Bugs to look for in the Fall

• Carpenter Ants:

Carpenter ants feed on a wide variety of foods, especially other insects. The favored food of adults is the sweet honeydew produced by plant-feeding insects, such as aphids, scales, and mealybugs.

• Silverfish:

Silverfish feed on fungal molds and organic matter. They can damage natural fabrics, paper and book bindings. Treatment of cracks and voids as well as attic and crawl spaces is necessary to minimize silverfish. This pest, however, is one of the most difficult insects to totally eliminate even for a professional company.

• Black Widow Spiders:

The black widow spider is widely feared because its bite results in severe pain that may take several days to subside. Such bites are rarely fatal but small children and elderly persons are at risk. Black widow spiders construct irregular, scaffold-type webs usually near the ground level.

• Stink Bugs:

The stink bug is so-named due to its habit of ejecting an obnoxious fluid from its scent glands. Some species are capable of shooting this fluid up to several inches for protection from predators. A number of species of stink bugs are known to wander into homes located in rural areas during the summer and fall months.

• Domestic House Spiders:

Domestic house spiders are funnel-web spiders, meaning they construct flat webs which have a funnel shaped retreat at one end. The females spend most of their lives in the webs, while the males and immature spiders may wander about in search of females or better nesting sites. It is usually these males or young spiders that are seen by homeowners.

• Ladybugs:

A number of insects have discovered that heated buildings are ideal for surviving the cold of winter. Such pests include ladybugs, box elder bugs and cluster flies. As the weather cools in late summer and early fall, the sun warms the southern and western walls of buildings.