Carpenter Ants The two most common pest species are black in color. Carpenter ants excavate wood to make their home, but they do not eat it. They eat carbohydrates, fats and proteins. You would never think of an ant living this long, but a worker ant can live up to 7 years. The queen can live up to 25 years! Those ants you see every spring could be the same ones you have been seeing for many years. Colony sizes can multiply very quickly. These pests are most active at night time and a homeowner may not know their present until heavy damage has already been afflicted. It is common for us to inspect houses for other pests and find damage from carpenter ants. The damage from carpenter ants is similar to that of a termites, however, because carpenter ants are making your home thier home, the galleries that they carve out are smooth and clean. Termites actually consume the wood and it may be caked with mud and sand (see termites below.) Carpenter ants do more damage in New England that termites. Carpenter ants will leave piles of sawdust near their chamber entrences. This sawdust, when examined, will also have insect body parts in it. The sawdust is the "trash" from their house while the insect parts are the chicken bones. These little carpenters are most active at night, so just because you dont see any doesnt mean their not there, hiding in the walls. Even worse, many homes can house more than one colony of carpenter ants. Each colony can contain up to 10,000 individuals and only about 10% of those individuals leave the nest site. Amazing!
Carpenter Ant Damage
Excavated Sawdust or "Frass"
Termites & Termite Swarmers
Termite swarmers differ from flying ants in that they have four wings of equal size--ant wings are two different sizes--and they have straight antennae and a wide waist. Termite swarmers may appear every year. Termite workers, however, are smaller, white and rarely seen. Damage from termites generally occurs in the recesses of the wood. Just prior to the adult stage, a termite can turn into any stage of termite: a worker, a soldier or a reproductive! A colony doesn't even need to send out "swarmers" to reproduce (swarmers are flying termites whose sole purpose is to find a mate and reproduce). Colonies can create "secondary reproductives" (reporductive termites without wings), which makes an infestation even more difficult to identify! A tell-tale sign of damage is straw shaped tunnels filled with sand or mud. One quick way to check for termites is by looking into the wooden framing in your basement. Any out of place mud or mud tubes will indicate termite activity. However, a house can be infested for years by the time a homeowners even notices. Termites are one pest that needs to be identified by a professional. As with any pest, we offer free home inspects and if needed, quotes.
Termite Damage, Mud Tubes
Termite Tunnels
Bed Bugs
Our bed bug calls are up over 500% this year. Nationwide, bed bugs are the fastest growing segment of the pest control industry. We are finding these pests in some of the local four star hotels to middle class households to apartment complexes. They have nothing to do with cleanliness. These pests are amazing hitchhikers and can hide in clothing. They can be picked up in hotels, motels, public transportation systems, airports, movie theaters, furniture, etc... Unfortunately, bed bugs are not easy to spot. They can hide in the smallest of spots. We have found bed bugs living in objects like television sets, inside switchplates, in wall voids and otherwise inaccessable places. Bed bugs are creepy, blood-loving pests than can live for longer than one year without feeding. Bed bugs can range inn size from the head of a pin to the size of a tomato seed - flat and oval. Proper ID and treatment is critical and best left up to the professionals. We have run into numerous accounts where homeowners have mistaken bat bugs for bed bugs. While similar in appearance, each species requires a different pest control approach. To make the identification quick and easy, we have 6 trained professionals, monitoring equiptment and an on-call bed-bug sniffing dog.
Common Adult Bed Bug
Bed Bug Lifecycles
Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite
Bees, Wasps & Hornets
Fall is the season when wasps and yellow jackets are the most aggressive. Their are two different types of nests that most home owners face, external (like a football or softball) and internal (where wasps enter a part of the house like siding or roofing through a gap or an opening). All nests should be approached very carefully and treatment should be left up to the professionals. One mistake we see all the time is from homeowners trying to treat an internal nest by themselves. People run into problems when they treat with the wrong spray and repel the wasps directly into their home, or they block the hole which forces the wasps inside.
Western Conifer Seed Bug This invasive species has been drastically increasing in numbers over the last few years. It didn't take them long to infest our area. Our company has seen increases in calls since we first began services the Western Massachusetts area. As the name suggests, these bugs originated from the west. They feed on the seeds of conifer trees. Every fall these bugs get much more active and congregate outside of buildings and homes (sometimes even making it inside). At this time they are in search of overwintering sites (places where they can "wait out" the winter season). In the spring, they reemirge and search for food (in this case the seeds and pines of conifers). They are often mistakenly called the stink bug because of the pungent skunk-like odor they emit when disturbed. Hey, at least they don't bite or sting...
Scratch and sniff
Boxelder Bugs These little fellahs are another seasonal pest, similar to the western conifer seed bug. They are generally not a pest until the fall when they congregate on buildings and houses in search of overwintering sites. As the weather cools, they crawl into the cracks and crevices of buildings and houses. Every year we find a few new customers with large masses of these bugs while the houses next door are virtually pest-free. Funny how that works...
...Time to hire a professional
Mosquitoes
We have received many mosquito service inquiries over the past few years. There is no mosquito control district in western and central mass, leaving the public unprotected. Our services provide protection with new and varried mosquito control techniques. We can effectively minimize the threats and annoyances posed by these pests. With residential and commercial applications, on a regular or one time basis, we can help control your mosquito nightmares.
Pavement Ants
Pavement Ants are regular pests of buildings throughout the northeast to the Midwestern United States. This ant is also found along the west coast from California to Washington. Unlike the carpenter ant, these ants do not excavate tunnels in wood. Pavement ants are also known as Mound Building ants, and their mounds are almost always associated with the destruction of lawnscapes. These ants crave sugars and proteins, earning them another nickname, the sugar ant. These ants are common household pests, easily finding their way into your food storage cabinets.
Beetles There are oh-so-many beetles that can be considered as pests in Massachusetts. We have carpet beetles, june or may beetles and powder-post beetles just to name a few. Each pests targets different parts of your home. The larva of carpet beetles damages carpeting, clothing and animal hides. June or may beetles make their way into homes each year, but their larva feed on and destroy the roots to your ornamentals and lawns. Finally, the larva of powderpost beetles tunnel into wood leaving behind nothing but... you guessed it, powder. As you can see, the proper identification of each of these beetle species is necessary in treating and preventing them.
Powder Post Beetle
Exit holes from the larva
Damaged wood - remnants of an infestation
May Bug aka June Bug
Carpet Beetle
Fleas This blood-sucking little pest is usually brought in by our own pets. They're hard to see and even harder to kill. They don't just stop at dogs and cats, though. On humans, they may produce hives, itching and rashes (see picture below). They carry a multitude of diseases like typhus, cat-scratch fever and plague. If you notice you pet excessively itching itself or see little jumping bugs, give us a call. Our best advice in handling flea infestations is to hire a professional as fast as possible. Heavier infestations may take several booster visits - so think fast.
Blood glutton
Culprit at large (...or small)
You don't want to wake up to this, trust us!
Ticks Ticks are yet another species of blood sucking insects. Their appearance can be similar to that of bed bugs. However, ticks tend to stay attached to their victim longer and can carry several life-threating or debilitating diseases. Ticks are typically more active during the spring and fall. They come out during wet weather periods as apposed to dry. They wait for a warm-blooded mammal patiently on grasses and low-lying vegetation. Massachusetts has several species of ticks, most commonly are the deer tick and the dog tick. We suggest you travel into the woods in light colored, tight fitting clothing exposing as little skin as possible. However, what do you do at home? If ticks are a problem, we now offer a service that effectively creates a barrier around your yard, keeping your children and pets safe.
Deer tick
Dog ticks
Lyme disease "bullseye" rash
Premier Pest Control, Inc. Granby, MA 1-800-540-0241
