Allegheny Mound Ants

The Allegheny Mound Ant, sometimes referred to as a “field Ant”, is a structural pest that can potentially damage your home.  The most identifying trait of the Allegheny Mound Ant is the large mound that they build in open fields and yards.  After 5 months, a mound can be 2 feet wide and 8 inches tall, within 2 years the mound can be up to 3 feet tall.  Mounds tend to be found in areas that are not mowed on a frequent basis.  Ant mounds consist of tunnels that can go 3 feet down into the soil.

Allegheny Mound Ants can inject formic acid into the vegetation that surrounds their mound which causes a danger to small trees and shrubs within 40-50 feet.  The younger the tree, the more susceptible to damage or killing when Allegheny Mound Ants are near.  They are also known to kill the grass around their mound.  Not only do they present a threat to your vegetation and lawn but they can be a concern when working or playing in the area near their mounds.  They will bite if they feel their mound is being disturbed.

The number of Allegheny Mound Ants increases rapidly.  The time span between an egg and an adult is 2-3 months.  The eggs are cared for by workers in the mound during late spring and early summer.  A 6”-18” mound can hold up to 500-3,000 ants; 18”-36” mound can hold up to 1,000-6,000 ants; and 36”-60” mound can hold up to 3,000-10,000 ants.  “Budding” results when new mounds are formed as ants move on from their previous mounds.  These new mounds are usually built in late May to early June.

The good news is that Allegheny Mound Ants rarely enter a home or business structure in search of food.  Instead, they feed on smaller insects or aphids and leafhoppers for protein and carbohydrates. 

Control:

To control Allegheny Mound Ants, wear protective clothing such as pants and boots.  When a mound is located, scrape the top of the mound off with a tool that has a long reach, such as a shovel, to ensure you do not get bit.  The ants will begin to run once the mound is moved.  Apply the product directly inside the mound until it soaks into the soil.

For best results, call Northwest Exterminating for your ant control needs at 888.466.7849 or visit ONLINE

Indian Meal Moth

What is that moth-looking thing doing around my pantry?

We’ve gotten this question quite a bit lately!  People have been finding moths around their food cabinets or pantries.  In most cases, it has been the Indian Meal Moth.  These moths are not big fans of the Atkins diet considering that they feed on carb loaded foods such as grains, cereals, breads and pastas.  Although, they have been known to feed on other types of foods…the ones listed above are what they are generally after. 

Those webs that you see around your home may not just be spiders.  The Indian Meal Moth can also spin a web where they leave their larvae to be hatched.  Be sure to vacuum any webs and immediately empty the vacuum bag into a secure trash bag to be taken away by your trash company.  Also, make sure to throw out any food that may have been infested. 

Call Northwest Exterminating today if you need help controlling Indian Meal Moths or other pests!

Bringing Home a Baby Bumble Bee

You know the words…we all sang it as kids:

I’m bringing home a baby bumble bee
Won’t my Mommy be so proud of me
I’m bringing home my baby bumble bee
OUCH!! It stung me!!

These large, furry bees may look cute but just like the song implies…they’re not so cute when they decide to sting!

Bumble bees have a distinctive large, clumsy appearance and are easily recognized by their black and yellow fuzzy appearance and the buzzing sound that they make when they fly.  Their stingers are relatively smooth with small barbs which is what makes their sting so painful.  Worker bees are usually between 1/4-1″ while the queens are 3/4-1″.

There are 51 species of bumble bees throughout the US and Canada.  Bumble bees are social creatures that like to stay near their nests or colonies.  The queen bumble bee will find a nest area in the spring after she has overwintered throughout the colder seasons.  Nest locations are often made underground in abandoned mouse nests or on grass clumps and covered with loose grass on top.  A mature bee nest can contain anywhere from 50 to 400 bees; the largest recorded nest contained 756 bees with 385 larvae and/or pupae.  Different species will attack nests of other species for possession of the nest, killing the queen and taking over the nest.  In late summer, males and new queens are reared in the nest.  Once the new queens emerge, they mate and find a suitable place to overwinter.  Males, workers, old queens and virgin queens die off with the colder weather. 

Although bees can be an annoyance by gathering around our flowering plants and the potential threat of a sting, bumble bees are beneficial for the pollination of our flowers.  However, if a nest is located near a structure or a recreational area, control is needed.  People who are sensitive to insect venom or have known allergies should exercise extreme caution around bumble bee nests.  Appropriate protective apparel should be worn when trying to locate or control bumble bee nests.

For your safety, call the experts when trying to locate and control bumble bee nests.  Call Northwest Exterminating at 888.466.7849 or visit us online.

Carpenter Ants

Carpenter ants are not only a big problem in Georgia homes but can be found in homes across the United States.  The carpenter ant gets its name from their habit of hollowing out wood and nesting inside of it.  This annoying habit can cause structural damage to your home or business. 

Carpenter ants have both workers and a queen.  The workers come in varying sizes from 1/8-1/2″ but the queens are larger at 1/2-5/8″ long.  Colors can range from black, red, brown or they can be a combination of red and black.  The carpenter ant can be identified by their rounded thorax and the circle of hairs on their back end.  If you can’t identify a carpenter ant by looking at it, you may be able to identify it by the strong acid odor that they are known to emit.  And although they lack a stinger, their bite can be painful when the formic acid is injected into the wound.

You will typically see swarmers from May-August in the east and February-June in the west.  A good indication of the presence of carpenter ants is small openings on the surface of wood.  When these openings are drilled they leave behind debris that looks similar to sawdust.  Carpenter ants are partial to wood that has been softened, whether due to fungus or a moisture problem.  You can often time find nests in rotting fence posts, stumps, old firewood, dead portions of trees, and under stones or fallen logs. 

Carpenter ants aren’t on a strictly wood diet.  Fruits, plant and fruit juices, insects, sweets, eggs, meats, cakes and grease are all known to be attractive food for them.  Although some workers are active during the day, most activity is done between dusk and dawn…peaking between 10 pm and 2 am.

If you have seen traces of carpenter ants, call Northwest Exterminating and we can help you locate the source of the problem and come to a solution.  Call us at 888.466.7849 or visit us online

Spiders



Northwest Exterminating has seen an increase in calls for spiders this year. No doubt that is not news to most of you. With the cold and wet Winter and the heat this Spring, spider numbers have increased at an alarming rate.  What can we do? Is there an answer to help stem the tide of the unwanted visitors? There is but first a little background.

 

Fear of spiders (arachnophobia) is consistently one of the most common fears. Possibly dating back to antiquity (remember Little Miss Muffet?).  Most entomologists will tell you the fear is basically unfounded and the spider just suffers from bad PR. Adding to the fear and confusion is the readily available Emergency Room diagnosis of “spider bite” for any bump, nodule or unexplained skin eruption. This not only is a nuisance but can be quite dangerous since the “official” diagnosis can often mask the true culprit sometimes a much worse malady such as MRSA. 

 

There are over 40,000 species of spiders on our planet. Most are harmless and even beneficial, helping keep other pest populations in check.  Spider silk is perhaps the strongest material on the planet and scientists are constantly trying to duplicate its tensile strength. All spiders are venomous, that’s how they capture and digest their food, turning the insides of the common pests into a soup, but most venoms will have little or no effect on humans. Possible medical uses for spider venoms are being investigated, for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmia, Alzheimer’s disease, strokes and erectile dysfunction.

 

Spiders use a wide range of strategies to capture prey: trapping it in sticky webs, lassoing it with sticky bolas, mimicking the prey to avoid detection, or running it down. Most detect prey mainly by sensing vibrations, but the active hunters have acute vision, and hunters of the genus Portia show signs of intelligence in their choice of tactics and ability to develop new ones.

The abdomen has no appendages except those that have been modified to form one to four (usually three) pairs of short, movable spinnerets, which emit silk. Each spinneret has many spigots, each of which is connected to one silk gland. There are at least six types of silk gland, each producing a different type of silk. Silk is initially a liquid, and hardens not by exposure to air but as a result of being drawn out of the spider.

Some spiders have a cribellum, a modified spinneret with up to 40,000 spigots, each of which produces a single very fine fiber that is combined into a composite wooly thread that is very effective in snagging the bristles of insects. Species that do not build webs to catch prey use silk in several ways: as wrappers for sperm and for fertilized eggs; as a “safety rope”; for nest-building; and as “parachutes” by the young of some species.

This doesn’t answer the question though, “How do we control them?”. Spider control is best accomplished through proper housekeeping, the strategic placement of products and reducing harborage and points of entrance. It’s impossible to keep all spiders out, except in the Space Shuttle, but a great reduction can be achieved.  Here are some steps to take:

  •  Remove all extra boxes, bags and containers from off the floor
  • Be thorough in removing any and all webs
  • Allow items that must be on the floor or shelving that sits on the floor to have some space from the wall (at least 8”)
  • Keep lights off the building if possible, for security you can have a light shine onto a building
  • Reduce all vegetation at least 18” from the building outside
  • Seal all areas around windows, doors and other entrances into the structure
  • Reduce/eliminate standing water
  • If you can capture the spider and set it free so it can continue to protect your building
  • Treat the areas the spider may hide or build a web with a light fan spray covering the corners of the area. Make sure to treat into any cracks and crevices adjacent to the webs.

If you continue to have an issue with spiders, call Northwest Exterminating at 888.466.7849 and ask how NorPest Green Pest Control Program can help solve your spider problem.

 

Jerry Hatch ([email protected])
Northwest Exterminating
Commercial Training & Development Specialist
Board Certified Entomologist

 

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