Identify Your Problem
Pests are a seasonal thing… but unfortunately, they’re not all on the same schedule. They’re constantly seeking shelter and food, making your home susceptible to infestation all year round. As temperatures change, pests react differently.
That’s why it’s so important to understand which invaders to be aware of throughout the entire year.You can count on a Nomo professional to help identify your pest problems… but more importantly, your pest solution! Let us come out and take a look. Contact us today to get your first service scheduled.
American Roach
Usually between 1 - 1/2” long with red-brown wings, American cockroaches like to fly outside. They are scavengers with a special taste for warm damp places, water and alcoholic beverages. They like to eat decaying organic matter.
Argentine Ant
Averaging approximately 1/16” in size, Argentine Ants do not have stingers. They emit a stale greasy or musty odor when crushed. They are typically found in moist areas (such as kitchens and bathrooms) located near food sources. They build colonies under rocks and inside walls. Each female can lay one egg per day and they can live several years.
Bald-Face Hornet
Bald-Faced Hornets are protective of their nests and will sting repeatedly if the nest is physically disturbed. They are more aggressive than both the wasps normally called Yellow Jackets and members of the Vespa genus, and is not considered safe to approach the nest for observation purposes. The Bald-Faced Hornet will aggressively attack with little provocation.
Black Widow
Female black widows are about ½” long, black with a red hourglass marking on their underside. Webs are irregular. One egg sac can carry 150 eggs (disperse through ballooning). Their bites are toxic. If bitten, seek medical attention.
Boxelder Bugs
Boxelder Bugs are a nuisance in and around homes from fall through early spring. This bug is about ½” long as an adult, black with three lines on the thorax, a red line along each side, and a diagonal red line on each wing. The immature forms are smaller and are easily distinguished from the adults by their red abdomens and lack of wings.
Brown Recluse
Bites can be deadly to humans. The venomous brown recluse, with a dark brown fiddle-shaped marking is about ½” long. They feed upon soft-bodied insects. They hunt prey at night. At sunup, they drag their food to spun, irregular, off-white webs in dark, secluded areas. Can live up to 3 years. If bitten, seek medical attention.
Brown-banded Roach
Brown-banded Roaches are brown with stripes across their body. They can grow to a length of 1.25” as an adult and look similar to that of an American Roach. However, this roach does not have the yellow stripe around its pronotum like that of an American Roach.
Carpet Beetle
The Varied Carpet Beetle is a 3 mm-long beetle that can be a serious household pest. The small larvae feed on natural fibers and can damage carpets, furniture, and clothing. The Carpet Beetle has an unusual life cycle for an insect, developing from larvae to adult in 1 - 3 years.
Centipede
Centipedes are venomous. Their venom allows them to attack prey and defend themselves against predators and other natural enemies. 5-hydroxytryptamine, which can break down cell walls, is present in some centipede species found in North America. Centipede venom is not fatal to humans, although some individuals may be allergic to it.
Cricket
Yellowish-brown and about 1” long, House Crickets are heard more often than they are seen. They create a distinctive chirping sound, especially in the dar. They are happy to be outside, but will stray toward warm interiors. They eat just about anything and can bite if captured.
Daddy Long Leg
Daddy Long Legs are NOT spiders (or even insects) at all! They are part of the Arachnid family, but in a different class. They are, infact, called Harvestmen. They have 3 body sections, not two like spiders, and their legs have seven sections which they can break off to surprise or distract a predator.
Earwig
Earwigs are small, with pairs of horny, forceps-like abdominal appendages, larger in the male than in the female, and short, leathery forewings that cover the membranous hind wings when folded.
Fire Ant
Aggressive and venomous, fire ants will bite predators multiple times and can kill small wildlife or domestic animals. They can also eat through rubber wire insulation. When these guys bite, it hurts. They are between 1/16 - 1/4“ long and dark red. Fire ants build mounds of earth that can house up to 250,000 worker ants.
Fleas
Fleas have been around for millions of years, sucking the blood of animals and humans. Fleas live on pets, mammals, in carpets, in sofas, as well as other household and farm goods. Female Fleas lay eggs that turn into grub-like larvae. The larvae then develop into pupae and settle inside a cocoon. They wait for a host to start their life and suck blood.
German Roach
About the same size as Brown-Banded Roaches, the German cockroaches have two brown stripes running the length of their wings. They love fermented foods and venture outside during the warmer months. Without control, one pair of German roaches can expand to more than 2 million in less than a year.
Golden Wasp
Great Goldens are solitary wasps; they live independently and do not share in either next maintenance or in the caring of their young. Also known as the Digger Wasp. There are over 130 known digger wasp species.
Hobo Spider
The Hobo is ⅜ - ⅝” long with long legs. Sometimes difficult to distinguish from the common house spider. Bite is similar to Brown Recluse bite and can be deadly. Makes a funnel web, which is not used to capture prey. If bitten, seek medical attention.
Household Ant
This species is a scavenger/predator ant that will eat most household foods, especially those that contain sugar, and other insects. Indoors they will colonize near heat sources or in insulation. In hot and dry situations, nests have been found in houseplants and even in the lids of toilets.
Jumping Spider
Jumping Spiders are generally active hunters, which means that they do not, as a rule, rely on a web to catch their prey. They use their superior eyesight to distinguish and track their intended meals, often for several inches. They pounce and administer a venomous bite.
Millipede
Millipedes do not have a poisonous bite, but many protect themselves by offensive odors produced by stink glands. Some produce highly irritating compounds that can injure the skin or eyes of attackers. They feed mostly on decaying vegetation, although some will consume decaying animal food. Some species attack plant roots and cause crop damage.
Mole
Because of specialized bone and muscle construction, moles can exert a lateral digging force equivalent to 32 times its body weight. As a comparison, a 150 lb. man would be able to exert a 4,800 lb. lateral force.
Mouse
Mice are generally much smaller than rats. Mice can squeeze through holes slightly larger than a pencil eraser. They have proportionally smaller ears and smaller hind legs than rats.
Mud Dauber Wasp
These tiny insects don’t sting, but they can be a nuisance nonetheless. Mud Daubers construct nests comprised of mud tubes high on walls and under overhangs.
Norway Rat
The Norway rat is a destructive pest found in urban and suburban neighborhoods. These rodents eat and contaminate food, damage buildings and other property by their gnawing and burrowing, and may spread diseases that affect people and pets. This rat is larger than a mouse and has proportionally smaller ears and bigger hind feet.
Oriental Roach
Dark brown and about 1” long. Oriental cockroaches seek out warm damp areas indoors. They flourish in basements and storage areas where they can stay close to the ground. They eat decaying organic matter and prefer starches.
Paper Wasp
Frequently, these pests build hanging honeycomb-shaped nests from eaves, overhangs, or tree branches. Colors and sizes differ among species. They are territorial and extremely aggressive. Generally, many wasp stings are more painful than bee or scorpion stings.
Pavement Ant
At 1/10” long and brown, pavement ants will sometimes live in the harborage of larger ants, feeding on their hosts’ young. They next in sidewalk cracks, along curbs, under rocks, under floors, or in walls.
Pharaoh Ant
The Pharaoh ant is a small (2mm) yellow or light brown, almost transparent ant notorious for being a major indoor nuisance pest, especially in hospitals.
Roof Rat
Black or brown, 7 - 10” long, with a long tail, large ears and eyes, and a pointed nose. Body is smaller and sleeker than the Norway rat. Fur is smooth. Both the Roof Rat and the Norway Rat are the most common domestic rodents in this area.
Silverfish
These guys like to eat paper, glue, starch, and textiles. Silverfish will feed on wallpaper and are often found in books or cardboard packaging. They are nocturnal and flee from light; they might even jump away. They are silvery-white, cone-shaped, and 1/2 - 3/4” long.
Springtail
Springtails are minute, wingless insects about 1/16 - ⅛” long. The get their name from the ability to leap through the air 3 - 4” by means of a “furcula” or tail-like mechanism tucked under the abdomen. Populations are often high, up to 100,000 per cubic meter of surface soil. They occasionally invade homes and can be a year-round pest.
Ticks
Ticks are found on pets, domestic animals, wildlife, and people. They are parasites, feeding on the blood of their hosts. Ticks are known vectors of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Lyme Disease, and can also cause paralysis in children and dogs.
Vole
A Vole is a small rodent resembling a mouse but with a stouter body, a shorter hairy tail, a slightly rounder head, and smaller ears and eyes. Multiply 5 - 10 times a season with a lifespan averaging 12 months.
Wolf Spider
They’re large, brown, and hairy ranging from ½ - 2” in length. They look much scarier than they actually are. Wolf Spiders aren’t typically associated with webs. Inside homes, they often hang out near windows, doors, house plants, or storage areas.
Yellow Jacket
Yellow Jackets typically build nests that hang from trees and buildings, but they will also nest in the ground and in wall-voids and attics. Their nests have one entrance and many workers that protect the nest. They have a lance-like stinger with small barbs, and typically sting repeatedly.