German Cockroach

The German Cockroach is the most common of the cockroaches and can be found all over the world. It can be found in kitchen cabinets, bathrooms, and in rooms where people often eat and drink. They feed on every kind of food, and have even been known to eat glue, soap, and toothpaste. The German Cockroach can produce an average of 36 young every 30-40 days. The cockroach generally lives 3-1/2 to 6 months. The German Cockroach is known for contaminating food and spreading disease.

Fleas

The flea is a wingless, flatbodied insect with long hind legs capable of jumping. They are blood sucking insects that thrive on warm blooded animals. Fleas are annoying parasites that inflict painful bites that itch. They are brown or black in color. Fleas live in chair cushions, rugs, beds, and small cracks and crevices. The female flea is capable of laying 400-500 eggs, and the adult flea only live a few days. Fleas transmit many diseases including; murine typhus, dog tapeworms, and the plague.

Ants

Ants are insects that live in colonies in the ground, in buildings, and homes. Ants feed on practically all types of food, but generally love sweets or food high in protein. The females and males often have wings and are commonly mistaken for termites. The bodies of ants are 3 segmented and they have antennae. Colonies of ants consist of workers, queens, and males. Workers are always female, they never have wings, and can live as long as 7 years. The Queens are the largest ants in the colonies and can reproduce and live for 15 years. Males usually die within 2 weeks after mating and their only responsibility is to mate with the queen.

Crickets

Crickets are household pests because of their ability to live their entire lives indoors. While indoors, they can destroy carpetig and clothing including; wool, cotton, and silk. Crickets are nocturnal creatures and may enter homes during the cold weather months. The males make chirping sounds by rubbing their wings together which serves to attract females. Female crickets can lay as much as 728 eggs in cracks and crevices, behind baseboards, and in other dark places in a home.

Rats

Rats are nocturnal creatures that come out at night and forage for food, breed, and collect nesting materials. Rats are destructive rodents who gnaw and chew by nature. Rats have been known to chew wires, cables, and piping. Rats eat just about any type of food, but they prefer meat and fresh grain. Rats are capable of spreading disease that affect people and livestock. They carry parasites that may infest homes such as rat mites. Rats grow to be 13 to 18 inches long including a 6 to 8-1/2 tail. Rats are light brown or grey in color. The female rat gives birth to 6-12 young and has 4-6 litters per year. Rats generally live up to 18 months.

Mice

Mice are considered the most troublesome rodents in the US. Mice are very destructive to buildings and homes and can transmit salmonella disease (food poisoning). Mice are brownish to light gray with large ears and tiny eyes. Mice have a musky odor and are usually seen during daylight hours. Adults grow to about 5-1/2" to 7-1/2" including a 3-4"tail. Females have 5-10 litters a year and 5-6 young. Young are born 19 to 21 days after mating and reach maturity in 6-12 weeks. Mice usually live for 9-12 months.

Bed Bugs

Bed bugs are small wingless insects that have flat, oval shaped bodies that resemble a tick. Bed bugs are brown in color and change to a rust color after a blood meal. These insects can be found all over the world and are transmitted by world travel. Bed bugs tend to infest mattresses and beds, but they can also be found in couch cushions, chair cushions, carpeting, between cracks in wooden floors and walls. Bed bugs are nocturnal and tend to feed at night. Bed bugs prefer human blood but will also feed on other mammals if necessary. Their bite is itchy and swells to a welt, and they tend to leave an orderly row of bites. Another way to determine a bed bug infestation is by the presence of blood spots on the sheets.

Earwigs

Earwigs are small, flat, brown to black in color with pairs of horny appendages that resemble pinchers. The pinchers are larger in males than in females. Some species of earwigs have wings and some are wingless. Earwigs feed on a variety of food such as live or dead insects as well as live or decaying vegetation. Earwigs are as offensive as roaches and produce a foul odor when crushed. Earwigs tend to move indoor in the winter. Earwigs are nocturnal insects and can be found hiding during the day in secluded places such as, wood piles, stones, boards, compost piles, and flower beds. Earwigs that migrate indoors can be found around cracks in baseboards and crevices. The earwig name originated from the myth that earwigs crawl into the ears of a sleeping person and bore into the brain. Earwigs are practically harmless to man.

Pantry Pests

Pantry Pests are beetles, weevils or moths that feed on grains, cereals, pasta, pet food, bird seed, dried beans, cake mixes, and flour. Pantry pests are common in any household and can damage food by contaminating it with their bodies and by-products. They may produce secretions that can give food a disagreeable odor or taste. Hairs from certain beetles can irritate the mouth, throat, and stomach of people who eat infested products. Pantry pests can introduce microbes into the food that could produce carcinogenic compounds especially when stored in warm humid conditions.

Camel Crickets

Camel Crickets, also known as cave crickets, are brownish, hump-backed, wingless insects that have really long hind legs which make them excellent jumpers. They have long antennae and are approximately 1" long. Camel crickets feed on decaying organic matter and live in cool moist places such as crawl spaces, basements, garages, bathrooms, and laundry rooms. Camel crickets are mostly a nuisance pest that can damage stored items, garments, and linens packed in boxes.

Carpet Beetles

Carpet beetles are small oval insects with dense tufts or bristles on their bodies. They are commonly found indoors at windows and wander from room to room in a house resulting in the spread of infestation. Females can lay 30-100 eggs which are laid behind baseboards, in floor cracks, or other dark locations. Eggs hatch in 1-3 weeks. The larvae feed on wool carpeting and other wool materials, furs, hides, horns, feathers, hair, & silk. They will also feed on soiled linen, cotton, and rayon. They can also become pests in cereal, stored grains, nuts, meal, etc.

Silverfish

Silverfish, often called "bristletails," are long wingless insects with 2 long antennae and 3 long tail bristles. They are named for the covering of tiny silvery scales. Silverfish feed on starch from bookbindings, wallpaper, clothing, and cereals. Silverfish are common indoors in warm, dark, damp places such as basements.

Termites

Termites are small, pale colored insects that live in colonies of hundreds of thousands. Fertile males and females have wings, whereas the workers are wingless. Often confused by the winged ant, winged termites have straight antennae and 2 distinct body segments with slim waists. The front wings are the same length as the back ones, and termites lose their wings. Termites are attracted to moisture and will eat dead wood that touches or is close to the soil. Wood that has been pressure treated is not safe from the termite. Termites can be detected by the sudden emergence of winged termites known as "swarmers," or by the presence of mud tubes and wood damage. Mud tubes are formed by the termites to create tunnels between the wood and soil that protects them from the drying effects of air and enemies such as ants.

House Fly

The house fly is the most common fly species that is found involved with humans and their activites. The fly is not only a nuisance pest, but it can spread more than 100 disease causing pathogens including: parasitic worms, tuberculosis, cholera, and dysentery. Female flies are usually larger than the males and the space between their eyes is much wider than that of the male fly. The males underbelly is yellowish in color. Adults suck liquids of sweet or decaying materials. Solid matter is liquified by means of regurgitated saliva.

Spiders

Spiders can be found all over the world except polar regions and highest mountains. Spiders live  alongside of humans hanging out in cracks and crevices of houses, sheds, and gardens. Some spiders are considered good to have around because they eat insects. Very few species of spiders are harmful.