'Bugs News

Regular inspections of the exterior and interior of your house are one of the best ways to protect your investment and avoid costly repairs. Basic home inspections can be done by homeowners themselves and don't take very long to complete. Inspections should be done at least twice a year , once in winter and once in summer. The summer inspection should be done early in the day to avoid the heat of the afternoon when pest insects may go into hiding. Slowly walk around the exterior. Look for evidence of insect activity on the siding and especially the area where the siding overlaps the foundation. If you find large ants "trailing" into or out of the house capture a few for identification. Also check under the house, if possible, for termite and powderpost beetle activity. Anyone who has watched the TV show " This Old House " knows that water damage is far more important than insect damage in most situations. Winter is the best time to inspect for water and m

With spring still a month or so off most people are not yet thinking about landscape and garden pests . However, there are two pests that occur on conifers (evergreen trees and shrubs that bear cones such as pine, fir, and spruce and arbovitae) that deserve your attention before spring weather arrives. Spruce spider mite , Oligonychus ununguis , is the most important spider mite pest of conifers and can severely damage some host plants. If, for example, you've ever seen an Alberta spruce with large patches of dead needles the damage was likely done by spruce spider mites. Spruce spider mite is especially common and damaging on conifers that are drought stressed or, ironically, water logged. Spruce spider mite spends the winter months as a small reddish egg (below) on branches and needles. These eggs hatch in early spring to become the first generation of plant damaging mites. Look carefully with your hand lens in late winter and you'll see the eggs on infested plants. If you

Pesticides are not all created equal I'm usually not very enthusiastic about insecticides in general and I almost never suggest that you use them indoors. However, there are times when a carefully timed application of insecticide will bring an otherwise out-of-control pest situation back to tolerable levels. Until recently homeowners had relatively few options when it came to safe and effective pesticides for use indoors. The only available pesticides were either a messy, smelly aerosol spray or an equally smelly powdered insecticide . Gardeners have a few more options like insecticidal soap and neem oil (see below) but even here the choices were limited. Fortunately, times they are a changin' (apologies to Bob Dylan). There has been a real movement in the last few years toward natural pesticides , those derived from natural, not man-made, sources. And, pesticides that are safer for the user and the environment - the so called biorational pesticides . Not all natural pe

What causes scabies and mange? Both conditions are caused by a tiny mite (drawing left) that burrows into the skin causing irritation and intense itching. Many mites (tiny, eight-legged animals more closely related to spiders than to insects) cause skin irritations and allergic reactions. These include house dust mites , grocers itch mites , chiggers or red mites , and several different fowl mites . Only one mite, however, actually burrows into the skin. These are scabies , or the human itch, mites . In cats and dogs we use the term mange to describe two different mite infestations. One of the mange mites is the same one that causes scabies in humans. What does scabies look like? Scabies mites are very small (female: 1/60"). They burrow into and feed under the skin. They spend their entire life cycle on the host, but can survive off-host for up to 10 days, if conditions are moist. For this reason the mites can be transmitted by infested clothing, towels, bedding, and so f

What are lice nits? As every parent of a school-age child probably already knows head lice are tiny "bugs" that infest the scalp and cause a lot of itching and irritation. They can affect all kids, everywhere, and can be very contagious . They are, however, really (really!) less of a medical concern than many people believe, but that argument is for another blog article. This post is about the eggs , or nits, that lice lay and what exactly the nits look like. Nit is another name for egg . Both head lice and pubic lice (a related species that infests areas of the body where course hair grows like the groin and chest) attach their nits to the hair of their hosts (see drawing above and photo below). The nits are actually glued to the hair shaft close to scalp because they need the warmth and moisture that comes off the scalp in order to develop properly. Nits are attached so tightly that normal washing, combing, or brushing won't remove them. Nits hatch quickly (7-9

What is house dust? Obviously the answer depends on where you live and the season of the year. In general, however, house dust is composed of ash, cloth fibers, hair, plant pollen, human and animal skin, soil particles, and fungal spores. In many households, human skin flakes make up much of this flying debris. On average, an adult sheds about 1/2oz of skin every day! What are house dust mites? House dust mites are tiny, nearly microscopic mites that feed on the organic parts of house dust. The mites live in fabric and bedding and for many people go completely unnoticed. For some people however dust mites can cause moderate to severe allergy . The allergy is caused by bits of the mites themselves that become airborne, and mite feces. What goes into dust mites as a flake of skin and hair comes out the other end as an allergen that can stuff up your nose, launch a severe allergic reaction or even trigger asthma . House dust mites are not the only source of allergen in our indoor env