Pest Fun Facts
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Ants
When foraging, ants leave a pheromone trail so that they know where they’ve been.
There are three kinds of ants in a colony: The queen, the female workers, and males. The queen and the males have wings, while the workers don’t have wings. The queen is the only ant that can lay eggs. The male ant’s job is to mate with future queen ants and they do not live very long afterward. Once the queen grows to adulthood, she spends the rest of her life laying eggs! Depending on the species, a colony may have one queen or many queens
There are more than 12,000 species of ants all over the world.
An Ant can lift 20 times its body weight. If one second-grader were as strong as an ant, they would be able to pick up a car!
When ants fight, it is usually to the death!
Some queen ants can live for many years and have millions of babies!
Queen ants have wings, which they shed when they start a new nest.
Ant colonies also have soldier ants that protect the queen, defend the colony, gather or kill food, and attack enemy colonies in search for food and nesting space. Some jobs of the colony include taking care of the eggs and babies, gathering food for the colony and building the anthills or mounds.
Ants Prevention
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Clean up any food debris.
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Clean up spills.
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Repair any leaks.
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Seal openings on the outside to prevent access.
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Call Clean Sweep Pest Control.
Bedbugs
Bed bugs get their name because they are commonly found in beds but can also be found in other places where humans spend a lot of time: hotels, airplanes, and couches.
Bed bugs are typically found in beds and small cracks and crevices.
Bed bugs can feed on the blood of any warm-blooded animal. Their most common targets are humans because, unlike animals with fur, we have a lot of exposed skin for them to bite.
When Bed bugs feed, they inject the skin with their saliva (this keeps the blood from clotting) and an anesthetic (this keeps the host from feeling the bite and moving). Bed bugs do not spread disease, but their bites can become red itchy welts.
Bedbugs Prevention
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Don’t take mattresses or padded furniture that has been left at the curb or on the street.
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Check your bed sheets for blood spots.
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Keep your suitcases covered in plastic and off the floor when you travel.
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When you travel, take a small flashlight to help you look for bed bugs.
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​When you return from a trip, wash all of your clothes - even those that have not been worn - in hot water to ensure that any bed bugs that may have made it that far are not placed into your drawers/closet.
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Bed bugs are hard to see, so if you think you have bed bugs, call Clean Sweep Pest Control.
Carpenter Bees
Carpenter bees resemble bumblebees but typically have a shiny, hairless abdomen. (Bumblebees usually have a hairy abdomen with black and yellow stripes.) The bees also have different nesting habits—bumblebees nest in an existing cavity often underground (e.g., in abandoned rodent burrows), whereas carpenter bees tunnel into wood to lay their eggs.
Female carpenter bees have a stinger but are not aggressive, male carpenter bees are aggressive but do not contain a stinger.
During the spring, people often notice large, black bees hovering around the outside of their homes. These are likely to be carpenter bees, named for their habit of excavating holes in wood, in order to rear their young. Carpenter bees prefer unpainted, weathered wood, especially softer varieties such as redwood, cedar, cypress, and pine. Painted or pressure-treated wood is much less susceptible to attack. Common carpenter bee nesting sites include eaves, rafters, fascia boards, siding, wooden shake roofs, decks and outdoor furniture.
Carpenter bees do not live in colonies like honeybees or bumblebees. Fertilized female carpenter bees bore into wood, excavating a tunnel to lay their eggs. The entrance hole in the wood surface is perfectly round and about the diameter of your little finger. Coarse sawdust may be present below the opening, and tunneling sounds are sometimes heard within the wood. Inside the tunnel, about five or six cells are constructed for housing individual eggs. Working back to front, the bee provisions each cell with pollen (collected from spring-flowering plants) and a single egg, sealing each successive chamber with regurgitated wood pulp. Hatching and maturation occur over several weeks, with the pollen serving as a food source for the developing larvae. Later in the summer, the new generation of adult bees emerge and forage on flowers, returning to the wood in the fall for hibernation.
Carpenter bees are destructive to homes causing damage to wood. Call Clean Sweep Pest Control for proper identification and treatment of your Carpenter Bee problems.
Fleas
Fleas are parasites that feed on blood.
Fleas do not fly. Instead, they jump from one place to another. In fact, fleas can jump as high as 8” vertically, which is 150 times their own height. If we could do this, we would be able to leap over skyscrapers!
Fleas transport themselves on rodents and other mammals and usually remain on their hosts at all times. The most common species is the cat flea, which often feasts on cats, dogs, and humans.
Fleas can live on any warm-blooded animal but seem to prefer to live on humans, cats, dogs, opossums, rats, and other rodents. They can also be found on shoes, pant legs, or blankets.
Fleas Prevention
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Clean and vacuum frequently.
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Keep your yard clean of garbage and pet droppings.
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Protect pets by keeping them on a leash when outside, give them lots of baths, give them monthly flea and tick treatments and take them to the vet at least once a year to make sure they haven’t been infested.
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If you think you have fleas in your home and property, call Clean Sweep Pest Control
Flies
Medical doctors use a special species of maggots to help patients with flesh wounds, especially burn victims.
Baby flies are called larvae but they are also known as maggots. Maggots eat away the damaged flesh, which helps the wound heal
There are more than 120,000 species of flies worldwide with about 18,000 found in North America.
Most flies live an average of 21 days and take on various shapes throughout their short lives.
A female housefly can lay up to 600 eggs in her short lifetime.
There are a wide variety of flies that make their way into our homes.
From fruit flies, house flies, drain flies, bottle flies to name a few.
Let Clean Sweep Pest Control identify and eliminate your pest problem.
Mice
Mice typically enter our homes between October and February, looking for food, water and shelter from the cold. While these rodents may look cute, mice spread more germs than most people realize. Mice can actually carry as many as 200 human pathogens!
Despite their tiny bodies, mice eat between 15 and 20 times a day.
If you spot a mouse the house, it is safe to assume there are more or there will be soon. Female mice can give birth when they are two months old and are able to have babies 6 to 10 times per year.
Mice can squeeze through openings the size of a dime.
A house mouse produces between 40 and 100 droppings per day.
Mice are good jumpers, climbers and swimmers.
Mice Prevention
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Mice eat 15-20 times a day, so keep your homes clean and do not leave food out
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Be sure to empty kitchen and household garbage cans frequently.
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Make sure that your home and storage areas are clean and dry.
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Make sure that you clean your sheds, crawlspaces, and garbage cans often.
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Close up any small holes and cracks they can come in through.
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​Call Clean Sweep Pest Control for those tough to handle situations
Mosquitos
Only female mosquitos bite.
There are about 170 different kinds of mosquitoes in North America alone.
These pests are part of the same family as houseflies and fruit flies because they all have two clear, veined wings.
Mosquitoes spread diseases such as West Nile Virus, Malaria, and dengue fever.
Mosquitoes breed in soft, moist soil or stagnant water sources such as storm drains, old tires, children's wading pools, and birdbaths.
Best known as a summer pest, Mosquitoes can develop from egg to adult in 10 to 14 days.
We usually say, "I have been bitten by a mosquito", but this is not completely true. In fact, mosquitoes do not bite. Female mosquitoes feed on plant nectar and blood. They need the protein to reproduce. To get to the blood, they pierce our skin with their "proboscis" and suck our blood. Male mosquitoes feed exclusively on plant nectars. Mosquitoes are busiest at night and will fly up to 14 miles for a blood meal. They hunt for food by detecting body heat and Carbon Dioxide, the gas we breathe out.
Mosquito Prevention
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Replace all stagnant water at least once a week.
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Remove trash from around any standing water.
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When sleeping outdoors or in areas where mosquito populations are heavy, surround your bed with "mosquito" netting.
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Screen windows, doors, and other openings with fine mesh.
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Avoid going outdoors at night.
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Use insect repellent containing DEET on exposed skin anytime you’re around mosquitoes. DEET doesn’t kill the mosquitoes. It just disorients them and they look elsewhere for food.
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Let Clean Sweep Pest Control help you with your mosquito issue. We provide a very effective green service that will eliminate your problem while protecting the environment and non-target animals. This new technology not only kills the adults but assists in breaking their life cycle of egg-larva-pupa-adult. This technology targets them at the egg and larval stage, greatly reducing the need for a pesticide application. Call Clean Sweep Pest Control for a free estimate.
Pantry Pests
Their presence in the home is not necessarily an indication of the quality of the housekeeper.
Pantry pests, also known as ‘Stored Product Pests” are a group of pests with an appetite for dried and processed food products that are stored in your home.
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Products can include flour, cereal, dry pasta, dry pet food, powdered milk, cornstarch, crackers, spices, bread, bird seed, dried nuts, fruit and more.
Although pantry pests include a variety of insects, the Indian meal moth, saw-toothed grain beetle, and the cigarette beetle are most commonly found in kitchens and homes.​
Pantry pests can breed almost continuously as they tend to live in the food products they thrive on. These insects can produce several generations of their kind in the course of a single year.
Indian Meal Moths
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Indian meal moths (Plodia interpunctella) are small moths with reddish-brown forewings. They have a coppery luster on the back half and are whitish gray on the front half.
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The larvae are responsible for all the food damage and they attack a wide variety of dried food products in the house.
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They are notoriously difficult to get rid of and can crawl on ceilings and spin cocoons in rooms other than the kitchen or pantry where they hatched.
Cigarette Beetles
- Cigarette beetles (Lasioderma serricorne) are light brown, around 1/8 inch long, have a "hump-backed" appearance, smooth wing covers and body hairs that give it an almost “fuzzy” appearance.
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Although known for feeding on cured tobacco, cigarettes and cigars, in the home this beetle is most commonly found in pet foods, cereals, nuts, and candy. It may also infest dried pepper arrangements, wreaths, and spices such as chili powder or paprika..
Finding the source of the infestation is the most difficult and important part of the control. Call Clean Sweep Pest Control for a free estimate
Rats
Rats are also responsible for spreading bubonic plague, also known as the "Black Death". Although fleas are primarily responsible for infecting humans, they were originally infected with the plague by feeding on the blood of rats.
An adult rat can squeeze into your home through a hole as small as the size of a quarter.
Rats can swim for 3 days before drowning.
Rats can live for up to 18 months, but most die before they are one year old.
Rats have strong teeth that allow them to chew through glass, cinderblock, wire, aluminum, and lead.
Smell, taste, touch, and sound help direct them to their food sources.
Rats are scavengers. They have an excellent sense of taste and a good memory. A rat can identify certain substances, including rat poisons, after just a tiny taste of it.
Roof Rat • 5-10oz • 10-12' long
Norway Rat • 7-18oz • 13-18' long
Rats Prevention
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Rats will eat almost anything, so keep your homes clean and don’t leave food out.
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Make sure that your home and storage areas are clean and dry.
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Make sure that you clean your sheds, crawlspaces, and garbage cans often.
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Close up any small holes and cracks they can come in through.
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Call Clean Sweep Pest Control for a free estimate
Roaches
Cockroaches have been around for millions of years, evolving into some of the most adaptable pests on Earth. There are approximately 4,000 living species of cockroaches in the world. About 70 of these species are found in the United States.
Cockroaches have been around since the time of dinosaurs!
Some female cockroaches only mate once and stay pregnant for life!
A cockroach can live almost a month without food.
A cockroach can live for up to one week without its head!
Cockroaches can hold their breath for up to 40 minutes!
Cockroaches are commonly found in buildings and homes because they prefer warm environments close to food and water.
A cockroach can live for about two weeks without water.
Unfortunately, cockroaches can cause allergies and trigger asthma attacks, especially in children. They can also spread nearly 33 different kinds of bacteria.
Cockroaches can run up to 3 miles an hour.
There are various types of cockroaches from Brown-banded, German, American, Oriental. All spread diseases but not all treatments are the same.
Call Clean Sweep Pest Control for a free estimate!
Spiders
If Black Widow Spiders and Brown Recluse Spiders, Hobo Spiders, and European House Spiders are found, pest control treatment should be considered. These spiders do not create spider webs indoors.
Many species of spiders are common household pests in the United States. Spiders are considered a beneficial pest because of their prey to other insects and many people do not consider spider control measures for most spiders. Because spiders have eight legs, they are easy to separate from insects, which have only six legs. Another distinction between spiders and other pests is that spiders do not have wings or antennae. Spiders are arachnids.
Some species web over lamps, in corners, attics, and basements. Every "cobweb" was made by a spider.
In order to kill their prey, all spiders use venom. Not all spiders however are dangerous to humans.
Some Spiders' populations are found in humid and moist locations like basements and crawl spaces. Other Spiders prefer dry and warm places. They can be found in the upper corners of rooms and attics as well as sub-floor air-vents. Spiders prefer to hide in dark areas and in cracks as a retreat in order to construct material for their webs.
Although there is generally little danger resulting from spider bites from most spiders, it is advisable to consult a physician from spider bites.
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Call Clean Sweep Pest Control for a free assessment!
Termites
Termites have wings that they shed once they have found a good place to build a nest.
Termites are social insects and raise their young as a group.
Termites eat wood, wallpaper, plastics, and fabric made from plants.
Subterranean termites need contact with the soil to survive. They live in underground colonies or in wet areas aboveground. They build tunnels to reach food and every spring, groups of reproductive termites fly off to start new colonies.
There are about 2,000 known termite species in the world.
Termites are known as "silent destroyers" because of their ability to chew through wood, flooring and even wallpaper undetected.
The total weight of all of the termites in the world is more than the weight of all the humans in the world.
Termite colonies eat non-stop, 24 hours a day, seven days a week!
Each year, termites cause more than $5 billion in property damage.
Subterranean termites are the most destructive kind of termite. They can eat a lot of wood and they can cause a lot of expensive damage to a house! They can destroy building foundations, wooden support beams, sub-flooring. Termites can also injure or destroy living trees and shrubs.
There are a few different types of termites, Drywood, Dampwood, Formosan, and Subterranean.
Subterranean termites are prevalent in the eastern parts of the country.
Homeowners' insurance does not cover termite damage.
Termites Prevention
1. Make sure water drains away from your house.
2. Don’t let water build up around your home's foundation. Termites like that!
3. Replace any damp or damaged wood on the outside of your home.
4. Never leave wood scraps in the yard for them to snack on.
5. Call a Clean Sweep Pest Control for a termite inspection.
Wasps
Most wasps live less than one year and some only live for a few months.
There are 4,000 kinds of wasps in the United States. Typically, wasps are most active during the day and usually return to their nests at dusk. These pests are often seen flying around during the second half of summer and early fall when the colonies search for food that will sustain their queens during the winter.
Stinging insects like bees, hornets, and wasps send more than 500,000 people to the emergency room each year.
Common home remedies for stings include coating the sting site with a meat tenderizer/water solution rinse, baking soda paste, or even rubbing the site with an aluminum-based deodorant!
Some examples of wasps are Baldfaced Hornets, European Hornets, and Yellowjackets
Bald-faced Hornets
• Bald-faced hornets house their colonies inside large nests that they build hanging from trees, bushes, vegetation, and occasionally from buildings.
• A single mated queen starts a new nest each spring by laying eggs inside a small nest made from paper strips and loose bark.
• The workers then gradually expand the size of the nest until it is larger than a basketball by the end of the summer. The queen lives deep in the nest, so she is always protected.
• Bald-faced hornets are aggressive and will attack anyone or anything that invades their space. They have smooth stingers, so they can sting over and over again. Their stings also carry venom that makes the stings hurt, itch, or swell for about 24 hours. Humans are at the same risk of allergic reactions from a bald-faced hornet sting as with other hornet stings.
• Do not leave sweet drinks or meats out in the open.
European Hornets
• Nests are typically built in hollow trees, but they are often found in barns, sheds, attics, and hollow areas of house walls. Unlike its cousins the yellow jacket and the bald-faced hornets, European hornets rarely build nests that are free hanging or in unprotected areas, such as tree limbs. They use decaying wood fiber to build a shell around their nest as protection. As winter approaches, the worker bees die off and the Queen will leave the existing nest and find an empty log or another sheltered spot to spend the winter.
• European hornets can do a great deal of damage to trees and shrubs because they strip the bark to get to the sap. They also use the bark fiber to build their nests. They have smooth stingers, so they can sting over and over again. Their stings also carry venom that makes the stings hurt, itch, or swell for about 24 hours. A European hornet sting has the same risk of allergic reactions from as with other wasp stings.
• Do not leave sweet drinks or meats out in the open.
Yellowjackets
• Yellow jackets like to be where humans live. They usually build their nests underground, around garbage, and in cool, dark spaces. They also build nests in trees, shrubs, and holes in walls.
• Most yellowjacket colonies only remain active for one year. Then the queen flies off to start a new colony. The remaining bees die in the fall and the nest is abandoned.
• Look for yellow jacket nests during the day, because you can see them flying in and out, but destroy nests at night, when they are dormant and all there.
• Wasps help farmers by eating pests that can destroy crops. They are dangerous because they can sting multiple times, injecting venom into the host. For most people a yellow jacket sting just causes a welt and temporary pain, but their sting can cause allergic reactions to people sensitive to this venom.
• Do not leave sweet drinks or meats out in the open.
Call a Clean Sweep Pest Control if you find Wasps around your house.
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