Identify A Pest With Our Insect Library

Termites are usually discovered when either their shelter tubes are found in wood or masonry or when a winged swarm emerges from infested wood. After swarming, they mate, land, and quickly remove their own wings, and sometimes these are the only signs that they are still present. Upon maturity, a single queen from one of these swarms can produce 20,000-30,000 eggs per day and live for several years. They feed on and burrow through wood or other cellulose-based products and cause untold structural and monetary damage every year.

Fleas can live as little as one year, but the female can produce up to five thousand (5000) eggs at that time. In addition to the sheer annoyance of insect bites and welts, they can also directly transmit Ricketts, typhus, and a variety of other bacterial and viral infections. In severe cases, infected animals can become anemic (low red blood cell count) from the loss of blood from feeding fleas.

Depending on the species, ticks can live a minimum of one year and produce between a few hundred to three thousand (3000) eggs in a single lifetime. Ticks are transmitters of a variety of diseases, including tularemia, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and, of course, Lyme disease.

Bed bugs have made a serious resurgence in the last few decades in the United States. They can be found inhabiting mattresses, bed lines, couches, and furniture, anywhere that humans spend sufficient time at rest to allow their feeding. They live an average of nine (9) months and in that time can produce as many as five hundred (500) new bed bugs each. They are responsible for skin rashes and welts related to their bites, and, let's face it, they're just gross.

Centipedes can have a varying number of legs from under 20 to over 300. A key trait uniting this group is a pair of venom claws or forcipules formed from a modified first appendage. Centipedes usually have a drab coloration combining shades of brown and red. Centipedes range in size from a few millimeters to about 30 cm (12 in) in the largest scolopendromorphs. Centipedes are found in a wide variety of environments, from tropical rainforests to deserts. Within these habitats, centipedes require a moist micro-habitat because they don't have the waxy cuticle of insects and arachnids, and so lose water quickly through the skin. Accordingly, they are found in leaf litter and soil, under stones and dead wood, and inside logs. 

Spiders have eight legs, breathe air, and have fangs that inject venom. Spiders differ from other arthropods in that the usual body segments are fused into two tagmata, the cephalothorax, and stomach, and joined by a small, circular pedicel. Unlike insects, spiders do not have antennae. They can be found in air vents, corners of rooms, attics. They find quiet, hidden spaces where they can get food and water.

Moles are small mammals. They have a velvety coat, tiny or invisible ears and eyes, reduced hindlimbs, and short, powerful forelimbs with large paws for digging. Moles live in gardens, urban areas, woods, or any area with soil where they can dig tunnels. 

Crickets are insects somewhat related to grasshoppers. They have slightly flattened bodies and long antennae. There are more than 900 species of crickets. They are typically nocturnal and are frequently confused with grasshoppers because they have a similar body shape, including jumping hind legs. Crickets do not harm humans. 

Hornets are the largest stinging pests. They are very similar in appearance to yellowjackets. Hornets eat insects and build aerial nests. Hornets are social insects. Hornets have reddish-brown heads and thoraxes, with abdomens that are golden with dark brown stripes. Hornets build nests by chewing wood into a paper-like pulp, by mixing it with their saliva. The nest is about the size of a basketball once it is fully built. If the nest is close to your home posing a threat, we can help. 

Flies have a pair of flight wings on the mesothorax and a couple of halteres, derived from the hind wings, on the metathorax. The only other order of insects bearing two functional wings plus any form of halteres is the Strepsiptera. House flies are nuisance pests, and they can spread diseases.