Pest Control Tips: Pests and Weather

You can expect an increase in the number of pests you see this summer, plus more invasions, as these larger populations seek food. Specific pests you should watch for include: ants, outdoor cockroaches, spiders, crickets, ladybugs, yellow jackets, hornets, mice and rats. Here’s why:

• More moisture promotes pest reproduction and growth, so you have more insects! Ants, especially, reproduce in greater numbers in wet, warm climates.
• Additional pests mean a greater need for more food sources. Insects will continue to search beyond their normal habitats to find food.
• Invasions may occur as pests relocate to drier ground.

Excessive rainfall over a short period of time will flood the soil and cause insects, especially ants, to seek dry ground. Some pestsretreating from the unfavorable weather conditions will find shelter in the nearest location, which is often your home. Other facts to note:

• Ants can easily move an entire colony on short notice.
• Common areas that may become new homes overnight for ants are wall voids and under foundations.
• Excessive rain creates an abundance of ants, which increases the need for pest control services.

Rain will create additional pest growth, while lack of rain promotes pest invasions. If you enjoyed a dry, cool spring, chances are pests may be fewer, but they will be relentless in their pursuit of moisture for survival. Dry conditions affect pests in the following ways:

• Lack of moisture outside drives pests inside homes to find water.
• During dry weather, ants, earwigs, millipedes, pillbugs and sowbugs, crickets and spiders are the most common pests to seek waterindoors.
• Millipedes have been known to leave leaf litter, mulch or a lawn and move in migrations of thousands when their harborages dry out – inevitably invading homes that stand in their way.

Fewer pests are one benefit of a dry spring and summer. Extended periods of dry weather or droughts will affect the food supply also eliminating some insects. Here's what you can expect:

• With a reduced food supply, scorpions and certain spiders must venture beyond their normal habitats in search of a food source.
• Pests may establish breeding sites and harborages in and around your home – in debris, bricks, rocks, firewood, etc.

With cooler temperatures outside, pests seek the warmth and shelter of your home. Some pests you are likely to find invading your home to escape the cooler temperatures are box elder bugs, cluster flies, ladybugs and silverfish. Here’s more about these pests:

• Occasional invaders, like overwintering pests, start moving indoors during late summer and early fall as the temperature drops.
• These pests like to use walls, voids and attics as their winter retreats.
• There isn’t any way to totally pest-proof your home, but you can seal as many cracks and holes on the outside of your home as possible, especially on the south and west walls where the sun heats the home during the late summer and fall. Also, you should install tight-fitting screens on all foundation and attic vents.

Any short period of drought, extended rainfall or excessive heat or cold can force insects and other pests to invade homes seeking relief from unfavorable weather conditions. Like people, pests are affected by extreme heat or lack of rain and will do what is necessary to survive. Understanding the cause-and-effect relationship of weather and pests will help keep insects out of your home. For more information about pest control, click here. Schedule a Free Pest Evaluation online today and a Terminix representative will perform a complete analysis of your home.