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PEST FACTS
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HOUSE MICE Mus domestics Color: Light brown to black
Legs: Four
Shape: Round
Size: 2"
Antennae: No
Flight: No
The house mouse is the most common rodent pest in most parts of the world. It can breed rapidly and adapt quickly to changing conditions.
Habits
House mice can breed throughout the year and can share nests.
Habitat
House mice live in structures, but they can live outdoors.
Threats
Micro droplets of mouse urine can cause allergies in children. Mice can also bring fleas, mites, ticks and lice into your home.
Prevention
To keep mice and other rodents out, make sure all holes of larger diameter than a pencil are sealed. Mice can squeeze through spaces as small as a nickel. Seal any cracks and voids. Don't overlook proper drainage at the foundation and always install gutters or diverts which will channel water away from the building.
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NORWAY RATS Rattus norvegicus Color: Gray, brown or black
Legs: Four
Shape: Long
Size: 10 to 12 inches (8" body plus 4" tail)
Antennae: No
Flight: No
These rats have smaller eyes and ears and shorter tails.
Habits
Rats are excellent climbers and often enter a home in the fall when outside food sources become scarce.
Habitat
Norway rats live in fields, farm lands and in structures. Rats are often found in woodpiles. Rodents can gain entry to a home through a hole the size of a quarter.
Threats Rats can chew through wiring, causing fires. They also spread numerous diseases.
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PAVEMENT ANTS Tetramorium caespitum
Color: Dark brown to blackish
Legs: Six
Shape: Segmented; oval
Size: 1/8"
Antennae: Yes
Flight: No
Pavement ants get their name because they make their nests in or under cracks in pavement. They can infest structures.
Habits
These ants will eat almost anything, including insects, seeds, honeydew, honey, bread, meats, nuts and cheese.
Habitat
These ants live in or under pavement cracks.
Threats
These ants do not pose a public health risk, but they can contaminate food and should be avoided.
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CARPENTER ANTS Camponotus species Color: Varies depending on species, from red to black or a combination. The two most common species are black.
Legs: Six
Shape: Segmented; oval
Size: 5/8"
Antennae: Yes
Flight: No
Carpenter ants get their name because they excavate wood in order to build their nests. Their excavation results in smooth tunnels inside the wood. Carpenter ants range in size from one-quarter inch for a worker ant to up to three-quarters inch for a queen.
Habits
All species mainly attack wood that is or has been wet and damaged by mold. Even though these ants first invade wet, decayed wood, they may soon begin building paths through dry, undamaged wood. They usually come into buildings through cracks around doors, windows, or through holes for wires. They will also crawl along overhead wires, shrubs, or tree limbs that touch the building far above the ground.
Habitat
Carpenter ants build their nests outdoors in various wood sources, including tree stumps, firewood or landscaping. They need a constant water source to survive. They will enter homes through wet, damaged wood.
Threats
Carpenter ants damage wood through their nest building. If they gain entry to a structure, they pose a property threat.
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ROOF RATS Rattus rattus Color: Black
Legs: Four
Shape: Long
Size: 16" total (6-8" body plus 6-8" tail)
Antennae: No
Flight: No
Roof rats get their name from their tendency to be found in the upper parts of buildings. Ranging in size from 6 to 8 inches in length, not including their tails, they have very poor vision and are color blind. They do have extremely strong senses of hearing, smell, touch and taste.
Habits
Roof rats are known for the damage they cause by chewing on materials and eating stored foods.
Habitat
Roof rats can be found in the upper parts of buildings, and can also be found under, in and around structures. They only need a space of one-half inch to get into buildings.
Threats
Roof rats secured their place in history by spreading the highly dangerous bubonic plague. They support many ectoparasites and urinate on food.
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BROWN RECLUSE SPIDERS Loxosceles reclusa
Color: Light to dark brown, with characteristic dark brown violin marking on back
Legs: Eight
Shape: Round
Size: 5/8"
Antennae: No
Flight: No
Brown recluse spiders have a characteristic dark brown violin marking on their back.
Habits
Brown recluse spiders are nocturnal and eat other bugs like cockroaches and crickets. Male brown recluse spiders wander farther than females and will crawl into shoes or other clothing.
Habitat
Brown recluse spiders often live outdoors in debris and wood piles. They can be found indoors in storage areas and dark recesses.
Threats
Like the black widow spider, the brown recluse spider bites in defense and does not bite humans instinctively. They will bite humans when the clothing they are hiding in is worn. The brown recluse spider bite is painful and can produce an open, ulcerating sore.
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BEDBUGS Cimex lectularius
Bedbugs can be found in All 50 States
Color: Mahogany to rusty brown; red after a blood meal
Legs: Six
Shape: Flat; broad oval
Size: 1/4
Antennae: Yes
Flight: No
Bedbugs get their name because they like to live and feed in beds.
Habits
Bedbugs like to travel and will hide in suitcases, boxes and shoes to be near a food supply. They are elusive, nocturnal creatures. They can hide behind baseboards, electrical switchplates, picture frames, even wall paper. They come out at night for a blood meal.
Habitat
Bedbugs like to hide in small cracks and crevices close to a human environment. They can be found behind baseboards, wallpaper, upholstery, and in furniture crevices.
Threats
Although bedbugs can dine on any warm-blooded animal, they primarily dine on humans. Bedbugs do not transmit diseases, but their bites can become red, itchy welts.
Prevention
Vacuum suitcases after returning from a vacation. Check your bedsheets for tell-tale blood spots. Bedbugs are elusive creatures, so it is imperative to seek professional pest control to address an infestation
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CARPENTER BEES Xylocopa species
Color: Blue-black, green or purple metallic sheen on abdomen
Legs: Six
Shape: Oval; bee shape
Size: 1
Antennae: Yes
Flight: Yes
Carpenter bees look like typical bumblebees but often lack yellow stripes. They are solitary bees.
Habits
Unlike bumble bees, carpenter bees are solitary insects. Female carpenter bees will chew a tunnel into a piece of wood to build a nest gallery. The bits of wood she chews and deposits outside the nest are called frass. The male carpenter bee guards the outside of the nest. He does not have a stinger, but his constant buzzing causes concern for some.
Habitat
Carpenter bees bore through soft woods to lay eggs and protect their larvae as they develop.
Threats
Carpenter bees do not pose a public health threat, but they can damage wood through their nest building.
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EARWIGS Order Dermaptera Color: Dark brown
Legs: Six
Shape: Long, narrow
Size: 1
Antennae: Yes
Flight: No
Earwigs got their name from the myth that they crawl into sleeping people's ears and tunnel into their brains. The long cerci, or clippers, on their backsides easily identify an earwig.
Habits
Earwigs hide during the day and feeds on leaves, flowers, fruits, mold and insects at night.
Habitat
These insects live together outdoors in large numbers. They can be found under piles of lawn debris, mulch or in tree holes. They gain entry to a structure through exterior cracks
Threats
Contrary to folklore, earwigs do not crawl into ears and eat peoples' brains at night. They do not spread diseases, but their menacing appearance can be alarming to a homeowner.
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SUBTERRANEAN TERMITES Family Rhinotermitidae
Color: Creamy brown
Legs: Six
Shape: Long, narrow, oval
Size: 1/8
Antennae: Yes
Flight: Yes
Subterranean termites live in underground colonies or in moist secluded areas aboveground that can contain up to 2 million members. They build distinctive "mud tubes" to gain access to food sources and to protect themselves from open air. Termite colonies are organized into castes depending on tasks -- workers, soldiers and reproductives. The characteristics of a subterranean termite are dependent on the termite's role in the colony. Cream-colored Worker subterranean termites are 1/8 to 3/8's of an inch in length. Soldier subterranean termites are of a similar body length, but are distinguished by their powerful mandibles. Solider termites have cream-colored bodies and brown heads. Reproductive subterranean termites are approximately one inch long.
Habits
Subterranean termites live underground and build tunnels, referred to as mud tubes, to reach food sources. Like other termite species, they feed on products containing cellulose. Subterranean termites swarm in the spring -- groups of reproductive termites go off to start new colonies.
Habitat
Subterranean termites need contact with the soil to survive and live underground. They can build tunnels through cracks in concrete.
Threats
Subterranean termites are by far the most destructive species. They can collapse a building entirely, meaning possible financial ruin for a homeowner. The hard, saw-toothed jaws of termites work like shears and are able to bite off extremely small fragments of wood, one piece at a time.
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