What's In Your Backyard? Spring Pest Edition

Spring is finally here...and so are spring pests. The trees are budding; plants are popping through the soil, and rivers and lakes are full of spring rain. Living in the Midwest, springtime is a much-needed revival and awakening, insects included. It's the time of year when insects wake up and start foraging inside homes for food and water. Many insects reproduce in the spring and establish nests for the season. We specialize in identifying, targeting, and treating common spring pests. Here are the pests you’re most likely to encounter in your backyard this spring.

Common Spring Pests

Ants

Ants, not groundhogs, are the real tell-tale sign of spring's arrival. Ants are social insects that live in colonies. Outdoors, ants live in hollow spaces, like logs and under rocks, or underground. Indoors, the wall and floorboards of homes are the perfect space for an ant colony. They prefer dark and moist environments, which is why wall and floor voids in homes are a preferred place.

If you see a few ants every spring inside of your home, you likely have a satellite colony within your home. The ants you see in your home are foraging for food. You may only see a few ants, but you’re only seeing a small part of the bigger picture. There could be a gi(ant) problem of 1000's of ants unseen in your home or business.

Spiders

Spiders are more commonly associated with fall, but their love of water puts them at the top of our spring pest list. Spiders are solitary arachnids that thrive in dark, moist spaces. You're likely to encounter spiders on your porches, eaves, and around doors and windows. Spiders can be domesticated so spiders will cotninue to be a year-round interior pest problem.

Wasps

Whether you’re enjoying an outdoor meal, gardening, or just enjoying time on your porch - you’re likely to encounter wasps that pack a powerful sting. The most common wasps you’ll encounter in your yard are paper wasps and yellowjackets. Paper wasp nests are easy to identify, as they are visible and often seen in the eaves, on decks, and in corners of houses. Yellowjackets are notably more aggressive than paper wasps, and their nests are also harder to locate, due to their nature of building inside of cavities like behind siding and in the ground.

Less Common Spring Pests

Box Elders

You may have remembered seeing boxelder bugs last fall, as they tend to be most commonly found in homes and businesses in the fall and spring. They are small, oval-shaped, black insects with a red "X" on their backs. Boxelder bugs mass migrate indoors in the fall, and when winter hits they mass migrate back outdoors. It's common to see higher boxelder populations in the spring for this reason.

Ticks

If you've ever gone on a spring hike, you know that spring means ticks season. It's important to not only protect yourself, but work to prevent ticks from nesting on your yard. Ticks range in size, and many species carry diseases such as Lyme Disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Chagas Disease.

Clover Mites

Clover mites are very tiny red mites that have become an increasing problem for homeowners. These red bugs are often found near doors and windows. Over fertilization can attract them to your soul. These pests are extremely difficult to irradicate and require homeowners to take additional steps for their prevention, including:

• Reducing or eliminating nitrogen fertilization to grass
• Removing grass and landscape around your foundation and replacing it with landscape rocks
• Seal entry points around doors and windows with silicon

Spring Pests are No Match for Spidexx

Whether you’re battling ants in your bathroom, boxelder bugs on your windows, or a wasp nest around your house, trust the experts in spring pest control - Spidexx Pest Control. Call us at (844) 922-7732 to start service or if you're a current customer battling spring pests.

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