Appearance:

        Adult males are flat, about 1/8 inch long, and uniformly red-brown with tiny pits scattered over the back. They do not enlarge as much upon feeding as the females do. Adult females resemble the males in size, shape and color before feeding. As they feed, females become engorged and swell to inch long and 1/4 inch wide. The legs, mouthparts and shield area behind the head remain redish-Brown, but the enlarged portion of the body becomes gray-blue to olive.

        Immature stage Larvae, sometimes called “seed ticks”, have only six legs. Once they attach themselves to a host and get a blood meal, they will drop off, shed there skin and emerge with 8 legs

Habitat:

        Ticks can be found outdoors in southern United States during any time of the year, Ticks spend the bulk of their life on or near the ground. Since they cannot run, hop, fly, or move quickly, they must climb onto objects to wait for a host to pass by. Outdoors, ticks can be found in tall grass, shrubs, weeds, wood piles, brick and rock walls, under skirting of mobile homes, dog houses, as well as any place that a host may sleep and lounge on. Indoors, ticks can be found in and around the area that a host animal may rest and lounge, under corners of rugs and carpet, in folds of sofas, lounge chairs and cushions.

Food:

        Blood

Life Cycle:

        Ticks have four stages in their life cycle: egg, larva, nymph and adult. Adult ticks may require several days of feeding before they are able to reproduce. Male hard ticks usually die soon after mating, and females die soon after laying their eggs. Egg-laying begins about three days after the engorged adult female drops from the host. She may deposit as many as 5000 eggs in places such as between boards, under plaster, or carpeting or in other cracks and crevices. The eggs hatch in three weeks to several months, depending on the weather. They can live up to eight months while waiting for a host. Adults can live up to 11/2 years without feeding, but must feed before mating. After mating, the female will completely engorge herself with blood and then drops off the host to lay eggs. Mating usually occurs while adult ticks are on the body of the host animal. Adult females need only to feed once before laying one large batch of eggs.

General Information:

A home can become heavily infested if the family dog picks up ticks from an infested residence, boarding kennel, open fields, or similar place where other infested dogs have been located.

Spiders have characteristic appearance which is easily recognizable. They possess eight legs which immediately separate them from insects, which have only six legs. Their bodies have two regions: a cephalothorax (fused head and thorax) and an abdomen.

Habitat:

Many spiders are associated with moister and, therefore, are found in basements, crawl spaces, and other damp parts of buildings. Others live in warm, dry places so are found in subfloor air-vents, in upper corners of rooms or in attics. Most species hide in cracks, darkened areas, or other retreats which they construct of silk.

Food:

Small insects.

Life Cycle:

Young spiders, or spiderlings, resemble the adults except for size and, sometimes, coloration.

General Information:

All spiders have a pair of jaw-like structures, called chelicerae. At the end of each is a hollow, claw-like fang. Each fang has a small opening in the end through which venom is injected into the prey. Spinnerets, located at the tip end of the abdomen, are silk spinning glands used for web making. Many species of spiders are common household pests. Remember that every “cobweb” was made by a spider. Although all spiders use venom when they bite and kill their prey, the black widow and the brown recluse spiders are the only North American species consistently dangerous to humans. Under most conditions outdoors, spiders are considered beneficial because they feed on insects.

Appearance:

These insects of this order have the same characteristic shape. Their bodies are flattened, long and slender, slender appendages are found at the rear of the body. All silverfish and firebrats are wingless. The young look like small adults.

        Silverfish: 3/8-1/2 inch. Tapering, carrot-shaped. Silver-grey, coated with scales. Threadlike antennae and 3 tail filaments, all shorter than body. Small black eyes.

        Firebrats: 3/8-1/2 inch. Mottled gray and tan or brown. Threadlike antennae, longer than body, usually swept back parallel to sides. 3 tail filaments.

Habitat:

       Indoors in warm, dry places, including closets, bookcases, behind baseboards, in partitions, or in bathtubs, (Firebrats: near ovens, heating pipes, and furnaces.) Silverfish and firebrats are most active at night and can run very swiftly.

Food:

        Silverfish: Dried cereals, flour, glue, and starch, including stiffeners used in clothing and bound books, and coated papers used in magazines.

        Firebrats: Crumbs and scraps of dry human food near cooking and heating devices.

Life Cycle:

        Silverfish: No metamorphosis. Oval white eggs are dropped in a few places week after week. Eggs hatch in 2-8 weeks. Nymphs have the same body form as adults. Full size is attained in about 2 years,

        Firebrats: No metamorphosis. At intervals female lays spherical white eggs with soft shells in clusters of 50 or more. Hatching and subsequent growth take weeks or many months, depending on temperature, humidity, and food supply. Nymphs take up to 2 years and about 40 molts to reach full size. Maximum life-span in warm situations is about 30 months.

General Information:

        Silverfish: due to its scaly covering, it is able to escape from the grip of ants and spiders. Silverfish can survive without food for months.

Appearance:

        1.5 – 2 3/4 inches in length. Dark brown to tan, often striped with greenish yellow along the back. Abdomen is slender, constricted at each segment, pale or dark depending on the species.

Habitat:

      Most scorpions are active at night. During the day they hide under dark crevices, under bark, stones, and litter on the ground. In houses, they are most often found in undisturbed areas such as closets, seldom-used shoes, or folded clothing.

Food:

      Small, soft bodied insects and spiders. They will eat other species of scorpions and even small individuals of their own species. Small insects are eaten immediately, but larger prey are stung and eaten after they cease to struggle.

Life Cycle:

      Female keeps eggs in sac, then carries hatchlings on back until they can fend for themselves. Male uses pincers to pull female on top of him to mate.

General Information:

      They have poor eyesight, so do not stalk or chase prey, but lie in waiting to grab it with their pincers. Most species which enter houses are not very poisonous, their stings being comparable to those of bees or wasp. However, certain species in Arizona and New Mexico can be dangerous, such as the Centruroides gertschi Stahnke and Centruroides sculpteratus Ewing, which can reach lengths of 2 to 3 inches.

GENERAL INFORMATION:

Rats and mice attack our food in a variety of ways and places. Such places are farm fields, orchards, and livestock facilities, during its processing, storage and transport, and while it is in our supermarkets, restaurants and homes. And what the rats and mice don’t eat, they spoil by contaminating it with their urine, feces, or fur. Experts estimate that rats and mice destroy enough food each year to feed 200 million people.
In buildings, rodents damage doors, floors, ceilings and walls as a result of their burrowing and gnawing activity.
Rodents have been responsible for the spread of various diseases to people and domestic animals. Some of those diseases are the Plague, which killed 25,000,000 people in Europe during the 14th century, Murine typhus, Rickettsial pox, Salmonellosis (food poisoning), Rat-bite fever, Weils disease or leptospirosis.

Cockroaches are among the most common insects. Based on fossil evidence cockroaches are known to have been present on Earth for 300 million years. There are approximately 3500 species of cockroaches worldwide – about 60 species are found in the United States. Cockroaches produce odorous secretions from various points in their bodies which can affect the flavor of various foods. Although disease producing organisms such as bacteria have been found on cockroach bodies, the principal disease transmitted by cockroaches are gastroenteritis diseases. These include food poisoning, dysentery, diarrhea and other illnesses. For the most part, however, cockroaches usually are not associated with severe illnesses or disease outbreaks.
Although cockroaches are able to move around quite easily, and some are able to fly, cockroaches are well known for moving to new areas via “hitchhiking”. Cockroaches are mostly active at night, during which time they forage for food, water and mates. They may be seen in the daytime, usually when a heavy population is present or when some other stress is placed on them (such as lack of food or water).

        They feed on damp and decaying vegetable matter as well as new roots and green leaves.

Millipede Management:

A more thorough outdoor treatment is often necessary for millipede control with pesticides. Residual sprays must be applied in a 5 to 20 foot wide barrier around the structure. The treatment should be done in such a way as to assure the insecticide gets down to the soil surface. Since millipedes feed and reproduce in decaying organic matter, it may be necessary to remove plant mulch and leaves, (etc.) Around the foundation in order to obtain complete control.

        98 percent or more of the flies caught in houses are house flies. Because they can transmit typhoid fever, cholera, dysentery, pinworm, hookworms, and some tapeworms, house flies are regarded as a grater threat to human health than most other insects. Pathogenic organisms are picked up by flies from garbage, sewage and other sources of filth, and then transferred on their mouthparts and other body parts, through their vomitus or through their feces to human and animal food. The larger and darker face fly (M. Autumnalis), 1/4-3/8 inch resembles the house fly but settles on cows rather than manure from other animals. It creeps into the nostrils and eyes of cattle and into horse fly wounds.

• Earwigs         Order Dermaptera       
• Appearance:
•         Earwigs have pinchers or forcep-like appendages at the end of the abdomen. Its size can vary between to 3/4 inch long and can be a dark reddish-brown to jet black in color.
• Habitat:
•         They are active at night, and some species are attracted to lights in large numbers. During the day, they usually find shelter beneath stones, boards, and debris.
• Food:
•         Earwigs are primarily scavengers on dead animal and plant material. Plants and ground litter, and perhaps foodstuffs found in homes and grain warehouses are also attractive.
• Life Cycle:
•         Gradual metamorphosis. Nymphs, which have same appearance except smaller than adults grow to maturity in a few months and can live up to a year.
• General Information:

        Earwigs are often transported great distances in potted plants, nursery stock, or other plant material. Earwigs received there common name by early settlers “old wives tail” that an earwig will crawl into your ear and cause a person to go insane.