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TERMITES, MICE WILL REMAIN ACTIVE IN THE WINTER |
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Termites, Mice Will Remain Active in the Winter
By Richard Fagerlund
For the Journal
Q: Winter is coming and I would like to know what kind of pests I can expect to see. — B.J., Albuquerque
A: Good question. Ants, cockroaches, crickets, spiders and most other insects and arthropods will go dormant for the winter. If the winter is very mild, they may become active. Termites are active all year and mice will try to get into your home.
I would recommend getting a termite inspection before winter, particularly if you have a crawl space, as other pests can be inspected for as well. Mice will get into crawl spaces and work their way into the home. Roaches also will remain active in a crawl space if the weather is mild.
You can mouseproof your home by going into the crawl space and plugging up all the holes around pipes that go into the house. If you don't want to do that, there are companies that will mouseproof your home for you. It would also be a good idea to get your crawl space dusted with diatomaceous earth to prevent insects such as roaches from living under your home. Do not use pesticide dusts as they can be dangerous to any maintenance workers who may have to go under your house.
It might be a good idea to have the outside of your home treated by a professional to prevent roaches, crickets and other pests from coming in from the cold.
Q: We have rice weevils in our pantry. Do we need to call an exterminator or can we control them ourselves? — R.G., Gallup
A: Rice weevils are capable of flying so they can quickly spread around the kitchen. They will infest whole grains, rice, wheat, beans and similar foods. They will also get into dried pet food. They can also infest decorative flower arrangements such as dried corn, stalks of wheat, etc. You should be able to see holes in the grains that the insect emerged from.
You have to dispose of any infested foods and make sure foods that they may infest are stored in plastic containers so the weevils can't get to them. Also it is a good idea to vacuum and clean the area where you store these foods. Pesticides aren't necessary.
Q: I have what I have been told are fruit flies. What can you tell me about them and how do I treat them? — H.J., Santa Rosa
A: Fruit flies are capable of mating and laying eggs as soon as they emerge from the pupal case. This is true of most insects.
Flies all undergo complete metamorphosis (egg, larvae, pupa, adult). The adult flies may mate more than once and the female deposits an average of 500 eggs in her lifetime. The eggs hatch in about 30 hours and the larvae fully develop in less than a week. The larvae are small and thin and look like typical maggots under magnification. They grow to about 1/4 inch. The average life cycle from egg to adult fruit fly is about eight days. They can live up to a month.
You can trap fruit flies in a jar with a funnel on top. Put in a little beer and a piece of banana and the jar should catch all the fruit flies in the area. No pesticides are necessary.
Contact him
Richard "Bugman" Fagerlund is a pest management consultant. He can be reached by phone at 385-2820 or by e-mail at richardfagerlund@yahoo.com. His website is www.askthebugman.com.
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