General Pests

Let's take a look at some occasional invaders that sometimes hide in your home. These pests can carry bacteria and disease and are a health hazard as well as being unsettling. Targeted treatments, including baits, traps, and sprays eliminate your problems, and improve your peace of mind. Let Eco-Safe ® solve your pest problem today! We utilize a wide variety of organic and environmentally safe products to ensure the safety of you, your family and your community.

Cockroaches  ::  Ants  ::  Spiders  ::  Centipedes/Millipedes  ::  Bed Bugs  ::  Boxelder Bugs

Cockroaches are one of the most hated insects, especially when they are found inside homes. There are several different kinds of cockroaches including:

	German Cockroach - Found throughout the world; commonly found in restaurants, kitchens and stores where food and moisture are abundant; contaminate food, leave stains, create foul odors and carry disease organisms.
	Smokey Brown Cockroach - (Commonly mistaken for waterbugs) Typically reddish to brownish black and very shiny. They can fly short distances and are attracted to lights at night; have the reputation of being difficult to control because it is so active and have many habitat preferences. They rarely infest the dwelling part of buildings, and are instead found in sheds, wall and roof spaces, sub-floors, mulched areas, and in and around grease traps and drains.
	Oriental Cockroach - Also known as black beetles; more sluggish than other species.. These cockroaches are common in basements, crawl spaces, cracks and crevices of porches, foundations, and walkways adjacent to buildings. They feed on a wide variety of plant and animal material. The Oriental cockroach breeds well in unventilated crawl spaces or basements where humidity is high.
	American Cockroach - Also mistaken for a water bug, the largest house-infesting species, about one and one-half inches long; reddish-brown wings with light markings on thorax.
	Brown Banded Cockroach - Easily recognized by alternating light and dark bands across its back; doesn't multiply as fast as the German, but it is considered harder to control; often found high on walls in picture frames, behind molding, near appliance motors, in light switches, closets and furniture.

	Carpenter Ant - Usually nest outdoors in stumps and logs in contact with the soil and in dead tree limbs and cavities or in homes in wood damaged by termites, fungi and moisture. They don't actually eat wood - though the galleries they excavate can be quite extensive.
	Pharaoh Ant - Small red to yellowish ants that can nest in wall voids, cabinets, boxes of food and any other accessible crevices and spaces and are even known to invade sick rooms and feed on blood plasma and wound dressings.
	Odorous House Ant - Odorous house ants are small ants about 1/8th inch long and dark brown in color. Their name comes from the foul odor, similar to the smell of rotten coconuts, that is given off when the worker ants are crushed. Odorous house ants regularly forage for food along well-traveled trails. They feed on dead insects, sweets and meats.
	Acrobat Ant - Named the acrobat ant because of the way the worker ants carry their abdomens above the rest of the body as if they were performing a balancing act. Acrobat ants are slightly longer than 1/8th inch. They vary in color from yellowish brown to dark brown, and the heart-shaped abdomen is usually darker than the rest of the body. When acrobat ants nest indoors they are usually inside wood or cavities kept moist with water from leaks. As they excavate the large galleries used as nest sites, sawdust may be deposited near the nest area.
	Thief Ant - Tiny ants that sometimes go undetected for weeks. They earn their title by feeding off the larvae of other ant species. Commonly seen around the kitchen sink or pantry, they go for cheeses, greasy foods, meats and sometimes sweets.
	Argentine Ant - Among the many species who like honey, syrups and jellies, they are also meat eaters and outside they can severely damage orchard crops. You can find these ants crawling around electrical outlets, kitchen counters and on bathroom ceilings at any time of the year.
	Red Imported Fire Ant - Usually a reddish brown color, fire ants live in colonies of up to 200,000 individuals with mounds that can be two feet high and three feet across with as many as 50 colonies per acre. It's painful, burning sting results in pustules that take up to 10 days to heal. Some people are extremely allergic to the sting, needing fast medical attention to deal with the toxin.

There are measures you can take to minimize the likelihood of an ant invasion in the kitchen; wiping up spills and putting food away immediately in sealed containers helps. Keeping your home dry and well ventilated will discourage dreaded Carpenter Ants from entering. When ants do get in, insecticides applied along baseboards or around foundations can provide some temporary relief. But ants seldom carry enough insecticide back to the nest to kill the queen... so the nest must be located and the colony destroyed. The professionals at Eco-Safe ® know where to look and how to fight with the best products available on the market.

BLACK WIDOW SPIDER

Glossy black with a red hourglass marking on the underside of its abdomen, it makes a strong, sticky irregular web in protected areas where prey is likely to wander in and be trapped. Foundations, vents, shrubs and woodpiles at ground level are common habitats.

Their highly poisonous venom can cause concern for small children and older or infirm persons. Medical attention should be sought if bitten. Some trap their prey in webs or snares; others are active hunters that use excellent vision to stalk or ambush their food. Virtually all spiders have poison glands that connect with the fangs. Venom produced by the glands apparently is used to kill or paralyze prey and in defense. Only a few species, such as the black widow and the brown recluse, have venom that is very toxic or harmful to humans.

BROWN RECLUSE SPIDER

A brownish spider with distinguishing characteristics of the presence of three pairs of eyes arranged in a semicircle on the forepart of the head and a violin-shaped, dark marking immediately behind the semicircle of eyes with the neck of the violin pointing towards the bulbous abdomen. This violin-shaped marking has earned it the name "fiddle-backed" spider.

It is found in undisturbed areas such as sheds, garages and dark closets. Garments left hanging for some time are favorite spots. The brown recluse spider is not aggressive and normally bites only when crushed, handled or disturbed.

Their bite causes a severe systemic reaction and an ulcerous sore, which requires extensive medical attention. Fatalities are rare, but bites are most dangerous to children, elderly and those in poor physical condition.

Most species of spiders do not attempt to bite; many have fangs that are not capable of piercing the skin. However, some will, with results that are similar to a wasp or bee sting. There is the chance that a person can have an allergic reaction to the venom.

First Aid if bitten: Remain calm, collect the spider, if possible, for positive identification and get medical attention immediately (contact your physician, hospital and/or Poison Information Center & apply antiseptic solution to prevent infection and ice packs to relieve local swelling and pain directly to the bite area.)

Steps to prevent encounters with spiders:

• Shake out clothing and shoes before dressing, and inspect bedding and towels before using.
• Do not go barefoot or handle firewood without gloves.
• Remove piles of trash; eliminate cluttered areas in basements, closets, attics and other outbuildings.
• Dust and vacuum thoroughly and more in normally undisturbed places.

CENTIPEDES are sometimes called "hundred-leggers" because of their many pairs of legs. They are long elongate, flattened, and wormlike, usually yellowish to dark brown, sometimes with darker stripes or markings, with 15 to 177 pairs of legs - 1 pair per segment. Even though centipedes are predaceous and therefore beneficial, most people consider them a nuisance pest.

Some species can inflict a painful bite, but it is not lethal. All centipedes have poison jaws with which they inject venom to kill their prey. If handled roughly, some of the larger species can break the human skin, resulting in a bite which causes some pain and swelling, something like a bee sting. However, the large Scolopendra can inflict a very painful bite and should be handled with great care.

Centipedes are typically found in areas of high moisture such as loose bark, in rotting logs, under stones, trash, piles of leaves and grass clippings, flower-bed mulch, etc., where their typical prey is found.

Although they may be found anywhere in a house, usual places are damp basements, bathrooms, damp closets, and potted plants. Eliminating moisture areas is the key method of prevention. Remove leaves, grass clippings, logs, stones and rocks from around foundation. Provide adequate ventilation in crawl spaces de-humidify basements. Vacuum living quarters frequently, especially around baseboards and cracks and crevices areas, behind kitchen appliances.

MILLIPEDES are sometimes called "thousand-leggers", but they usually have 30-90+ pairs of legs, usually blackish or brownish but some red, orange, or with mottled patterns. Members of several millipede groups give off an ill-smelling, repugnant fluid through openings along the sides of the body. In some species, this fluid contains hydrocyanic acid, iodine, and quinone, which is toxic to some arthropods and small animals. It can cause vesicular dermatitis (small blisters) in humans.

They are typically found in areas of high moisture and decaying vegetation such as under trash, piles of grass clippings, flower-bed mulches, leaf litter, etc. As with other occasional invaders, reduction of moisture areas inside and outside will help discourage millipedes from moving in.

Mow the lawn closely and edge it to promote quicker drying. Remove debris such as leaves, rotting vegetation, heavy mulch, wood, rocks from around foundation. Store firewood up off the ground away from the house. Ventilate crawl spaces and basements to reduce sheltered hiding places. Water lawns early in the morning to allow the grass time to dry during the day. Millipedes within the home can be easily vacuumed up and the vacuum bag discarded.

Most people of this generation have never seen a bed bug. Until recently, they also were a rarity among pest control professionals. Bed bug infestations were common in the United States before World War II. But with improvements in hygiene, and especially the widespread use of DDT during the 1940s and '50s, the bugs all but vanished.

In recent years, however, bed bugs have made a comeback in the U.S. They are increasingly being encountered in homes, apartments, hotels, motels, dormitories, shelters and modes of transport. International travel has undoubtedly contributed to the resurgence of bed bugs in this country. Changes in modern pest control practice - and less effective bed bug pesticides - are other factors suspected for the recurrence.

Adult bed bugs are about 1/4 inch long and reddish brown, with oval, flattened bodies. The immatures (nymphs) resemble the adults, but are smaller and somewhat lighter in color. Bed bugs do not fly, but can move quickly over floors, walls, ceilings and other surfaces. Female bed bugs lay their eggs in secluded areas, depositing up to five a day and 500 during a lifetime. The eggs are tiny, whitish, and hard to see without magnification.

Bed bugs are challenging pests to control. They hide in many tiny places, so inspections and treatments must be thorough. The professionals at Eco-Safe ® know where to look for bed bugs, and have an assortment of management tools at their disposal. Affording access for inspection and treatment is essential, and excess clutter should be removed. In some cases, infested mattresses and box springs will need to be discarded. Since bed bugs can disperse throughout a building, it also may be necessary to inspect adjoining rooms and apartments.

Adult box elder bugs are about ½ inch long, dull black with red markings along the front edges of their wings.

They are predominantly attracted to the female Box Elder tree, also called an Ash-Leaved Maple, Acer Negundo. Female box elder trees can be identified by their winged seed pods. The box elder tree is their food source and that explains the attraction to it.

During spring, box elder bug adults and nymphs can be seen emerging from hibernation sites, flying to a box elder tree or gathering on the sides of buildings. At this time the overall size of box elder bug infestations on trees and buildings can be considerable smaller (differing as much as tenfold) than box elder bug infestations in the fall. Female box elder bugs emerging from hibernation begin to lay eggs in April and May.

The temperature of surfaces found around buildings can contribute to infestations of adult box elder bugs in the spring and fall. Research data, obtained by measuring the body temperature of box elder bugs and the temperature of different surfaces, shows that box elder bugs prefer surfaces with temperatures that are much higher than a box elder bugs normal body temperatures.

Several cold nights followed by an Indian summer cause box elder bugs to begin congregating on homes as they search for where to spend the winter.

In the fall there is an increase in the number of box elder bugs on host trees, and this increase is associated with development of the ovules on female box elder and maple trees. There are much fewer box elder bugs around buildings in the fall; most are found on trees. Adult box elder bugs move to overwintering sites during October. Although the same overwintering sites are not usually used by box elder bugs every year, there are some that are frequented on a regular basis.

Box elder bugs travel short or long distances (as much as two miles) from a box elder tree to a favorable hibernation site. Box elder bugs spend the winter in leaf litter next to buildings, under bark in protected areas or in other spaces in which large numbers of box elder bugs can gather for a few months.

Normally October is the month in which box elder bugs become a pest. Box elder bugs begin to mass in large numbers on Box elder tree trunks to prepare to overwinter. From the tree the box elder bugs move to wood and rock piles, fallen leaves, and the cracks and crevices of buildings. They are especially attracted to the sunny side of light colored homes. Box elder bugs creep into siding, window and door frames, porches, and cracks in masonry.

Box elder bugs do not bite, reproduce indoors, cause any structural damage, or cause health problems to humans or pets. Smashing box elder bugs can stain fabrics and wallpaper. Box elder bugs are merely a nuisance.

Moderate daytime temperatures are confusing to box elder bugs; it is normal to have a recurrence of the box elder bugs in the middle of winter when it is mild. Box elder Bugs come out of hiding and become active because it is so warm during the day, it seems like spring to them. As long as it is mild box elder bugs will congregate on Box elder trees and light colored homes.