Photo by TN Department of Agriculture

The red imported fire ant came to the United States from South America in ships in the early 1900s. They have grown their populations since then and adapted to the cooler climate.  They are verified in at least eleven states, now including Tennessee.  These ants are extremely dangerous and hard to control.  An average fire ant mound can have 200,000 occupants, and you can find dozens of colonies per acre in rural areas.  The mounds will be noticeable because they each have a large pile of dirt at the main entrance.  In urban areas, this dirt pile could pretty easily be up to six inches across; in agricultural areas, they have been known to be up to two feet high.  This knowledge leads us to lesson number one for those sharing a county with fire ants:  Don’t stomp an ant mound!  You never know what species of ant could come out, and you may regret the decision!

So, what makes red imported fire ants so much worse than other ants?  Well, there is only one way to describe these colonies: militarized.  A fire ant army is a war machine.  If a person accidentally wanders into a fire ant mound, the workers will immediately begin swarming up to exposed skin.  But, they won’t attack right away.  They actually wait until a larger number of soldiers gain access to the prey.  Then, they release a chemical as a signal, and all the ants attack at once to inflict the most damage.

Most people say they have been “bitten” by an ant, but serious ant encounters have nothing to do with bites.  Some species of ants (though not all) are equipped with stingers, just like a wasp, and these stingers do the damage.  However, fire ants are quite smart.  While they are waiting for the attack signal, the ants use their powerful jaws to latch onto a hair or the skin of their victims.  Then, when they begin to sting, they are very difficult to brush off and are more likely to be able to deliver multiple stings per ant.

Photo from University of TN

In addition, fire ant stings are more dangerous than the stings of other ants.  Most ants inject a type of acid when they sting, which can cause painful skin irritation.  Fire ants inject a certain protein that is foreign to other creatures.  The immediate result is a wicked-looking blister that often scars.  However, some people (and other animals) are violently allergic to this protein.  When you hear about fire-ant-related deaths, they are almost never associated simply with the painful stings.  The worst danger is from these extreme allergic reactions, which can cause victims to go into shock and, in extreme cases, die.

This is a hard article to write and a hard article to read because we generally don’t like to make people frightened of pests (grossed out, maybe, but not frightened).  However, red imported fire ants are a menace in East Tennessee, and they don’t belong here.  Our native plants and animals are not equipped to withstand their aggressive attacks, and they are doing damage to our ecosystem.

With many pests, like odorous house ants, there are things we can recommend for homeowners to try if they want to spend time managing their own pest control to save money.  We do not recommend that with red imported fire ants.  If you suspect that you have fire ants near your house, either because you’ve received stings or because you’ve seen their large mounds, please give Russell’s a call at 865.584.8549 or visit our contact page.  We can do a free inspection to determine if fire ants really are a problem near you, and we have the equipment needed to treat for these pests safely.  You can also call us or post here with questions.

Illustration by S.H. Debord

The odorous house ant gets its name from the unpleasant smell that it gives off when you crush it.  The scent is usually described as a rotten citrusy smell.  Imagine something that’s somewhat sickly sweet.  Another common name for these ants is sugar ants (due to their tendency to forage for sweet foods).  Growing up, we just called them “little black ants.”  There are a lot of little black ants in the world, but these are the ones that are most likely to cause trouble in your house.

The problem with odorous house ants is that their colonies can contain thousands of workers (actually, 10,000 is not an uncommon population), and they can spawn multiple colonies in the same area.  Each of these sister colonies has its own queen; in fact, unlike some ant species, odorous house ants have no problem with maintaining multiple queens per colony.  Since only the queens lay eggs, having several queens at a time can result in major population explosions.

Odorous house ants build shallow nests under almost any sort of debris that they may find around your house.  You may frequently recognize them by the orderly lines that they make while foraging.  You are particularly likely to see these trails leading to a sweet food source, including starchy pet foods, sticky garbage cans, and sweet-smelling house plants.  Like all bugs, ants’ foraging cycles are dependent on moisture.  You may be more likely to find them in your house after or during major weather events like soaking rains (when they are avoiding floods) or lingering droughts (when they are seeking water in your house).

If you want to try to control odorous house ants on your own, you need to consider what ants need to survive.  The key factors that every insect pursues are shelter, food, and water.  Begin your ant control by removing any debris that could be harboring a colony.  Move wood piles away from the house, and rake leaf litter and branch debris away from the walls.  Also, bear in mind that ants are expert climbers and can easily enter your home from above by using an overhanging branch to reach your roof.

As I mentioned, these ants are very methodical.  It’s possible that you’ll be able to follow one of their foraging lines back to the nest.  In that case, use an over-the-counter pesticide labeled for exterior use to treat the nest itself.  Don’t forget, though, that it’s quite possible more than one nest is in place around your home.  Keep your eyes peeled for other ant trails even if you’ve successfully treated one or more nests.

However, it is possible that you cannot follow the ants’ trail because it is not immediately evident.  We’ve heard of these ants coming right out of electrical outlets or underneath baseboards, which makes them hard to track.  In such cases, use soapy water to wipe down the areas where you find them.  This will remove any sweet spills that may be attracting them and will help to eliminate the pheromone trails (basically, scent trails) that they are leaving behind for other ants to follow.  Once the area is very clean, rely on ant baits to try to eliminate the hidden colony.  Hopefully, if their original food source is removed, they will take the bait back to the waiting colony members and handle all of the ant extermination themselves.

Of course, Russell’s Pest Control knows that ant removal can be very tricky.  If you don’t want to tackle the little black horde on your own, feel free to give us a call at 865.584.8549 or visit our contact page.  Ants are one of our specialties, and we’d be glad to handle the issue so you don’t have to spend time on it.

This time, however, I thought it might be important to cover the basics of termite biology so that you can recognize and understand these little critters if you encounter them.  First off, you should know that, unlike other wood-destroying insects, termites actually use their powerful jaws to eat the wood that they encounter instead of just tunneling through it.  They are able to do so because tiny, single-celled creatures in their stomachs convert the wood particles from cellulose (which is indigestible) to starch.  The term “starch” should ring a bell for you; we eat that, too, in foods like bread and pasta.  Termites then convert that starch into their functional energy source: sugar.  Combine this with the realization that termites work without sleeping, and they start to sound fairly alarming.  They’re working 24 hours a day to sustain a life-long sugar high.  Yikes!

So, how will you know them if you see them?  Please refer to the photo below while we cover the basics of a termite’s appearance by comparing it to a very familiar spring-time bug: the ant.  As you can see, termites are somewhat similar to ants, and swarming ants and termites are often mistaken for each other.  The key differences between ants and termites are highlighted below.

• Waist Size:  The tiny, pinched waist of the ant gives it a slightly waspish appearance; termites, however, are almost the same width all the way down their bodies.  This shape and the dirty whitish color of the workers give them an almost grub-like appearance.
• Antennae Shape:  Ants have long, thin antennae that bend like an elbow joint after leaving their heads.  Termites have shorter antennae that do not bend at all.
• Wing Shape:  This factor is particularly crucial for identification during swarm season since swarming termites are darker in color than the workers and are more likely to have an ant-like look about them.  Ants have two pairs of wings of different shapes, and the front pair is noticeably larger than the back pair.  Termites also have two pairs of wings, but all four wings are the same shape and size.

If you encounter insects like these around your home, you can use these features and this picture to make an educated guess about what sort of neighbors are sharing space in your yard and/or home.  Of course, you can call Russell’s Pest Control at 865.584.8549 for a free termite inspection if you want an expert’s opinion on the subject.

Just in case you suspect a termite problem and are worried about the cost of a treatment, we’ve got good news for you.  If you call and mention this blog post, you can receive $100 off the installation of an Always Active Sentricon® Termite Colony Elimination System.*  In our opinion, this is the best termite treatment available, and we stand by it with our 100% damage repair guarantee.  If termites get past our defenses while your home is protected by this system, we’ll handle 100% of the needed repairs.  Naturally, this discount can’t be combined with any other coupons or offers.  Give us a call if you want more details.

*Trademark Dow AgroSciences

The termites around your home weren’t necessarily dead during the winter.  They can hibernate through extremely cold temperature (or just stay warm inside your house).  Now, however, termites are on the move because it’s time to expand their colonies and start building.  Termite swarms occur when thousands of winged termites burst from underground and try to escape predators long enough to form new colonies.  However, you have to remember that if termites are swarming to start a new colony near your home, that means that an existing colony is already settled in that area.  They are very poor flyers and won’t travel far from their original nest during swarm season.

You can recognize a termite swarm because you will see loads of little brownish insects like those in the picture streaming out of the ground and into the air somewhat crazily.  Swarms don’t last long, so you could easily miss the termite explosion near your house.  Other indicators of a nearby swarm would be small, long insect wings in clusters on your property (this happens because the termites shed their wings before going back underground to start their new colony).

Please understand that termites are very common and very important in East Tennessee.  An exterminator who tells you that all termites are a menace is not doing these little critters justice.  They are the cleanup crews for all fallen branches and broken stumps, and our world would be cluttered without them.  Dow AgroSciences (makers of the Sentricon® Termite Colony Elimination System) has released statistics saying that the average yard hosts about two termite colonies all the time, which may never approach the structures.  However, termites feasting on your home can inflict thousands of dollars of damage to your house frame and supports before you even know they’re there.

So, what should you do about termites now that they’re swarming?  There are basically no over-the-counter treatments for termites that are reliable.  This is because termites tunnel for food underground.  If you spray the soil around the base of your house with a product you buy, you haven’t even touched the habitat of the eastern subterranean termite.

However, Russell’s Pest Control will conduct a free inspection for you if you call 865.584.8549.  This service has no obligation to you.  Our inspector will just come to check your home for current invasions and then give you a breakdown of factors that could potentially put you at risk for an invasion later in the spring.  It’s simple and straightforward:  All you have to do is be there to let him in and hear his report.  Give us a call or visit us here,and we’ll help you prepare for the termite attack.  We look forward to hearing from you.

You haven’t forgotten about stink bugs or lady beetles, have you?  We usually try to post about them in the late summer or early fall because that’s the time to get treatments for these overwintering pests.  The term “overwintering pest” just means a bug that hibernates through the cold weather inside your warm wall voids or attic.  On nice, sunny days in late winter or early spring, they start to emerge and make their way outside.  Unfortunately, their sense of direction is not so impressive just after they wake up.  All of the ladybugs and stinks bugs that you find inside your house are just lost.  They were trying to get back to the open air, and they took a wrong turn through a crack under your baseboard or through one of your light fixtures.

There is just nothing pleasant about sharing space with these bugs, particularly if you have them in large numbers.  Both species give off a very unpleasant odor when you squish them, and ladybugs pack a surprisingly sharp (though harmless) bite for bugs of their size.  If you’ve got them in your house now, there’s nothing you can do but buckle down and ride out the insect exodus.  Do not spray an over-the-counter pesticide inside your wall voids to try to kill them there.  That will only draw predator bugs in large numbers to feed on the ones you kill.

Use your vacuum with a hose attachment to suck up groups of stink bugs or ladybugs that you find inside.  Be sure to either empty the canister in an outside trashcan or remove the bag and put it outside.  The bugs don’t die when they are vacuumed up and will just walk back out into the house if you leave the bag inside.

Although we at Russell’s Pest Control will not do a wall void treatment to kill the stinkbugs and ladybugs that are already in the house, we would be glad to help you handle any predator pests like spiders, centipedes, or rodents that may show up to hunt the overwintering pests.  We can give you safe coverage during the high-pressure pest months that are coming this spring and summer and then do a thorough treatment this fall to work on keeping out next year’s stink bugs and ladybugs.  In other words, we can protect your home from pests year round so you don’t have to worry about it.  Give us a call at 865.584.8549, or visit our contact page, if that sounds like the sort of help you need.

You may not be aware of this, but your home naturally shares quite a bit of air with your crawl space due to openings around your pipes, ducts, and electrical fixtures.  That means that if you have mold in your crawl space, you’re breathing in that mold on a daily basis.  As we said last time, the CleanSpace System seals off the air in the crawl space and then dehumidifies and freshens it.  That means that only clean air will be coming into your house from below; you won’t bring in any moldy, bad air.

Consider the implications of having a crawl space that is free from damp, moldy air and that is covered in a clean, white, durable liner.  Installing the CleanSpace System essentially converts your crawl space into one huge, white-walled closet.  Pests will be repelled by the lack of moisture, which is certainly more than you can say for your attic. The only items you couldn’t store there would be temperature-sensitive items (like electronics), but your attic shares that limiting factor without the moisture guarantee.  Many people add small lights under the house when they have the system installed.  Then, if your crawl space isn’t too low, you can comfortably go down there whenever you’d like to retrieve Christmas decorations or other stored items.  Please stop for a moment and smile with me while you imagine adding a closet that is as big as the ground floor of your house.  Now that’s good news!

The CleanSpace System won’t just increase your space; it will also decrease your bills.  Your HVAC unit spends a lot of energy compensating for the fact that the space below your floors is usually either very hot or very cold.  That’s why floor insulation is so important; it protects your home from absorbing uncomfortable heat or cold from the crawl space.  Once the air beneath your house is cut off from the worst of the outdoor temperature extremes, your HVAC system’s work will be significantly easier, which translates into lower power bills.  Master Dry has done the follow-up to discover how effective the CleanSpace System is at saving money, and they have found impressive results.  Average homeowners save 15% on their power bills!  That’s pretty good news as well, don’t you think?

The CleanSpace System is an investment.  Good products and good service are going to cost money, and we recognize that this may not be for everyone.  However, the savings on electric bills mean that the average homeowner will see payback for the system in 5-8 years.  That makes this an investment that’s worth checking into if you plan on staying in your home for several years or if you want to add an impressive amount of resale value.  Speaking of resale value, did we mention that the system is guaranteed for 25 years?

I hope that we’ve piqued your interest with this article about the CleanSpace Crawl Space Encapsulation System.  If you’re interested in having your trusted pest control company come out to do an inspection, give Russell’s a call at 865.584.8549.  Of course, you can also always reach us on-line right here.  We look forward to talking with you.

Not so long ago, we partnered with a company called Master Dry, which installs CleanSpace Crawl Space Encapsulation Systems.  Perhaps you’re not familiar with the service?  Well, it’s a pretty exciting option for owners of homes with crawl spaces in Knoxville and the surrounding areas.  Let me give you the low-down on how this system works in this article, and next time, I’ll relate the benefits of the system in more detail.

As we mentioned in our article about foundation vents, a damp crawl space can be a very dangerous liability for homeowners.  The presence of excessive moisture almost always leads to fungus or wood rot on your house, and I can’t even begin to tell you how many pests are drawn to damp crawl spaces, including termites, camel crickets, and even rodents.  However, the CleanSpace system allows homeowners not only to combat those issues but to eliminate them entirely.

When installing a CleanSpace system, technicians completely seal off the crawl space from the inside, closing up every vent and crack with their specialized liner that can hold out even the most persistent pests.  Imagine something comparable to a pool liner covering the entire inside of your crawl space.  The technicians carefully secure this liner to your crawl space and foundation walls, making sure that all access for air, water, or creatures is eliminated.

After the crawl space is sealed, a dehumidifier is installed.  Anyone who lives in the South is no stranger to the misery of high humidity, but it’s even worse in your enclosed crawl space.  The dehumidifier ensures that the air in your crawl space stays fresh, clean, and dry; fungus couldn’t survive in that environment even if it did gain access to the crawl space.

You may be thinking that this doesn’t sound like such a good idea since a dehumidifier will likely take maintenance, which would require you to crawl under your house more often.  However, I have two answers to that concern.  The first is that the dehumidifier (which is Energy Star approved) takes no maintenance except for an annual filter change.  The second is that crawling under your house wouldn’t be scary, gross, or inconvenient any more.  The liner holds out all of the bad things that make crawl spaces unpleasant, and it’s bright white, which combats the feeling of claustrophobia that crawl spaces sometimes bring.

This is just the beginning of the good news about the system, and I’ll write about the further benefits soon.  If you want more information, check back here in a couple of weeks.  Or, you can reach us more quickly at 865.584.8549 or on our contact page. 

Silverfish by Jeffrey Hahn, 2006

I did a quick online search to see what people were saying about silverfish, and I was quite surprised by the result.  A lot of people were posting pictures of silverfish that weren’t silverfish at all.  So, to set the record straight, please view the picture on the right for a clear example of a silverfish.  They are sometimes called bristletails (as are their cousins, firebrats, who live in climates over 90° F).  When viewed from above, they have the shape of a thin tear drop with three spikes coming out of their back end.  Their color can range from pale silver to a dark gray, and they can grow to be about half an inch long.  Most of the classification errors I found were made by people who thought that house centipedes were silverfish (you remember those monsters right?).  If I had my preference, I’d choose silverfish over centipedes any day, though it’s best to avoid them both in your home.

You won’t be at all surprised to find that silverfish like humidity and moisture; most pests do.  However, unlike camel crickets, silverfish prefer warm humid places.  Their ideal temperature is about 70° F, which, coincidentally, is a fairly ideal temperature for us as well.  You may find camel crickets cheerfully living in your crawl space, but silverfish would much rather live in the house.  The attic is often a good choice for them because it is not dehumidified by the AC in the summer or the heat in the winter.  Unfortunately, these pests are nocturnal.  Homeowners may not know that silverfish are there until the problem is already quite bad.  That trouble is compounded for business owners since commercial buildings are rarely occupied after dark.

Silverfish Damage by Greg Baumann, NPMA

Silverfish won’t bite you, but they can do some damage to items in your home.  They like to eat starchy substances and, unfortunately, papers are a common meal for them.  That’s another reason why they like the attic; cardboard is attractive to them.  I have heard of silverfish feeding on stored papers, books, or even old photos.  They can damage your possessions posthumously as well because their silver scales can leave a messy smear if you squish them.

In many cases, dehumidification can go a long way toward rousting the silverfish out of your home.  HVAC units can leave houses pretty dry, particularly in the winter, and that will make these bristletails very uncomfortable.  If you know you have a very damp attic, consider having a dehumidifier installed there if you’re having a major silverfish problem.  That will help protect any stored items you have from moisture and will help to eliminate your silverfish issue.  There are also several useful baits available that can be left in unexposed areas for the silverfish to consume.  Remember to read the label if you’re going to try baits on your own.  The label will tell you if a product can be used in a home or attic so you don’t have to wonder if you’re using the right thing.

At Russell’s Pest Control, we believe in a multi-faceted approach to controlling problem pests.  We can inspect and inform you about any moisture issues that we find.  We can also incorporate baits, sticky pads, and liquid treatments that can help to eliminate pests that may already be in the house.  If you have questions, you can reach us at 865.584.8549 or on our contact page.

Camel crickets (sometimes called cave crickets) are a problem in the fall and winter in Knoxville and the surrounding counties, and their nasty habit of hopping at people is unacceptable.  I have never met anyone who could tolerate a camel cricket problem in their home.  So, how can you bring peace to the basement once more?

Camel Cricket by Univar

Believe it or not, in most cases, crickets do not want to be in your house.  Typically, they wander in from outside while hunting for a place to hide from the sun (they’re nocturnal).  A gap under your garage door gives them access to the building, and then they only have to wait for the door to swing open to let them in the house.  What they will find, however, is that there’s nothing good to eat there.  Camel crickets (and other crickets) are rarely destructive in homes; they are plant eaters and will be unimpressed by the food in your kitchen.

In light of that, how do you stop the hoppers?  I return to my stand-by advice:  Seal up the holes into your house!  This is especially relevant now that the weather is getting cold.  Grabbing some caulk or weather stripping is a hassle that you may not need in your busy schedule, but it will benefit your wallet and help to alleviate your pest problem if you can find time for it.  Every hole that you block is another place where cold air can’t get in and warm air can’t get out.  Think of the good you can do for your heating bills this winter.  Check your doors and windows as well as the opening around your plumbing and cable wires for potential problems.

There is a chance that crickets are purposely choosing to live in your basement or crawl space because they are comfortable there.  This is almost always the result of dampness and perhaps clutter.  Like many pests, crickets like to find undisturbed areas to hide.  If you can get any boxes off the floor of your garage or basement and store them up higher, you will eliminate the majority of the crickets’ housing.  Also, many pest control companies recommend de-humidifiers for basements or crawl spaces that remain damp throughout the year.  A damp crawl space can lead to many (sometimes expensive) problems, ranging from wood rot, to pest invasions, to mold.  A cozy, dry basement or crawl space will not be comfortable to camel crickets, and they will be less likely to enter your home to escape the cold.

At Russell’s Pest Control, we do free home inspections.  Our inspectors can tell you whether you have moisture problems in the crawl space or conditions in the basement that leave you in danger of facing bug problems or home maintenance issues.  They can also do a check for termite activity while they’re there.  Does that sound like the sort of helpful information you need?  Try calling 865.584.8549, or check in with us on our contact page.  We promise to answer your questions and serve you to the best of our abilities.

Black Widow, photo by UKY

Probably almost all of our readers have at least seen a picture of a black widow.  But, just as a review, you can identify a black widow by its bulbous, round body that is shiny, black, and hairless.   They have thin, jointed legs, which are also hairless.  Adult widows have that tell-tale hour glass on their stomachs, which is most famously known to be red but can also be orange, yellow, or even white.  We are also seeing more brown widows, which obviously have a different body color but usually still have a bright spot on their stomachs.  Black widows prefer to make their webs near to the ground where they will not be disturbed.  The webbing is extremely dense and messy; clearing it away with a broom may be difficult because the silk is so strong and sticky.

Black widows are one of the only two dangerous spiders in our area.  Although brown recluses are probably more famous for their dangerous bites, pest professionals like those at Russell’s Pest Control consider the black widow to be more of a threat.  They can be quite aggressive, particularly when guarding their eggs.  Unlike recluses, who produce a toxin that attacks skin cells, widows produce a neurotoxin.  A neurotoxin is a poison that affects the nervous system.  This means that the location of the bite itself may show only mild symptoms, but other side effects could be more problematic.  Additional symptoms of a black widow bite include nausea, fever, and severe muscle cramps, particularly in the abdomen.  Despite the possible severity of these symptoms, black widow bites are very rarely fatal in the U.S. and usually only require observation by a doctor for a day or two.

So, you don’t want to meet a black widow…what should you do?  Unfortunately, widows are very common in East Tennessee and are most likely to be found by homeowners in stored items or debris around the property.  The crevices in wood piles make great homes for widows, as do boxes that are rarely opened in the garage.  Keep your wood piles well away from the house, and always wear long sleeves and gloves if you’re going to haul wood to burn inside.  In addition, keeping your garage as tidy as possible will deter black widows from settling at your house.  If you’re going to clean out your garage and move old boxes, always wear gloves to protect yourself.

Generally, the position of a good pest control company is that spiders should be preserved because they serve such a crucial role in nature.  However, black widows around your house are dangerous, and Russell’s does not recommend that you view them as good neighbors.  If you find a black widow at your house, kill it (use a closed-toed shoe, not a paper towel or broom).  Widows reproduce very rapidly and can easily have around 350 eggs in one sac.  If you think you have a widow problem at your house and want to try to treat them yourself, read the label of your over-the-counter pesticide carefully.  Most store-bought products are not labeled to kill spiders and will not do so effectively.  There are plenty of people who can’t stand spiders and don’t want to deal with them.  We at Russell’s Pest Control understand that completely and would be glad to set you up on a quarterly pest control plan that takes care of ants, roaches, and mice in addition to alarming arachnids.  Think about it, and visit us hereif you’re interested.