Why Are There Crawling Insects in My House?

Unless uninvited guests arrive carrying a free cake or a large check, you’re probably not a fan. When uninvited visitors have six or more legs and creep across your floor, they’re even less welcome. Nobody wants crawling insects to infest their homes, but how do you keep them out? What causes them in the first place? Why won’t they leave you alone?

First: you keep them from happening by taking preventative measures. Second: the things that cause them are usually easily fixed. Third: they won’t leave you alone because there’s something at your home drawing them in. Today we’ll cover the four most common crawling insect invaders people face. We’ll also arm you with the easy fixes and preventative measures you can take to keep them away.

Ants 

Ants are one of the most commonly-faced crawling pest problems for both home and business owners. There are over seven hundred different known species in the United States. Of those, there are a few ant varieties that are best known for infesting homes. Those include carpenter ants, pavement ants, odorous house ants, and field ants. Ants typically live in large colonies that work together to build and maintain their nests.

How can I keep ants out of my home?

  • Practice regular perimeter maintenance. Ants like to sneak in through small breaches or holes in your home’s perimeter. Make sure to regularly give your home visual inspections and seal any gaps, cracks, tears, or holes you find as you go. 
  • Keep a watch out for scouts. Single ants are scouts. They come up from their nests to look for food, water, or shelter. Get rid of any solo ants you find so they’re unable to share that information with the rest of their colony.

Centipedes

Despite their name’s disturbing implication that centipedes have one hundred legs, the crawling pests usually don’t. Instead, they have one pair of legs per body segment and can have, on average, between fifteen and seventy total pairs. There are many varieties but they all have flat, elongated bodies. They can measure from one-sixth of an inch to six and a half inches in length. Coloring varies but usually stays between shades of brown, red, and orange.

How can I keep centipedes out of my home?

  • Eliminate their food sources. Centipedes mainly consume other insects. If you’re practicing the rest of the prevention tips listed in this post to keep other pests away, you’re doing well. 
  • Reduce and remove clutter. A tidy home is a home that doesn’t have places for insects to hide. That includes but isn’t limited to centipedes.

Cockroaches 

Everybody knows about roaches. They’re one of the hardiest creatures on the planet, able to survive in temperatures at both spectrum extremes. The most common pest cockroaches are the German cockroach and the American cockroach. German cockroaches are brownish-black, measuring between ½ and ⅝ inches. American roaches are darker in color and large, measuring between one and two inches. They’re both active throughout the year, are nocturnal, and are drawn to decaying organic matter.

How can I keep roaches out of my home?

  • Wipe up crumbs and spills as soon as you make them. Cockroaches love organic matter. They especially love decaying organic matter. Don’t leave it out for them to find. Wipe up spills and crumbs as soon as they happen and don’t leave dirty dishes in the sink. 
  • Pay special attention to cleanliness. This tip is mentioned more than once, but that’s because it’s important. Insects like cockroaches thrive in unkempt spaces. Take the garbage out regularly, remove grease from the stovetop, and keep your floors clean. These small efforts will go a long way toward preventing roach infestations.

Earwigs

Let’s start out by dispelling a popular earwig myth. No, they won’t actually crawl into your ear while you’re asleep and eat your brain. They won’t even crawl into your ear and take a nap, leaving your brain alone. They won’t go inside your head. What they will do, however, is infest your home. Earwigs are typically a quarter-inch to one inch in length with elongated, flat bodies. Their color can vary between different shades of tan, brown, and red. Their most distinctive physical characteristic are the pincers located on the back of their abdomens.

How can I keep earwigs out of my home?

  • Eliminate the places they like to hide. Earwigs love dead and distressed outdoor spaces. They hide in these spaces and use them as jumping off points for interior infestations. Take away their hiding spots by removing leaf piles, overgrown vegetation, and untended woodpiles. 
  • Make sure your gutters are working properly. Moisture build-up from gutters that are clogged pointing in the wrong direction will draw in earwigs. 
  • Use dehumidifiers. Once more with feeling: earwigs love moisture. Make sure you’re policing the moisture in your home and removing any standing water as you notice it.

If your question is, “Why are there crawling insects in my house?,” the answer is, “Because you’re not keeping them out.” Luckily, with the help of this blog post and other useful tips and tricks, you’ll be able to turn things around. For the rest, you can call the team at Griffin Pest Solutions. We’ll help keep your home safe, secure, and crawling pest free.

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What are House Centipedes? [VIDEO]

House centipede running across hardwood floor in someone's home

House centipedes (Scutigera coleoptrata) are rather unique centipedes. For one thing, they don’t really look like what you picture when you think of a centipede. They look… creepier. More importantly, unlike almost all other centipedes, they can live in your house (hence the name). If you see a centipede in your house, it’s almost certainly a house centipede.

Like most pests, the scariest things about these centipedes are the things you don’t know. If you don’t know what you’re looking at, they look like your worst nightmare. They’re all legs, fangs, and antennae, and they’re fast. Learning about centipedes probably won’t mean you’re not afraid of them at all, but it’ll certainly help. At the very least, you’ll know what that freaky thing you saw darting around your bathroom was. Here’s what you should know about the house centipedes in Michigan:

Now that you know what these frightening pests are and what they want, you can do something about them. Take away a house centipede’s sources of food, shelter, and moisture, and you’ll take away their reason for entering your home.

If you want some help removing centipedes from your home, get in touch with Griffin Pest Solutions. We’re always ready to help remove creepy crawlies and keep them from getting in again. Never worry about house centipedes again; just give us a call instead!

Which Bugs Come Out at Night?

Mosquito at Night

Several common household pests become active at night. Bed bugs, house centipedes, and crickets are all nocturnal pests. They come out at night to hunt for food, look for mates, and seek sources of moisture. Mosquitoes tend to become more active at night, too, because it’s much cooler.

We probably don’t need to tell you, but these “children of the night” tend to be particularly unnerving infesters. Especially if they’re trying to feed on you… while you’re sleeping. Creepy as these nocturnal crawlies may seem, however, in the end, they’re just more pests. And just like all pests, they can be prevented, controlled, and removed. Here are the most common household pests you may encounter at night, and what to do about them:

Bed bugs feed on their prey at night - Which pests become more active at night?

Bed Bugs

No surprise here, right? Yes, bed bugs are nocturnal. Bed bugs can neither extract the blood they need quickly nor latch onto people forcefully. Instead, they wait until their prey is immobile–like when they’re sleeping–so they can gorge themselves at their leisure. Bed bugs become more active at night both because it’s when their prey is vulnerable, and because the darkness gives them cover.  

We’ve covered preventing bed bugs a couple times before. The best thing you can do is to make sure you inspect everything you bring home after traveling. Make sure you don’t bring any unwanted hitch hikers home. Wash and clean your bedding and the bed itself frequently, and inspect it for fecal matter or eggs. Heat kills bed bugs, so if you suspect you have them, throw contaminated items in the dryer.

Centipedes hunt at night- Which pests become more active at night?

Centipedes

At first, you may not think house centipedes are a big deal. Then you see one move. Centipedes can sting with their front legs, but the real reason we’re including these tiny terrors in our list is because they’re freaky. House centipedes have eight pairs of long legs. They run fast and often erratically. If cornered they may lash out, hoping to intimidate. It works pretty well.

Centipedes hide during the day and come out at night to hunt their prey. You might see them in damp areas or kitchens. They’re attracted to damp, dark, warm places where they can keep moisturized and absorb heat. Keep them out by reducing moisture and humidity in your home, closing your windows at night, and eliminating entrance points like holes between utility lines and the wall.

Crickets become active at night - Which pests become more active at night?

Crickets

Aah, crickets. The universal song of summer. Why would anyone hate that? Well, crickets may sound pleasant when they’re outside, but when they’re in your walls they sound less than pleasant. Crickets are loud,  and they love to start chirping right around the time you’d want to go to sleep.

House crickets are attracted to light, heat, humidity, and moisture. Turn off your house lights at night and draw the blinds. Look for and patch up plumbing leaks and other sources of moisture, such as puddling or condensation. Like most other pests, crickets sneak in through gaps in foundations, siding, and window and door frames. Look for places where your noisy foes might squeeze in and seal them up.

Mosquitoes tend to become more active at night - Which pests become more active at night?

Mosquitoes

We don’t need to introduce mosquitoes. Every summer, here they come again. But did you know that mosquitoes actually become considerably more active starting around dusk? Despite being summer bugs, they can’t survive heat for very long. By the time the sun starts to set, however, it’s cool enough for them to go wild.

Mosquitoes mate, nest, and lay eggs in standing water. They don’t need much moisture, but they’ll seek it out. Look for places in your yard and home where moisture collects, like soggy areas, buildup in gutters, or puddling. Try to refrain from going out at night without bug spray and long sleeves. If you continue to have problems, shut your home’s doors and windows until you locate the mosquitoes’ breeding ground.

 

Follow these tips, and even the worst of the worst night stalkers won’t trouble your sleep. And remember, if you do end up with a nocturnal nemesis in your midst, give us a call.