Month: February 2024

Insulation is more powerful than you may realize. Not only does it help keep your home warmer in winter and cooler in summer, but it can save you money on energy costs and protect your property from pests. Despite the many benefits, however, roughly 90% of homes are under-insulated, according to data from the Insulation Institute.  

Insulation is often one of the areas that insects, rodents, and wildlife such as squirrels and raccoons focus on for making their nests. In addition to contaminating the materials, pests can also damage insulation and lower its effectiveness.  

Let’s take a closer look at the insulation and pest control connection. 

Understanding the Winter Rodent Problem 

Rodents don’t hibernate, but they don’t like the cold, snowy conditions associated with winter. Once temperatures start dipping, mice and rats begin looking for warm, safe spots to shelter throughout the cold season. That’s why so many homeowners see an increase in rodent activity in winter months.  

Rodents are typically attracted to areas like wall cavities, underflooring, and attics, all areas that typically contain insulation. Additionally, thermal insulation is often made of materials that are soft and flexible as well as brittle and chewable, making the insulation materials ideal for nesting. 

Once rodents start chewing on or nesting in insulation, it can attract more rodents to the area. With a growing rodent population, the risk of contamination from rodent-borne diseases like hantavirus also increases. When rodents nest in insulation, it also degrades the materials and makes them less effective. In turn, your home will have more difficulty withstanding the frosty temperatures, which increases your home’s energy use. 

Insulation’s Role in Pest and Rodent Prevention 

Consider insulation as a crucial component in maintaining a home’s integrity, rather than a pest barrier. Insulation plays a significant role in moderating a home’s internal climate, which indirectly influences pest activity. For instance, a well-insulated and ventilated attic space is key to creating conditions that are less attractive to insects. This is achieved by reducing moisture levels and regulating temperatures, factors that can help deter pest habitation.  

Various insulation types contribute differently to this environment. Batt insulation, which may include reflective or paper facings, and blown-in insulation, although not pest-proof, can support these goals when part of a comprehensive approach that includes proper ventilation. This strategy helps to establish an attic environment that is less inviting to pests by addressing the underlying conditions that attract them, such as excessive moisture and unregulated temperatures. However, it’s important to recognize that replacing insulation alone does not solve pest issues, as pests like mice often nest within insulation and insects may reside beneath it, highlighting the need for a holistic pest management strategy. 

Closing Entry Points 

Gaps, cracks, and other tiny openings in the foundation, roof, soffits, and areas around doors, windows, and pipes may not seem like a big problem, but insects and rodents can exploit these areas to get into your home. Rats can squeeze into openings as small as a quarter, and mice can fit through gaps as small as a dime. That underscores just how important it is to close off entry points, a task that proper insulation effectively accomplishes.  

Maintaining Warmth 

Insulation helps keep your home warmer in winter and cooler in summer by slowing or reducing heat transfer. You will see this expressed as the insulation’s R-value, which measures the materials’ ability to resist heat flow. The higher the R-value, the better the insulation’s thermal performance. In turn, it helps even temperatures while reducing energy use to maintain the desired level of warmth. 

Noise Dampening 

Another benefit of insulation is its ability to muffle noises, both from the outside and from room to room. Some materials offer more noise reduction than others. For example, cellulose and spray foam offer excellent noise reduction, while rolled fiberglass is another good option.  

Prevention Is Key 

Keeping insulation intact and working effectively will keep your home environment more comfortable and help prevent pest activity. To accomplish that goal, proactive measures are essential.  

Seal Cracks and Gaps 

While insulation itself can help seal off entry points, it’s important to inspect all areas to seal additional openings. Doing so will help decrease air flow and reduce drafts, while keeping critters like rodents and insects from entering your home. Adding caulking and weatherstripping around doors and windows and sealing the areas behind outlets and switch plates as well as where wiring, ducting, and plumbing enter walls can make a significant difference. 

Choose the Right Insulation 

Just like pest control measures, insulation isn’t a one-size-fits-all proposition. Working with professionals is essential for choosing the right types of insulation materials that meet recommended R-values. Additionally, each area where insulation is installed can impact the types of materials you choose. Blankets, batt, and blown-in materials are excellent options for existing wall cavities, floors, and ceilings. Spray foam is another excellent option that is particularly well-suited to new wall cavities and unfinished attic floors. 

Professional Pest Control 

When you see signs of pests, calling for professional help sooner rather than later can help stop the spread of the problem. At Catseye Pest Control, we focus on lasting results. Routine preventive services and monitoring like those available with Catseye’s Platinum Home Protection program can help prevent infestations, pinpoint pest invasions earlier, and provide lasting peace of mind. 

Contact Catseye to Get Started 

Catseye takes a tailored approach to every home, business, and commercial or industrial property. It begins with a free, detailed inspection inside and out. This allows the team to assess vulnerabilities, spot potential entryways, and identify other problems. Contact us today to schedule a free inspection or to learn more.  

The post The Role of Insulation in Pest Control During Winter   appeared first on Catseye Pest Control.

This article appeared first on Catseye Pest

 

 

This week we return to Borneo and to a lodge on the banks of the Kinabatangan River where a vendor set up a small table of their wares. Amongst the colorful trinkets, a large potter wasp decided to set up shop and build a series of clay pots which would be the nurseries for her offspring. Nests are often built on sunny exposed structures such as on tree trunks, rocks, or buildings, but in this case a somewhat shaded display table worked just fine. After finding just the right blend of muddy clay soil near the riverbank, the female wasp gathers it into a ball and transports it to the nest site. Using mouthparts and legs, the clay is molded into to an oblong pot cemented to the underlying substrate.

While the pot is still unsealed, mom lays an egg inside the pot, attached to the clay by a silken strand. She then goes into the forest to hunt caterpillars, the larvae of moths and butterflies. Hapless caterpillars are stung and paralyzed but not killed by the venom. Immobilized and defenseless, the caterpillars become a stable source of fresh meat for the developing wasp larva. Once captured by the wasp, the hapless caterpillars are carried back to her nest and stuffed into the pot. Often several different species of caterpillars will be used as a food source. In one study the number of caterpillars found in each chamber ranged from 4 to 9.

This small table of trinkets holds a surprise, the nest of a potter wasp. Watch as she crafts a clay pot and then flies off to find a caterpillar that will serve as food for her young. She stings the caterpillar with paralytic venom and stuffs it into the pot which already contains her egg. The caterpillar is fresh meat for her spawn. The pot is sealed with a glob of mud and after a drink of water, off she goes to hunt for mud and caterpillars to start the next pot.

With sufficient food available for her baby to develop, the pot is sealed with another glob of mud and construction of the next pot begins. Each pot in the nest requires no more than a day to build and provision. Individual pots are added to existing ones and some potter wasp condos may consist of more than 20 individual chambers with growing wasp larvae inside. The entire multi-pot construct is then sealed with a layer of mud to help thwart predators and parasitoids intent on making a meal of paralyzed caterpillars and developing wasp larvae.

This Bornean potter wasp is part of a large widely distributed clan of more than 3,000 wasps known as the Eumeninae. In a previous episode, we met pretty potter wasps in the genus Ancistrocerus in Maryland where we commonly see adults feeding on the nectar and pollen of goldenrods in autumn. 

Acknowledgements

The informative article “Nesting Behaviour of Potter Wasp, Delta pyriforme (Fabricius) (Hymenoptera: Eumeninae) from the Koradi Region, Dist, Nagpur, Maharashtra” by Chanchal R. Deshmukh was consulted to prepare this article. Thanks to Dan, Kristie, Bob, Pat, and Paula for helping spot and study potter wasps in Borneo.

This post appeared first on Bug of the Week

Rhode Island winters are notorious for their large amounts of snow, icy conditions, and extended periods of frigid temperatures. Although you might assume that those conditions keep pests at bay, winter can be a very active time for many of the state’s most common pests. Learning about the types of pests to watch out for along with how to watch for signs of pest activity and what to do if you suspect a pest are essential components in home protection.  

Common Winter Pests in Rhode Island 

People like to cuddle up with each other and get cozy during the cold weather months. Unfortunately, that is also true for many pests, which drives them to move indoors and find a warm place to call home. Let’s take a look at six common winter pests in Rhode Island, along with tips from the experts at Catseye Pest Control for preventing infestations. 

Rodents 

Rodent infestations may be one of the top complaints that many pest control companies get during winter, including house mice, deer mice, field mice, and rats. Rodent activity seemingly surges during winter because mice and rats move indoors for warmth and shelter. Both types of animals can squeeze through tiny openings to nest inside walls, attics, and even under appliances. These critters are a health hazard that can contaminate food and surfaces with pathogens that cause diseases like hantavirus and salmonella. Rodents also commonly chew through wiring, insulation, and structural elements.  

Rodent Prevention Tips 

Maintaining sanitary conditions and eliminating easy food sources for rodents is an excellent starting point for preventing rodent infestations. Top tips include: 

• Store food in airtight containers made of rigid plastic, glass, or metal, including pet food.
• Use rodent-proof garbage receptacles with tight-fitting lids inside and outside.
• Seal entry points like gaps and cracks in the foundation, soffits, around pipes, and in siding.
• Maintain your property by trimming bushes, trees, and low foliage to help reduce rodent harborage.
• Keep wood piles and other debris far from the structure.

If you suspect you have a winter rodent infestation, call for professional rodent control ASAP for effective elimination.  

Spiders 

From the common house spider to species like the bark crab spider, Rhode Island’s spider population can remain active year-round. Spiders survive cold weather by finding shelters to keep themselves and their egg sacs protected. Although they tend to be more active during warm weather, once inside, spiders seek warm, moist, dark spots where they can thrive. 

Spider Prevention Tips 

Sealing holes and cracks in your roof, siding, foundation, and around windows and doors can prevent spiders from entering. Cleaning regularly, reducing clutter, and eliminating food sources can also help minimize the risk of infestation. 

Cockroaches 

Cockroaches have been on the earth for hundreds of millions of years. They are renowned for their adaptability and resilience to many conditions, including winter’s chill. When the weather gets cold, German and American cockroaches will move into homes around New England, seeking shelter preferably in warm, moist spots. In addition to seeing live bugs, signs of cockroach activity include coffee ground-like droppings, dead cockroaches, and a musty smell. 

Cockroach Prevention Tips 

Taking a few precautionary measures can significantly enhance cockroach prevention efforts. These include: 

• Sealing gaps and cracks, particularly any in your foundation, exterior walls, and around doors and windows.
• Keeping a clean, minimally cluttered interior helps limit hiding spots and reduce potential food sources for insects.
• Avoid leaving dirty dishes in the sink or any uncovered food on counters or tables overnight.
• Regularly take the garbage out and store all food, including pet food, in sealed containers.
• Make sure there are no leaky pipes in the basement, kitchen, or bathroom areas.

Professional cockroach control is the most effective way to get rid of these creepy crawly pests and keep them away for good.  

Bed Bugs 

Bed bugs can be a nightmare in any season. These ectoparasites, which is a category of pests that live outside of their hosts, slow down a bit in winter, but they don’t hibernate. The cozy temperatures inside your home can keep bed bug populations thriving all year long. If you have warm, thick bedding, these six-legged insects can be even more difficult to discover. 

Bed bugs can hitch a ride into your home on clothing, upholstered items, and luggage. Once inside, they find dark crevices to hide away and reproduce, coming out only to feed on the blood of their hosts. Signs of bed bug activity include itchy bites, spots of blood on bedding, and dark stains along the edges of mattresses, box springs, and baseboards. 

Bed Bug Prevention Tips 

Eliminating spots for bed bugs to hide can go a long way toward reducing your chances of an infestation. Reduce clutter, invest in bed bug covers for your mattress and box spring, and routinely wash and dry your bedding. Because bed bug infestations can be notoriously challenging to eliminate on your own, it’s important to call for professional help promptly if you suspect a problem.  

Silverfish 

Silverfish are small and quite destructive. Although their size is roughly comparable to a nickel, these steel-colored insects can wreak havoc. They don’t hibernate and remain active, even in the coldest months. These insects are active at night and rarely sting people. However, silverfish consume polysaccharides, which are sugary components that are found in various objects already in your home. Book glue, furniture, artwork, carpet fibers, and wooden beams are all vulnerable. Silverfish love moist environments, which is where they typically leave their eggs.  

Silverfish Prevention Tips 

One of the ways to help prevent these moisture-loving pests from setting up shop in your home is by reducing the moisture inside. Use a dehumidifier in damp areas like basements and crawl spaces and ensure bathrooms and kitchens are well ventilated. It’s also helpful to store all the dry goods in your pantry in sealed containers and dust your home frequently. Keeping your property free of debris, including leaves and dead plants, can help ward these pests off in outdoor areas. 

Ants

Typically, ant activity decreases in winter. However, like many pests, ants spend time in autumn looking for a warm spot to take shelter from winter’s cold. If you notice ant activity indoors during winter, one of two scenarios is likely. Either you already had a colony in your home, or a colony moved in during late fall. Homeowners may see foragers or swarmers, which indicates a colony is nearby. Typically, ants build their colonies in out-of-the-way spots. Examples of places to look include under floors, inside wall cavities, inside window and door frames, and inside cabinets. 

Ant Prevention Tips 

One of the best ways to prevent ants in winter and in any season is by cutting off their food source. It helps to keep a clean home, regularly wiping the counters and sweeping up any crumbs. Avoid leaving food debris and pick up pet food once they are finished eating. With no access to food, ants often either die off or move to a new home. 

Contact Catseye for Professional Winter Pest Control in Rhode Island 

Dealing with winter pests in Rhode Island isn’t always easy. By keeping a watchful eye and taking preventive measures like those mentioned above, you can help keep your home safe from unwanted winter guests. When prevention isn’t enough and you find yourself facing a pest problem, don’t hesitate to call Catseye. 

Our trained, licensed team of technicians will perform a thorough free inspection to identify the type of pests that are invading your home. Then, they will develop a custom treatment plan to eliminate winter pests quickly, safely, and effectively. Contact us today to schedule an inspection and begin enjoying a pest-free winter season in the Ocean State. 

The post Common Winter Pests in Rhode Island: What to Look Out For  appeared first on Catseye Pest Control.

This article appeared first on Catseye Pest

 

 

Once again, we return to the rainforests of Borneo where in previous episodes we met marvelous millipedes, fierce terrestrial and arboreal ants, and gorgeous lanternflies. This week we meet some of the largest beetles on the planet, longhorn beetles. One look at these supersized insects reveals exactly why they are called longhorn beetles. These beauties have antennae that often exceed the entire length of their body. Despite what some may think, touch is but one of the functions of antennae for insects. In addition to picking up tactile vibrations, antennae are usually festooned with a vast array of chemoreceptors used to detect everything from something good to eat, to where the party is, to who might be the love of their life. Longhorn beetles like the ones you see here can communicate with other members of their species using airborne chemicals called pheromones over distances of hundreds of yards.

One would think that these large beetles would be a prime target for predators like birds and lizards hankering for a tasty high protein meal. Fortunately, these beetles and many other species of insects have a clever trick up their sleeve, or better said, between two thoracic segments of their body. Just behind the beetle’s head on the first segment of the thorax, a small sharp ridge of exoskeleton called the scraper runs transversely across the undersurface surface of the segment. On the segment just behind the first, the exoskeleton bears a patch of tiny regularly spaced ridges and grooves. As the beetle flexes and relaxes these body segments, the scraper moves over the patch of groves, producing a clearly audible sound. These acoustic vibrations, called stridulation, are found in many species of insects and are used to attract mates, defend territories, or as a defense to startle predators. In the case of our very large and beautiful longhorn beetles, when captured they flexed their body up and down, producing an annoying and surprisingly load squeaking sound, not quite fingernails on a chalkboard but close to it.

Borneo has lots of big beautiful longhorn beetles with a cool trick to ward off predators. Listen as this Batocera beetle produces a squeaky sound by rubbing two body segments together. A hard scraper on one segment of its thorax moves across a series of tiny groves and ridges on the segment just behind the first to produce acoustic vibrations called stridulation. We found a huge tooth-necked beetle in a bathroom one morning. This giant really amped up the squeaky alarm when harassed by a human.  After scaring and entertaining the humans, upon release, it scampered up a nearby palm tree.

We were fortunate to discover a spectacular toothed-neck longhorn in a bathroom one morning where it was attracted to the lavatory by a light left on overnight. When grabbed by a human, this giant really amped up its stridulatory vibrations. Loud squeaks coupled with flailing legs and spiny body armor made this beetle hard to handle even for a bug geek. One can only imagine the surprise a small barbet gets when it snares a large longhorn beetle and encounters thrashing legs, snapping jaws, and brain-rattling vibrations from its intended meal.

Acknowledgements

Bug of the Week thanks Dan for wrangling the large tooth-necked beetle for this episode and Paula for sharing her images. Kristie, Bob, and Pat provided sterling commentary on stridulation and its importance to longhorn beetles. Two informative references, “Cerambycid Beetle Species with Similar Pheromones are Segregated by Phenology and Minor Pheromone Components” by Robert F. Mitchell, Peter F. Reagel, Joseph C. H. Wong, Linnea R. Meier, Weliton D. Silva, Judith Mongold-Diers, Jocelyn G. Millar, and Lawrence Hanks, and “Stridulatory Apparatus and Analysis of the Acoustics of Four Species of the Subfamily Lamiinae (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) by Warrren E. Finn, Victor C. Mastro, and Thomas L. Payne, provided insights into stridulation and mating behaviors of longhorn beetles.

This post appeared first on Bug of the Week

 

 

In recent episodes we visited traveled to Borneo to visit recycling millipedes, beautiful lanternflies, fierce rainforest ants, and one of the largest ant species on our planet. This week we island hop and make two stops. First stop is Lizard Island just off the coast of Australia on the Great Barrier Reef. Second stop is a return to the rainforests of Borneo. A few years ago, a study abroad landed Bug of the Week on Lizard Island. While bumbling through the underbrush in search of spiders, I bumped into a small tree bearing several football-sized clusters of glossy leaves. I was surprised and delighted when scores of beautiful green ants issued forth from one leaf-cluster and set to work defending their redoubt by dropping on my arm and attacking. Fortunately, the furious soldiers lacked stingers and their bite was mildly unpleasant at worst. Their attack left the air laced with the odor of formic acid released from specialized poison glands as a defense.

Food gathered on the ground will be carried along roots and up into the treetop where nests are built. When nosy humans get a little too close, workers guarding the nest are on high alert, ready to attack.

Green tree ants and other weaver ants represent a unique branch of the ant’s evolutionary tree. While other more familiar ants build colonies in soil or decaying wood, weaver ants live the life arboreal and construct clever nests in the canopies of trees. Nest building begins when one or more large workers known as majors grasp the margin of a leaf and fold it over or hold it in close proximity to an adjacent leaf. Other majors soon join the effort and, in a fascinating display of cooperation, they stand shoulder to shoulder to pull the leaf margins into close approximation to each other. When the gap narrows the workers stand in place, hold the leaf fast, and await the next step in the nest making process. Other workers gather ant larvae from deep within the colony. These youngsters are approaching their time of pupation, a time when they produce silk, and in their heads are fully functional silk glands. The workers gather several of these larvae and carry them to the construction site where leaf-grasping workers await their arrival. Using the silk-spinning larvae as living bobbins, workers move the larvae back and forth, weaving silk across the gap, firmly stitching the leaves together. This process is repeated time and again with other nearby leaves until the nest is complete.

Some ants, including green tree ants, conduct a remarkable behavior called social carrying where one ant picks up and transports another. This may be a way to get more workers to an important project pronto. Video at about half speed.

Green tree ants build multiple nests throughout the tree’s canopy and several trees may be enlisted to house a single colony. In one of these individual nests resides the glorious queen whose task it is to eat meals of protein and carbohydrates brought to her by the workers. These rich nutrients are turned into thousands of eggs. Since workers large and small, young and old, share the same mother, the queen, they are all sisters and the building, care, and defense of the colony truly is a remarkable act of sisterly cooperation. The size of some weaver ant colonies has been estimated to exceed more than 500,000 workers. Like many of their kin, green tree ants are omnivores, consuming other insects they capture and gathering carbohydrates in the form of honeydew excreted by legions of arboreal sucking insects such as scale insects, aphids, and spotted lantern flies we met in previous episodes.

I had a golden chance to witness another extraordinary feat of cooperation in the rainforest of Borneo one evening when weaver ants discovered and captured an enormous scarab beetle. This colossal meal was easily a hundredfold more massive than the weight of a single ant. The problem: How do ants bring this banquet back to the nest to feed the queen and brood? The answer: Sisterly cooperation! As you watch the video, witness scores of worker ants transporting the huge beetle along a wooden rail adjoining a walkway. After encountering a vertical fencepost, ants use sister power to levitate the beetle up and over the post. On the other side of the post a short hike brings them to a leafy bridge that serves as a causeway to their arboreal nest. On the way home as night falls, the crotch between two leaves becomes an insoluble obstacle and the beetle becomes trapped. At sunrise the next morning, the beetle was gone and a solitary worker was stationed at the portal where the leafy trail home met the walkway. Was the beetle dismembered and carried piece by piece back to the nest? Did the sisters lose their grip and drop their prize? Was there an alternate and more passible route back to the nest? Only the weavers know. 

Scores of worker ants transport a huge scarab beetle along a wooden rail adjoining a walkway. After encountering a vertical fencepost, ants cooperate and use sister power to levitate the beetle up and over the post. On the other side of the post a short hike brings them to a leafy bridge that serves as a causeway to their arboreal nest. On the way home as night falls, the crotch between two leaves becomes an insurmountable obstacle and the beetle becomes trapped. At sunrise the next morning, the beetle was gone and a solitary worker stationed at the portal guarded the leafy trail from the walkway back to the nest. Video at twice life speed.

Well, green tree ants prove they can cooperate with other members of the family, but how about with other species of creatures, maybe even with humans? The value of weaver ants in pillaging plant-eating insects was recognized nearly 1,800 years ago by citrus growers in China. Ancient writings show that nests of weaver ants were regularly transported and installed in orchards where ravenous workers converted citrus-eating pests into food for the colony and queen. These clever orchardists are credited with one of the earliest records of a practice still widely used in crop protections today called biological control. Maybe humans can learn something about the value of cooperation by taking some time to watch ants.

Acknowledgements

Bug of the Week thanks Dr. Shrewsbury for providing photographs used in this episode and the students and faculty of BSCI 279A, Natural History, Ecology, and Geology of Australia, for providing the inspiration for this story. The spectacular reference “The Ants” by Bert Hölldobler and Edward O. Wilson provided the information used to prepare this episode. We thank Dan for discovering the large scarab beetle seen in this episode, the eagle-eyes of Kristie, Bob, and Pat for spotting insects and Paula for sharing images used in this episode.

This post appeared first on Bug of the Week

Winter is here, and for many of us in the Northeast, that means curling up and getting cozy by the fireplace or wood stove to enjoy the warmth and ambiance of the fire. Firewood is an essential resource for millions of Americans who rely on it as a primary or supplemental heating fuel. Today, rising energy costs have driven market growth in the firewood industry, with more people turning to wood as their preferred heat source.  

Whether this is your first winter using wood heating or you’re a seasoned pro, it’s critical to understand one of the most often overlooked aspects of heating with wood. The firewood neatly stacked near your home can provide insects and rodents with a way into your home. Pest invasions can occur after they hitch a ride on firewood and take up shelter inside to wreak havoc on your indoor spaces.  

Fortunately, pest control for firewood is possible by taking the right steps. Catseye Pest Control is leveraging its decades of experience to provide you with some of the best tips for firewood pest control. Check out these strategies to help keep your home warm and safe from firewood-invading pests all season long.  

Dealing with Pests in Firewood 

Pests and firewood can go hand in hand. The invading insects and rodents that take shelter in firewood don’t only infest interior spaces; they can also affect the environment at large. Pests that burrow into trees can spread across regions by hitching rides on untreated firewood. To avoid spreading invasive species to other areas, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends sourcing firewood where you burn it and opting for heat-treated wood when possible to help protect trees and shrubs.  

Protecting your slice of the great outdoors isn’t the only priority when it comes to your firewood. Not only can mice or rats sneak in along with your firewood, but many insects can attack fresh-cut logs or be found inside firewood. Examples of firewood pests include carpenter ants, spiders, powderpost beetles, earwigs, centipedes, and stink bugs — just to name a few. 

Let’s take a look at eight tips to help keep your firewood (and your home) safe and pest-free. 

Inspect and Source Firewood Carefully 

In addition to using local firewood, it’s important to obtain it from reputable sources. If you cut your firewood on your own, place newly cut wood in sunny areas and cover it to kill insects. Cutting wood in fall can also help reduce the risk of an infestation of insects that emerge in spring or summer. Finally, before you bring firewood into your home, be sure to carefully inspect each piece. Knock two logs together, shake them, and look for any insects clinging to the outside. 

Store Firewood Off the Ground 

How and where you store your firewood can make a huge difference. When wood is stored on the ground, ants and termites can easily infest it and leave you vulnerable to potentially destructive carpenter ants or in need of professional termite control. Using a firewood holder or another support system to keep the wood off the ground will help keep the wood dry and reduce the likelihood that soil-dwelling pests will infest it. 

Keep Firewood Dry 

Termites, carpenter ants, and other moisture-loving insects will see damp firewood as a neon “welcome” sign. Elevating it off the ground helps, but it’s important to also cover it to keep it dry. The result will be improved pest deterrence, and the wood will burn more efficiently. Cover it with a waterproof, polyethylene cover to let heat and light into the pile to aid in drying. Additionally, using a vapor barrier on the ground beneath your storage structure can also help block moisture coming from the ground. 

Rotate Your Stock 

Use the “first in, first out,” method to ensure you’re always using older wood first. Aging wood is more vulnerable. If you continually use what’s on top of the pile and add new wood to the top, the wood at the bottom can become infested without you knowing it. If needed, rotate the pile periodically to avoid letting any wood remain at the bottom for longer than a year.  

Store Firewood Away from Your Home 

Keeping the wood pile next to your home may seem like a convenient option. Obviously, it is, but it also makes it all too convenient for rodents and insects to find their way from your firewood storage into your home. Maintain a distance of at least three feet between the pile and your home and other structures. That way, if you do have an infestation, it will be easier to control without pests getting inside. 

Use Insect-Repellent Products 

Don’t spray the wood itself with insect repellents. The vapor can be harmful when you use the wood in a fire. Instead, treat the soil in your storage area and use insect baits or rodent monitoring devices around the wood pile. 

Regular Cleaning and Maintenance 

In addition to conducting routine inspections of the firewood, it’s helpful to keep the area clean and tidy to avoid inviting unwanted guests. Remove any infested wood promptly and keep the surrounding area free of debris. Keeping the location tidy and well-maintained reduces the chance of pests deciding to make it their new home. 

Monitor and Be Vigilant 

As with any other pest prevention strategy, vigilance is the name of the game. Keeping your eyes carefully peeled for the presence of pests or signs of an infestation can help you gain control faster. It can also mean the difference between an outdoor issue and an indoor infestation.  

Contact Catseye for Professional Pest Control 

When winter pest control tips fail, we’re here to help you regain peace of mind. Catseye has decades of expertise and a proven track record throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. For help in winter, spring, summer, and fall, contact the experts at Catseye to schedule a free inspection.  

The post Dealing with Pests in Firewood: Tips for a Pest-Free Winter  appeared first on Catseye Pest Control.

This article appeared first on Catseye Pest

 

 

This week we say goodbye to periodical cicadas and return to the rainforests of Borneo where we last visited rapacious Leptogenys ants, rainforest raiders, as they pillaged other small animals on the rainforest floor. This week we venture into the forest to meet one of the largest species of ants on the planet, the Malaysian giant rainforest ant.  

To witness these giants of the ant world, a flashlight and willingness to venture into the forest at night provide your best bet for encountering these behemoths of the ant world. Unlike some species of ants that can readily be found during the daytime, giant ants conduct most of their food gathering at night. Scientists have discovered that shortly after dusk scores to thousands of foragers leave one or more subterranean nests that comprise a colony, move across the forest floor, and invade the forest canopy.  High in the treetops, honeydew produced by sucking insects including planthoppers, treehoppers, and lanternflies constitutes about 90% of what foragers collect to bring back to the nests. The remaining sources of food gathered by workers include small insects and nutrient rich bird droppings. Why forage at night rather than during the day? Night time foraging in the forest canopy may have to do with avoidance of predators and parasitoids. Birds and wasps that rely on sight to find prey may be more active and efficient in trees during daylight hours. Also, several other species of ants living in the same habitats are highly active and dominate foraging trails and resources during daylight hours. High levels of interspecific ant traffic and food raids in the canopy may displace giant tree ants and limit their activities to the night.

Amidst the music of the rain forest at night, Malaysian giant forest ants leave their subterranean nests to forage for honeydew and insects. Their journeys take them across the forest floor, along human-made sidewalks, and eventually to treetops to gather carbohydrate rich honeydew from sucking insects and to hunt small insects. These gentle giants seemed completely unfazed at being admired by a nosy bug geek.

Just how large these giant ants? Well, the regular workers like ones seen in this episode are about 21 mm (0.82 inches) in length while the soldiers which, sadly, we did not see, are larger at 28 mm (1.1 inches). Contrast this massive size with the size of the odorous house ant workers, an ant common here in North America, which run about 3.3 mm (0.1 inches) in length. One can only imagine what a stir giant ants would cause if folks found these wandering around the kitchen in the morning here in the US. Wouldn’t that be amazing?

Acknowledgements

The fascinating articles “Contributions to the life history of the Malaysian giant ant Camponotus gigas (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) by M. Pfeiffer and K.E. Linsenmair and “A briefing on the life history of the giant forest ant Camponotus gigas (pdf) by Martin Pfeiffer were consulted for this episode. We thank Oliver at Tabin Wildlife Reserve and Larry at Mulu National Park for guiding nocturnal rainforest adventures. The keen eyes of Dan, Kristie, Bob, Pat, and Paula helped spot insects for this episode.

 This post appeared first on Bug of the Week