Helpful Information

Odorous House Ants

When you have a sudden invasion of your house by hundreds of small-to-medium sized (1/16”-1/8” long), blackish ants, especially if this begins just after a heavy rain, you may wonder where they all came from. These are very likely to be Odorous House Ants. Although they sometimes establish a nest in a wall void or similar location within a house, their main nest is usually outdoors, in the ground near a shrub, or under a thick layer of mulch. Following their trails to where they disappear into a crack under a door, or through an opening to the outside may help confirm that identification. If you crush one or two of these ants and the smell like the odor of a rotting coconut, this will further support that they are probably. Odorous House Ants. Their colonies vary greatly in size, with 300 to 300,000 workers, and may include many queens. These ants will feed on a variety of foods, but they generally prefer sweets. Both workers and reproductives may live for several years. Workers from different colonies are not hostile toward each other, and may routinely move along the same foraging trails.

Controlling these ants requires that you find their nest and treat it thoroughly with a properly labeled insecticide, if the situation allows that to be done. Unusual structural situations, inability to find the nest(s), or customer concerns may require the use of baits. Baiting for any pest is always very dependent on the pests’ accepting and feeding adequately on your baits.

Stinging Pests May Be A Nuisance Or Even A Health Threat

As the weather gets warmer, people spend more time outdoors. This is also the time of year when stinging pests are very busy looking for food and increasing their colony size. Although their presence and the threats they pose vary with your location, some of the most important stinging pests are bald-faced hornets, European hornets, Paper Wasps, Yellow Jackets, Fire Ants, and Velvet ants.

Bald-Faced Hornets

These large, 5/8” to 3/4” long, wasps are black with yellow markings, which build large grayish-colored “paper carton” aerial nests, often as large as a basketball, which usually hang in an exposed location such as from a tree. Removal of their nests should be left to a properly trained and equipped professional.

European Hornets

These very large, 3/4” to 1” long, hornets are brown with yellow abdominal stripes and a pale face. The build large brownish-colored “paper carton” nests, sometimes as large as a basketball, which are often located in some protected area, like a wall void, an attic, or within the branches of a bush. When their nest is in an exposed location, such as hanging from a tree branch or from the eave of a building, it usually is covered by several layers of brownish “paper carton”. Although mainly active in the daytime, workers, (and males) do fly at night and may be attracted to lights. They are generally beneficial insects, feeding mainly on other insects, many of which are pests of our plants. By late summer, a mature colony may number 200-400 workers (up to 1000). Only fertilized queens live over winter. Workers are protective of their nest and give a painful sting, sometimes repeated stings, if they or their nest are disturbed. In general, they are much less aggressive, even near their nest, than are bald-faced hornets. Control of hornets or removal of their nests should be left to a properly trained and equipped professional.

Paper Wasps

Paper wasps, in the Genus: Polistes, are 5/8” to 3/4" long, usually brownish with yellow markings. Some have red markings. They build a grayish colored, single-layer, paper like comb with cells opening downward. This nest is attached by a single long pedicel to a twig, tree branch, or horizontal surface, like and eave or window frame. They are beneficial insects, which are active in the daytime, feeding mainly on other insects, many of which are plant pests. A mature colony may number 100-250 workers. Workers are quite protective of their nest and will give a painful sting, often repeated stings, if they or their nest are disturbed. Control of paper wasps or removal of their nests should be left to a properly trained and equipped professional.

A recently introduced species, the Dominulus Paper Wasp, has spread throughout most of the Eastern U.S. Some workers of this species may survive the winter in the southern states, and they often will re-use and expand the previous year’s nest, which may get as large as a typical hornet’s nest after several years.

Yellow Jackets

Yellow Jackets are 3/8” to 5/8” long, depending on the species, with their respective queens being about 25% longer. Most species are black with yellow stripes, but some include red markings, and some are black with white markings. These are day-active, beneficial, predatory insects. They build a paper like nest containing several layers of cells. A mature nest may typically have 2,000-6,000 cells and 1,000-4,000 workers. Nests are sometimes built in open aerial spots, or within bushes, but most species build their nest in a cavity hollowed out below ground. Some workers act as guards at the entrances to below-ground nests. They are very protective of their nest. Usually only fertilized queens live over the winter. Although Yellow Jackets are generally not likely to attack and sting humans, they can quickly become very aggressive if their nest is disturbed. After the new fertilized queens have gone into their overwintering sites, the remaining workers begin to seek sweets and garbage near places where humans are active outdoors, or around garbage cans. Workers can inflict a painful sting and may sting repeatedly. Yellow Jacket control or nest removal should be left to properly trained and equipped professionals.

A Pest Free Environment Reduces Indoor Hazards

You’ve already heard about pests multiplying in your home.
Let’s look at the facts:

Fact #1: For every cockroach you see, there are approximately 20 in hiding! It may seem unbelievable, but it’s true. The main reason this happens is cockroaches lay eggs everywhere. Yes, many of these eggs are laid in places you will never see… in between walls, underneath kitchen cabinets, in crevices and hard to reach corners… But they also lay eggs in your furnishings.

Fact #2: Even if you pack up and move, your cockroaches will move with you because they lay egg sacks in your furniture! This happens over and over again. It’s a vicious, disgusting cycle. In fact, the average female cockroach lays an eggs sack containing approximately 30 baby cockroaches. Your home is the place cockroaches pick to have their nursery of hatching eggs.

There is a way out of this vicious cycle. Getting your home thoroughly exterminated and regularly having in exterminated gets rid of the problem.

You see, my company is going to be here for a long, long time. If I were “pushy” or rude, I just wouldn’t make it. Plus that’s just not me! I make friends, not enemies.

And if you ever use my services, I’ll be thrilled ( and so will you). But if you don’t, that’s fine. There won’t be any hard feelings.