A Very Buggy Summer

With the weather pattern we've had so far, it's almost certain that the numbers of calls regarding pest insects such as mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, and ants will increase, causing a very buggy summer.

Whether the number of creepy crawlies this summer will be higher than normal has yet to be seen. So far pest control companies have not experienced a rise in the number of complaints about bugs like fleas and ants, but that doesn't mean it isn't happening. Local exterminators can attest to that. They say they've already had a spike in calls.

Pete Jameson owns a pest control business and has been working in the industry for 26 years. Jameson said he is already getting a lot more complaints this year from people with ants in their houses and mosquitoes in their gardens.

Standing water from high bouts of rain earlier in the year fueled a mosquito surge. Continued rain has made it difficult for that standing water to evaporate, which in turn has perpetuated the situation. Weather, especially rain, has also played a major factor in ants invading the indoors.

"They live in the soil so if the ground gets saturated they pack up and start moving and you see an increase inside. They tend to try and find dry ground and sometimes that's your house," said Pete.

The recent wet winter is another factor in the bug population. "With a lot of insects, people have the misconception that they just die off in the winter time," Pete said. "Things may become dormant for a while, but they never disappear." In fact, some ants are active even when it's 0 degrees outside. A thriving winter population contributed to the above average insect population this year, according to Pete.

Ants flourishing in Cheshire isn't new. Over the past decade we've seen big increases in ant populations in residential settings and across the country. The exact cause isn't known, but it could be changes in landscape practices, such as using mulch or plants that attract ants.

With an increase of bugs fleeing waterlogged soil, it would be easy to wish for a long streak of dry weather to get the pests back outside, but as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for. Drought can cause insects to seek refuge inside just as much as excess rain. According to Pete, bugs might seek needed moisture inside if they can't find it otherwise. "You almost have to have a nice balance of not too much, not too little," Pete said.

There are a few basic tips people can use to keep bugs outside. One of the simplest things to do is to clean up after yourself. If there is a spill or food sitting out, bugs will find it. To keep the mosquito population down, try not to keep any standing water in your garden. Drain or refresh stagnant water often.

With ants, just killing what can be seen doesn't work. They have huge colonies with a queen. To end an ant problem, the queen has to be killed, and there are many commercially available baits will wipe out a colony.

Will the insect boom last all summer? Pete says that depends on something no one controls – the weather.

Article provided by Dynamic Pest Control