TOP RATED Metro Vancouver Insect CONTROL

During the summer the most common ants are moisture, pavement and carpenter ants. All have wings and swarm. Carpenter ants are black and much larger than the other two types.

The key to preventing ants from infesting is preventing entry into your home. Ants are constantly foraging for food and water to share with the members of their colony and may even take up residence in your home in wall voids or other hidden spaces if conducive conditions exist. Check out our blog for tips on pest-proofing your home!

Most ants in our region do not bite or sting. Certain species do bite, like carpenter ants. Carpenter ants are likely to be found nesting in or near your residence.

Contrary to popular belief, carpenter ants don’t eat wood! Instead, they build tunnels where they will nest! You may see a fine saw dust or frasse where they are tunneling.

Looking closely, you might be able to see the grooves on the pavement ant’s head and thorax. They are approximately 1/8” long (the size of a piece of rice) and are dark brown or black. Pavement ants prefer to stay outdoors, especially beneath flagstone patios and sidewalks.

The key to preventing ants from infesting is preventing entry into your home. We can follow the ants back to their colony and treating the colony directly. Ants are constantly foraging for food and water to share with the members of their colony and may even take up residence in your home in wall voids or other hidden spaces if conducive conditions exist. Check out our blog for tips on pest-proofing your home! Most importantly, contact Pestcheck to eradicate your ant infestation.

Bed bugs are small insects that live off the blood of people and animals. They have flat, oval-shaped bodies that are usually brown, although they take on a reddish colour after they’ve fed.

Bed bugs can enter your home through clothing, luggage, or second hand furniture. They are commonly picked up while travelling, when staying in hotels. They can also spread into nearby rooms or other apartments after they’ve settled into a home.

Bed bugs are mostly active at night and bite people while they are sleeping. They can bite anywhere where there is exposed skin, but recurring bites usually appear in the same general area.

Bed bugs can spread through contaminated clothing, luggage, and furniture. They can also spread from one room or apartment to another. Bed bugs spread by crawling and are known to contaminate many rooms in a home. They can easily hide in books, in the back of pictures hanging on a wall, inside of fabric furniture, bedding and clothing.

If you suspect that you have a bed bug infestation, remove all your bedding and check for signs of the bugs such as shed skins or excrement. Peel back the fabric in your box spring and check the wood frame. You should also check nearby shelves, dressers, and any cracks in the walls. If you aren’t sure what to look for, contact Pestcheck Pest Control.

Signs of bed bugs include bites, small brown spots on bedding and small blood smears on sheets.

The most common place to find bed bug eggs is in the tucks and folds of the mattress and box spring. They also hide behind headboards, along baseboards, sofas and other soft furnishings.

Finally, the most important FAQ: bed bugs. If it turns out that you have a bed bug infestation, you should follow the following steps in order to properly get rid of them:

1. Wash all your bedding and affected clothing in hot water. Then dry them on your dryer’s highest setting. Any stuffed animals or other soft furnishings that cannot be washed should be placed in your dryer at the highest setting for 40 minutes.
2. Use a stiff brush to brush away any bugs or their eggs from the seams on your mattress. Vacuum your mattress and the surrounding area. Place your vacuum cleaner bag outside in your garbage can away from your house.
3. If you have any cracks in your walls where the bugs might be hiding, repair them with plaster to remove these potential hiding places.
4. Since bed bugs can live for up to a year without feeding, place an encasement over your mattress to keep the bugs from getting in or out.
5. Keep the area around your bed free of clutter.

A question asked by landlords and tenants alike. Who is responsible for the treatment of the unit if a bed bug infestation is discovered? The simple answer is that the landlord or property manager is responsible for the treatment of the unit. However, the tenant is responsible for cooperating with the landlord’s efforts to manage the bed bug infestation – such as prepping the unit for treatment, washing and bagging clothing etc.

The answer is, it depends on the spider. In BC, the only venomous spider is the Black Widow. All other spiders are known not to be poisonous or don’t pose a danger to humans or pets.

Spiders typically show up in dark, out of the way places such as basements and attics. Some species are particularly drawn to moisture, while others seek out dry areas in your home.

House spiders prey on insects and other small creatures. They are not bloodsuckers and have no reason to bite a human. While house spiders usually only bite when startled, their bites can cause a red mark, with irritation for a number of hours.

There are some simple steps you can take to reduce the likelihood of spiders entering your home.

First, be sure that your home is thoroughly sealed. Check windows, doors, and other points of entry are caulked and weather-stripped. Next, check the exterior of your home for spider webs. If you find webs in your garage, on your porch or under your carport, use a vacuum to remove them.

Daddy-Longlegs are one of the most poisonous spiders, but their fangs are too short to bite humans.

Because fruit flies don’t have teeth, they rely on liquid to energize them. Their brains can sense fermented fruit from literal miles away. Which means they will always been drawn to sweet items found in nature.

Think about it: when you’re enjoying wine on a summer night, it’s only a matter of minutes before the fruit flies start buzzing around the rim of your glass, desperate for a sip. Believe it or not, fruit flies are actually attracted to the scent of vinegar. Fruit, vegetables, wine and fermented, decaying organic matter are the primary sources of nutrition for the fruit fly.

Winter weather doesn’t kill off fruit fly populations – after all, winter in many areas can be quite warm. Cold temperatures, however, will stunt the development of new generations of fruit flies.

Scientists have found that at 60°F, the lifespan of fruit flies decreases. When the temperatures fall below 53°F, these flies stop developing entirely.

Still, adult fruit flies have the ability to “overwinter” when conditions get too extreme for them. This allows a fruit fly population to survive frigid temperatures and start the next generation when favorable conditions return.

They are silver, teardrop-shaped creatures that look more at home on an alien landscape than the floor of your bathroom floor! Silverfish can be found in moist, humid areas of your home including basements, attics, kitchens and bathrooms. They are a nocturnal insect.

Unfortunately, these pests do not hibernate and therefore can be a problem all year long.

Silverfish prefer moist areas. The first place you’ll usually see them is on the bathroom floor. If you see one silverfish, there is a good chance there are hundreds living in your walls.

This is an insect that eats old photos, wallpaper, books, filed papers and even dandruff. They also get into food areas looking for sugar, grains, oats and cereal. Inside your home they can eat away at valuable paper products, cause mildew and ruin a good meal.

When the water table rises, silverfish must come to the surface to avoid drowning. When they do, they sometimes find their way into homes. But the real reason you have silverfish is that they have found a way into your home. Often, a large silverfish problem is evidence of a water drainage issue. When water runs down your walls, instead of down your downspouts, it can cause the wood of your home to rot. If you’re seeing silverfish, check to make sure your gutter system has no obstructions or breaks and get any holes filled or repaired.

No, silverfish are not a dangerous pest. The problem with silverfish comes from the destruction they are capable of causing to personal belongings, making them a nuisance pest.

This is the big question, isn’t it? We wish we could give you a simple answer. Silverfish can climb up through your wall voids and hide in places that are hard to get to. Getting them out of a home requires an education in their habits and habitats.

If you need assistance removing silverfish and sealing your exterior walls, the team here at Pestcheck has the education and resources to get the job done right.

The main difference is that wasps feed protein, in the form of other insects – especially larvae, to their offspring. This is not the case with bees, they collect pollen and produce honey.

It may surprise you to learn that hornets are actually wasps! Yes, you read that right. Hornets are a subset of wasps and are a breed of special wasps living in large, highly organized colonies.

The main difference between wasps and hornets is their size and coloring. On average, hornets are a lot larger than wasps and usually come in a black and white or brownish red coloring. Wasps appear in a variety of colors, depending on the species.

It depends on the type of wasp, but most commonly they may be found hanging from structures such as a branch or fascia of a building, or they may be in the ground. Wasps may also nest in compost heaps.

The queens hibernate over winter to emerge and establish new colonies the following year. You could estimate that a queen might live for as long as 12 months.

Worker wasps live 12 -22 days, and the males have slightly shorter lives.

It is pretty difficult to give a generalized answer around the diet of wasps as this can vary between different species. Generally, the wasps found in your garden will feed on nectar, fruit, insects and sugar.

Did you know that paper wasps feed on carrion, which is found in dead flesh and often go hunting for deceased insects to feed on?

Mild and moderate reactions to wasp stings can be treated with a few simple remedies. However, it is highly advised that if you are starting to show the signs of an allergic reaction to a wasp sting you visit your doctor immediately.

You can treat wasp stings by:

• Cleaning the area with warm soapy water.
• Ice the area to reduce the swelling.
• Apply antiseptic cream or spray.
• Take a painkiller or an antihistamine to help ease the pain and itchiness.

Read on: Stop the Wasp Takeover for tips and advice on keeping wasps away from your home. Let us know if you found this article FAQ: Wasps useful.