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Active Arizona Termites

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Active Arizona Termites

Our Active Arizona Termites like water and there generally isn’t a lot of it for them. So after it starts raining they get a little more active. So keep a sharp look out for them. Arizona termites are sneaky. They often follow lines such as this metal bracket or they will follow concrete lines and or pipes. So what should you look for?

Wood to ground, this gives termites a free pass into your home.
Excessive moisture, don’t water to near the foundation of the house. Check drip irrigation and only water was is necessary for the plant if possible. In Arizona we often use flood irrigation, so be careful you are not interfering with the termiticide along the foundation of the home.
Don’t store firewood or wood on the ground.
Look for visible signs of termites, mud tubes, tunnels and/or drop tubes and damage.
Garages are a noted area, so keep a watch for termite tubes coming up the foundation or in the expansion joint.
Sometimes you might see little spots of dirt, check it and if it continues to grow get a pest professional to take a look. Our Arizona termites make some funky little drop tubes, it’s their way of trying to get back to the ground.

Antlions – What’s making these holes?

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Antlions are making these holes.

Antlions – the terror of the sandlot! A week or so ago I posted a who knows what this is? I then spotted a Youtube video that I thought would be fun to watch, especially since its National Geographic. As a kid I always played with these weird creatures and until I saw Star Wars with that SarLoc it never resonated as much.

If you ever have the chance, take a small business card and bend it and scoop out this tiny little critter. It’s interesting to think that everything has its place, well maybe not mosquitoes? Noah had the chance to smack both of them, didn’t he?

[az_video_embed class=”” link=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWkfAyfBDHE”]

Bees are busy these days

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I often have to walk around bushes and trees and sometimes they are just a humming with activity. This is the case in the Spring, people often get freaked out with all the activity. Honeybees are very important to our lives, 1/3 of all the food we eat are pollinated by bees. The only real time to be worried about honeybees is when they have taken up a home within your home. In this case they have something to defend, and defend it they will especially Africanized honeybees. Africanized honeybees are more prone to attack just because of a smell or lawnmower noise. They are virtually the same size as European honeybees and swarm 2 to 3 times more often Just use caution, unless you are allergic and then use extreme caution especially if there is a hive close to your home. If you are hiking some colonies will bump you to tell you they are close, just back away. Generally speaking swarms won’t attack unless you mess with them, they are full of honey and not yet defending a hive or colony. So don’t mess with them and they probably won’t mess with you.

Bee careful out there.

bees

Tumbleweed versus Wild West

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Not a tumbleweed but a cactus

Do you remember watching those wild west cowboy movies and watching those tumbleweeds aka Russian Thistle? Not everything is a cactus in Arizona.

They aren’t native to Arizona and probably were brought in from Asia with the pioneers.

The picture above is that tumbleweed but in its green and growing stage. When they die, they turn brown and wither but there is a secret you may not know about. That tumble thing they do, its really about spreading their seeds about 100,000 per plant. The old dead tumbleweed blows around with the help of the wind, spreading their kind to the four corners of Arizona – OK every corner of Arizona not just Four Corners (if you understand this reference post a comment) lets see how quick you folks are? On a serious note after the weeds life comes to an end, it becomes extremely brittle and become a target for any brush fires.

Weather cooler, watch out for rodents

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Weather may bring in the rodents mice and rats and other critters may be trying to gain access into your home. Just like any warm blooded animal, rodents want to be snug as a bug in a warm environment and that could be your home or attic. So I suggest that you take a look at the areas around your home that may be inviting to a critter, that doesn’t have to be a rodent exclusively. Pigeons, bats and even cats may try to get into your attics or crawlspaces and set up a home, so what can you do?

Check your home quarterly inside and out and repair:
1. Check weep screens.
2. Check those louvers that allow your attic or crawlspace to breath.
3. Caulk all holes or cracks that may allow access – remember mice can enter holes that are about the size of a dime and rats the size of a quarter.
4. Here’s a biggie – think like a rat, how would you get in? I had a family of rats once that were coming in on telephone wires.
When you bring down that stuff in the attic, open boxes either outside or in the garage oh and wear gloves as well. You don’t want any surprises jumping out of the box inside your home.
Trim trees of your home, don’t allow vines to grow and attach.
1. I suggest not planting plants to close to the house.
2. If the trees did touch, make sure you repair and check the tiles.
Read up on the enemy and become familiar with their habits. Always better to know more than you need to know, especially if you own a home.
1. http://www.pestworld.org/pest-guide/rodents/
2. Remember ProBest Pest Management is just a phone call away, 602-249-7378 check out our home seal page and specialized foam treatments..

weather scorpion

Pesticide Label, read it please.

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Pesticide Label – Dateline: July 2015

Read the pesticide label, why you ask just read the story and lets be safe.

Owners of a Wok restaurant in Sunnybank, Queensland Australia decided to perform pest control on their own. The placed 24 aerosol bombs in their restaurant and BOOM!

“They send up a vapour or an aerosol so what happens is they’re highly explosive so you have to follow the manufacturer’s instructions,” he said.

Just an example is a fogger we use, 6 oz. fogs/treats approximately 5000 cubic feet of unobstructed space 25′ x 25′ x 8′. Now just for the record I want to explain how and why we might use a fogging device.

Very seldom do I use a fogger and usually only on flying insects. My opinion is that it might drive the bugs deeper into walls and hiding areas.
Depending on circumstances placement is essential to functionality.
Lets use an example of German roaches, if you treat the area with a liquid first and get the roaches running a final step might be a fogger.
Read and follow all label directions.

911 call pesticide label

I absolutely hate stories like this, don’t you?

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Stories – Fact or Fiction?

Have you heard the stories? As many of you are aware I hate spiders, without any doubt the Brown recluse spider is right at the top of my list. I’m always the first to mention that is is very important to know your enemy, so even though they may not be in Arizona or Pennsylvania it is important to know that they may travel. “Venomous spiders close Pennsylvania elementary school” In Arizona we have a Brown spider, related to but isn’t the dread Brown Recluse. So just to reiterate, if your in the bug biz – know your enemy even if it doesn’t live in your area.

Photo by PPMA

What brings those scorpions to your doorsteps?

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Scorpions – Knock, Knock?

Could it be scorpions? Another question of the week, this one is easy in my books. It’s either too much rain or the lack thereof. For some reason this year 2015, it seems to be ants and earwigs. I remember last year it was cockroaches and guess what they are all looking for? Food, water and harborage. The tighter the house the better for us to live in right. Some would argue that the house needs to breath, I’m all for that the only in te way that the jtrim with its holes allow the house to breath. I’m all for lowing my electric bill and keeping those pesky bugs out.

That’s right, just like you and me they need the 3 essentials. The scorpion below is looking for something, is it food, water or somewhere to hide?

Thanks to Dr. Dawn Gouge for this interesting photo.

Happy Halloween!

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Happy Halloween

Halloween should be my favorite holiday, right? All the spiders and bug things. Anyway, BOO! As an adult I remember that we used to go out with beer cups and Trick or Treat for booze. As I think back I think it was better than the candy. But just think about the bugs or things that scare you. The things that go bump in the night.

I noticed this tow accessory, I think I need one. Oh and just for the record the hourglass is on the wrong side…

OK what do you see?

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Well if you guessed Drywood termites pellets, you guessed right? Those little brownish colored things at the bottom of the picture are the fecal remains of wood eaten by Drywood termites. Subterranean termites mix their fecal material with the mud/soil and construct mud tunnels or tubes while Drywood termite fecal pellets are kicked out of their colony. These little pellets have little ridges and are fairly easy to identify. Drywood termites which are located within structures are often tented and just a side-note not usually a very big deal in Arizona but we do have them here. The more water we bring in, such as flood or drip irrigation helps to increase the humidity level and allow these termites to gain a strong-hold here. Even after a fumigation takes place, those pellets will continue to fall out – so the only real way to know that you still have them is by an actual swarm. Just one more thing to keep you from sleeping!

By the way this is generally not a “Do It Yourself” project, unless you are able to remove all the wood. In the case above it was a small shed, which I would just remove and rebuild. Which by the way falls into my model of IPM.