Know your pests: an Eastern North Carolina pest guide

One of the most hated insects, especially when they are found inside homes. There are several different kinds, including:

• German: found throughout the world, commonly in restaurants, kitchens and stores where food and moisture are abundant. They contaminate food, leave stains, create foul odors and carry disease organisms.
• Smokybrown: often mistaken for waterbugs; brownish black and very shiny. They fly, are attracted to lights at night, and have the reputation of being the most difficult to control.
• Oriental: also known as black beetles; more sluggish than other species, with a distinctive unpleasant odor.
• American: also mistaken for a water bug; the largest house-infesting species, about one and a half inches long.
• Brown banded: alternating light and dark bands across the back. Often found high on walls, in picture frames, behind molding, near appliance motors, in light switches, closets and furniture.

Small, hard-bodied, wingless insects built for jumping onto a host. Their bite leaves a red, itchy spot, and their saliva can cause dermatitis and hair loss in allergic animals. Control takes the 3-zone defense: inside, outside and on the pet. Treatment covers all infested areas inside with a residual pesticide that includes a growth regulator, plus a complete lawn treatment outside.

Before a flea treatment:

• Pick up all items off the floor, and from under beds, furniture and the bottoms of closets.
• Wash or replace pet bedding and vacuum thoroughly throughout the house. Sweep and mop wood, tile and linoleum floors; clean concrete floors where pets stay.
• Remove all pets, including birds. Cover fish tanks with a damp towel and turn off and cover the air pump.
• Stay out of the house for at least three hours. Outdoors, make shade areas and crawl spaces available for treatment.
• Treat the pet regularly, with a treatment recommended by your vet.

• Carpenter ants nest in stumps, logs and dead limbs, or in homes in wood damaged by termites, fungi and moisture. They don't eat wood, but their galleries can be extensive.
• Pharaoh ants: small, red to yellowish, nesting in wall voids, cabinets and boxes of food.
• Thief ants: tiny, often undetected for weeks; seen around the kitchen sink or pantry.
• Argentine ants like honey, syrups and jellies, and eat meat too.
• Red imported fire ants live in colonies of up to 200,000, with mounds up to two feet high. The painful sting can take up to 10 days to heal; some people are extremely allergic.

Wipe up spills and keep food in sealed containers; keep your home dry and well ventilated to discourage carpenter ants. Spraying baseboards gives only temporary relief, because ants seldom carry enough insecticide back to kill the queen. The nest has to be found and the colony destroyed, and we know where to look.

The most common are the Norway rat, which burrows under foundations and lives between floors and walls; the roof rat, smaller, in attics, between walls and in trees and vines; and the house mouse, the smallest, gray with a long tail.

The first step is always removing their food, water and shelter at the first signs. After that, baiting is the first choice: effective in most cases and the simplest solution. Trapping takes constant monitoring and disposal.

• Black widow: glossy black with a red hourglass under the abdomen. Found around foundations, vents, shrubs and woodpiles. Seek medical attention if bitten.
• Brown recluse: brownish, with a dark violin-shaped mark behind its six eyes (the "fiddle-back"). Found in sheds, garages, dark closets and garments left hanging. Not aggressive; bites when crushed or handled.

If bitten: stay calm, collect the spider for identification if you can, and get medical attention right away (your physician, hospital or Poison Information Center). Apply antiseptic and an ice pack to the bite.

To avoid spiders: shake out clothes and shoes, check bedding and towels, wear gloves for firewood, clear clutter in basements, closets and attics, and vacuum undisturbed places.

A mature eastern subterranean termite colony averages 300,000 workers and can live 18 to 20 feet below the soil. Workers are creamy white, soft-bodied and blind; soldiers have long brownish heads with jaws; swarmers are dark brown to brownish black with two pairs of equal-size wings. Termites can enter a building through cracks less than 1/16 inch wide.

See termite control for the signs of an infestation and how we treat it.