When it comes to protecting your home from pests, it is of vital importance to pay particular attention to protection against invasive pest species. Many different kinds of pests are native to the land that you live on, meaning they likely have common native predators and environmental competitors that keep their populations from skyrocketing.
However, invasive pest species pose the threat of their colony numbers growing and spreading rapidly due to the fact that they likely lack any natural predators in the area that they choose to invade. There are some invasive pest species that are commonly found in and around homes in the United States that you should be sure to watch out for.
Some of these include the Asian cockroach, Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, and Spotted Lanternfly to name a few. Although some will not directly cause damage to your home or the plants in your yard, they can certainly be a nuisance to have around. If you see any of these, call in the exterminators to get rid of them.
Here are a few facts about the most common invasive pest species in the United States.
Asian Cockroach
The Asian Cockroach has a heavy resemblance to the German Cockroach, which greatly depends on houses for food and shelter. The good news is that Asian Cockroaches thrive in the shaded mulchy areas of your yard. They are, however, attracted to light and can fly. If you are not careful, you could have problems with this pest flying into your home at night because of the artificial lights.
The last thing you want on a relaxing evening spending time with your family is the disruption of one of these roaches frantically flying around your living room. A cockroach control plan can help.
Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug has the standard shield-shaped exterior that many other stink bugs have, though they do have white marks on their antennae that can help you distinguish them from other types. Unfortunately, Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs feed on agricultural crops such as fruits and vegetables and can have a detrimental effect on your garden or fruit trees growing outside of your home. Furthermore, groups of them often seek shelter inside of the cracks and crevices of your home.
If you do not take the proper precautions to protect these outdoor critters from invading your home, you could have some smelly house guests on your hands.
Spotted Lanternfly
The Spotted Lanternfly is another type of stink bug. Though they have some similarities with the Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs, one important distinction is their affinity for feeding on the sap of trees. This in itself has been shown to cause problems in the logging industry and can even pose a threat to the trees in your own backyard. Another fact about the Spotted Lanternfly species is that they tend to lay their eggs on hard surfaces made up of wood and/or stone. Because of this, you have to pay close attention to the furniture and other structures in your yard like pergolas, porch swings, and fence panels.
If you do not get these nests properly removed by a pest control company, they can prove to be a huge issue when it comes time for the lanternflies to hatch, as they could easily crawl over to your home for food and shelter.
Red Imported Fire Ant
I am sure many of us have had the shared childhood experience of rolling around outdoors when we were young and accidentally disturbing a few artfully constructed ant piles. Red Imported Fire Ants were first discovered in Alabama in the 1900s and are native to Brazil. Today, they are found in a wide area across the United States including much of the Southeast and the West. Red Imported Fire Ants are a nuisance like many other ant species in regard to their territorial nature and desire to protect the nest from dangers like young kids and pets.
However, they also pose a threat to invading your home in search of food. It is common for these ants to find an entrance into your home through your air conditioning system. This makes it even more imperative to hire a regular pest control technician that will continually monitor and spray the borders of your home.
Asian Longhorn Tick
Potentially one of the invasive pest species that pose the greatest threat to your family’s safety is the Asian Longhorn Tick. This particular kind of tick was first discovered in 2017 and as its name suggested originated in Asia. The real danger that comes from these ticks is not directly attributed to the ticks themselves but instead to the deadly diseases they can potentially carry and spread to livestock, rodents, pets, and humans. Diseases such as Lyme’s Disease and Japanese Spotted Fever are a couple of the many diseases that people can be infected with due to a tick bite.
A harrowing fact about this tick species is that the females are able to reproduce on their own without a male mate, which is part of the reason they have become so widespread across the world. Besides doing a “tick check” on your kids and pets whenever they come inside from a wooded area, it is very important to have a pest control specialist assess your environment for threats so that they can properly protect your home from the Asian Longhorn Tick.
DIY Tips and Tricks for Controlling Invasive Pest Invaders
One of the best things you can do to protect your home from these invasive creatures is by making sure all cracks and crevices around your property are properly sealed or screened in. For example, spaces around utility-related pipelines entering the inside of your home can easily provide the perfect place for pests to sneak in. A couple of other small changes you can make to ensure that your home is protected are adding door sweeps and making sure to screen in larger openings like chimneys. Furthermore, wooden materials used in your landscaping can attract invasive species like certain kinds of termites.
Make sure to avoid using wood chips in your landscaping right around the border of your home. Also, be sure to store firewood and other stacks of wood at least twenty feet away from the walls of your home.
The Importance of Pest Control Services
Though there are many steps you can take on your own to protect your families from invasive insects and other pests, at the end of the day having a reliable pest control technician visit periodically is absolutely necessary.
At Pure Pest, there are a variety of options you can choose from when purchasing a pest control plan. By purchasing one of these plans, you can ensure that a technician will reassess and reapply treatment on a regular basis to keep your home pest-free for the long run.