Coexisting with all kinds of bugs is a part of everyday life for most people, but we don’t have to let them run our homes – pest control has steadily advanced over the years and has greatly contributed to our quality of life. Whether you’re taking care of a pest infestation yourself, or getting in touch with residential pest exterminator services in Phoenix, there are many ways to keep your home safe for your family and pets.
Here are some of the peskiest pests in the state of Arizona!
Termites
Termites are the homeowner’s nightmare – when a termite infestation is not immediately addressed, it can result in your home’s structural integrity being compromised. But before you get to that point, you’ll have plenty of damage elsewhere. You won’t get damage just in your floors, ceilings, walls, and insulation, but termites will actually feed on anything that has cellulose. And cellulose is the most abundant organic compound on earth. Paper, books, carpets, fabrics – all these are materials termites that can end up damaging if you don’t take care of the problem right away.
They’re also arguably the most difficult pest to get rid of because they usually nest in areas that are very hard to get to. Once you do get to them, if you don’t manage to get rid of the entire colony, surviving termites may end up starting new colonies. And they may even have multiple colonies in and around your home (a parent colony, and its satellite colonies).
Arizona is home to one of the most active subterranean termite belts in the country, and each colony has the potential to grow as large as millions of individual termites – one of the many reasons why they cost over $5 billion worth of damage each year in the United States alone.
Ants
Ants are one of the most successful insects on the planet, and while not typically as damaging as termites, they are certainly as pervasive. Similar to termites, ants can have a parent colony and multiple satellite colonies spread out through an area.
Ants can travel long distances to forage for food. When ants establish a new colony, they send out worker ants to look for food, and some species can travel as much as 100 yards from their nest to a food source. Because ants can have such a large area as their territory, it could be very challenging to locate their nest. Ant colonies can contain thousands of individual ants, and some colonies – when they’re located where food is plentiful and predators are few – can grow to millions in number.
Spiders
Spiders aren’t typically known to cause damage to homes, but they do have painful bites. Some species – like black widows, recluse spiders, and yellow sac spiders – even have dangerous bites. And unfortunately, all 3 of these spiders can be found in Arizona. Black widow spiders and brown recluse spiders are considered to be the top two most dangerous spiders that are found in the United States, with bites that typically need medical attention.
Scorpions
Scorpions are very common in Arizona – not just in areas that are sparsely populated, but in bustling towns and cities as well.
They don’t cause damage to our properties, but similar to spiders, they can cause us pain. Unfortunately for us, Arizona is home to the most dangerous scorpion in the country – the Arizona Bark Scorpion, and it’s also the most commonly found scorpion in the state.
Cockroach
Spiders and scorpions can be loved by a few people as much as they are hated by many other people, but there’s really not much you can say in favor of cockroaches. They’re nasty, dirty, and they spread disease and bacteria all over your home.
Cockroaches are also generally nocturnal and are very good at finding hiding places, so a cockroach infestation is difficult to get rid of. Some cockroaches can even live down your drains and survive on gunk, only venturing inside your home when you’re fast asleep. That’s why you should never leave dirty dishes in the sink overnight because cockroaches will most likely be all over your plates, and you’ll never even see it.
Bed Bugs
Last, but certainly not the least, are bed bugs. We stated earlier that termites and ants are very hard to get rid of, and you can add bed bugs to that list.
Most people that have a bed bug infestation end up throwing out a lot of their furniture and other items, but some professional pest control companies can effectively get rid of bed bugs without resorting to that. You can also have your mattress fumigated – but something you may not know about bed bugs is that depending on the temperature and humidity of their environment, they can actually live for a year without feeding. If you have bed bugs and you get your mattress fumigated, be sure to ask for a mattress cover (and keep it covered!) – that way, in the unlikely event bed bugs deep within your mattress, survive, they won’t be able to come out to feed and will eventually die off.
Bed bugs typically hide in or around your bed so that they don’t have to travel very far from their hiding areas to their food source (that means you). But they can also travel long distances to get to a food source. In rooms and homes where there is a bed bug infestation, they can actually hide in places you wouldn’t expect – inside or under cabinets, hidden on the folds of your curtains, in your electric receptacles – bed bugs don’t really have nests, just places to hide from you so you don’t get rid of them. And they’re really, really good at hiding!
Conclusion
Do you have more than one of these bugs in your home? If you even have one of these, get in touch with a professional pest control company in your area to safely and effectively get rid of them! If you’ll be attempting to get rid of the pest infestation yourself, make sure you read up on how to properly do it – otherwise, they may just pop back up in no time. And don’t forget – always use toxic chemicals with extreme caution.
