All posts in “ProBest”

Twas the night before Christmas and not a creature was stirring

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Oh yes they are, and we all need to be aware they are always out there and wanting into our cozy warm homes. What can you do to keep them out?

  1. Seal all holes coming into your home.
  2. Repair screens.
  3. Install door sweeps.
  4. Install garage door seals.
  5. Close flue dampers or at least check them.
  6. Pay attention to wiring around homes, rodents need to keep their teeth from growing to long.
  7. Seal weep holes and check attic often.
  8. When brining stuff down from attic, open boxes outside – prevents anything from getting loose within the house.
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Photo by Univar

 

 

Access granted, into your home.

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Your home is your castle

Access into your home is your decision and seems to be in your court, right? Every home has penetrations from either the slab or flooring, I can’t think of a single exception. So if you have an example let me know about it. Every time a pipe comes through your slab or flooring there is a chance that termites might exploit the opportunity.

On top of this, there are often issues at the time of the pretreat. Construction proceeds and after we do that pretreat we never know what happens to that hole where the pipe comes up. Often times there is soil piled up and sometimes it is removed and guess where the termiticide is? Gone and there is no protection. So those are the areas where we all need to be vigilant and pay attention to walls and other fixtures.

 

What is this brightly colored bug?

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Photo by Andon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My first guess without having the actual bug is that this little bug is a Tarantula Hawk species “Pepsis”. Tarantula Hawk wasp paralyze spiders and then lay eggs on them and the little baby wasp has something to eat. Morbid but that is life with bugs. They come with a BIG sting but rarely ever sting, I’ve heard they have the second most painful sting in the world.

Steer clear of these wasps and let them have access to all the spiders out there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Freaky little bug?

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Freaky Creepy bugs, what nightmares are made of:

Freaky is the word. Tailless Whip Scorpion They are nocturnal arachnids found here in Arizona. Most people who do see them are generally freaked out because they look so strange. They look like a flattened spider. They commonly use their long, delicate, whip-like, antenniform front legs as sensory organs to search for prey in the dark. I have seen some with large grasping hook like legs while other appeared to just have grasping legs without the spines. They don’t have stingers and technically they really aren’t spiders but they are in the same Class Arachnida. They have no venom. They do look rather odd but they eat cockroaches and other small insects. Have you seen any at your home?

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Freaky Thanks to Andon for the photo

How do termites get into home?

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Any break or protrusion into the structure can be an avenue for termites, so any pipe or other object that extends past the concrete can be their entrance.

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This was an easy entrance for the termites and once in they usually don’t leave without taking a bit of your home for food. So what do you look for:

  1. Any mud tube/tunnel on the outside foundation wall.
  2. Any suspicious dirt on the ceiling, small hole with dirt around it.
  3. Drop Tubes inside the homes.
  4. Baseboard that looks crinkled, subterranean termites usually run with the grain of the wood.

What’s up with those crazy little termites?

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Enlarge the picture and notice the down tube (in the middle of the left hand basket). Our Arizona termites make these tubes to reach the ground and often times they can be in the strangest places.

 

The termites find wood and then focus on taking it back home, they are smart and they are attempting to find a quicker and easier, way back to the ground. Yep, amazing.

Could we learn a few things from the bug world?

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You bet we could and here is one right from the architects their little homes “Climate control in termite mounds.”

 

We often think of termites as home wreckers, or pests who frequently get into our homes. But these termites have come up with a way to regulate the temperatures within their castles. There are even termites in Australia that build north and south to take advantage of the sun and wind.

AZ termite tunnel

AZ termite tunnel

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