Silverfish In The Attic

Last week, I was getting Christmas decorations down from the attic when I came across a pesky critter that commonly makes its home in stored items, particularly in the attic. The offending invader was a silverfish, and I didn’t feel the need to extend Christmas cheer to it. It got squished before it ever left the attic, but seeing it reminded me that many homeowners and business owners in the area could be encountering silverfish at this time of year and may need to know what to do about them.

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 this picture 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 pail 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 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 give us a call or visit our contact page.

Camel Crickets: The Mad Hoppers

An amusing anecdote: A friend of mine had her first close encounter with a camel cricket as a teenager. Her parents had a basement rancher; the cricket entered from the garage and came out of a dark corner to taunt her one night when she was home alone. Feeling concerned but not yet dismayed, she grabbed a shoe and proceeded to stalk the invader. You can imagine her surprise when the cricket turned on her as she approached and jumped at her instead of running away. This was no ordinary cricket; it jumped well above the height of her knee and chased her all the way to the next room. Her solution? She armed herself with three phone books and launched them one at a time from half-way up the stairs. Desperation made her aim true, and she landed the last one on the enemy. She then jumped up and down on top of it for five minutes until she was sure the offender was dead. I laugh aloud every time I imagine this.

Camel 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?

Believe it or not, in most cases, camel 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 warm 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 camel 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 us, or check in with us on our contact page. We promise to answer your questions and serve you to the best of our abilities.

Bio Foam And Centipedes

Recently, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about house centipedes, the alarming critters that we featured as our Halloween monster last year. You can click on the link for more information about what draws these creepy critters to East Tennessee homes in the fall, but they reminded me of another pest control option that we at Russell’s Pest Control would like to share with you. Have you heard the news about probiotic bio foam? That’s quite a mouthful for a title. Nonetheless, Russell’s technicians have recently added these foaming cleaners to their tool kits, and they’ve had some great results.

The reason that house centipedes reminded me of bio foam cleaners is because you often find those many-legged monsters in your drains. Sometimes, centipedes may come up through drains, and sometimes they may get stuck near drains because they climbed up the side of the tub or sink, fell in, and then couldn’t climb back out. Either way, there are plenty of critters that are interested in eating the muck that builds up inside of drains, and house centipedes could be very eager to eat some of those critters. Even if bugs weren’t very interested in drain scum (which they are), no one really wants it there. It’s unappetizing and can house bacteria with a powerful punch.

Probiotic foams are a great tool to combat drain scum. The product that Russell’s uses is a thick foam that has been laced with microbes—mostly bacteria—that hungrily eat other microbes and bacteria that they encounter. In other words, it uses the strategies of bad bacteria against them. The good microbes in our bio foam are happy to continue to reproduce as long as food (i.e. drain scum) is present. Once all of the junk is gone from the drain, the good bacteria die of starvation, leaving you with a clean drain. There are no chemicals in this foam; in fact, using chemical cleaners shortly after the foam will end its effectiveness because you could kill all of the little microbes that are working for you!

Probiotics have loads of good uses. Because this product is a foam, it will fill up pipe entrances to thoroughly clean around drains. Restaurant owners can quickly name dozens of places where they could benefit from this sort of product in their busy kitchens. The foam also includes a citrus ingredient, which helps to eliminate odors even as the microbes eat the bacteria that cause the odors. Foam in the bottom of a stinky trash bin can leave the kitchen smelling fresh again. And, because there are no chemicals in the foam, it won’t bleach carpets. You can use it to get up food stains and pet stains.

Now, we don’t just spray this stuff willy-nilly. The foam has bacteria in it. Even though these bacteria are better than the ones we’re getting rid of, we still won’t use it on food preparation surfaces, inside the refrigerator, etc. We follow the label to the letter so that we’re using this cleaner in the most effective way possible. In fact, we would be happy to set its cleaning power to work for you. There are options for that. We can add foam drain cleaning to a regular pest control service for a small fee, which means our technicians handle foaming when it’s needed during their regular quarterly or monthly visits. This can be done for homes or for businesses. In addition, our customers can purchase cans of probiotic foam from us to use—according to the label—when needed. Again, this product is not a harsh chemical, which means homeowners can apply it by themselves after reading the usage instructions (which is a smart thing to do for all cleaners anyway).

If any of this sounds interesting to you, you can always contact us online or give us a call. We’d love to partner with you keep your home safe and clean and to keep the crawling critters out!

Indian Meal Moths: The Infuriating Pantry Moths

Today we want to talk about a pest whose high season is in July and who can cause great frustration for homeowners and business owners in Knoxville, Maryville, Sevierville, and many other surrounding areas. The pest in question is the Indian meal moth, or pantry moth, and they can wreak havoc in the kitchen.

Indian meal moths are “stored product pests,” which means that they attack and inhabit plant-based foods. You’ll know if you’ve got pantry moths because you’ll begin to see tiny whitish moths fluttering around the room, mostly in the evening and mostly in the kitchen. They are distinctive from other moths because they will not be attracted to the light. The key feature used in identifying meal moths is a small copper-colored section on the tips of their wings. Other indications of a meal moth infestation are tiny white worm-like creatures (those are the larvae) moving along surfaces anywhere in the house and silk webbing that may resemble cobwebs inside the pantry.

So, what should you do if you suspect that you have meal moths? I’ll be honest: these pests can be very tricky to eliminate, and professional help is often needed to complete the job. Still, there are several things that you can try at home, and just being aware that meal moths exist can help you stop an infestation before it starts. The most important factor in stopping a meal moth population explosion is to find the infested items. Check all of your grains, including flour, rice, and cereal first. Keeping those in air-tight containers helps to stop the moths from getting in. Pay particular attention to items that may have been sitting for a while, such as bulk foods that you move through slowly. You are looking for moths, larvae, or silk webbing that surrounds the larvae as they feed. You’ll know it if you find it.

Unfortunately, these moths can attack almost anything plant-based, so you can’t stop at the obvious. Meal moths have been known to infest chocolate, dried fruit, pet food, preserved flower arrangements, and many more unexpected items. You may have to think outside the pantry when you’re hunting for them. For instance, an abandoned squirrel’s nest in the attic or up the chimney could feed many generations of meal moths. Consider all the possibilities before giving up hope of finding their nest.

The most popular over-the-counter pest sprays are not labeled for meal moths. But, simple maintenance and sanitation can go a long way to solving the problem. When you do find contaminated items, get rid of them immediately. Use a vacuum attachment to eliminate all webbing that you find; then, if it reappears, you’ll know you haven’t eliminated all of the contamination. In addition, use that attachment to vacuum crevices around the home, including along all of the baseboards and around the cabinets. The larvae scatter before pupating in a nice, quiet crack that doesn’t get much activity. This means you could have half-grown moths around the house even if you eliminate the nest.

At Russell’s Pest Control, we use other items to help fight off these moths. Insect growth regulators (IGRs) disrupt the moths’ ability to move from one life cycle to another; these products have no effects on humans or pets, but they can stop insects from reaching a breeding age. In addition, we often use traps laced with meal moth pheromones to draw the male moths in. If there are no males to breed with the females, the population begins to die out quickly.

Need a free inspection to find out if you’ve got a pantry moth problem? Want someone to answer questions or give good pest advice? Well, you know where to reach us.

The Many-Legged Monster: House Centipedes

Since we are approaching Halloween and the season of scaring, I thought it might be appropriate to ask a question that has plagued children for many years: What kind of monsters do you have in your basement…? In case you can’t think of any, I’ve got one in mind to share with you that might give you a real fright this Halloween season.

Meet Scutigera Coleoptrata, more commonly known as the house centipede. I know someone who woke up in bed with one of these on his chest, and he’s never been quite the same since. Russell’s is not responsible for any nightmares that result from reading this blog post.

These little monsters have bodies that are about an inch and a half long. However, their rear legs and their antennae are both longer than their bodies, making them seem much larger than they are. Despite their name (which means “hundred-legs”), house centipedes only have 30 legs, but those long limbs can help them reach speeds that are positively alarming.

In case their appearance isn’t enough to send a shiver up your spine, you should also know that all centipedes (including this common species) have jaws that pack a poisonous bite. In this way, they are similar to spiders. They all hunt full-time for food, so they need venom to immobilize prey. But, venomous and dangerous are not the same thing. Just like most spiders, house centipedes can deliver a bite that may swell a little and be painful, but they don’t cause lasting harm to humans. In most cases, the bite is no worse than a bee sting.

Keep an eye out for these monsters in the coolest, dampest parts of your house, including basements, utility rooms, kitchens, and bathrooms (they have been known to come out of bathtub drains—yuck!). If you find house centipedes inside, try moving leaf litter and your wood pile away from the house. Centipedes are hunters, and dying or dead plants provide great harborage for all of the little critters they like to eat. You should also keep in mind that if they think your home is comfortable and inviting, it’s likely because there are plenty of other bugs inside that they can eat. If you get rid of their food source, you’ll probably get rid of them. If you need a first-rate monster hunter, for more information click here.

Ladybugs: Unwanted Winter Pests

As our evenings grow colder, it’s time for East-Tennesseans to start thinking about ladybugs (or Asian lady beetles). These pests enter homes during the fall and then emerge when the days get warmer. The trouble is that they sometimes get lost and enter the home instead of heading back outside—much to the dismay of their surprised hosts!

Although they’re frustrating, these bright little bugs prey on some of the most destructive plant pests. In fact, the USDA has released loads of them onto crops that were endangered by pests (which partially explains why ladybugs invade houses so often now: their numbers have been artificially inflated). Still, Asian lady beetles may be the hero of the garden, but they’re less welcome inside. Finding bugs all over the house is generally upsetting, but these also produce yellow ooze when threatened (or smashed) that stains, and, although it’s hard to believe, they can actually deliver a painful bite!

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, exclusion is always the best place to start with pest management. Ladybugs choose a structure for overwintering and then start to search for cracks or crevices. If your home is well-sealed, the beetles will be forced to move on. Screens in attic and roof vents should be carefully checked since ladybugs find the high points of two-story buildings appealing and often enter homes through attics. Are there cracks in your siding? Openings underneath your doors? Holes around your plumbing connections? These are all situations that ladybugs will exploit.

Don’t forget: If we’re getting consistent frosts at night, it’s too late to act. The ladybugs are already inside, so the best thing you can do is get a vacuum with a hose attachment ready. Vacuuming up ladybugs and taking the bags outside is the best way to get rid of the ones that are inside, even though the smell won’t be good. If ladybugs are in the house, DO NOT find an exterminator to treat your attic or wall voids. Killing the bugs inside does you no good because the smell will be terrible, and the dead bugs will create a food source for other, more offensive pests. If you want to have a pest control treatment for ladybugs, hire a professional before the frosts set in and save yourself a lot of hassle.