Pest Command.com

Let’s say it’s summer time. The last thing we think about when heading outside is those pesky bugs we know are out there but forget about until they bite us.
You’re out in your backyard enjoying the sun and grilling your dinner. Ouch! You look down at your arm and see a painful, swelling bite. Moments later, you feel another one bite you. What are these pesky insects? Why do they bite? Do they carry diseases? What can you do to protect yourself?
It is a MOSQUITO, those blood sucking pests we encounter every year. These insects have been around for over 30 million years. And it seems that, during those millions of years, mosquitoes have been honing their skills so that they are now experts at finding people to bite.

How do they find us? Well they can find us using three sensors:
1. Chemical sensors - mosquitoes can sense carbon dioxide and lactic acid up to 100 feet away. We gives off these gases as part of normal breathing.
Certain chemicals in sweat also seem to attract mosquitoes (people who don’t sweat much don’t get nearly as many mosquito bites).
2. Visual sensors - if you are wearing clothing that contrasts with the background, and especially if you move while wearing that clothing, mosquitoes can see you and zero in on you. It’s a good bet that anything moving is “alive”, and therefore full of blood, so this is a good strategy.
3. Heat sensors - Mosquitoes can detect heat, so they can find warm-blooded mammals and birds very easily once they get close enough.

Ok here is a bit of trivia for you. It is the female mosquito that bites and not the male. Why you may ask, well its because she needs a blood meal in order to produce eggs. So what does the male do, well he lives for a very short time for the purpose of mating.
These insects are of great concern not only for you but for many people around the world, and there is a lot of information to pass about them, such as do they pass diseases, how do you prevent them from biting and what can I do to keep them out of my yard. Stay tuned the answers to these questions and more.

ANTS

Ants we see them everywhere and they say they have been living on the Earth for more than 100 million years. It is estimated that there are about 20,000 different species of ants. They live in colonies which sometimes can number into the millions. For this reason ants have been called Earth’s most successful species. But we don’t want them in or around our homes.
Many people are allergic to their stings (fire ants are the worst), as well as depending on the kind of ant they can cause damage to your home (such as the carpenter ant) and also damage your yard. Did you know some ants tunnel straight down up to 15 feet to hibernate during winter.

 Ok a little ant information here: basically there are 3 types of ants in each species, the queen, the sterile female workers and the males. The queen spends her life laying eggs, the male serves one purpose which is to mate with the queen, and that leaves the sterile female workers.
Ants are scavengers and their main job is to look for food. They are also known as nature’s best clean up crew. Believe it or not, ants are responsible for “cleaning up” much of the environment.

This leads us to ants in our homes. How did they get there and where are they coming from? They will find the smallest crack and crevice to gain access to your home in search for food. Around doors, walls, windows and even your foundation or crawl space. When food is found ants lay down a scent as it returns to the nest. Other ants will pick up the scent and follow the trail to the food. That’s the reason you see that long line of ants coming and going along your floor or counter.

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