outside colony you take care of by baiting them on the inside, there will be numerous other colonies to take their place at some point, whether it is within days, weeks or even months later. There are some ant species that will be living in your walls that need a specialty bait to get rid of them and spraying for them actually causes the colony to bud into several new colonies making the problem worse.

Here are a few tips to keep ants out of your home.

Kitchen:

• Store sweet staples like sugar, syrup and honey in plastic containers that snap shut, and wipe them down to remove any sticky residue. You can also place a bay leaf inside canisters of dry goods like flour to keep the ants out. The herb’s pungent scent repels ants and other common pantry pests.

• Clean up grease spills from countertops and floors as soon as they happen.

• Any empty juice or soda containers should be rinsed out before recycling or throwing away. And, make sure to take the trash out regularly.

• Check the fruit bowl – any over ripe fruit will attract ants.

• Keep an eye out for water buildup in the sink and leaks around the faucet.

• If you have pets, be sure to pick up any leftover food and wash the bowls regularly.

Bathroom:

Areas around the house with excess moisture are known to attract ants, so bathrooms are highly susceptible to an infestation. Carpenter ants, for example, often build nests in damp areas like behind bathroom tiles or under sinks. To prevent an infestation in the bathroom, homeowners should:

• Occasionally, inspect sinks, toilets and tubs for any leaks or drips.

• Give the bathroom a thorough cleaning by scrubbing the floors with disinfectant cleaner, and wiping down the inside of drawers with warm soapy water.

• Check to ensure shampoo, lotion and soap bottles are secured and no contents have spilled out of their containers.

Other Common Hideouts:

Ants can easily find a way indoors through even the tiniest cracks, so other areas of the home are also common hideouts:

• Inside walls

• Bedrooms

• Living rooms

• Basements

• Air conditioning and heating units

To keep ants from finding a way inside, homeowners should pest-proof around the outside of the home. Experts recommend sealing any cracks with silicone caulk, repairing holes in window and door screens, replacing weather-stripping, fixing loose mortar around the basement foundation and windows, and keeping tree branches trimmed back and away from the house.

The most effective way to get your ant problem under control is to identify the ant species and know it's feeding and nesting habits.

Ants are attracted to food. It doesn't matter if it's from a spill on the counter, the floor, or even the garbage can. They are going to find a way into your home.

Most often the battle can only be won by contacting your local pest control company. Usually after the first treatment you'll notice a major decrease in the indoor ant population and find that the ongoing program that you signed up for is also taking care of other annoying household pests that were invading your home.

Are you finding several cockroaches in your home…even though you've never had a cockroach problem before?  It may be a wood roach.

Wood cockroaches enter homes through cracks and crevices around doors or windows or are carried in on firewood during cold weather. They often end up in the bathroom or other rooms where there is a light on at night. Occasionally, you'll find that populations can build in crawl spaces under the house.

The Pennsylvania wood cockroach spends the winter in the nymphal stage, often under bark on firewood. When firewood is brought inside in the winter, the glossy, reddish-brown, wingless nymphs warm up and can become quite active.

Fortunately, this early summer invasion is fairly short-lived. Wood cockroaches are not adapted to indoor living. Wood roaches don’t breed indoors and they won’t live long in the drier indoor environment. Nor do they bite or smell, and they don’t do any damage to indoor furnishings.

The presence of wood cockroaches in a home rarely requires the use of pesticides. The best thing to do is to catch the wood roaches, if you can, and put them back outdoors (outdoor cockroaches really are beneficial). Seal any openings around windows and doors that they might be using to enter. And, keep your outside lights off for a week or two to keep from attracting the cockroaches.  

Since woods cockroaches do not establish themselves indoors and their presence is usually temporary (a few weeks) during the spring, chemical control measures are not always needed. If you are experiencing a larger or persistent infestation you may need to contact your local pest control company and ask for a perimeter treatment around your home.

Exclusion techniques that prevent wood roach entry should be considered.

• Sealing any cracks, gaps or openings with caulking compound, putty or plastic wood.

• Maintain tight fitting screens, doors and windows.

• Store firewood piles far away from the house.

• Try not to carry over large quantities of firewood from season to season in order to reduce potential breeding sites.

• If practical, bring only enough firewood indoors for a day or two to prevent insects from later emerging in the house.

• Avoid the use of unnecessary lights at night, since males fly to them during mating season. Females will crawl into areas around porch lights or yard lights, thus attracting numerous males.

• Individual roaches found inside can be collected with a vacuum cleaner or a broom and dustpan and discarded.

• Caulk all penetrations through ground level walls.

• Stop water leaks, screen equipment overflow drains, and take overflow water away from buildings; keep drain traps full or capped.

• Remove rotting leaves from window wells.

• Move garbage cans out of preferred moist habitat.

Stings by bees, wasps, and hornets are common throughout the United States. Some ants also sting. The average person can safely tolerate multiple bee stings. However, in a person who is allergic to such stings, one sting can cause death due to an anaphylactic reaction (a life-threatening allergic reaction in which blood pressure falls and the airway closes). In the United States, 3 or 4 times more people die from bee stings than from snakebites. A more aggressive type of honeybee, called the Africanized honeybee (killer bee), has reached the southern and some southwestern states from South America. By attacking their victim in swarms, these bees cause a more severe reaction than do other bees.

Generally, insects such as bees and wasps aren't aggressive and only sting in self-defense. In most cases, this results in one or perhaps a few stings. However, in some cases a person will disrupt a hive or swarm of bees and get multiple stings.

If you get stung more than a dozen times, the accumulation of venom may induce a toxic reaction and make you feel quite sick. Signs and symptoms include:

• Nausea, vomiting or diarrhea

• Headache

• Vertigo

• Feeling faint or fainting

• Convulsions

• Fever

Multiple stings can be a medical emergency in children, older adults, and people who have heart or breathing problems.

Bee, wasp, and hornet stings cause immediate pain and a red, swollen, sometimes itchy area about ½ inch (about 1 centimeter) across. In some people, the area swells to a diameter of 2 inches (5 centimeters) or more over the next 2 or 3 days. This swelling is sometimes mistaken for infection, which is unusual after bee stings. Allergic reactions may cause rash, itching all over, wheezing, trouble breathing, and shock.

Honey bee stings are known to be very painful, but the symptoms that result from a sting vary, depending on the amount of poison that has entered the immune system of the victim. The initial pain eventually fades, but only after a period of swelling and itching. Some individuals may also experience visible signs, including redness of the skin around the sting. Although the honey bee sting is not commonly hazardous, some people may be allergic to the bee’s venom and will experience such severe side effects as nausea, fainting and, in extreme cases, death.

The numbers of stings also plays a role in the effects. As the number of stings increases, the severity of reaction also increases and can be lethal to anyone if stung too many times. If a person is stung or has medical concerns related to honey bees, they should seek a medical professional.

The fire ant sting usually causes immediate pain and a red, swollen area, which disappears within 45 minutes. A blister then forms, rupturing in 2 to 3 days, and the area often becomes infected. In some cases, a red, swollen, itchy patch develops instead of a blister. Isolated nerves may become inflamed, and seizures may occur.

Though related, bees and wasps differ in important ways. Most wasps have a narrow “waistline” where the front portion of the abdomen tapers to become a small tube as it attaches to the middle body section, the thorax. Bees do not have this narrowing of the abdomen.

Quick Bee Identification:

1. More people are stung by yellowjackets than any other type of wasp or bee. Notoriously aggressive, the yellowjacket’s shiny yellow and black striped abdomen is an unmistakable warning. Often mistakenly called “bees,” yellowjackets are in fact wasps.

2. The honey bee is a half-inch long, hairy, honey brown insect. They should not be confused with yellowjackets, which are black and bright yellow wasps.

3. The familiar buzzing, fuzzy yellow and black striped bumble bee is unmistakable. Up to 200, ½- to 1-inch long bumble bees inhabit nests in old rodent burrows, under porches and in wall voids.

4. The carpenter bee is a bumble bee look-alike that has a shiny, all-black abdomen, whereas the bumble bee’s abdomen is fuzzy, black and yellow. Unlike bumble bees, carpenter bees are solitary. Females chew ½-inch diameter holes in wood and bore tunnels that run several inches into the wood. Inside, eggs are laid and the resulting larvae develop on a mixture of pollen and nectar. Males guard the nest by buzzing intruders, but their defense is a bluff: male bees cannot sting.

5. The so-called bald-faced hornet (Dolichovespula maculata), about ¾-inch long, black and white, with white face, is actually a larger yellowjacket species.

The most important element of wasp and bee control is to destroy the nest. Aerosol “wasp and hornet” sprays can be used to knock down bees/wasps around the nest.

The nests of honey bees, bumble bees, yellowjackets and hornets should always be approached with caution, preferably at night when most of the workers are present but reluctant to fly.

If you're having problems with bees and wasps and would like to have a free inspection click here!

Springtails are typically 1/6 to 1/5 inch long and wingless. They get their name from the ability to catapult themselves through the air by means of a forked tail-like structured called a furcula, which is attached on the underside of the abdomen. The ability to “leap” in the air often leads people to assume that these are small fleas. 

They can be found almost everywhere outdoors. They live primarily in the soil, in leaf mold, organic mulches, under tree bark, in decaying logs, and may even infest potted plants. They are most abundant in damp or moist areas.

Typical indoor springtail sites are usually not obvious. The most common areas where they’re being found are your sources of moisture, such as around exterior doors and windows, in sinks, bathtubs and around commodes. In many cases, springtails may be so numerous around sinks and tubs that people assume that the insects are coming out of the drains. Springtails may also enter the living areas of a home from the crawlspace. The insects are often reported in and around new commercial and residential construction, possibly because they were brought in with freshly spread topsoil and mulch. In some cases, springtails may crawl onto construction materials stacked at a job site and may be accidentally “built in” to a house under construction. However, when construction is completed and humidity levels drop indoors, the springtails should die off.

Springtails play an important ecological role as decomposers. They also feed on algae and fungi and a few species may damage commercial mushrooms and seedlings in hotbeds and greenhouses.

Possible Springtail Sites Indoors:

• wet plaster or new wallpaper

• “green”, damp lumber

• plumbing leaks around/under sinks

• floor drains

• over watered house plants

• leaky patio doors

• roof leaks

• sweating pipes

• moldy mattresses or stuffed furniture

• condensation around windows

When these sites remain continuously damp and build up a surface layer of mold, they provide the conditions that allow springtails to build up and thrive indoors.

Getting rid of springtails is usually as simple as drying out the site/area and fixing the conditions that caused the high moisture.

Spring has arrived and you may have noticed tiny, dark, round bugs crawling up your walls. If you look very closely you'll see that they are beetles. These tiny beetles are only about the size of a pin head and are known as carpet beetles.

The carpet beetle's life cycle often requires an indoor and outdoor stage. The larval stage is the damaging stage that feeds on wool, hides, hair, dead insects, food crumbs, household lint, and general detritus. The adults, however, feed on the nectar and pollen of flowering plants. This is why they are climbing walls, they are moving towards the light looking for a way to get outside. This is also why you do not see them until spring when plants are starting to flower.

When the adult beetles emerge from their pupal stage in early spring they are attracted to light at first, and they can actually fly.

Some favorite flowers of carpet beetles are:

• dogwood

• spirea

• crape myrtle

• pyracantha

• buckwheat daisy

• wild aster

• ceanothus

Carpet beetles are also found in animal nests and wasp and bee nests.

Sources in your home where carpet beetles may reside are:

• Carpet beetles are drawn to fabric. They can be found in the carpet, especially if that carpeting is in a closet or other dark location, but they are also drawn to clothing, upholstered furniture, and items made of fur or feathers.

• Non-fabric items that attract carpet beetles include food cabinets, dog food, fresh flowers, and paint brushes.

• Also check dark, undisturbed locations like air ducts, baseboards, and attics.

Carpet beetles can be a serious problem when they are destroying items in your home.  Now that spring has officially arrived contact us to schedule a free no obligation inspection of your home.

Ticks in the U.S. have been found to carry a rare, potentially life-threatening virus called the Powassan Virus which is more severe than Lyme Disease.

Both infections are transmitted by deer tick (Ixodes Scapularis) bites, but Lyme is a bacterial infection. The tiny tick must remain attached and feeding for about 24 hours to transmit the disease.

With the Powassan virus the transmission does not require the tick to remain attached for very long; infection is transmitted in under an hour.

Symptoms of a serious Powassan infection include severe headache, fever, vomiting, and a change in mental status (functioning) like confusion or seizures. Unfortunately, there is no treatment for this virus.

Trying to avoid deer ticks is almost impossible if you and your family spend time outside enjoying summer activities. Deer ticks are tiny—about the size of a poppy seed when not engorged with blood and found throughout your yard, especially if you live near a wooded area. Take the usual precautions when outside and always remember that thorough tick checks are your best bet for preventing many infections from ticks but because of their size they can be so easily missed.

To insure that your yard is safe contact you local pest control company.

If you live in Virginia and would like to know more about our yard guard program designed to reduce mosquitoes and ticks in your yard click here.      

For a free evaluation and estimate click here.

The value of insect pollination to U. S. Agricultural production is estimated at $16 billion annually; about 75% of the value is attributable to honey bees. Worldwide, the contribution of bees and other insects to global crop production for human food is valued at about $190 billion.

Bees are critically important in the environment, sustaining biodiversity by providing essential pollination for a wide range of crops and wild plants. They contribute to human wealth and wellbeing directly through the production of honey and other food and feed supplies such as: pollen, wax for food processing, propolis in food technology, and royal jelly as a dietary supplement and ingredient in food.

In view of the important ecological and economic value of bees, there is a need to monitor and maintain healthy bee stocks, not just locally or nationally, but globally.

The U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates of overwinter bee colony losses have averaged more than 30% annually in recent years. (Since many beekeepers have been able to replace lost hives, overall honey bee colony numbers are stable.)  Some have unjustifiably singled out pesticides as the primary cause for the decline in bee health, focusing specifically on a class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids.

According to a February 9, 2015 Congressional Research Service report entitled: Bee Health: The Role of Pesticides, “The precise reasons for honey bee loss are unknown.”  In fact, science suggests multiple factors for the decline in bee health including; parasites, diet and nutrition, lack of genetic diversity, habitat loss, beekeeping management practices, weather and viruses.  A 2013 joint USDA and U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report found the varroa mite as the “most detrimental pest of honeybees.”

The honey bees contribution to agricultural production:

Expressed somewhat differently, another widely cited estimate is that bee pollination of agricultural crops is said to account for about one-third of the U.S. diet, contributing to the production of a diverse range of high-value fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, forage crops, some field crops, and other specialty crops.  Both managed and wild bees are critical to plant pollination and are economically valuable to U.S. agricultural production.

A number of agricultural crops are almost totally (90%-100%) dependent on animal pollination, including apples, avocados, blueberries, cranberries, cherries, kiwi fruit, macadamia nuts, asparagus, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, onions, legume seeds, pumpkins, squash, and sunflowers.

In addition to some of the aforementioned crops, these include alfalfa seeds, almonds, canola, chokecherries, grapefruit, pears, plums, prunes, soybeans (hybrid seed production), tomatoes, vegetable seeds, and watermelons.

In some cases honey bees and other pollinators can also be pests, infesting homes and threatening human health in certain situations. Pest management professionals (PMPs) are frequently contacted to manage such problems. While many PMPs do try to preserve honey bee colonies for beekeepers to remove, sometimes treating bees with a pesticide is unavoidable.

Mosquito season will be here soon! Homeowners can get a jump on some general maintenance to reduce mosquito populations in their yard.

Controlling mosquitoes involves “Source Reduction”, simply put, dumping out standing water and getting rid of objects and conditions that hold water.

Early spring is a good time to do a mosquito survey of your property and initiate source reduction.

1. Look for standing water in buckets, tires, pools, boats, tarps, bird baths and anything else that will retain water long enough for mosquito larvae to develop (9 days usually).

2. Flush out ornamental ponds before they are restocked with fish.

3. Clean out roof gutters. Clogged rain gutters are one of the most overlooked breeding sites for mosquitoes around homes.

4. Remove or thin dense shrubbery, vines, or foundation plantings.

5. Repair leaking faucets and air conditioners that produce puddles for several days.

6. Irrigate lawns and gardens carefully to prevent water from standing for several days.

7. Mosquitoes can be kept out of the home by keeping windows, doors, and porches tightly sealed and insect screens in good repair.

Mosquitoes can make life miserable, but early source reduction maintenance can make your summer more enjoyable.

If you would like to learn more about mosquito prevention click here !

If you live in Virginia and would like to contact PermaTreat to help eliminate your mosquito problems click here !

Termites are the most important of the wood destroying insects. The subterranean termite is found in every state in the U.S..

In nature, termites are beneficial because they help to convert dead wood and other organic materials containing cellulose to humus.

Subterranean termites need wood for food and soil for moisture. Wood in contact with soil is ideal for termite development. This in turn makes our homes an open invitation for their presence. Even if your home was built on a concrete slab, it is still possible for termites to enter through expansion joints, cracks, even utility and plumbing openings. Termites will construct mud tubes to cross over or through foundation walls that separate wood from soil. They travel constantly from their nests in the ground to the wood, or to the other cellulose-bearing material upon which they feed. They make these trips only inside wood or in the mud tubes that they've constructed.

The major species of subterranean termites in the U. S. consume wood at approximately the rate of 2 ½ percent of their body weight each day.

Even though a termite infestation has been in your home for some time, the infestation goes unnoticed by the homeowner until some sign of their activity is discovered. The termites most often seen by homeowners are the primary reproductives often referred to as “swarmers”.

Swarming is a common means for termite and other social insects, like ants, to ensure genetic diversity and maintain healthy natural populations. Subterranean termites typically swarm in the spring on warm, calm sunny days following a rain. The swarm usually occurs between mid morning and mid afternoon and can last several hours. Termites swarming indoors will fly towards light around windows and doors or even towards lights in a room.

Termites, over time, can cause damage to your home, which is your biggest investment. PermaTreat recommends that you have your home checked annually for termites.  

Termite infestations in homes across the U. S. are just as common as pest infestations. But most often, homeowners choose not to have their homes inspected annually for termites. Out of sight – out of mind?…maybe… but according to the U. S. Dept of Agriculture – Termites cause more damage to homes than fires and windstorms combined.

Listed below are some interesting facts about termites. Keep in mind that most Pest and Termite Control Companies offer Free Inspections for termites. Your home is your biggest investment, shouldn't it be protected against termites?

The Difference Between A Flying Ant And A Termite.

There are 3 easy ways to tell flying ants and termites apart:

Wing size – Termite wings are all equal in length and extend well past the abdomen. Ants have wings which are unequal in length and generally end at the tip of the abdomen.

Antennae shape – Antennae on termites are straight and bead-like, but on ants they are elbowed.

Waist size – Ants have a pinched waist, but termites have no constriction in the body and are more streamlined.

Termite Swarms, And What You Should Do If You Experience One.

Termite swarms occur when a termite colony has grown so large that they send out new reproductive termites to start new colonies. The swarmers can come out during the day or night depending on their species. Subterranean termites generally swarm during the day and have more individuals than Drywood termites which swarm generally at night.

The important issue here is that swarmers are a sign of termite infestation, and that means you have a problem. The good news is the experts at PermaTreat are here to help!

The Difference Between A Drywood Termite And A Subterranean Termite.

Drywood termites are a group of termites that do not need ground contact or moisture. They can live their entire life cycle inside a piece of structural timber or a piece of furniture. Their numbers are less than that of Subterranean termites and they tend to be a bit larger in size. Drywood termites generally swarm after sunset or at night, from May until November. However, they can swarm at other times. Their swarmers are generally brownish in color. In the U.S. drywood termites are found in regions that do not experience freezing temperatures during most winters. Isolated infestations may occasionally be found north of these areas however. Drywood termites also may be transported in wooden articles and start local, indoor infestations anywhere.

Subterranean termites must have ground contact or a secondary moisture source to live. Most are small and black in the swarmer phase. Subterranean termites generally swarm during the Spring and Summer months during the daytime (especially after a heavy rain). However, they can swarm at other times.

Your Home Is Built Out Of Concrete Block But You Still Need To Worry About Termites.

When it comes to termites, it doesn't matter if your home or office is built out of concrete block or if it is sitting on a concrete slab without wood contacting the ground. Your property is still vulnerable to Subterranean termites; and once inside they are difficult to detect until significant damage has been done.

Subterranean termites can travel long distances through your home. Since they usually only swarm once a year, you are not likely to see them. They create mud tunnels, many feet long, eating their way even through wood that has been pre-treated with preservatives.

Termites Do Not Go Away On Their Own After Termite Season Passes.

Termites are present during both termite swarm season and non-season times. The difference is whether you see them or not.

There Could Be Termites On Your Property Right Now Moving Towards Your Home.

Termites are constantly foraging for new food sources. An average lot surrounding a home can support three to four active termite colonies. Each colony can contain as many as a million termites.

While a kitchen crawling with ants poses no danger to human health, it is extremely irritating.

Ant colonies can contain thousands of ants, which explains why “do-it-yourself” ant control methods aren’t always effective.

Because of their size (typically between six and nine mm), ants are able to get into human habitats via small cracks or holes, which means that it’s almost impossible to prevent them from entering your home.

In the eyes of an ant, your home is a “one-stop-shop” – a place filled with delectable food for the entire colony. In order to avoid advertising your home as a hotel for ants, regularly wipe down your kitchen surfaces, refrain from leaving pet food out and clean dustbins frequently.

Worker ants are tasked with finding and obtaining food for the rest of the colony, which is why they’re running around in your kitchen or garden in the first place. They are in search of either sweet based food or protein/grease based foods. Once they find a food source, ants will leave a pheromone trail for other ants to follow. While worker ants go about their day, the rest of the colony is kept busy reproducing, maintaining and cleaning the colony and feeding the larvae.

Ants have been known to nest almost anywhere – including lawns, foundations and walls. Nests are typically far away (in ant terms) from a food and water source, and usually in a quiet area. This means that areas underneath paving, foundations or eaves are all attractive spots to nest in.

To to get your ant problem under control find the ant nests by following their trails.Inside your home, inspect along the carpet edges, doors, windows, and all areas of the kitchen. The easiest way to find a trail to the nest is to watch where ants go after reaching the food source. The trail must then be picked up on the outside of the home, inspect around foundation walls, areas of vegetation, and mulch. Any vegetation found near patios and walls may hide some ant nests or their trails. Check under any item that is on the ground. Some ant nests are well hidden. If you succeed at finding the nest then treatment can be rendered.

Controlling roaches is not an easy task for a homeowner. Time and diligence are necessary just to keep up with these nasty insects. Keep in mind that you're not seeking out just one or two roaches… you might actually be tracking 100s+ (depending on how bad the roach infestation actually is).

Roaches are not only unhealthy, they multiply quite quickly.

During the day cockroaches hide around water heaters, in cupboard cracks, stoves, crawl spaces, outdoor vegetation, and many other dark locations. They invade kitchens and other areas at night. False-bottom cupboards, hollow walls, and similar areas are common cockroach refuges. Prevent access to the inside of your home through cracks, conduits, under doors, or through other structural flaws.

Listed below are some steps that you can take, as a homeowner, should you decide to handle the roach problem yourself.

Take the following steps if roaches are entering your home from the outside:

• Seal cracks and other openings to the outside.

• Use weather stripping on doors and windows.

• Look for other methods of entry, such as from items being brought into your home, especially appliances, furniture, and items that were recently in storage or from yard sales.

• Inspect groceries before putting them in kitchen cabinets.

• Trim shrubbery around your home to increase light and air circulation, especially near vents, and eliminate ivy or other dense ground covers near the house, as these may harbor cockroaches.

• From around the outside of your house remove trash and stored items such as stacks of lumber or firewood that provide hiding places for cockroaches.

• Eliminate plumbing leaks and correct other sources of free moisture. Increase ventilation where condensation is a problem.

Cockroaches thrive where food and water are available to them. Even tiny amounts of crumbs or liquids caught between cracks provide a food source. Important sanitation measures include the following:

• Store food in insect-proof containers such as glass jars or resealable plastic containers.

• Keep garbage and trash in containers with tight-fitting lids and use liners. Keep trash cans away from doorways. Remove trash, newspapers, magazines, piles of paper bags, rags, boxes, and other items that provide hiding places and harborage.

• Vacuum cracks and crevices to remove food and debris. Be sure surfaces where food or beverages have been spilled are cleaned up immediately. Vacuuming also removes cockroaches, shed skins, and egg capsules. Removing cockroaches reduces their numbers and slows development. Vacuumed cockroaches and debris should be destroyed.

If, after reading the following, you've reconsidered and decided that the most practical plan of attack is a pest control professional… then you're on the way to getting that roach problem under control.

After all, aren't you busy enough with family and home life…do you really need to take on roach control as well?

Roach infestations are rarely elimated by homeowners attempting to use over the counter products. It's a constant and costly battle.

Identify the enemy:

• Brown-banded cockroaches get their name from the two lighter bands they have across their dark brownish bodies. Male brown-banded roaches have full wings that reach beyond the tip of their pointed abdomens, but females have underdeveloped wings that prohibit them from flying. The brown-banded cockroach can live for about 206 days.

• The Brownbanded Cockroach is one of the smaller species, it rarely exceeds 1/2 inch long. At times it is confused with the German roach, which has two dark, distinctive bands behind the head.

Know your enemy, “likes and dislikes” and dangers :

• Brownbanded cockroaches have the ability to multiply quickly and can be a nuisance in large numbers.

• The brownbanded cockroach prefers warm and dry locations, such as near refrigerator motor housings, on the upper walls of cabinets, and inside pantries, closets, dressers, and furniture in general. They can also be found behind picture frames and beneath tables and chairs, and inside clocks, radios, light switch plates, doorframes, and dressers. It is common to find them hiding nearer the ceiling than the floor and away from water sources.

• This roach does not like sunlight and is not normally seen during the day except in the case of severe infestations. 

• Damage by brownbanded cockroaches results from their feeding and harboring in pantries and storage areas indoors.

• Since Brownbanded roaches do not require moisture for survival to the extent other roach species do, their presence is not limited to the kitchen or bathroom.

• The Brownbanded Cockroach will eat almost anything and has been known to jump when trying to escape.

• Like members of other cockroach species, it may consume materials like glue or paste (especially from animal-based materials), starch, and certain color dyes. As a result, items like stamps, envelopes, bindings of older books, draperies, and occasionally wallpapers may show signs of feeding. This species has also been known to chew on nonfood materials, such as nylon stockings, presumably for the residues of body oils and skin flakes.

• Brown-branded roaches also have been reported to spread at least 33 kinds of bacteria, six kinds of parasitic worms and at least seven other kinds of human pathogens. They can pick up germs on the spines of their legs and bodies as they crawl through decaying matter or sewage and then carry these into food or onto food surfaces. Recent medical studies have shown that cockroach allergens cause allergies and exacerbate asthma attacks, especially in children. And brown-banded cockroaches have been identified as a species of roach that can cause such reactions.

If you are tired of fighting the battle against roaches, contact your local pest management professional. This is your best line of defense to get your roach problem under control safely and effectively.

The word “cockroach”, when mentioned, can send shivers down your spine. No homeowner wants it known throughout their neighborhood that they have a cockroach infestation. The public's general response is: “Roaches are only found in dirty houses”.

Not true, roaches can get into the cleanest of living spaces. In most situations, we unknowingly bring them home. One may have burrowed into a paper grocery bag or jumped into your briefcase at work. Or you could have brought roach eggs into your new homestead without knowing it.

Roaches can even crawl through tiny gaps around doors, pipes and other open spaces. Some adults can grow fairly large, but can shimmy through slits as thin as one-sixteenth of an inch (0.15 centimeters). Roaches aren't simply attracted to messy households, although that will extend their stay. Instead, common roaches that invade homes are seeking out warmth, moisture and darkness which causes them to become so widespread because they thrive on very little.

Roaches are especially drawn to paper products because they readily absorb a certain pheromone, or chemical attractor, that roaches emit. This aggregation pheromone is like a GPS system. It communicates the insects' locations to other ones around and leaves a trail for them to find their ways back and forth.

Here are a few tips to help prevent roaches from invading your livingspace:

• Get any fresh fruits,vegetables and bread off the counters and into airtight containers.

• Check through your groceries and secure open bags and boxes.

• Clean the stove, inside the oven and underneath, the microwave and other appliances. Pay attention to grease because even small spots attract roaches.

• Sweep or vacuum behind large appliances and remove any food waste at the bottom of dishwashers.

• General piles of clutter where roaches can hide.

• Do not leave dirty dishes in the sink.

• Sweep routinely after cooking and never abandon food on counter tops.

• Take your trash out regularly as well.

• Items in particular that you should get rid of include:

   

  • Piled newspapers

  • Cardboard boxes

  • Paper bags

• Perhaps more than food, roaches seek out watering holes. Search your home for places that could collect water, such as plants, the drip plate under your refrigerator or condensation around pipes. Try to keep those areas dry, especially at night when roaches feed.
• Place stoppers over your drains and check your faucets to ensure that screens cover their spouts where roaches could crawl in.

Because roaches eat garbage and waste, they can spread bacteria like Salmonella and Shigella from place to place. As they walk, they leave trails of fecal matter, which they use to find their way around. On top of being gross, these trails can cause stains and odors. The proteins in cockroach saliva and waste can also cause allergies and aggravate asthma.

Cockroaches can be extremely difficult to get rid of. One reason is because of their natural behavior. They reproduce quickly and are hard to kill. Since they're nocturnal, many people don't notice their presence until there are so many that they've run out of places to hide.

Out of the 4,000 roach species that exist in the world, only a handful of them plague homes and businesses. These pest species include:

• Blatella germanica, the German cockroach

• Periplaneta americana, the American cockroach or palmetto bug

• Supella longipalpa, the brown-banded cockroach

• Blatta orientalis, the oriental cockroach

Click here to learn more about roaches and childhood asthma

If you live in Virginia and would like to contact PermaTreat for a free pest evaluation or estimate Click Here.

Silverfish are common pests that can live in your home and can go undected because they are nocturnal.  Seeing one or two over a long period of time should not alarm you to believe that you have an infestation.  

Listed below are some of their similarities and differences and some general control measures that you as a homeowner can take if you think you have an infestation.

Similarities

Silverfish and firebrats are nocturnal and hide during the day. They come out at night to seek food and water.

Both insects prefer dry food such as cereals, flour, pasta, and pet food; paper with glue or paste; sizing in paper including wallpaper; book bindings; and starch in clothing.

Household dust and debris, dead insects, and certain fungi also are important sources of food.

They can live for several months without nourishment.

The females lay the eggs in crevices, on cloth, or buried in food or dust.

Unlike other insects, firebrats and silverfish molt continuously throughout their life, passing through 45 to 60 instars or development stages.

In apartments and homes, these insecs crawls along pipelines and through openings in walls or floors from one level to another. Sometimes you’ll see these pests in your bathtub or sink.

Even though they can’t crawl up through the drain, if they fall in they can’t climb up the slippery sides to escape.

Firebrats and silverfish have very weak mandibles, or jaws, which causes them to scrape, instead of bite, the surface of paper.

Differences

The common silverfish, Lepisma saccharina, is shiny, silver or pearl gray, and about 1/2 inch long, although it can grow as long as 3/4 inch. — The common firebrat, Thermobia domestica is shiny, a mottled gray or brown, and about 1/2 inch long.

Firebrat eggs hatch in about 14 days and silverfish eggs in about 19 to 32 days.

Firebrats live about 2 years and silverfish about 3 years.

When the temperature is below 50°F, fire brats can take as long as 300 days and silverfish as long as 500 days to develop into adults. – When it is above 75°F, it can take firebrats as few as 40 days and silverfish as little as 60 days to develop into adults.

Silverfish live and develop in damp, warm places, preferring areas such as laundry rooms that are 71° to 90°F. – – Firebrats thrive best in very warm, dry places with a relative humidity as low as 30% and temperatures above 90°F, with the optimum being 98° to 102°F.

Control

Since firebrats and silverfish are nocturnal, you usually won’t see them.

If you are concerned that you might have a silverfish or firebrat infestation you can use sticky traps. You also can use small, glass jars covered on the outside with masking tape. The insects climb up the tape, fall into the jars, and can’t climb back up the slick sides.

Place these traps or jars in corners and along edges where foraging is likely. Because these insects can travel long distances while looking for food, it can be difficult to pinpoint the infestation source.

Household dust and debris are important sources of food, so routine cleaning will help provide effective control.

Silverfish require a lot of moisture, so using dehumidifiers in closed spaces can help discourage these pests.

Are mouse infestations a problem in your home each winter? Are you constantly worried about the damage they cause and the diseases they spread as well?  Listed below are some interesting mouse facts that you should be aware of.  

Maintaining your pest control program thoughout the winter months will keep mice under control as well as several other winter pests that invade your home. 

Interesting mouse facts:

 1. Mice usually live 15 to 18 months and can possibly live up to 6 years.

2. Mice are excellent climbers and can run up almost any roughened wall without breaking stride.

3. Mice can swim even though they prefer not to.

4. Mice can jump a vertical distance of 12 inches from the floor onto an elevated flat surface.

5. Mice are capable of jumping from a height of 8 ft to the floot without injuring to themselves.

6. Mice can survive and thrive in cold storage facilities at 14 degrees Farhenheit.

7. Mice are capable of squeezing through an opening slightly larger than ¼ inch in diameter.

8. Mice can run horizontally along pipes, wires and ropes.

9. Mice develop thick long coats of hair when living in a cold environment.

10.Mature mice are not blind, but have poor vision and cannot clearly see beyond approximately six inche.s

11.Mice whiskers are used to sense smooth and rough surfaces, temperature changes and breezes.

12.Mice see best in dim light. Their eyesight is weak, but their other senses are acute.

13.Mice can hear ultrasound up to 90kHz, they can also produce ultrasound for communication between individuals.

14.Mice prefer to travel adjacent to walls and other edges.

15.They forage only for short distances from their nest, usually not more than 10 to 30 feet.

16.Mice explore their territory daily, showing no aversion to new objects (neophobia).

17.The average mouse consumes 3-4g per day, preferring cereal grains and seeds.

18.Mice feed 15 to 20 times a day and have 2 main feeding periods are at dusk and just before dawn.

19.Mice begin breeding at two months of age.

20.The average litter size is about six and a female mouce can produce a litter every 50 days.

21.Mice use urine as markers to determine where they have been.

22.Mice can produce up to 80 droppings a day which are scattered everywhere rather than one place. 

Typical cold weather pests in Northern and Central Virginia tend to seek shelter in higher numbers with the arrival of winter weather. Homeowners can take steps now to prevent any unwanted pests from taking advantage of your home's vulnerabilities caused by winter weather scenarios.

Snow, ice, wind and rain can all cause different types of home deficiencies that could end up granting pests entry both in the short and long-term. Consider these precautions that you can take based on the following winter weather conditions.

• Snow: When the temperature drops and snow starts to accumulate, rodents including mice, rats and squirrels will be searching for warmth indoors. Rodents can squeeze through small cracks and crevices that might get overlooked, especially where pipes and wires enter the home. Once inside, they can cause structural and electrical damage and spread disease. Homeowners should regularly inspect the exterior and interior of their home for any possible access points for pests.
• Ice: Homeowners should keep on the lookout for ice dams, which form on roofs and can prevent snow from melting. The moisture backup from ice dams can cause damage to walls, ceilings, insulation and drywall. This can attract a number of pests that love moisture such as carpenter ants. Keep an eye out for any leaky spots in the home that could indicate an ice dam and take action to remove it before further damage occurs.
• Wind: Strong winds can cause damage to roof shingles. Cracked areas in the roof and siding are perfect places for nuisance wildlife, including raccoons and bats, to gain access to the home. Periodically check the roof for missing shingles and be sure to fix damage right away.
• Rain: Homeowners should check trouble spots for any leaks or areas of moisture caused by rain or melting snow. Pests such as termites are attracted to moisture and often go unseen as they eat wood and grow their colonies inside homes. Be sure basements and attics are dry and clear of water damage after heavy rain or snowfall.

Winter weather is aggravating in and of itself, but following these precautions will help homeowners avoid the additional headache of a future pest infestation.

Are you feeding rats or mice within your home’s walls?

Rodents feed in special areas within your home: places where they can find food, or places where they bring food from other locations because they feel they can eat safely there.

Normally you can identify these areas by seeing a greater than normal amount of rodent feces, urine deposits and hair. Or, by finding a variety of food leftovers such as candy wrappers, nut shells, and cockroach carcasses.

These special feeding areas can be hidden from view and often found in unexpected places. The usual locations are kitchens and bathrooms. Other areas are: in corners or behind large objects or furniture, under or behind the bottom drawers in kitchen cabinets and in under-sink cabinets, under or behind stoves or refrigerators, and where garbage is stored.

Rats and mice cause more damage inside our homes than any other mammal in the world. They spoil food; spread salmonella, hantavirus and 17 other diseases, and chew essential house parts such as electrical wires. Some species even kill young poultry and other livestock. Phenomenally fertile, a cute pair of mice living in your garage can grow into a gang of 20 or more in only a few months.

Rodent Proofing Tips

• Repair all holes and cracks in foundation, walls, basements and such.

• Equip doors and windows with fine-mesh, well-maintained screens.

• Chimneys should be capped.

• Seals around all exterior lines leading through walls must be tight.

• Cover vents with metal grill-work and rust-resistant screening.

If you suspect that your home has a rodent infestation and would like a free inspection or estimate click here.

Click here if you would like to learn more about rodents in Virginia.

Contrary to popular belief, pests are still present in your home in the winter. They do not just freeze and die. Pests such as: black widow spiders and other spiders, ants, cockroaches, termites, bed bugs, fleas, rats and mice can still infest your home.

Reasons for winter pest control are:

1. Pests living inside the walls of your home are not affected by the cold temperatures outdoors.

2. Termites, carpenter ants, cockroaches, earwigs and many other insects can thrive indoors because the weather is always pleasant.

3. Attics provide shelter to other insects such as wasps and spiders trying to escape the cold.

4. Rodents can find their way into your home if all entry points are not sealed off.

5. When a technician performs a meticulous inspection of your home, inside and out, you're insured that no pest related issues are present and that any conditions that might increase the risk of future pest problems are identified.

6. Inspecting and/or treating entry points like doors, windows, and peepholes provide lasting protection and ready your home for the emergence of pests in the spring.

7. When a technician removes spider webs, egg cases, wasp nests, and dirt dauber nests, these insects are prevented from reemerging when the weather warms.

For anyone considering canceling your pest control service during the winter season as a cost-saving measure might consider the fact that you're giving these insects and rodents a head start for the spring.

Remember, performing comprehensive winter pest control treatments to insure that your home is protected year round sends those invasive pests searching elsewhere for warmth and shelter.

Keeping your home pest-free this winter is a task best left to a pest management professtional. Homeowners can help by following some of these simple pest prevention tips listed below:

Rats: Norway rats can fit through an opening as small as a quarter. To keep these rodents from sneaking into the home unnoticed, inspect the outside of the home for any gaps or cracks and fill them with silicone caulk and steel wool.

Mice: House mice are known to contaminate food, spread disease and cause property damage by chewing through drywall and wires or by foraging on countertops and in kitchen cabinets. Homeowners should be aware of any scurrying sounds in walls and regularly inspect for signs of mice, such as droppings, gnaw marks and damaged food.

Spiders: Many types of spiders are found inside items, such as shoes, gloves and baseball mitts, that aren’t used as frequently as other things around the house. People should store these items inside plastic containers to prevent spiders from crawling inside.

Cockroaches: German cockroaches prefer to live in cracks and crevices close to food and moisture, which is why they are commonly found in kitchens and bathrooms. As such, homeowners should keep their counters and floors clean, vacuum frequently and dispose of garbage on a regular basis.

Raccoons: This type of wild animal occasionally enters homes through attics or chimneys in search of a nesting site. Homeowners should install a mesh cover or cap over chimneys and other exposed openings to prevent entry. It’s also a good idea to install door sweeps and repair damaged screens in windows.

Pest Control in your home is not just about getting rid of nasty bugs and rodents. Listed below are some interesting, “need to know” facts about bugs, rodents and insects that can invade your home.

Pest control professionals report an increase of 71% of pest management professionals receiving bed bug calls since 2001.

Bed bugs can live for a year or more without eating and can withstand a wide range of temperatures from nearly freezing to almost 113 degrees Fahrenheit.

Stinging insects send more than 500,000 people to the emergency room every year.

More than 2 million people in the U.S. are allergic to insect stings and as many as 100 people die as a result of bee and wasp stings each year.

Termites cause up to $5 billion in damage to homes each year.

Termites, which can have up to 2 million members in a single colony, have hard, saw-toothed jaws that work and feed 24 hours a day, often undermining the structural stability of a home.

Mice can contaminate food and kitchen sources with their feces, which can spread Salmonella and Hantavirus.

Mice have the potential to breed up to a dozen babies every three weeks, allowing them to quickly develop into a major infestation.

Known to gnaw through electrical wiring, mice can cause house fires and various electrical malfunctions.

With more than 700 ant species, ants are the #1 nuisance pest in the U.S.

The most common home invading species include odorous and non-odorous house ants, which will eat almost anything and can contaminate food sources that they infest.

Cockroaches spread 22 different kinds of bacteria, 6 kinds of parasitic worms and 7 other kinds of human pathogens.

Cockroach allergens accumulate from their droppings and shed skins, which can trigger asthma attacks, especially in children.

Powder post beetle is a term used to describe several species of small (1/8-3/4 inches long), wood-boring insects which reduce wood to a fine, flour-like powder. Damage is done by the larvae as they create narrow, meandering tunnels in wood as they feed.

Common signs of powder post beetle damage include:

• Crumbling or decaying wood – Wood that appears to be turning to dust or decaying for no apparent reason is a common sign of powder post beetle invasion.
• Tiny holes in wood surfaces –  Powder post beetles create minute holes in wood surfaces. If you notice such tiny holes, your home may have been invaded by powder post beetles.
• Tiny feces –  Be alert for the presence of tiny feces, especially near areas such as wooden porches, window sills, and furniture.

Powder post beetles damage wood products very, very slowly. Aside from making tiny little holes they make tiny little tunnels that take a very long time to go anywhere. Many of the most serious infestations of powder post beetles result from people using old lumber from a barn or woodpile behind their house to panel a room or build an addition.

Protect your home and belongings from powder post beetles by making sure that every wood finish is either stained or painted. They will not lay eggs on any kind of wood that has a finish on it. Beetles emerging from finished articles such as furniture were usually in the wood before the finish was applied. Beetles emerging from finished wood can, however, reinfest by laying eggs in their own exit holes; sealing the holes prevents this possibility.

Avoid bringing firewood indoors for storage. Instead, bring wooden logs inside only if you will be burning the logs immediately. Check for any insects or insect damage before bringing any natural or organic material indoors to avoid insect issues in the future. Also avoid bringing in wood that has just been exposed to rain or any other moisture, as powder post beetles (and other insects) often thrive in moist conditions.

Powder post beetles, especially anobiids, have specific moisture requirements for survival. Since wood moisture levels below 13% (during spring and summer) are generally unsuitable for anobiid development/reinfestation, it’s advisable to install a moisture barrier in the crawl space of infested buildings. Covering the soil with 4-6 mil polyethylene reduces movement of moisture into the substructure and reduces the threat of an infestation spreading upwards into walls and upper portions of the building.

A variety of insects can damage wood. Some of them actually eat the wood, while others destroy it when they burrow into the wood to create nests. Small holes or sawdust on the surface of the wood can indicate damage by insects, but in some cases, damage isn’t visible to the naked eye.

Termites – There are two main species of termites that affect U.S. homes: termites that live underground (subterranean termites) and those that live entirely in wood (drywood termites). Subterranean termites build colonies in the soil, whereas drywood termites can be found in the framing, furniture and hardwood flooring of homes. Both species of termites tend to be most active in areas with warmer climates, although subterranean termites can be found in every state in the U.S., except Alaska.

Carpenter Ants – There are many species of carpenter ants, varying primarily by geography. However all carpenter ants nest in wood and can cause damage to the wood of homes, buildings and structures.

Although carpenter ants are one of the largest ant species in the U.S. size is not necessarily a determining factor in the identification of carpenter ants, because the different castes and sexes are often of different sizes.

You’ll often find carpenter ants in basements or around rotting wood near window sills or leaky pipes. Piles of wood shavings can indicate that you have a carpenter ant infestation.

Powder Post Beetles – Adult beetles lay eggs in the crevices of uncoated wood. When larvae hatch, they start tunneling. Sometimes you can see the outline of tunnels near the wood's surface, following the soft areas of the grain, but in many cases you can't see any evidence at all that larvae are present.

As the larvae bore, the tunnels behind them becomes packed with sawdust. They stop near the surface of the wood, where they mature.

Adults break through the surface, leaving tiny round holes where they emerge. Sawdust spills from the hole, and can continue to spill out for some time even though an infestation is over.

Wood Borers – Long-horned borers and roundheaded borers are major shade tree insect pests. There are more than 1400 species of wood borers in the United States and these beetles, in the family Cerambycidae, are also called long-horned beetles and roundheaded borers.

Cerambycid beetles are distinguished by their oblong, often cylindrical bodies, their long, usually 11-segmented antennae, and their long legs. Roundheaded wood borers typically infest living hardwood or deciduous trees but will also attack some conifers. They are particularly harmful to shade trees in urban areas.

Wood borers are often found in firewood, log homes or structural wood.

If you live in Virginia and want to schedule a free wood destroying insect inspection click here.

When home owners contact PermaTreat their #1 question is: How safe are your products? Everyone wants their pest problem eliminated immediately. You are also concerned about the safety of their children and pets when it comes to finding a pest control company.

DYI household products and baits can be purchased from local retail stores. They can be more dangerous than professional products. Which are definitely not a good choice where children and pets are concerned.

Some foggers are safe for humans but fatal for animals. Taking the time to read labels and buy over the counter products is tiresome. Most often not as effective as hiring a pest management professional.

PermaTreat relies on the IPM method. IPM is the integrated use of:

• inspection
• sanitation recommendations
• exclusion
• mechanical controls
• cultural controls
• biological controls
• the judicious use of pesticides
• education and communication to prevent and solve pest issues

The materials that PermaTreat uses are applied by highly trained and licensed professional technicians. They are applied according to the label approved by the U S Environmental Protection Agency. When applied in this manner there is no increased risk to the environment, your family or your pets.

PermaTreat also offers “Green Pest Control”. We use botanical and organic products from EcoSmart. These products are made from essential oils and natural resources. Their products have been proven effective and are natural defenses against insects.

When it comes to pest control, choose PermaTreat. We stay up to date with the technology, products and services available to better serve our customer’s needs.

Pest control is about more than spraying products, it’s about obtaining long-term control. Why is the pest present? What attracted the pest to your property? These are important factors that each technician considers before using any products in your home or yard.

While you may not find these pests in your home, they can still become a serious problem wherever meats or cheese are processed, dried, smoked, or stored.

Larder Beetle – (Dermestes lardarius) This pest feeds on ham, bacon, other meats, cheese, dried fish, pet food, skins and hides, carcasses, dead insects.

Description: Adult ¼ – 3/8 inch (7-9 mm) in length: dark brown to black with a pale yellow six-spotted band on the back. Fine yellow hairs on the undersurface and legs. Larva hairy with two curved spines at rear.

Redlegged Ham Beetle – (Necrobia rufipes) This pest feeds on meats that are dried or smoked, processed meats, smoked meats (especially hams), cheese, dried fish, bones, broken cans or jars of meat-based products.

Description – Adult 1/8-1/4 inch (3.5 to 7 mm) in length; body is metallic, bluish-green with reddish legs and antenna.

Cheese Mite – (Tyrolichus easel) This mite feeds primarily on cheese but also on grains, cereals, seeds, dried fruit and other items.

Description: Adult about 1/64 inch, almost microscopic. May be visible only when large numbers are present. Color translucent with tan legs and mouth parts.

Cheese/Ham Skipper – (Piophila casei) This fly feeds on overripe and moldy cheese, ham, bacon, or beef steaks that are rotting or salted, bones, smoked or salted fish, and carcasses.

Description: Adult fly about half the size of a house fly, 1/8 – 3/16 inch (4-5 mm) in length. Shiny black with bronze thorax and yellow face, mouth parts, and antennae; reddish-brown eyes. Larva is a whitish maggot.

Brown Recluse Spider

Many different spiders live in your basement, including possibly, the brown recluse spider, which is one of the few dangerously venomous spiders in North America. The chances of you having this species in your basement is quite small. Spiders are great exterminators because they eat any flying and crawling bugs that might gain access to your basement on a daily basis.

But if you do think you have found a brown recluse, take a few moments to make a positive identification. Brown recluse spiders are in a group known as “huntsmen,” because they roam around at night and sometimes wind up in bedclothes or shoes, or clothes left on the floor. Their bite is almost unnoticeable at first, but some bites develop into serious lesions.

Centipedes

Centipedes are quick-moving scavengers and predators that prowl basement floors at night. They can bite, and, yes, they are poisonous. But the ones in your basement aren’t going to
hurt you unless you pick one up and give it no option.

Centipedes do much more good than harm, they eat dead bugs, which is very useful, because without centipedes, you’d probably see an abundance of dead flies and spiders. Centipedes also eat cockroach eggs.

Silverfish

Silverfish are present in virtually every home, where they hang out in drains and dark corners. You’ll see them occasionally, when they get caught out after sunrise, often in a sink or bathtub. Silverfish are nearly impossible to catch and even harder to kill, so you should just wash them down the drain or find a way to ignore them.

Like centipedes, silverfish are scavengers who consume the bits and pieces that filter down to the lowest spaces in your home. You would really only notice the silverfish in your home if they disappeared, leaving you with, a somewhat dirtier dwelling. Silverfish can be considered as part of your home’s nighttime clean-up squad.

Earwigs

Earwigs are completely harmless. They have a tendency to frighten many people because of the pincers on the back of their abdomens. Earwigs use these pincers for defense and for sparing with rival earwigs.There are more than twenty species of earwigs in the United States. Depending on the species, adults range in size from 5-25 mm. They are slender insects with two pair of wings. They are found on flower-tops on sunny summer days. If they’re in your house, it’s because they’re trying to escape the cold and find food.

Termites

Termites are a problem. They may feed on structural wood, wood fixtures, paper, books, cotton and related products. Damage to the structural wood introduces moisture and rot,which can literally destroy your home from the inside.

Fabric Pests are insects that cause a lot of damage each year by eating vulnerable fabrics. They infest sweaters, coats, upholstery, piano felts, blankets and any other woolen products. Furs, hair, leathers and hides, feathers, horns, insect and animal collections and such stored foods as meat, fish, meal and milk products are also vulnerable to these insects. Synthetic fibers and cellulose materials are damaged only incidentally, often because they are soiled with greasy food stains, body oils, or other residues which are the primary object of the insect attack. Fabric pests have the ability to digest and utilize keratin as an energy source. Keratin is the chief protein constituent of such human tissues as hair, fingernails and skin. Keratin is a protein which is quite stable chemically and is very resistant to most means of digestion. Few animals are able to digest keratin, and these include only a relatively small number of insects. This peculiar ability to digest keratin, coupled with our widespread use of wool and other animal hair, is the basis of fabric pest problems in our societies.

Fabric pests includes silverfish, clothes moths and carpet beetles. The silverfish prefer substances of plant origin such as cotton cellulose and starch instead of the protein substance keratin.

Usually clothes stored for long periods of times fall victim to fabric pests. The best prevention is to inspect materials that contain animal fibers regularly and store them only after they have been brushed and cleaned appropriately. Stored items should be kept in tightly sealed chests or storage closets.

If you find fabrics that look as though they are "moth-eaten" start checking corners around rugs, under furniture and in woolen and silk clothes that have not been moved for a long time.

Cleaning is the best option to eliminate an infestation or prevent one and your vacuum often is your best weapon. When cleaning, pay close attention to areas where lint accumulates, around furniture and in the corners of rooms. If you are cleaning an active infestation, be sure to dispose of the contents of the vacuum cleaner bag outside. Clean or dispose of infested materials. For items that can not be discarded or cleaned well, consider placing the infested item in a freezer for one week.  Periodic brushing and sunning of stored fabrics is also helpful in prevention and control.

With Fall’s cooler temperatures, there’s always the possibility of a mouse invasion in your home. After a colony of mice enters a structure and finds it to be safe and warm, they rarely venture outside again, leaving you with thoughts of disease carrying rodents and the damage they can cause.

Mouse infestations aren’t always obvious to homeowners. These destructive little rodents often live in hidden areas within your home, including storage boxes, attics, lofts and wall interiors and they only emerge when they search for food. 

Mouse Facts:

• Mice living within walls rarely leave their nests during daylight.

• Mice carry and transmit viruses, bacteria and other diseases.

• Mice are good jumpers, climbers and swimmers. In fact, mice can jump a foot into the air, allowing them to easily climb up onto kitchen counters or into pantries to access food. To prevent mice and other pests from getting into your food, store all pantry items in hard, plastic containers with a tightly sealed lid.

• Mice can run upside down along a line for a good distance.

• Despite their tiny bodies (and even smaller stomachs!), mice eat between 15 and 20 times a day. Because of their frequent eating habits, they prefer to build their homes near food sources.

• Mice can squeeze through openings as small as the size of a dime. This means that a small crack or opening on the exterior of your home (such as where utility pipes enter) is like an open door for mice. Prevent mice from gaining access to your home by sealing any openings on the exterior with a silicone caulk. You can also fill gaps and holes inside your home with steel wool.

Indications of a mouse infestation are:

• Gnawing, clawing and squeaking sounds.

• Droppings, urine pools and tracks are often visible.

• Holes in walls, floors, ceilings and foundations.

• Bite or chew marks on food sources and wooden surfaces.

• Nests – Rodents build nests from soft, fuzzy, or warm materials, such as fabric, furniture stuffing, quilt batting, shredded paper, grass, and twigs.

• Grease marks caused by oil and dirt on the rodent’s coats as they wedge thru openings in your home.

Mice gain access thru openings in your roof as well. Occasional roof inspections and some maintenance tips will insure that this access point to your home is blocked:

• Caulk openings around exhausts, equipment, and where lines enter the building

• Remove stacked building materials and debris

• Replace missing or damaged shingles; repair tears in rubber roof surfacing

• Add thresholds & weather-stripping to rooftop emergency exit doors

• Screen ventilator stacks and vents, including soffit vents

• Install or reinstall metal flashing on joints and edges, and around chimneys

• Prune back tree limbs and ivy that are touching the house

• Install rodent guards on conduits and lines that lead to the house

Once inside your home, mice use lines or pipes in ceilings and wall voids to go anywhere they wish. 

Don’t let annoying mice take over your home!  Contact PermaTreat for your free inspection or estimate.

Learn more about the different types of mice that may be infesting your home.

Cluster flies are named for their habit of over wintering in large clusters within attics or upper wall voids of homes and buildings. Most often they are mistaken for house flies because they look similar to the common house fly.  Cluster flies are black and a little larger than the house fly. They range from 3/8 inch to 1/2 inch long and have short, yellow hairs on the thorax. Their wings overlap when at rest.

Cluster flies are unique because they are parasites of earthworms. In the summer they lay eggs in cracks in the soil, and the larval or maggot stages of these fly attack and eat earthworms. The development time from egg to adult is about 27 to 39 days. There are two to three generations of flies produced each year and each time the female returns to lay eggs in the soil.  In August or September, the final generation of flies spend the winter in a protected location, such as your home, and start the life cycle over again the following spring.

Adult cluster flies can be found over wintering in hedge rows; under the bark of dead and dying trees; in the crevices of south-facing cliffs and rock faces; and within the cracks, crevices and voids in sheds, garages, barns, houses and other man-made structures.

Cracks around windows, doors, siding, utility pipes, behind chimneys, and underneath the fascia and other openings should be sealed with good quality silicone or silicone-latex caulk. Damaged screens on doors and windows should be repaired or replaced.

Typically, flies will emerge from cracks under or behind baseboards, around window and door trim, and around exhaust fans or lights in ceilings. Seal these openings with caulk or other suitable materials to prevent the insects from crawling out.

Cluster flies will not damage your home. Occasionally, the flies may leave small dark-colored spots of excrement on windows and walls, but they are not known to carry any diseases of medical importance to humans. In addition to the ‘clustering’ on the sunny exterior of buildings in the fall, the flies will gather in large numbers at windows within the home on warm winter days. The flies are typically sluggish in flight and can be easily swatted or captured.

Occasional invaders – those pests that don’t live indoors permanently, but will move inside periodically.

There are two types of occasional invaders:

1. Those that live around the outside perimeter of structures and migrate inside to escape undesirable conditions.
2. Those that move indoors at the end of the season to spend the winter.

The most common invaders are:

Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle – Found throughout the U. S. and southern Canada. Predator on plant-feeding insects. Size 1/4-3/8 inch. Color variable; usually mustard yellow to dark reddish orange, with variable number of black spots and a black “M” shape on thorax.

Boxelder bug – Both eastern and western species found in most of U. S. and into Canada. Feeds on female boxelder trees or silver maple trees. Size: ½ inch. Color black with red-orange markings along sides, on back, and along wing borders, and red eyes

Cluster fly – Found throughout Canada and the U. S., except states bordering the Gulf of Mexico. Larvae are parasites on earthworms in the soil. Size: 3/8 inch. Color dull dark gray, abdomen splotchy gray, golden hairs on body.

Brown marmorated stink bug – Found in 41 U. S. states and two Canadian provinces. Feeds on fruit trees and field crops. Size: 1/2-5/8 inch. Color mottled brownish-gray with alternating

 brown and white markings along outer edges of abdomen, and white bands on antennae.

Kudzu bug – Found in at least 8 southeastern states. Feeds on kudzu and soybeans. Size: pea-size; 1/8-1/4 inch. Color shiny olive green with brown speckling.

Elm leaf beetle – Found throughout the U. S. Feeds on elm trees, especially Siberian elm. Size: 3/16-1/4 inch. Color dull yellow to olive green, edged on each side with a broad black stripe, 3 black dots on thorax.

Western conifer seed bug – Found across the northern U. S. and into Canada. Feeds on seeds and needles of conifers. Size: ¾ inch. Color dull brown with flattened leaf-like extensions on hind legs; orange and black abdominal patches seen in flight.

Are mice keeping you up all night? Granted you won’t see the scenario as described in the picture to your right. It’s probably more common to see mouse droppings or mouse damage before you see the mice themselves, as they are nocturnal. Still while small, mice and rats can cause big problems. They chew on everything, causing property damage and potential fire risks when they gnaw on electrical wiring and build tinder dry nests in dark corners. They can spread disease, on their own, through the parasites they carry or through their droppings.

Listed below are several ways to KEEP MICE OUT of your home.

Stop Rodents From Entering your Home

• Close all holes in exterior and interior walls.

• Permit no openings over 1/4 of an inch, particularly around doors and windows Install self-closing devices on frequently used doors.

• Install vinyl or runner sweep seals under garage doors to eliminate any gaps.

• Tighten seals around pipes, drains and vents.

• Cap chimneys and make sure they’re in good condition.

Habitat Reduction

• Eliminate the rodent’s food and water source.

• Identify habitat areas and eliminate them indoors and outdoors.

• Keep grass and vegetation cut short. Tall grass protects rodents from predators.

• Cut back overhanging trees. Overhanging trees provide dark, shadowy areas where rodents feel safe and protected.

• Remove piles of debris from the exterior of the structure. Garbage and clutter around the perimeter are habitat areas for rodents.

• Establish a 2-foot-wide barrier of cement or crushed rock around the structure.

• Improve sanitation practices in and around the house.

• English ivy is a favorite hiding place for pests, so you may need to replace it. Trim your shrubs and bushes away from the ground, so nothing can hide under them. Store firewood at least 1 foot off the ground.

• Install a strip of flashing 18 inches high all around your house to keep mice and rats from getting in through the attic or upper floors.

• Combine water and peppermint extract and spray in problem areas. Mice detest mint, so start using it everywhere! Planting mint outside, and switching to mint scented cleaning solutions can drastically help keep them away.

​These are just a few ideas to keep annoying mice from entering your home.   When all else fails call a pest control professional.  A mouse infestation is a serious problem for you and your family and you can’t expect the problem to just go away over night.

If you live in Virginia and would like a free inspection or estimate Contact PermaTreat.

Click Here to learn more about rodents.

In Virginia the 3 most common crickets are the field cricket, the house cricket and the camel cricket.

Field cricket – They hatch in spring, and the young crickets eat and grow rapidly. They shed their skin eight or more times before they become adults. They eat a broad range of seeds, plants, or insects (dead or alive). They are known to feed on grasshopper eggs, pupae of moths, butterflies and flies. Occasionally they may rob spiders of their prey. Field crickets also eat grass.

House cricket – The house cricket is typically gray or brownish in color, growing to 16–21 millimetres (0.63–0.83 in) in length. Males and females look similar, but females will have an ovipositor emerging from the rear, around 12 millimetres (0.47 in) long. The ovipositor is brown-black, and is surrounded by two appendages. On females, the cerci are also more prominent.

House crickets get their common name from the fact that they often enter houses where they can survive indefinitely. Interestingly, they are known for their loud chirping which is caused by rubbing their front wings together to attract females.

Camel cricket – Camel crickets also known as “sprickets,” spider crickets and cave crickets have an arched back and long hind legs. The ones scientists would expect to find in North America are thick-bodied and a mottled brown in color; they belong to the genus Ceuthophilus. Because they are scavengers, camel crickets may actually provide an important service in our basements or garages, eating the dead stuff that accumulates there. Camel crickets indeed are not picky eaters they will eat anything from American cheese to dead fire ants to human feces to fallen fruit.

These crickets may seem like benign little creatures, but they’ll eat through everything from wallpaper glue to wool to silk. And they’ll attract hungry scorpions and spiders. So the best strategy is to keep the chirping pests from getting into your home.

The first step is to locate their nesting place which entails a little detective work. Crickets live in voids, such as under those decorative boulders in your yard, in your sprinkler system’s valve box, or under the sidewalk and patio. Anywhere there’s a space between the ground and another object, you’re sure to find crickets, which love moist, cool hiding places.

When you find a nest and spray it with a pest spray, be prepared to watch what looks like a river of the bugs pour out of it. More than 1,000 crickets can cram into one tiny nest. Once they’re gone, fill in that void with dirt or expansion foam, which you can buy at any home store.

One place you’ll find crickets for sure is around your home’s foundation, especially in that gap between the stem wall and the stucco. Use a product called a home seal—it’s a spray-on foam that helps seal the gaps that allow bugs like crickets to walk right into your home.

Use a mirror to look for large gaps under the bottom of the stucco, especially around the corners, and fill them in. Sealing gaps in the foundation wall itself also will stop scorpions and other pests from coming indoors.

While you’re sealing holes, search for other places where critters can come into the home from outdoors, the roof line and entry points for plumbing and electrical connections, for example. Trim bushes and tree branches so they don’t hang over the roof and drop bugs in places where they can crawl through crevices and into the attic. Even holes in window screens or a gap between a door and the floor are invitations for pests to walk right into your home.

To the best of your ability, create a barrier anywhere where insects could get in out of the sun. If you do that, you’ll naturally bring your pest population down.

If you’re having problems with crickets invading your home Contact PermaTreat for a free inspection and estimate.

Having a pest infestation in your home?  There's a good possibility that your pest is on the Top 10 Most Unwanted Pests List.  

Argentine ant

The Argentine ant is notorious for its persistence in invading houses. Another alien invader of the United States, this ant came from Argentina and Brazil, and was first introduced into the U.S. in the late 1800's. It is now a major pest across the southern U.S. and in California, with isolated infestations in other areas. Failure is common when trying to control Argentine ants. Callback rates can exceed 50 percent. Success requires careful inspection and a combination of control tactics.

Bed bug

Bed bugs are on the march, infesting more and more locations nationwide. They're not just a problem at hotels: they're also a growing concern with cruise ships, universities, hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, military barracks, condominiums, apartments and residences. The pests' myriad modes of transportation pose a problem to businesses, homeowners and pest control professionals. They are difficult and expensive to control. Bed bugs can be active migrants, walking to new areas on their own six legs. They also can be hitchhikers (traveling by way of packages, luggage, planes, trains, automobiles — you name it). 

Drosophila (fruit) fly

This group of flies has many names: fruit fly, vinegar fly, pomace fly, and Drosophila fly (for the genus). Another name which I can't mention is commonly given by those trying to control these frustrating pests, particularly in commercial food operations. Remarkable numbers can breed in small amounts of rotting fruit, vegetables, fermenting liquids, even contaminated mop water that has seeped into floor cracks. One dirty mop can breed thousands of fruit flies, and plagues of these flies can infest restaurants and other food facilities. 

German cockroach

The German cockroach was once unchallenged as public enemy number one in buildings. Pest control technicians working in apartments in the 1970's would commonly see infestation so bad that the cockroaches were literally falling from the ceilings. An insecticide sprayed into a crack behind a kitchen sink might flush a hundred or more cockroaches out into the open–much to the distress of the resident. With the development of cockroach baits, however, the German cockroach became far less of a pest, although never completely disappearing. Now they are making a comeback , and are once again in the top ten. 

House fly

The house fly was so named because it was once the most important pest in and around houses. While still a household pest, the house fly is considered more of a public health pest because of its potential to transmit disease organisms from fecal material to human food in restaurants, hospitals, and other sensitive sites. Interestingly, while most everyone has heard of the house fly, few people can tell them from other flies. 

House mouse

For such a cute little mammal, the house mouse generates a remarkable degree of fear and loathing in many people. Perhaps this is because this mouse can live in high numbers in our own homes, the only evidence being the hundreds of mouse droppings that appear on our counter tops, and the occasional glimpse of a mouse scurrying rapidly past our feet. Mice can be very difficult to control in apartments, office buildings, and food storage or processing plants because of their secretive nature and amazing breeding potential. They are probably the second most successful mammal on earth (after us, of course). 

Indianmeal moth

In the food industry, and really anywhere food is stored, the Indianmeal moth has to be considered the number one pest of stored foods, and especially in the seed, pet food, popcorn, and grain industries. They can build up to high numbers in stored products. Fumigation is usually necessary to control these pests once established in commercial food operations. 

Odorous house ant

Named for its rotten-coconut odor, this ant is a native of the United States and can be found almost everywhere. It is increasing in importance and can be difficult to control because colonies tend to be large with many queens. There can be multiple nest sites and even multiple colonies in and around a building. 

Subterranean termite

Termites cause billions of dollars in damage to homes and other buildings every year, and subterranean termites are the major culprits. Native to every state except Alaska, underground termite colonies may contain thousands and up to several million individual termites, living as deep as 20 feet underground. Feeding on wood and other cellulose, termites find that our homes and businesses offer the ideal combination of warmth, moisture and food. 

Yellowjacket

No one likes being stung by a wasp, and no wasps are more aggressive in defense of their colonies than yellowjackets. Stings are painful, and each yellowjacket can sting multiple times, and recruit dozens of sisters to join the attack. Some yellowjackets nest in the ground, some in aerial nests, and some inside buildings.

If you have a pest problem and you live in Virginia Contact Us for a free inspection and estimate.

Foraging termites create a system of branching, making pencil-sized tunnels in the soil as they look for food. These exploratory tunnels expand out in a star burst pattern from a central point. This systematic and radiating search pattern of tunnels helps to eliminate repeat searches in the same area.  As they dig, they come into contact with buried wood in the process.  When food is found, other termites are recruited to the food source and non-productive tunnels are closed off.  The foraging range of a single termite colony is difficult to predict. Small colonies may forage over only a few yards if food is plentiful.  Some larger colonies may forage over areas the size of a football field.

Daily foraging is influenced by weather factors such as temperature and moisture. Foraging activity tends to be the greatest in areas of higher soil moisture. Termites also respond to chemical odors given off by plants and decaying wood, but they can only detect these odors from a short distance.

Foraging termites produce a variety of chemicals called pheromones that influence their behavior. These pheromones are basically odors that send messages to other termites in the colony. While tunneling underground, the foraging termites lay down a trail of pheromone which they secrete from glands on their abdomen. When a food source is located, the odor trail is intensified to recruit other termites to the feeding site. However, the intensity of the recruitment effort (odor trail) is influenced by soil temperature, moisture and compaction as well as the size and quality of the food source. More permanent working mud tubes are then constructed to establish a highway from the underground galleries directly to the new food source.

Subterranean termites also forage above ground for sources of food, like the structural wood in homes and other structures. In order to protect themselves from harm while foraging above ground, termites build 4 types of tubes.

~Termite workers travel back and forth inside long tubes, made out of mud and fecal material, between the soil and the structure above ground. These mud tubes are called Exploratory Tubes. Termite exploratory tubes are very easy to see and are one of the best ways to identify a potential termite infestation.

~ Once a source of wood has been located, the termites establish larger, more permanent utility or working tubes.The Utility Tubes are highways running from the underground termite galleries directly to the food source. Utility tubes can cover long distances over the foundation of a building or along exterior walls to reach the wood inside.

~ Sometimes subterranean termites build another tube that runs from the structural wood back down to the ground. These tubes are called Drop or Suspended Tubes. Drop tubes are often lighter in color than the utility tubes because they contain more of the wood fiber taken from the structure. Subterranean termites construct a fourth type of mud tube in addition to those that facilitate foraging.

~ These are called Swarming Tubes. Swarming tubes are built seasonally extending only 4-8 inches above ground. These tubes provide the exit port for winged swarmers leaving the colony.

Exploratory Tubes	Utility Tubes	Drop Tubes	Swarming Tubes

Click here to learn more about Subterranean Termites.

Click here if you live in Virginia and would like to schedule a FREE termite inspection.

Chiggers are the juvenile form of a trombiculid mite. They are found in forests, grassy fields, gardens, parks and around lakes and rivers.  Chiggers require a high level of humidity for survival so they are typically found on plants that are relatively close to the surface of the ground. They have six legs, are red in color, and are less than 1/150th of an inch in length barely visible to the naked eye.

Chigger season runs from May through October.

Chiggers like to take a hike on your pant cuffs, shirt sleeves or collars when you come in contact with vegetation.  They will then migrate onto your skin to feed. If left alone, a chigger may feed for a few days.

When a chigger feeds, it injects enzymes into your skin that causes destruction of the tissue. Then it feeds upon the dead tissue. Your skin will react by hardening the cells around the chigger’s saliva path into a tubular structure called a stylostome. It’s your body’s reaction to the stylostome that causes the symptoms.

Chigger bites are not noticed immediately it usually takes about 1-3 hours for the following symptoms to begin:

• Pronounced itching which may become most intense 1-2 days after the bite.

• The area of the bite will be reddened and either flat or raised.  It can also resemble a pustule or blister.

• Itching can persist for several days and skin lesions can last for up to two weeks.

To treat chigger bites you need to use a product that will relieve the itching and inflammation.   Products that include an antihistamine such as diphenhydramine may relieve symptoms. Hydrocortisone products may also offer itch relief.

Chigger bites have not been shown to cause any long-term complications, but the intense itching may lead to prolonged scratching.  Scratching may lead to skin wounds which become a risk for skin infections. If you’ve been bitten, don’t be tempted to try home remedies involving toxic substances, and don’t try to remove the stylostome. Either could cause secondary infections or other injuries.

No matter what product you decide to use to relieve the symptoms, there is nothing you can do to dislodge the stylostome. Therefore there is no “cure” for chigger bites, you need to give your body time to heal.

Tips to help prevent chiggers:

• A hot shower with plenty of soap after outdoor activities will kill chiggers.

• If you are away from home, rubbing your skin with a moist towel or cloth may remove any chiggers.

• Stay on marked trails and away from tall weeds, brush and heavy undergrowth.

• Wash clothing that has been worn outdoors in hot, soapy water. The hot water and soap will kill the chiggers, but they can survive cold or warm water washes.

• Temperature affects chiggers. They do not like temperatures below 60°F or above 99°F.

• Wear proper clothing such as long pants and long sleeve shirts as well as thick socks or high shoes and boots. Tucking pant legs into shoes or boots help.

• Use an insect repellent that contains DEET. Be certain to follow the instructions precisely.

• Never use flea collars to try to repel chiggers or any other pest – the chemicals in flea collars can burn or irritate human skin.

The female smokybrown cockroach produces approximately ten egg capsules each of which contains about 20 eggs during her lifetime. Adult females live an average of 218 days and males about 215 days.

Smokybrown cockroaches are typically outdoor pests commonly found in southern states as far west as central Texas. They can be found in wood piles, flower planters, palm trees, water oaks, and vacant buildings. Indoors they seek warm, humid areas without air circulation, such as garages, attics, and crawlspaces.

These cockroaches have also been found established in northern states, usually in greenhouses. They are strong fliers and are attracted to lights.

Smokybrown cockroaches are 1 to 1-1/4 inches long when mature, uniformly dark brown-to-mahogany, and characterized by fully developed wings that completely cover their abdomens. The pronotum (i.e., shield like area behind the head) is black. Nymphs are red brown; the younger ones have white markings on their backs and the first four or five segments of their antennae are white at the tip. The purse-shaped egg capsule is dark brown-to-black, 3/8-inch long, and typically has 10 to 14 eggs per side.

Although the smokybrown cockroach is extremely rare in Virginia if you have a problem with roaches and would like information or treatment contact us.

Click here to learn more about cockroaches that are common in Virginia.

German cockroaches are found in the same places as the common cockroach, with one exception, they can walk across ceilings.  Another difference with this species is that the female carries the egg case (Oothecae) around with her until it is just due to hatch whereas the common cockroach is just that and dumps hers after a few hours.  This insect was introduced from N.Africa.  Both sexes can fly but are reluctant to do so.  

The German cockroach is light brown with two dark longitudinal stripes on the thorax. Adults are about 5/8-inch long and both sexes have fully developed wings. The number of eggs in the ootheca varies from 18 to 50 and the female carries the ootheca until shortly before hatching. Female German cockroaches may occasionally help the nymphs emerge from the egg capsule.

The average life cycle takes 60 days at room temperature. The German cockroach is the species most commonly found in households for several reasons: (1) it has a larger number of eggs per capsule, (2) nymphs reach sexual maturity more quickly than other cockroaches, (3) the female carries the egg capsule and protects the embryos until hatching, (4) German cockroaches are small and can conceal themselves easily, and (5) they can rapidly build up resistance to insecticides. This species is very active.

German roaches are often carried from place to place in items such as bagged potatoes and onions, bottle cases and cartons and food packages. They travel readily from one location to another and pass through very small openings.

Places where German cockroaches are found often share many common characteristics; they’ll usually be warm, dark, and have small cracks and crevices or other small openings into dark confined areas. Such places will generally be rather moist or located near water sources and food supplies.

German cockroaches usually cluster closely together. Adult female cockroaches with oothecae are found deeper within a harborage than other life stages. This makes it extremely difficult to eliminate this species unless extreme care is taken in thorough pesticide treatments. In populations which have developed pesticide resistance, individuals may scatter widely throughout a building. Although German cockroaches are normally most active at night in dark areas, people may see them out of their normal hiding places wherever they aren’t disturbed.

A few interesting facts:

• They are 12 – 15 mm long

• They are colored light brown with two dark stripes on the thorax.

• The wings are as long as the body, and overlap in both sexes.

• The oothecae is carried by the female until  hatching is imminent.

• The female produces 4 – 8 oothecae in her lifetime.

•  In this species, the oothecae contain 35 – 40 eggs.

• The hatching time is only one month.

• The nymph achieves adulthood in 5 – 7 moults, remember cockroaches don’t pupate.

• The nymphal development can be as quick as 6 weeks, but can take up to 6 months.

​Click here to learn more about the cockroaches most common to Virginia.

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Carpenter ant infestations in your home is a concern, it is their preferred spot for a nest. Even though they do not eat wood, their nesting habits can be devastating to the structural integrity of your home. With access to food resources, an undetected carpenter ant colony can quickly grow.

Carpenter ants are often mistaken for termites because of their wings. Unlike termites, carpenter ants have a narrow waist and elbowed antennae, and their bodies are darker in color. Also, termite wings tend to be longer than that of carpenter ant wings, and in general, it is much less common to see these insects during daylight hours.

Carpenter ants thrive in a moist environment, so it is crucial that any water-saturated wood in your home be removed immediately. Also, ants need sugar and protein to survive, so one of the number one ways to discourage them is by removing any and all food sources. Never leave food out where ants can find it, especially sweet, sugary treats. If you suspect carpenter ants are in the area, thoroughly clean your kitchen, along with anywhere else food debris is found. This includes hard-to-reach spots like under the refrigerator, where ants can easily feast on tiny crumbs for weeks, if not months.

Carpenter ants become fairly active in the spring, and their presence in your home is not uncommon, even if no nest is present. If you see carpenter ants in the early spring, this could mean trouble, and winter sightings almost always point to an interior nest. A large number of carpenter ants in one location, especially those with wings, is a strong indication that a nest is present.

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1. Tick bites and tick-borne diseases are completely preventable

There's really only one way you get a tick-transmitted disease and that's from a tick bite. Reducing tick abundance in your yard where you spend a lot of time, wearing tick repellent clothing everyday, treating pets every month with tick repellent spot-on products, getting into a habit of doing a quick body scan for attached poppy-seed sized or larger ticks, and pulling ticks off quickly and safely are all great actions for preventing tick bites. These days, ticks are more than just an annoyance. One bite can make you sick, even change your life!

2. Clothing with built-in tick repellent is best for preventing tick bites

An easy way to avoid tick bites and disease is to wear clothing (shoes, socks, shorts or pants, and shirt) with permethrin tick repellent built-in. This strategy can be especially effective for protecting children. Dressing kids in tick repellent clothes everyday is a safe and easy way to keep ticks from biting and transmitting disease. Commercially-treated tick repellent clothes last through at least 70 washes, while using kits or sprays to treat your current outdoor wardrobe can last through 6 washes. Tick repellent on clothing, not skin is something everyone needs to know about to stay safe outdoors.

3. The easiest and safest way to remove a tick is with a pointy tweezer

Think of a tick as a little germ-filled balloon. Squeeze it too hard on its back end, and all the germs get pushed to the front end, which by the way, is attached to you by the tick's straw-like mouth part. Using really pointy tweezers, it's possible to grab even the poppy-seed sized nymphs right down next to the skin. The next step is to simply pull the tick out like a splinter. Don't worry if the mouth part stays in your skin as long as you've got the rest of the tick by its head. Other tick removal methods, like a hot match, Vaseline, dish soap and cotton, or various little key-like devices don't work as consistently as pointy tweezers on all types of ticks. Remember to save the tick and try to identify it.

4. Deer tick nymphs look like a poppy seed on your skin

And with about 1 out of 4 nymphal deer ticks carrying the Lyme disease spirochete and other nasty germs in the northeastern, mid-Atlantic, and upper mid-western U.S.., it's important to know what you're really looking for. They're easy to miss, their bites are generally painless, and they have a habit of climbing up (under clothing) and biting in hard-to-see places.

5. For most tick-borne diseases, you have at least 24 hours to find and remove a feeding tick before it transmits an infection

Even a quick daily tick check at bath or shower time can be helpful in finding and removing attached ticks before they can transmit an infection. You'll probably want to check even more carefully if you know you've likely been exposed. Many of the disease-causing microbes transmitted by ticks need a "re-activation" period in the tick once it begins to feed. The germs eventually make their way into the tick's salivary glands and the tick spits them into you while feeding. Some infections, especially viruses, move into the tick salivary glands faster than others. Lyme disease bacteria take at least 24 hours to invade the tick's saliva.

6. Only deer ticks transmit Lyme disease bacteria

The only way to get Lyme disease is by being bitten by a deer tick or one of its "cousins" found around the world.

7. Ticks carry disease-causing microbes

Tick-transmitted infections are more common these days than in past decades. With explosive increases in deer populations, extending even into semi-urban areas in the eastern and western U.S.., the trend is for increasing abundance and geographic spread of deer ticks and Lone Star ticks; and scientists are finding an ever-increasing list of disease-causing microbes transmitted by these ticks: Lyme disease bacteria, Babesia protozoa, Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, and other rickettsia, even encephalitis-causing viruses, and possibly Bartonella bacteria. Back in the day, tick bites were more of an annoyance but now a bite is much more likely to make you sick.

8. Ticks can be active even in the winter

That's right! Adult stage deer ticks become active every year after the first frost. They're not killed by freezing temperatures, and while other ticks enter a feeding diapause as day-lengths get shorter, deer ticks will be active any winter day that the ground is not snow-covered or frozen. This surprises people, especially during a January thaw or early spring day. Remember this fact and hopefully you'll never be caught off-guard.

9. All ticks (including deer ticks) come in small, medium and large sizes

Ticks hatch from eggs and develop through three active (and blood-feeding) stages: larvae (small-the size of sand grains); nymphs(medium-the size of poppy seeds); adults (large-the size of apple seeds). If you see them bigger, they're probably partially-full or full of blood.

10. Ticks crawl up

Ticks don't jump, fly, or drop from trees onto your head and back. If you find one attached there, it most likely latched onto your foot or leg and crawled up over your entire body. Ticks are "programmed" to try and attach around your head or ears. On their normal hosts, ticks also usually crawl up; they want to blood feed around the head, neck, and ears of their host, where the skin is thinner and hosts have more trouble grooming.

Learn more abour PermaTreat's Yard Guard Treatment to control ticks in your yard.

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Carpenter bees are very interesting insects with a unique set of behaviors.  They are excellent pollinators of plants but they can also be a nuisance, causing damage to homes all over the country. These creatures are known as wood destroying insects, because they make their nests inside of wood and cause a host of problems for home owners as a result. If left unchecked, carpenter bees can cause structural damage.

A Carpenter bee actually looks a lot like a bumble bee.

Differences are:

Bumble bees have a hairy abdomen, carpenter bees have a bare abdomen.

Bumble bees have yellow bands on their belly, carpenter bees do not.

Carpenter bees are not very aggressive, but they can sting. The females are capable of stinging; the male bees are not a threat. But, the males are very protective of their space, so they may seem aggressive at times. The females are usually more interested in drilling holes and doing their job, so it is unusual to get a sting from them.

Carpenter bees get their name because they dig into exposed pieces of wood to build their nest.  Contrary to popular belief, carpenter bees do not eat the wood like termites.  Rather, they rely on pollen and nectar from nearby plants as a food source for themselves and their young.

A carpenter bee hole looks pretty perfect. It can be as large as a half an inch in diameter. Once the bee gets inside the wood, she starts to drill tunnels and lay eggs. The holes can be anywhere, although obviously they are only found on wood surfaces. Therefore, you may see holes in your siding, trees, decks and even swing sets.

Carpenter bees can cause a lot of damage, eventually weakening the structure of the home or building they are in. Carpenter bees love to fly under the radar. Therefore, many homeowners do not notice the holes or the bees right away. In contrast, termites and carpenter ants are much more conspicuous. As a result, carpenter bee damage builds up over time, often becoming fairly extensive before it is discovered.

There are several signs to be aware of if you believe that you have a carpenter bee infestation. 

1. Circular holes that these insects create.  They’ve been known to create their nest in several places including fence post, mailboxes, and lawn furniture. 

2. Wood Shavings – There’s a chance that they may also colonize hidden or unexposed areas so you may have trouble locating their nest.  If that’s the case, you can also look for wood shavings on the ground.  These shavings are from the circular holes they create so if you find these then their nest should be close. 

3. Lastly, look for any yellowish streaks around your wooden structures.  Carpenter bees will release their waste prior to entering their nest so you will often see yellowish streaks just below the entrance.

If possible, treat the holes with an insecticidal dust at night. Do not close up the holes right away; the bees need to come into contact with the dust and spread it through the tunnels. When the weather cools off again, fill the holes with wood putty and then paint the surface. Of course, because it is difficult to treat the holes safely, it is often best to contact a pest control company.

A carpenter bee problem should be taken seriously. Because these are wood destroying insects, it does not take long before the structure of the building is compromised. If you have a concern, contact your local pest control professional.

The German cockroach is the type of cockroach most commonly associated with biting, though all other species are capable.

Cockroach bites are most likely to occur when people fall asleep with food remnants in or around their hands or mouth. The cockroach is drawn in by the smell of the food and comes in for a taste. The intent is not to bite, but rather to look for food. 

Generally most of us don't worry about obtaining a roach bite when we see one of these dirty insects.  More often we worry about roaches getting into our food, spreading disease, or even cockroach identification so that we can eliminate them.  While a cockroach bite doesn't happen all that often, these insects do have mouths and are capable of biting.

A roach bite is said to be like other insect bites, it can swell and become very itchy, even infected.  Because they are not common, you will likely never have to deal with a cockroach bite. 

If you’ve been bitten by a cockroach. Do not panic. There are 3 simple steps you should be able to do anywhere.

Step 1 Exterminate the Roach

If a cockroach was crawling on you and you surprised it by (understandably) freaking out don’t lose track of it! Cockroaches work in groups and secrete pheromones to communicate with its brethren. Every cockroach that you see, could signal ten more and before you know it, you have an infestation.

Your wound can wait, squish the bug that bit you if you have the chance.

Step 2 Clean the wound

Cockroaches are a major vector of disease, they carry tons of bacteria in their mouth parts and a single bite can easily get infected and swell badly. Most often you wake up with a cockroach bite and the next day the bite wound is four times bigger and bright red. It is very important to clean the wound properly.

Get a cotton swab and some rubbing alcohol, dip the swab in the alcohol with one hand, and with the other pinch the bite about an inch from the center. Then rub the alcohol all over and around the pinched bite area. This is important to help your body force the bacteria out of the bite and the alcohol will do its job killing the infection.

Step 3 Keep an Eye on It

Although the bite will likely disappear in a bit over a week, it is still important to keep an eye on the bite. If you did not thoroughly and properly clean the bite, it will almost certainly get infected. You can tell if a bite has become infected because it will swell with pus and change color. A cockroach bite could become bright red or dark purple and possibly a sickly green.

If your bite seems infected, you should go to a pharmacy or clinic and get some anti bacterial medicine. If the infection continues to worsen, see a doctor.

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Have you ever wondered how ticks amazingly appear on your body after a short walk outside?

Ticks do not jump, fly or drop from trees so how do they find their way to a human host?

They wait and then grasp passing hosts from tips of grass, low-lying shrubs, and leaf litter. The majority of ticks grasp onto the lower leg and then crawl up the body seeking a warm place to feed and hide.

Deer ticks live in the woods, sustained by the higher humidity levels of the forest or in shaded, sheltered areas. The tiny nymphal deer tick makes its home in the leaf litter that accumulates on the forest floor, around stonewalls and under ground covers.

Deer play a critical role in the reproduction of the deer tick. Deer live at the edge of the woods, where they feed on shrubs and other small plants as they move throughout their territory. They transport ticks from property to property. Deer do not infect ticks with Lyme disease.  Ticks become infected after feeding on infected mice and other small mammals, such as chipmunks.

Landscaped yards provide deer with an ideal food source. The deer browse a wide variety of flowers and shrubs, many commonly used by homeowners to landscape their properties.

Consider turning your yard into a “tick safe zone”:

A tick safe zone is composed of lawn and is as sunny as possible and begins nine feet or more from the edge of the woods. It should surround your house and encompass the areas of your yard that you and your family regularly use. This includes walkways, areas used for recreation, entertainment, and gardens. Your tick safe zone takes advantage of the tick’s own biology and behavior to keep ticks away.

Avoid these tick habitats from April to October: 

• Weeds, tall grass, shrubs, and low trees

• Areas under decks and along foundations

• Ornamental ground cover—pachysandra and ivy

• Wood piles and stone walls

Learn more about Ticks –  4 Most Common Virginia Ticks

PermaTreat's tick prevention program: Yard Guard – Outdoor Pest Control Services

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The Imported Fire Ant, or simply the Fire Ant, is an introduced species that is notorious for its aggressive behavior.  They can cause serious health problems for humans due to their aggressive nature and sting.  Fire Ants clamp onto their targets with powerful jaws and sting their victims repeatedly.  Each sting injects a dose of venom that causes a burning sensation.  The stings raise itching blisters that can become infected.  In sensitive victims, the stings can cause anaphylactic shock (symptoms include trouble breathing and fainting) or even death.

In addition to stings on humans, Fire Ants can cause damage to several agricultural commodities, livestock, companion animals and wildlife.  They can attack and sometimes kill newborn domestic animals.   Fire Ants can also destroy seedling corn, soybeans, and other crops.  These insects feed on buds or fruits of many plants and may remove bands of bark from young trees, often killing them. Additionally, the hard, cone-shaped nests of Fire Ants can result in mounds as high as two feet, making it difficult to cultivate and harvest crops from infested fields.  Fire Ant mounds are unsightly hazards in yards, parks and other recreational areas where they are especially dangerous to children and pets. 

Identifying Fire Ants is difficult because they look much like ordinary ants.  They are 1/8 to 1/4 inch long and reddish brown to black in color. Fire Ants are probably best distinguished by their aggressive behavior and characteristic mound-shaped nests; when their mound is disturbed, thousands of ants will crawl out.

Avoid being stung by Fire Ants. Being aware of your surroundings at all times will enable you to avoid Fire Ant mounds. Some Fire Ant mounds are very small and difficult to detect, therefore taking the time to survey an area is important.  If Fire Ants do crawl onto your skin, they first bite with their mandibles in order to anchor for the thrust of the sting.  As soon as you feel this pinching sensation, quickly sweep the ants off before they actually sting, thus reducing the likelihood of additional injury.

Tips for treating fire ant stings:

• Brush any remaining ants off your body to stop further bites
• Elevate the affected area to prevent swelling
• Tighten skin around the stung site to prevent venom from spreading
• Rinse the sting with cold water
• Watch for symptoms of an allergic reaction

Fire ants in northern Virginia and the surrounding areas can also damage the landscaping of your home or commercial property by building the mounds their colonies use for nesting.

Tips to prevent infestations of fire ants:

• Have a professional treat the inside and outside of your home for pests
• Consult neighbors who have fire ants to prevent them from spreading to your property
• Check carefully throughout your property for fire ant mounds
• Seal any holes around doors, windows, or the foundation of your home that could allow them entry to your home.

A new colony begins with a “nuptial flight” of winged males and winged females, usually on a warm, spring day.  After mating occurs, males drop to the ground and die.  Females seek out nesting sites and burrow underground.  A new queen sheds her wings and lays 12 to 24 worker eggs, which she tends constantly.  Upon hatching, the workers, all of which are sterile females, take over all colony functions except reproduction, while the queen only mates and lays eggs.  She can produce more than 200 eggs per day.

Natural dispersal occurs during the mating process when a queen starts a new colony. Fire Ants spread slowly through natural dispersal, but they can travel longer distances when colonies are moved in soil, plants with roots and soil attached, nursery stock, grass, sod, hay, logs, beehives and any equipment that contains soil.

Fire Ant colonies vary in size, but a mature, three-year-old colony typically contains 250,000 workers, which are sterile females, and hundreds of reproductive males and potentially reproductive females.  A colony population can grow to 300,000 ants. In addition to single-queen colonies, many Fire Ant colonies have multiple queens, increasing many fold the number of mounds in an infested area.

Fire Ant brood (larva) is sensitive to temperature and humidity.  Worker ants move the brood up high when it is wet.  That’s why you see tall mounds after rains.  When conditions are dry, the workers move the brood deeper to more humid chambers and you may see no mounds at all.  Mounds can extend as much as four feet below the surface.

Control of Fire Ants is made difficult by the protective behavior of the workers that guard the queen.  If the colony is disturbed, workers will hurriedly carry the queen to a safe location where the queen will begin a new colony.  Therefore, the best control is not a method that will merely kill workers, but one in which a bait is applied that will be taken back to the nest by foraging ants where it will either kill the queen or render her sterile.  Baits combine a food to attract the ants with an insecticide or insect growth regulator (a pesticide that works by disrupting the ants’ reproductive system).  Although baits are slow-acting, they are often the best way to reach the queen and eliminate the colony.  Many times, using insecticides that kill on contact will simply force the colony to move to a new location.  Since the worker Fire Ants move the queen in order to protect her, these types of treatments are usually ineffective in killing the colony.  Individuals applying any treatment should read the insecticide labels closely and follow all directions. You may wish to consider discussing your Fire Ant treatment needs with a pest control professional.

Chikungunya, a viral infection transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes, originated in southeast Africa and was first described in Tanzania in 1952.

It is a painful, mosquito-borne viral illness and has surfaced across the United States, carried by recent travelers to the Caribbean where the virus is raging.

Typical symptoms of Chikungunya infection include the rapid onset of severe joint pains (especially in the hands and feet) and fever. In fact, the name "Chikungunya" derives from a word in the Kimakonde language of south east Africa, meaning "to become contorted" and describes the stooped appearance of sufferers with joint pain. Symptoms start four to eight days after the mosquito bite (range from two to 12 days). Infected persons can also have headache, muscle pain, rash and joint swelling. Generally, symptoms resolve after one week, although some people may experience long-term joint pain. Chikungunya is generally not fatal, but the painful symptoms have led people to say "It won't kill you, but it may make you wish you were dead!"

Health officials in North Carolina, Nebraska and Indiana this week reported the first confirmed chikungunya cases in those states, along with Tennessee, which has suspected cases. Florida’s 25 cases account for the majority reported in the United States, according to state health officials and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The cases in the continental United States have not been transmitted by local mosquitoes, which would raise the threat.

Chikungunya, West Nile virus and other public health threats have become an issue in Virginia and across the United States in recent years. Citizens are asking what they can do to protect themselves, even in their own backyards. 

HOW CONSUMERS CAN HELP PREVENT THE SPREAD OF MOSQUITO BORNE ILLNESSES

• Contact a local Pest Management Professional. They can help homeowners reduce their exposure to mosquito bites by inspecting properties for breeding sites, treating to control mosquitoes in some cases or suggesting corrective actions, and educating homeowners and businesses about mosquitoes.

​WHAT CONSUMERS CAN DO NOW

• Eliminate or reduce mosquito-breeding areas by replacing all standing water at least once per week. This includes birdbaths, ponds and unfiltered pools.

• Remove unneeded vegetation or trash from around any standing water sources that cannot be changed, dumped or removed.

• Introduce mosquito-eating fish such as gambusia, green sunfish, bluefish and minnows to standing water.

• Seal and screen all windows, doors, and other openings.

• Avoid going outdoors when and where mosquitoes are most active: during dusk or dawn.

• Use insect repellent on exposed skin whenever or wherever mosquitoes are likely to bite. The most effective repellents currently available contain the active ingredient DEET in concentrations up to about 35% (greater concentrations don’t offer better protection).

• Wear long-sleeved shirts and long-legged pants preferably treated with repellant as well.

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A termite swarm is an event in which certain environmental conditions trigger a great number of winged termites to simultaneously fly from their nest (about 600-900 feet) to mate and locate new nest sites and food sources. Once matched, a “royal couple” burrows into the ground where the queen begins to lay eggs.

When a swarm occurs, winged termite swarmers called alates emerge in large numbers from cracks in buildings or holes in the soil through swarm tubes made by worker termites. Only a small percentage survive to form new colonies. Many are eaten by predators like birds, bats, and other insects. Or they die from natural causes and environmental conditions before they can locate a mate and nest site. Researchers generally agree that it takes years before a newly established colony will produce termite swarmers. With favorable conditions, it may take 4 years before a colony produces swarmers; with less favorable conditions, it will take longer.

A side from natural swarm cycles, other environmental conditions can trigger a termite swarm. A swarm can be triggered by a diminishing food supply, lack of water to support a colony and, in some cases, application of regular pesticides.

Swarms occur at different times of year–and day–for different termite species. Peak swarm season for the Eastern subterranean termite occurs from February through April. Subterraneans swarm during daylight hours. Remember that all swarmers cause NO structural damage to buildings, they are an indicator that there is a termite colony near by.

The presence of many swarmers (hundreds) in an untreated structure indicates a termite infestation. In some cases, though, the presence of a few swarmers, or only their wings around windows and doors, etc., may not necessarily mean that the structure is infested. It may simply indicate the presence of an outdoor colony near the structure; swarmers are attracted to a structure’s lights. What’s more, even heavy swarms outside and near a building may not indicate an infestation at all. But in all of these cases, it’s beneficial to have a termite inspector thoroughly inspect the structure.

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Roaches have been around forever. In nature, roaches recycle decaying organic matter. In your house, they are ugly, stinky spreaders of filth and germs. Once they infest a house, they are difficult to get rid of. Water bugs are simply a variety of roach, with the same foul habits.

SIGNS OF A ROACH INFESTATION INCLUDE:

-Roach droppings which look similar to coffee grounds. You’ll find them on kitchen counters and floors, and under kitchen and bathroom sinks.

-Roaches give off a scent which can give your home a greasy or musty smell.

-Noticing more than one or two roaches on your counter tops or in your cabinets.

FACT: Roaches proliferate because there is an ample food supply. Cutting off this supply will starve them and cause them to die off or move on.

Getting Rid of Roaches: – Good sanitation practices are crucial, as even minute amounts of food and liquid can attract cockroaches.

1.Roaches eat most organic matter, and they like easy access to water. Store dried foods in airtight containers.

2.Thoroughly clean the kitchen, including hidden spots under the refrigerator and under and behind your stove, where spilled food and grease accumulate.

3.Wipe in all the dark cracks where crumbs are likely to remain a hidden source of food.

4.Fill any cracks in the baseboard trim with boric acid, which will kill the roaches and taint any crumbs which may remain there.

5.Use roach spray and bait traps according to the manufacturers' instructions to eliminate roaches on your own.

6.Inspect any furniture, appliances and food delivery for cockroaches and egg cases before bringing them indoors, especially if items were kept outdoors or in storage.

7.Increase light and air circulation next to the building by pruning back overgrown vegetation and removing stacked wood and other items from next to the building.

8.Seal cracks and crevices where cockroaches could enter the home. Caulk cracks and crevices in foundations, sills, windows and the outside walls. Caulk openings where utility lines pass through walls and floors.

9.Repair plumbing leaks and seal off other sources of moisture.

10.Declutter and clean other areas of the house such as bathrooms and closets to discourage roaches from migrating.

11.Put roach traps inside cabinets and along floor edges to catch the occasional invader. Monitor the traps. A big increase in the number of trapped roaches can indicate an infestation is underway.

Tired of battling the roach problem in your home?  Roaches lay eggs. The egg is actually an egg case and can hold as many as 15 roach embryos each. The average female roach will lay up to 90 of these egg cases in her lifetime. If your roach infestation is growing as opposed to declining it's time to call in the experts.  If you are a Virginia resident and you're interested in getting rid of your roaches Contact PermaTreat.  

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The four most common ticks in Virginia that are encountered by humans are the lone star tick, the American dog tick, the brown tick, and the deer tick. The lone star tick is found predominately east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The American dog tick is found predominately west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The brown dog tick can be found throughout Virginia but tends to be uncommon. The deer tick is uncommon also and is found primarily in the northern and eastern sections of Virginia.

The brown dog tick is not known to carry any disease in Virginia. Both the lone star tick and the American dog tick are potential carriers of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF). The deer tick is a potential vector of Lyme disease and has been implicated in the transmission of ehrlichiosis. In any case of suspected tick transmitted disease, consult with a physician.

A tick needs to be attached for four to six hours in order to transmit RMSF to its human host. The first symptoms noticed are usually severe headache, chills, fever, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, and other flu-like symptoms. These first symptoms usually start 2 to 12 days after the tick bite. By the third day after the bite, a red rash develops on the wrists and ankles, in most cases, and often spreads to the entire hand or foot. A blood test is needed to confirm the disease, and early use of antibiotics has a very high rate of cure.

Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, initially develops as an oblong rash, usually 2 or more inches in size, with a clear center that develops at the site of the tick bite, although only 70% of people develop this symptom. The tick needs to be attached for 36 hours to transmit the disease. At a later time people usually develop flu-like symptoms such as nausea, headache, fever, and general stiffness of the neck joints. Chronic symptoms of a small percentage of untreated people include arthritis and nervous system complications.

All ticks have eight legs in the adult stage, but have six legs as newly hatched larvae. Small ticks of all species are called seed ticks, a common name that does not refer to one particular species.

The lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum, is about 5 mm in length or less with long mouthparts. It is light reddish-brown with a central white spot on the back of most of the adults.	The deer tick, Ixodes scapularis, is a small tick about 2-3 mm in length with long mouthparts. It is off-white or reddish when fed and has black legs. The deer tick until recently was known as Ixodes dammini.
The brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, is about 5 mm long with short stout mouthparts. It is distinguished from the American dog tick by its dark reddish-brown color and lack of any white markings.	The American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis, is about 5 mm long with short stout mouthparts. It is dark brown with light wavy lines or reticulations on its back.

The following methods of prevention are recommended by the Virginia Department of Health.

• Avoid tick infested areas such as tall grass and dense vegetation
• Walk in the center of trails and avoid brushing against weeds and tall grass
• Keep grass and underbrush cut and thinned
• Wear light colored clothing so ticks can be found easily
• Tuck pant legs into socks so ticks stay on the outside of pants.
• Conduct tick checks on children and pets every 4 hours
• Keep pets outside from April to September to help keep ticks out of the house
• Use tick repellents that contain at least 30% DEET
• Ask your veterinarian to recommend tick controls for your pets
• Treat your lawn with an approved pesticide for tick control
• Treat clothes with permanone (be sure to follow all label precautions)

Ticks are best removed with tweezers or by wrapping the tick in tissue paper and pulling out with fingers. Do not twist or jerk, and pull slowly to avoid leaving the mouthparts in the wound. Do not use nail polish, petroleum jelly, alcohol, or hot matches to remove the tick. Wash the wound with an antiseptic after the tick is removed. Kill the tick in rubbing alcohol and keep it in a small vial for a few months in case any disease symptoms develop.

SCIENTIFIC NAME:  Aedes albopictus