Pest Control Keller TX is the effort to reduce unwanted insects, rodents, or other organisms that damage property, crops or human health. This can be accomplished through exclusion, repellents, physical removal or chemical control techniques such as sterilisation.
Avoiding sources of food, water and shelter for pests is the first step in successful pest control. Eliminating a pest’s food source is critical, and can be done by removing garbage regularly, fixing leaky plumbing and cleaning up debris and leaf piles.
Often called bugs or creepy-crawlies, insects are small, boneless creatures that buzz, scuttle and flit. They’re members of the phylum arthropoda, which also includes crustaceans and arachnids (millipedes, centipedes).
Many species of insects are beneficial to people. They pollinate flowering plants, provide food for other animals, and help control pests. However, some insects bite and sting people and spread diseases. In addition, they eat crops and wood, damage buildings and homes, and contaminate foods.
Biological pest control uses natural organisms to reduce insect populations, such as predators, parasitoids and pathogens. This type of pest control is less invasive than chemical treatments and typically takes longer to work, but it’s safe for the environment.
Rodents
Rodents, like rats and mice, consume and contaminate food, cause fires by chewing on wires, transmit pathogens, and contribute to asthma triggers. These rodents are born survivors, able to adapt to almost any habitat and can reproduce rapidly, resulting in exponential population growth.
Rats and mice can enter homes, warehouses, and other buildings through holes, cracks, and gaps in walls, floors, and foundations. They can also gain entry by climbing over ledges and through vents and chimneys. Proper sanitation will help prevent rodent infestations and minimize damage. Sanitation includes storing firewood away from structures, keeping garbage dumpsters closed, and maintaining landscaping so it is not a hiding place for rodents. In addition, all entry points should be sealed with steel wool or caulk.
There are more than 2000 species of rodents worldwide, with a wide range of body shapes, diets, and behaviors. Despite their small size, most rodents are capable of damaging large areas of crops and can carry diseases that affect people. Some of the most common diseases associated with rodents include plague, murine typhus, scrub typhus, leptospirosis, and rat-bite fever.
Bed Bugs
Bed bugs are rusty red, apple seed sized insects with six legs. They can be seen with the naked eye and are active at night, but may seek out hosts in full daylight. Bed bugs are excellent hitch hikers, travelling from one room to another and alighting on beds, couches and plush chairs to feed.
The time it takes for a bed bug to mature depends on temperature, available blood and feeding opportunities. When conditions are right, they can multiply quickly and multiple generations can be produced in a year.
Intensive preparation is necessary to control large infestations and to limit the spread of bed bugs from treatment rooms to untreated areas. Vacuuming and cleaning help to reduce populations but are insufficient on their own. Clutter and belongings must be removed since they impede treatment and afford places for bed bugs to hide. Interceptors should be placed under the legs of all beds, couches and plush chairs.
Desiccants (chemicals that dry things out) are particularly useful for treating heavily infested rooms and can be effective when combined with other treatments. EPA registered pesticides, in liquid or dust formulations, should be used in cracks and crevices where bed bugs harbor.
Cockroaches
Cockroaches are a major nuisance and can cause allergies, trigger asthma and spread disease. They are especially problematic in restaurants, hospitals and buildings with food-handling areas. They can also secrete a substance that stains surfaces and produces bad odors.
Pest control professionals will inspect your home or business to determine the extent of the problem and identify areas where cockroaches hide and breed. They use baits, sprays and traps to help eliminate the pests. The professionals can also seal cracks and crevices, caulk around appliances and put covers (escutcheon plates) on points where plumbing enters walls.
Cockroaches are most active at night and feed on a variety of foods, including human and pet food, grains, coffee grounds and decaying vegetable matter. These scavenging insects enter homes in search of food, water and shelter. Eliminating food sources and eliminating standing water in the yard make your property less attractive to cockroaches. Regular cleaning and vacuuming, storing food in tightly sealed containers and putting out trash daily can all help to reduce the cockroach population.
Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes are slender flying insects that breed in water and feed on animals and humans, spreading diseases like malaria. They also play a role at the bottom of the food chain, providing nutritious food for aquatic animals.
Eliminating standing water is a crucial step in mosquito control. The mosquito larvae and pupae live in water until they are adults, so any small pool or puddle near your home is a potential breeding site. Remove clogged gutters, clean out birdbaths regularly, empty and drain fishponds, turn over or drill holes in unused tires that may hold water, and pick up discarded toys and other containers that can harbor mosquito eggs.
Repelling mosquitoes is important, but controlling their breeding and resting areas is even better. Apply repellent containing picaridin or diethyltoulamide to exposed skin and use mosquito coils, lights or no-pest strips that release insecticides formulated to kill mosquitoes around outdoor entertaining spaces. These long-term solutions make the time you spend outdoors safer and more enjoyable. Using combination approaches, including larval control methods for ponds, keeping weed growth at bay and eliminating standing water, helps to keep your yard mosquito-free.
Fleas
Fleas have an extremely long life cycle, making it difficult to eradicate an infestation. An adult female can produce up to 40 flea eggs a day. Eggs are not sticky and fall from the host to carpets, wood floor planks, pet bedding and the ground where they develop into larvae. The larvae then hatch into adults.
Because of this complex life cycle, thorough cleaning and pest control is critical for controlling a flea infestation. Vacuuming regularly, sweeping floors and using a pet comb with special flea comb attachments will remove many of the eggs and larvae. Thorough washing and drying of your pet’s bedding also is important to kill fleas.
A Terminix professional can recommend an insecticide or oral medication to kill existing adult fleas and prevent them from reproducing, which will greatly reduce the population in your home. For the best results, we recommend beginning your home and yard treatment at the same time as your pet treatments, which disrupts the fleas’ life cycle and provides a more complete solution.
Wasps
Although wasps are nuisance pests in some situations, they play a key role in the ecosystem by preying on insect species that are disease-carrying or damaging. Similarly, solitary wasps serve a purpose by parasitizing other insects and feeding them to their young.
You can prevent wasps from settling in your yard by regularly inspecting and sealing off entry points. Look for cracks around door and window frames, torn screens, and open garbage cans. Regularly checking for new nests in the spring is a good idea too.
Keeping food and drinks covered can also help reduce the number of wasps in your yard. Like many other insects, wasps are drawn to proteins found in foods like meats and sweet foods. Limiting lingering puddles and bird baths can also help reduce wasp activity. Planting decoy plants can also keep wasps from coming near high traffic areas of your garden. Try herbs such as fennel or ornamental flowers like goldenrod and thistle. These plants are attractive to pollinators and other beneficial insects. Classical biological control also involves intentionally introducing parasitoids, such as the braconid wasp in the genus Opius, to target insect pests.
Ants
Ants are wingless insects that live in social groups called colonies. There are three types of colony castes; queens, workers, and males. Queens lay eggs and control the nest, while workers are responsible for feeding larvae and maintaining the colony. Males mate with females during the swarming season.
Homeowners can help prevent ants by keeping kitchen counters and floors clean. Store food in airtight containers, and wipe up any spills immediately. In addition, line indoor trash cans with can liners and remove trash regularly.
Outside, homeowners can create a dry zone by raking away leaf piles, grass clippings, stacked wood, and other landscape debris that may provide harborage for ants. They can also prune trees and shrubs to reduce shady areas where ants like to nest.
Several commercial products are available to kill ants and repel them from homes. For example, food-grade diatomaceous earth can be sprinkled in ant paths to dry out their exoskeletons and dehydrate them. Essential oils such as peppermint, cinnamon, eucalyptus, lemongrass, and tea tree oil are also effective in repelling ants.