Listed below is information about the most common pests around the Midlands region:

Earwigs

Earwigs are beetle-like, short-winged, fast moving insects about one-half to one inch in length. They have chewing-type mouthparts, a pair of pincer-like appendages at the tip of their abdomen and are dark brown in color.

Earwigs usually hide in cracks, crevices, under bark or in similar places during the day, but are active foragers at night. They are usually scavengers in their feeding habits, but occasionally feed on plants. This information is very important to remember when killing earwigs that invade homes.

The name earwig is derived from an old superstition that these insects enter human ears and work their way into the brain where they become attached and eventually drive their host to madness and/or death. This fairy tale has no foundation and is entirely false. Earwigs cause no physical harm to man. Certain species have scent glands from which they can squirt a foul-smelling liquid. This is probably used for protection; however, it makes them very unpleasant when crushed.

Fire Ants

Fire ants, sometimes referred to as simply red ants, are stinging ants of which there are over 280 species worldwide.

A typical fire ant colony produces large mounds in open areas, and feeds mostly on young plants, seeds, and sometimes crickets. Fire ants often attack small animals and can kill them. Unlike many other ants, which bite and then spray acid on the wound, fire ants only bite to get a grip and then sting (from the abdomen) and inject a toxic alkaloid venom. For humans, this is a painful sting, which leaves a sensation similar to what one feels when they get burned by fire — hence the name fire ant — and the aftereffects of the sting can be deadly to sensitive individuals. The venom is both insecticidal and antibiotic. Researchers have proposed that nurse workers will spray their brood to protect them from microorganisms. The worker ants are blackish to reddish and vary from 3–6 mm in length.

Fire ants nest in the soil, often near moist areas, such as river banks, pond edges, watered lawns and highway edges. Usually the nest will not be visible as it will be built under objects such as timber, logs, rocks, pavers, bricks, etc. If there is no cover for nesting, dome shaped mounds will be constructed but this is usually only found in open spaces such as fields and parks. These mounds can reach heights of 40cm.

Colonies are founded by small groups of queens or single queens. Even if only one queen survives, within a month or so the colony can expand to thousands of individuals. Some colonies may be polygynous (having multiple queens per nest). It has been observed that a colony can have over 100 queens.

Flies

The grouping "Flies" has over 86,000 known, with about 16, 300 found in North America. Prevalent in all habitats, flies are easily distinguished from other insects because they have only 1 pair of normal wings. The second pair is represented by 2 knobbed organs called halteres. The halteres are thought to be organs which help stabilize the insect while in flight. Many flies have a membranous lobe at the base of each wing overlying the haltere.

Most flies have large compound eyes and mouthparts that are modified for piercing, lapping or sucking fluids. The antennae range from short, 3-segmented organs to long, thread-like structures. The fly's antennae are feathery in midges and mosquitoes, clubbed in mydas flies.

Flies exhibit complete metamorphosis: egg, larvae (maggot), pupa and adult. The larvae of most species are soft, legless and headless. These maggots live in soil, decaying material or as parasites of vertebrates, snails or other insects. The aquatic, mobile larvae of mosquitoes, midges and certain other groups are more slender and have an easily recognizable head. For the purpose of pest control, the flies most encountered by homes and businesses are broken down into three categories: small flies, filth flies and biting flies. The larvae of these pests can be found in many breeding sites: aquatic areas, seaweed, decaying grass and compost piles, earthworms, manure, dead animals, cadavers, garbage, damp organic matter in all stages of decomposition, sewers, soil contaminated by sewage, potting soil, cheeses, meats, drains, rotting vegetables and fruits, fresh fruits, wet soil and sump pumps.

Some blood-sucking flies are carriers of diseases such as malaria and yellow fever. Other flies carry bacteria that cause typhoid and dysentery. The beneficial aspects of flies include breaking down carcasses to pollinating flowers. There are many insect pest populations which are kept in check by flies while the flies are a primary source of food for certain wildlife.

German Cockroaches

Adult German cockroaches are light brown except for the shield behind the head marked with two dark stripes, which run lengthwise on the body. Young roaches are wingless and nearly black with a single light stripe running down the middle of the back, and the adults are about 5/8 inch long. Egg capsules are light tan and usually yield about 36 baby cockroaches!

German cockroaches are the most common roaches found in houses and restaurants. Most cockroaches have a flattened, oval shape, spiny legs, and long, filamentous antennae. Immature stages are smaller, have undeveloped wings and resemble the adults. They eat food of all kinds and may hitchhike into the house on egg cartons, soft drink cartons, sacks of potatoes or onions, used furniture or appliances, beer cases, etc. Produce departments, pawn shops, nursing homes and other such places are constantly fighting German roaches (as a general rule) and are notorious for being the source of residential infestations.

Meal Moths

Meal moths, or grain moths, are in a group called Pantry Pests or Stored Product Pests. These insects have the ability to feed on and/or breed in grains and other such materials. Another type of moth, Fabric moths, are most commonly known as Clothes Moths and are included in the group of household pests known as Fabric Pests. A fabric pest has the distinguished ability to digest keratin. Simply put, they feed on and can digest skin, fur, hooves, feathers - animal parts.

When most people see moths in their homes they immediately think that they have been infested with clothes moths that might be feeding on their woolens, carpets, rugs, etc. In most cases they have misidentified their pest and actually have an infestation of a type of meal or grain moth. This is the basic way of telling the difference between the two types of moths: rarely does one see adult clothes moths. When there are several or many moths in the home they are almost always a type of meal/grain infesting moth.

Evidence of clothes moths is usually found by the damage they do to different fabrics in our homes.

Mice

The house mouse (Mus musculus) is a small, slender rodent that has a slightly pointed nose; small, black, somewhat protruding eyes; large, scantily haired ears, and a nearly hairless tail with obvious scale rings. The adult mouse weighs about 2/5 to 4/5 ounces. They are generally grayish-brown with a gray or buff belly. Similar mice include the white-footed mice and jumping mice( which have a white belly), and harvest mice (which have grooved upper incisor teeth.)

Native to central Asia, this species arrived in North America along with settlers from Europe and other points of origin. A very adaptable species, the house mouse often lives in close association with humans and therefore is termed one of the "commensal" rodents along with Norway and roof rats. Following their arrival on colonists’ ships, house mice spread across North America and now are found in every state including coastal areas of Alaska, and in the southern parts of Canada.

Mole Crickets

Mole Crickets are about 1 1/2 inches long, are golden to chocolate brown in color and are covered with fine velvety hairs. They are endowed with strong front legs equipped for digging. Their small winding burrows of loosened soil reveal their presence. They are nocturnal feeders and may tunnel as much as 10 to 20 feet a night.

Those meandering surface ridges that suddenly appear on your lawn indicate the presence of mole crickets. The next symptom is will be dead or damaged plants. Two common mole cricket species attack plants - the Northern Mole Cricket and the Southern Mole Cricket. Vegetable crops may be damaged by the mole crickets.

Rats

There are two main species of rats that are of significance in the United States. They are the Roof Rat or tree Rat, the Norway Rat or ground rat. Of course there are lots of other species such as field rats, wharf rats, sewer rats, etc.. but the Roof Rats and Norway Rats are the ones of primary importance. They are the species of commensal rodents that homeowners and building owners deal with 90% of the time.

The Roof Rat Has A Long Tail, Large Ears and Has A Slender Body. Roof Rats Are Commonly Found In Trees, Attics, Old Houses, and is the #1 Rodent Found In Inner Cities.

Norway Rats Have Small Ears, Short Tail, and Have A Fat Rounded Body. Norway Rats Are Commonly Found In Fields, Sewers, Living Under Debris, Etc. They Are The #1 Rat Infesting Barns, Poultry Houses, and Rural Areas.

In your personal battle against rodents, it is important to remember that you are dealing with an animal that is capable of crawling, climbing, and chewing it's way into your home or business. They can flatten themselves out and squeeze through the smallest of openings, even under closed doors. If the hole is not big enough, they can easily chew it or gnaw it to a large enough size so that they can get through. Generally, if a rodent can squeeze it's head through an opening, (most rodents heads are the size of a quarter or smaller), it will eventually get through. This is why your strategy for rat control always starts on the outside of the structure.

Silverfish

Silverfish and Firebrats all have the same characteristic shape. Their bodies are flattened, long and slender, broad at the front and tapering gradually toward the rear. The antennae are long and slender. Three long, slender appendages are found at the rear of the body. These give rise to the common name, "bristle tails." All silverfish and firebrats are wingless. The young look like small adults, and their development takes place without metamorphosis.

Silverfish may be found almost anywhere in a house. However, they usually will be found living close to their source of food. They eat a wide variety of foods containing proteins or carbohydrates. Such things as rolled oats, dried beef, flour, starch, paper, cotton, some synthetic fibers, sugar, beef extract, dead insects, glue, paste and linen are all normal items of their diet. Silverfish can live for long periods of time without food.

These insects are primarily a nuisance, but they do consume small amounts of human foods and contaminate it with their body scales and droppings. They can do considerable damage to some natural and synthetic fibers, books and other paper products. Their feeding marks are irregular and often appear as a surface etching which may not even penetrate paper. They may also leave yellow stains, especially on linens.

The silverfish is found in all parts of the United States as well as over much of the rest of the world. The adult's body is about 1/2-inch long, with a uniform silvery color all over the upper surface. This species prefers temperatures of 70-80°F and moist situations. Eggs are laid in protected situations, such as behind baseboards, and hatch in from 20 to 40 days depending on temperature and humidity.

Smoky Brown Cockroaches

Smoky-brown cockroaches are closely related to the American cockroach but are distinguished by their smaller size, being slightly more than 1 inch long, and uniform mahogany brown color. They do not have any lighter coloration around the edge of their pronotum, as does the adult American cockroach. Both males and females have wings longer than their bodies. Young nymphs have long antennae which are white at the tip. Females lay a dark-brown to black egg capsule which contains 24 eggs. The capsules are firmly attached to some object, although occasionally they may be found lying loosely on the ground or floor. Each female produces about 17 capsules. Their life cycle is similar to other Periplaneta species, except that the average adult life span is less than the American cockroach. In a protected area, the smoky-brown cockroach will live for about 200 days at room temperature.

This cockroach is restricted in its distribution within the U.S. It is common throughout central Texas and eastward, along the Gulf Coast, throughout Florida and up the eastern seaboard. It is the most common species of cockroach encountered in some parts of the South, and is now known to be present in some areas of southern California. It is not generally found in the North except when accidentally brought in.

Normally, this cockroach feeds on plant material, but it can feed on almost anything that other cockroach species feed on once inside a dwelling. It is commonly found living in wood shingle roofs and in gutters where it feeds on decaying organic matter. In attics, they are typically found living at the roof line.

Nymphs and adults enter buildings in a number of ways. They can be brought into the house with firewood or anything else that is stored outside, in garages or other storage areas. They can enter around doors and windows, through ventilation ports under the eaves of a house or any other small cracks or crevices which lead inside. Many homes with brick facades are built with regularly spaced "weep holes" in the brickwork. Cockroaches and many other insects can enter wall voids via these weep hole accesses. They can also move onto roofs and gutters and eventually into the structure. Smoky-brown cockroaches move in and out of buildings to forage more than American cockroaches and most other outdoor species.

Spiders

Few creatures are as feared and misunderstood as spiders. For the most part, spiders are harmless and generally beneficial by keeping the insect populations in check. Spiders are seldom aggressive and bite only when threatened or injured. Few spiders bite people and the venom of most is harmless. However, the bite of the black widow and the brown recluse (also known as the Recluse or Fiddle Back) can be quite dangerous.

Spiders are the largest group of arachnids. There are more than 35,000 named species worldwide, including about 3,000 in North America, but probably most spider species are still awaiting identification. When someone brings a spider to us for identification, it is usually large (which makes one believe it might be a Tarantula) or is marked with brilliant colors (which many believe might be a black widow), but most spiders that we are asked to identify are harmless.

These predators live almost everywhere - on the ground, under rocks, inside and underneath playground equipment, among grasses, on plants, in tree branches, in underground caves and even on the water. Spiders frequently stray into dwellings or other indoor habitats, or may be accidentally introduced on firewood, laundry that has been hung out to dry, and on flowers. Spiders will also sneak into our homes in boxes, clothing or furniture. In windows and near outdoor lighting, web-building spiders often construct webs because insect prey may be attracted at night by the lights and by air currents.

Termites

Termites are social insects. Their workers are best described as "little white things" or "little white ants" that are often found in damp, rotting wood. Termites have a strict caste system, which consists of worker termites, soldiers, winged reproductive termites, a queen termite, and a king termite.

Termites have the ability to change from one caste type to another during their immature stages. This allows the colony to change the proportion of different caste members as the need arises.

The two most common types of termites are "drywood" and "ground" termites. Both types of termites eat cellulose for nutrition. Cellulose is found in wood and wood products. Both types of termites have the "flying termite" or "winged reproductive". These winged termites are new kings and queens attempting to establish a new colony. They may also be referred to as "swarmers". Ant colonies also send swarmers, which have nearly the same appearance as termites, but may be identified upon closer inspection. Below you will see the obvious differences between ant and termite swarmers.

 

Some of these descriptions are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. They use material from the Wikipedia articles linked in each subject description.