PESTERED BY PESTS Getting bugged?

Roaches are hard to eliminate, and they will eat just about anything in your house.
By REBECCA SLOAN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
Are you sharing your home with some unwanted guests?
No, not your in-laws or your great-aunt Agnes, these guests happen to be ants of a different sort -- the kind with six legs.
If your home has become a hovel for ants, earwigs, hornets or other creepy crawlies, you're probably wondering how in the heck these critters got in and what it's going to take to send them packing.
Shon Vodila, of Terminix in Warren, said some of the most common pests found in homes throughout Northeast Ohio and western Pennsylvania are: termites, carpenter ants, German roaches, slab ants and earwigs. Others include wasps, hornets, yellow jackets, bats and house mice.
TERMITES
Termites are one of the most damaging pests that can invade your home.
Vodila said subterranean termites -- or termites that don't walk the surface of the earth -- are the type native to this region.
"Termites aren't a bad thing if they are out in the woods where their purpose is to eat fallen logs and help in the decay process, but in your home, it's a different story," Vodila said.
Termite activity is at its peak during the spring when hundreds to thousands of the tiny insects leave their underground colonies and swarm into homes through tiny cracks in the home's foundation.
Vodila said a termite can squeeze through a space only 1/32 of an inch wide. Once inside the home, termites do not live there, but rather come and go, eating away at beams, floor joists and other wooden surfaces before returning to their underground colonies.
"Termites are the only insect that actually eats wood," he said. & quot;They come into your house, fill up and return to their nests. & quot;
Vodila said that because termites are so tiny, they often go undetected.
"A termite looks like a piece of rice with legs, but usually you don't see them. What you do eventually see is the damage they leave behind," Vodila explained.
Sign: Tunneled, crumbling wood is a sure sign of termite activity. Unfortunately, once you notice that you actually have termite trouble, it means that the problem is already in an advanced stage, and a professional should be called.
Often professionals will treat the problem with a baiting system designed to eliminate the underground termite colony.
Vodila recommends a yearly inspection to keep potential termite troubles in check.
Vodila said termites are more prevalent in older neighborhoods, such as Youngstown, Warren, Hubbard and Niles, and that if your neighbor has them, and your homes sit in close proximity, this can increase your chances of getting termites in your own house.
CARPENTER ANTS
Big, black or brown, and sometimes striped black and brown, carpenter ants are larger than termites, and therefore, easier to spot.
However, they can be just as damaging and just as difficult to deal with once they have staked a claim on your castle.
Anthony Farrell, of Expert Service Extermination, with local offices in Boardman and New Castle, said carpenter ants live in wood, and they will sometimes find their way to your home through a stack of firewood that sits next to the house or via a tree limb hanging too close to the roof.
Once carpenter ants are inside, they will start to chew away a nest for themselves in your walls or attic. You will surely know you have a problem when you see these big, fat ants traipsing around your home as if it were there own.
"They aren't easy to get rid of. Usually we have to do a few treatments to take care of the problem," Farrell said.
Sometimes a professional will have to drill a hole into the infested wall and treat the site with a chemical liquid or dusting agent.
SLAB OR PAVEMENT ANTS
Slab ants, also called pavement ants, are little, reddish brown ants about 1/8 of an inch long. They build nests under pavement, rocks or concrete slabs typically at the foundation of the home.
These tiny invaders venture into the home through cracks and crevices around the foundation searching for food (sugars and proteins).
Farrell said slab ants are most active in the spring when the warm weather brings them out of their nest and into your kitchen.
When tackling a slab ant problem, it is a good idea to first locate the nest site. Applications of insecticides and other ant poisons should then be placed at the nest and around the foundation of the home.
GERMAN ROACHES
There are many types of roaches, but the German roach is the type homeowners in this neck of the woods need to be concerned about. German roaches enter the home in a variety of ways, and once they have established themselves, they can be extremely difficult to eliminate.
Farrell said that sometimes roaches are carried into the house via grocery bags.
"Sometimes there are roaches living in grocery stores, and they are transported home when you carry your groceries into the house," he said.
Once inside your home, roaches will eat just about anything.
"They will eat newspapers, contact paper in the cupboards, wallpaper, food -- almost anything," Farrell said.
Roaches are nocturnal, but Farrell said if your home is infested with them, you will notice them scurrying about all day long.
Since roaches will breed and lay eggs right inside your home, and each egg capsule contains about 48 larvae, these loathsome creatures can multiply rapidly.
"It only takes nine days for the eggs to hatch, so roaches can multiply fast," Farrell said. "We actually just treated a home that was infested with about 300,000 roaches. It took six to seven months to get the problem under control."
Keeping your home clean, keeping cracks and crevices sealed tight and fixing plumbing leaks that attract roaches with moisture, are some ways to detain roaches. Professionals must sometimes use a variety of methods to rid homes of roaches, including sprays, powders and baits.
EARWIGS
Somewhat frightening due to the large set of pincers on their hind ends, it is a myth that earwigs got their name because they like to crawl inside the human ear.
What isn't a myth is that earwigs crave dampness and are attracted to homes with damp basements and yards laden with mulch, plant debris, rocks and leaf litter.
Vodila said that once the earwig has slipped into your house, it will release pheromones that alert other earwigs to come join the party.
Since earwigs are nocturnal, late afternoon applications of insecticides around the foundation and crawl spaces of a home are recommended during treatment.
YELLOW JACKETS, HORNETS, WASPS, BEES, ETC.:
If something is a-buzz in your walls, under your eaves or in your attic, watch out -- there are a variety of stinging insects that would like to share your living quarters. Among these are yellow jackets, hornets, wasps and honey bees.
Stinging insects are solitary or social -- social meaning they live in colonies.
Social insects are more dangerous because they will sting anything that appears to be a threat to their nest, including you.
Yellow jackets are often the most aggressive of the stinging insects and like to build nests in the ground, inside buildings or inside trees.
"Wasps like to build nests behind shutters, in eaves and around gutters; yellow jackets also like the eaves or also the ground; hornets will build nests anywhere; and honey bees like to build inside walls," Farrell said.
It is often best to treat an infestation of stinging insects with an insecticide during the evening when the insects have returned to the nest. When possible, the nest should be removed to discourage any reconstruction efforts.
ASIAN LADY BEETLES (LADYBUGS)
Although their appetite for aphids helps to classify them as "good bugs," if Asian lady beetles, more commonly called ladybugs, have invaded your home, you probably don't have one good word to say about them.
Imported from eastern Asia more than a decade ago to help control agricultural pests, Asian lady beetles have multiplied rapidly and now live throughout the United States.
Although they are beneficial for crops, the beetles become pests when they seek winter refuge in homes by crawling through cracks around foundations, eaves, windows and doors.
In their natural habitat, Asian lady beetles seek solace from wintry weather among cliffs, rock formations and around trees. To them, your home resembles a tall cliff, large tree or massive rock formation that will make a snug winter den.
The beetles are especially attracted to light-colored homes in bright, sunny locations.
Although the beetles do not sting or carry diseases, and although they will not harm your home's structure, they become a nuisance when large numbers of them congregate on window sills, light fixtures and walls. Often the beetles will "play dead" as a part of hibernation, but if disturbed, they will excrete a foul-smelling, orange-colored liquid that can stain walls and carpeting.
Keeping them out: Since Asian lady beetles can squeeze through gaps of 1/8 of an inch or less, keeping them out of the house requires careful sealing of cracks and crevices.
To keep beetles at bay, adjust or install tight-fitting door sweeps or weather-stripping at the bases of exterior entry doors; repair damaged window screens; caulk cracks around windows, eaves and siding; and seal openings where utility pipes and wires enter the foundation of the home.
If sealing cracks and crevices doesn't solve the problem, or if your home is already infested, it might be time to call a professional.
However, Vodila said sprays often do little to eliminate an Asian lady beetle infestation since the beetles need to be sprayed directly or need to crawl across a surface that has been sprayed for the insecticide to kill them. Sometimes targeted use of insecticides will work, but often the easiest way to control these bugs is to sweep them up in the vacuum cleaner.
XOther sources: University of Kentucky Entomology, University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension and Bats of Missouri Information for Homeowners