Pests This Season

From an evolutionary viewpoint, the earth belongs to bugs. If someone managed to randomly line up all the species of plants and animals on earth, about every fourth one would be a beetle. There are over one million documented species of insects whereas mammals, at less than six thousand, are pocket change.

 

Insects have been around for about 350 million years. Humans have been around for 10,000 years, an insect’s blink of an eye. On average, there are more than one million insects per acre on the planet.  Human population density doesn’t come close, even in New Jersey. No matter how you measure it, if evolutionary success were an Olympic event, insects get the gold.

 

If we could talk to insects, most of us would say, “We got it:  The world is yours.  Just stay out of my house.”  But during these cold winter months, if insects could respond, they would sing that catchy Bing Crosby Christmas song, “But Baby, it’s cold outside.”  An insect doesn’t have the benefit of body fat, like bears and groundhogs, to survive freezing temperatures and keep their internal fluids from turning into popsicles.  In order to survive, they must rely on external heat sources to cope with the rigors of winter temperatures.

 

Some insects have “freeze tolerance” and can survive ice formation within their tissues.  These insects produce a glycerol “antifreeze” allowing their body fluids to drop below freezing points.  Other insects use states of suspension to survive winter months.  Torpor is temporary; diapause is long-term.  With torpor, the insect freezes solid and when the temperature warms, it thaws out and resumes activity.  With diapause, certain insects survive the winter as eggs or chrysalids.  This allows insects to survive in the world’s harshest climates.  One bug, the flightless midge, makes its home in Antarctica.

 

For those insects that cannot tolerate freeze, they have no choice but to avoid it.  Freeze avoidance can mean long-distance migration such as the famous Monarch butterfly migration to Mexico.  However, there are few long-distance migrating insects.  Most insects, with their short life spans, feel that long-distance migration is for the birds.  Usually, insects look for the short-distance commute, which often means your house.

 

So winter is the time when camel crickets, brown marmorated stink bugs, Asian lady beetles, and boxelder bugs and other assorted creepy-crawlies decide to pay you a visit.  They can get inside through cracks, crevices, vents, poorly fitting screens and doors, and even by hitching a ride on your clothes or shoes.  Sometimes, they are such quiet guests during the winter you don’t know they are there.  However, when spring comes and the temperature increases, these insects feel trapped inside your house.  Come late March and early April, you can suddenly see insects appearing in your home.

 

Boxelder bugs invade homes in October and November and congregate in wall voids and other undisturbed locations.  The adult elder bug is red and black and about one-half inch long.  They are harmless, but if crushed emit a foul odor and leave stains on walls and furniture if squished.   Therefore it is best to use a vacuum to collect them.  These bugs feed primarily on seed-bearing boxelder and silver maple trees.  Infested trees should be sprayed during the spring by a company experienced in treating ornamental plants.

 

The multi-colored Asian lady beetle, unlike the common lady bug, likes to overwinter in large numbers.  Once they find a house they like, they emit a chemical that attracts even more insects.  Congregations can result in the thousands.  These bugs are about one-half inch long and come in a variety of colors.

 

Brown marmorated stink bugs are indigenous to Asia and tend to arrive in the United States as stowaways in bulk freight containers.  Their name is based on the fact that, if disturbed, they discharge an unpleasant scent.  These bugs are garden pests, feeding on fruits and vegetables.  Unfortunately, we are seeing more and more of them.  Whitney Cranshaw, an entomologist at Colorado State University, believes that a top ten list a decade from now will place the stink bug as the primary home invader.

 

To prevent infestations of these winter heat-seeking insects, the best solution is to tighten up your house.  Seal cracks and crevices, caulk around cable entrances, window frames, etc.  Vents, weep holes and areas that cannot be sealed should be covered with 16-mesh screening.  Preventative chemical barriers may be applied around the home prior to invasions in the fall.  However, without sealing exterior openings these barriers provide only temporary relief.  The most effective control for these insects begins outside the home.  Having your home preemptively protected by a professional pest management service remains the best way to avoid difficult insect infestation problems.