Identify and control pests of the new season

No matter what season it is, there always seems to be a pest of the moment, whether you’re dealing with it outside or inside your home. The month of September brings a lot of bugs. We’ll focus on wasps, crickets, boxelder bugs, and cicada killers, what kind of danger they pose to humans, and what you can do to prevent them from invading your home during the winter.

wasps

Some types of stinging wasps can pose serious threats to human health and safety, especially when people are stung after getting too close to wasp nests built near homes, buildings, and recreational areas. In such situations it may be necessary to control wasps, although most wasps are beneficial pollinators and predators of other insects.

Most wasps are social insects that live in nests that they cooperatively build and defend. The social wasp stinger is primarily a defensive tool, designed to protect both the nest and the colony. However, when defending a colony, multiple wasp stings can occur rapidly, with each wasp stinging one or more times. Wasp nests are made of a paper-like material and can be found above or below ground.

Wasps sting their victims and inject venom from the back of the tail. The stinger of all wasps and bees is a modified egg-laying organ, so only females can sting. Wasp stings often cause severe pain, with swelling and redness at the sting site. Bites around the head, eyes, and neck are especially serious. Allergic reactions, such as anaphylaxis, usually occur within 20 to 30 minutes of a sting, although shock and death can occur as soon as 10 to 15 minutes.

wasp control

Aerial paper wasp nests can be easily eliminated using quick-kill insecticides or aerosol products specifically designed for this purpose. Some aerosol cans will propel the insecticide 10 to 40 feet or more. For best results, treat in the evening when most wasps have returned to the nest. When spraying, stay away from the colony and soak the nest well. Do not remove the nest until all the wasps are dead, which can take up to two days. The nest can be removed and discarded.

cicada killers

Among the largest of the wasp family, assassin cicadas have yellow and black stripes and grow to over two inches in length. Appropriately named for their tendency to hunt cicadas, these wasps also sting and use their sting to sedate and paralyze their prey. Female wasps will dig burrows throughout yards, mulch, and sandy areas.

Inside the home, however, cicada assassin nests can be alarming to homeowners and it’s important to make sure these insects don’t make themselves at home permanently. Although cicada killers are large and can appear very aggressive, they usually do not attack easily unless stepped on, caught by clothing, or provoked in some way. It is definitely not a good idea to get too close to their nests.

Control of cicada killers

Treat cicada killer burrows after dark to ensure female wasps are in their nests. Male wasps can usually be found on plants near burrow sites. They can be caught with an insect net during the day.

Similar to general wasp control, you can use insecticides or spray products to spray the nest.

crickets

While crickets are harmless to humans, they can become quite a nuisance when too many of them enter your home and cause damage. Adult house crickets are 3/4 to 1 inch long, pale yellowish-brown in color with three dark bands on their heads. Crickets are prone to eating anything they can chew, while also damaging clothing, paper, silk, wool, fruits, vegetables, and all kinds of food, especially when left out. Crickets are prone to warm places, so you can usually find them in your kitchen, basement, fireplace, as well as in cracks and crevices.

cricket control

First, check the exterior of your home for cracks and openings that crickets can use as entrances to enter your home. Seal or repair these openings, and also check the foundation, doors, and first-story windows of your home.

To prevent crickets from entering the house, maintain your lawn by minimizing weeds and mowing. Be sure to remove piles of wood, brush, bricks, and anything else crickets might use as hiding places.

If you already have crickets at home, don’t exploit them yet with the insecticide. You can place sticky glue boards in the corners of the room. Sticky plates can be purchased at most hardware stores, usually for mouse controls. If you are hearing the sounds of crickets chirping at night, place the sticky plate, along with a small amount of cornmeal in the center, and place it near the sound. Using this simple technique can quickly rid your home of pesky crickets.

boxelder bugs

Like crickets, boxelder bugs do not cause any harm to humans, but again, they can become quite a nuisance, especially when they enter your home and ruin your belongings. If there are a lot of them in a house, they can stain the walls, curtains, furniture and other surfaces with their droppings.

Boxelder bugs are about half an inch long and one-third inch wide, with dark brownish-grey to black and reddish-orange markings of three red lines on the area behind the head. The wings overlap and fold over each other and red lines mark the lateral margins of the wings. Boxelder bugs are commonly confused with large bugs and red-shouldered bugs.

In the warm season, boxelder bugs feed on various types of trees, but when the fall season begins and cooler temperatures set in, these bugs move to a different shelter, such as under shingles or siding, around doors and windows and openings in the foundation of the house. Once they gain entry into the house, boxelder bugs tend to move to warm areas, such as a window.

Boxelder Insect Control

Prevent boxelder bugs from moving into your home by checking the exterior of your home for openings that boxelder bugs can use for entry.

Prevention is a good way to prevent boxelder bugs from entering a home. Check the exterior of the structure for areas that boxelder bugs might find as a suitable place to overwinter. Preventive actions include:

• Seal cracks and crevices with caulk or expanding foam.
• Using caulk or expanding foam, seal the areas where pipes or cables enter the structure.
• Fill weep holes with steel wool, copper mesh, or plastic mesh made specifically for weep holes (kits are available).
• Replace or repair damaged window screens.
• Replace any damaged weather stripping around the doors. If you can see daylight around the doors when they are closed, replace the weather stripping.
• Install a door sweep on exterior doors and a rubber seal along the bottom of garage doors.
• Repair or replace damaged screens or soffit vents in the roof and eave area of ​​the structure.
• Being aware of what these insects do and whether they can harm you and your family, or just your home, is very important. Identifying the insects in your home and how to control them should be a priority for the homeowner. September can bring the temperatures down a bit and bring you relief, but be careful not to neglect the problem of insects that could crop up in and around your home.