Bug Facts
A few things worth knowing about Florida bugs
Most of what people believe about household pests comes from advertising, and a fair amount of it is wrong. Here’s what’s actually true about the ones we deal with most.
Roaches don’t mean your house is dirty
This is the one that embarrasses people most, and it shouldn’t. Roach problems happen in spotless homes all the time.
Part of the reason is that “roach” isn’t one problem. In Florida you’ve mostly got two different situations. The big ones — American roaches, Australian roaches, what most people around here call palmetto bugs — live outside. They’re in the mulch, the woodpile, the sewer lines, the palm trees. They come inside through a crack looking for water or shade, and finding one on your kitchen floor doesn’t mean anything about how you keep your house. It means you live in Florida.
German roaches are the other situation, and they’re a different animal. They don’t wander in from the yard. They breed indoors, they multiply fast, and they usually arrive by riding in on something — a grocery bag, a used appliance, a box out of a storage unit. That’s why the treatment isn’t the same. Sealing up the outside of your house does a lot for palmetto bugs and almost nothing for German roaches.
They’re also worth taking seriously for a reason most people don’t know. Roaches give off an allergen a lot like cat dander, and it triggers asthma attacks in people who are sensitive to it. If somebody in the house has asthma that’s gotten worse and nobody can figure out why, that’s worth checking.
Spraying ants can make it worse
Most over-the-counter ant sprays are repellent. That sounds like a good thing. It isn’t. When ants sense it, the nest doesn’t die — it moves. A big piece of the colony picks up the eggs and relocates somewhere else in your house.
Pharaoh ants are the worst about this. Spray them and the colony buds, meaning one nest splits into several, and now you’re dealing with three problems where you had one.
That same spray also ruins bait. Bait works because a worker carries it home and feeds the colony, queen included. Ants won’t touch bait that’s been contaminated with repellent, so the one thing that would have actually reached the nest gets shut off.
Wasps are usually found by accident
Yellow jackets and hornets build where you’re not looking. In the ground, in a wall void, up under the soffit. You find the nest when you’re mowing or trimming a hedge, which is the worst possible way to find it.
And they don’t sting once and quit the way a honeybee does. A yellow jacket can sting you as many times as it wants to. If anybody in your house reacts badly to stings, that changes how long you want to wait on it. Otherwise the rule is simple — the nest gets bigger every week you leave it alone.
Termites and silverfish are quieter problems
Drywood termites live inside the wood itself. No mud tubes, no soil contact, nothing to see from the outside until the damage is already done. That’s what makes them different from the subterranean termites most people picture.
Silverfish work the same way in a different material. They chew through books, papers, clothing and upholstery, and most people don’t notice until something they cared about is already ruined.
If you’ve got a question, just ask
If you’ve got a problem with termites, roaches, ants, silverfish, wasps, or most of the common Florida pests, call 727-462-0400 and ask for me or Austin. Even if you just want to know what you’re looking at, ask anyway. I’ll tell you whether you hire us or not.
As long as GOD keeps makin’ em, we’ll keep killin’ em.
Coby
