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As their name depicts, silverfish bugs are typically a blue-silver or white-ish, brown-gray color. They have six legs, three long bristle-like attachments on their rear, and two long antennae protruding from their heads. Silverfish can thrive in lots of different environments, though they are usually found in damp, dark, and warm areas with high humidity, such as your attic, basement, garage, crawl space, bathroom, laundry room, kitchen cabinets, etc.
Silverfish are nocturnal pests that are very quick and good at hiding in out-of-reach places. Their silvery scales allow them to slip out of a predator’s grasp, therefore earning them their name. Silverfish, like humans, love to eat carbohydrates. They especially love sugary and starchy foods, but that’s not all they feed on. There are plenty of meal options for a silverfish in your homes, such as clothing, paper, glue in book bindings, silks, shampoo, and lots of your favorite treats in your pantry. They have even been found in unopened food bags and packages.
Like most pests, silverfish sneak into homes and commercial buildings through cracks and crevices in the foundation, as well as through loose seals in doors and windows, and other small openings. They entered your home in search of a warm, moist place to live with lots of food to fill their bellies. Because silverfish reproduce quickly, an infestation can quickly get out of control. The presence of silverfish could even attract other pests to your home.
If silverfish are inconveniencing your home or commercial life, then Harper Pest Control has a solution for you! Though they are sneaky critters, we know where they hide! Our CleanGreen crack and crevice treatments will flush them out of harborage areas inside and will create a barrier around the outside of your home, keeping the silverfish out of your house.
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Ants are one of the most commonplace and most irritating pests that frequently invade homes and properties like yours. While there are hundreds of different ant breeds, the more common type of ants found in Southern California include Black house ants, Thief ants, Pharaoh ants, Fire ants, and Carpenter ants.Ants are extremely social insects. If you see one ant in your house or commercial residence, chances are there are hundreds of thousands of ants nearby, potentially taking up residence in your home or building! Ants communicate using pheromones. Their antennae will pick up on the pheromones left by other nearby ants, allowing them to walk in orderly lines. It is pretty rare for an ant to break from this line. These lines of walking ants often lead back to their nest, whether it be inside or outside. The type of nest varies depending on the type of ant.
The easiest way to tell whether you need ant control for your property is if you notice ants trailing around the interior or exterior of your house or commercial building. They might even have a nest nearby on your property. Ants can nest anywhere in or around your home, including in the foundation. Small mounds of dirt or sand around your home could be a sign of a larger ant nest nearby. Signs of nests differ from breed to breed.
And remember, if you see one or a few ants inside, those ants probably brought countless of their friends with them, hiding elsewhere in or around your home.
Carpenter ants are one of the larger species of ants in the United States. They can be anywhere from 3.5 mm to 13 mm in length. Though the most common carpenter ant is black, they can also be variations of brown, red, yellowish, and orange. Carpenter ants are known for their big mandibles.
Carpenter ants can live both inside and outside. They prefer to dwell in decaying or moist wood. These ants do not eat wood, however, they hollow out wood to live in, leaving piles of wood shavings outside their dwellings. Carpenter ants eat lots of the same things we eat, though they favor sweet things and meats. If you notice signs of carpenter ants in your home, then you need carpenter ant control.
Pharaoh ants are one of the smaller types of ant, usually measuring at 2 mm in length. They are typically colored in variations of yellowish-brown, with red markings on their bodies. Pharaoh ants need warm weather to survive, which is why they thrive here in southern California. They can survive indoors and outdoors when the weather is warm. Pharaoh ants usually build their nests in well protected and hidden areas indoors, such as in walls, behind baseboards, in refrigerator insulation, in voids or cabinets, inside curtain rods, in between the folds of clothes and paper, etc.
Pharaoh ants eat all types of foods, especially sweets. They are most often found in areas of food preparation, such as the kitchen and pantry. Pharaoh ants carry dysentery and salmonella. It is best for your health and safety to dispose of any food that pharaoh ants may have gotten into.
Pharaoh ant infestations grow rapidly and out of control. They can be very hard to deal with. When their nests are exposed to toxic smells and chemicals, they scatter and build again elsewhere in your home. If you see pharaoh worker ants in your pantry, kitchen, or anywhere else in your home, then it is best to call Harper Pest Control to professionally remove the infestation with our effective CleanGreen method.
Fire ants can range from about 1.5 mm to 5 mm in length and are colored in variations of red. They have a visible stinger on their rear that they use for self-defense. They use their mandibles to hold their prey and place and inject venom through their stinger. Fire ant stings are painful to humans and can even be a cause for medical concern in some cases. These stings usually cause a stinging or intense burning sensation and leave behind red bumps that may fill with puss. In some instances, fire ant stings may lead to sensations of nausea, excessive itching, and sweating. These symptoms are a cause for medical concern and those experiencing these symptoms as a result of a fire ant sting should seek medical attention.
Fire ants usually build their nests in the dirt. Their nests are visible mounds of soft dirt. They are very aggressive ants and will sting any person or animal that disturbs their nest, sometimes multiple times. Fire ants eat both plant-based and animal-based foods, such as earthworms, insects, spiders, honeydew, seeds, other sweet foods, and dead animal carcasses. If you see worker or swarmer fire ants in or around your home, call Harper Pest Control to take care of your ant pest control needs. Our CleanGreen method will make your house safe again from these fiery home invaders.
The thief ant, also commonly known as the grease ant, are tiny ants that range in size from 1.5 mm to about 2 mm in length. They can be variations of yellowish or brown. Thief ants and pharaoh ants have very similar appearances with very few differences. The thief ant antennae have 10 segments and a two-segmented club, which is different from the pharaoh ant’s 12 segmented antenna that has a 3 segmented club.
Thief ants get their name from stealing larvae and pupae to eat from other ant colonies in their neighborhood. These tiny house ants eat greasy foods and proteins, such as peanut butter, meats, cheese, nuts, and sweet foods. These tiny ants are even small enough to enter unopened food packages. When living outside, thief ants result in eating dead rodents and insects.
Thief ants nest both inside and outside. When outside, thief ant nests are commonly found in places such as soil, rotting wood, and especially under rocks. Inside, they build their nests in small places, such as behind baseboards, underneath cabinets and countertops, and in crevices of walls. If you see worker thief ants in or around your property, call Harper Pest Control for your ant pest control needs.
Ants enter into homes and buildings through tiny cracks and crevices, usually in search of a free meal from your kitchen.
Because ants smell and follow the pheromones left by other ants, if there are any ants in your home, even just one, there are hundreds of ants not far behind. Most over-the-counter and do-it-yourself ant treatment options are ineffective, as they only kill the ants you see. If ants keep coming back after you kill them, there is probably a nest nearby, which means continual waves of home ant invaders for you. Luckily, Harper Pest Control makes home ant control effective. Our Clean Green method of ant removal uses slow-active, time-release transfer technology designed for ants to walk through it without detecting it, carrying it back to their colony, creating a domino effect that eliminates the entire colony. Our clean green method also creates a barrier around your property, defending your home from ants.
Bees are extremely important to the ecosystem due to their fantastic method of pollination. Bees vibrate at 440 Hz to cause pollen to come loose from flowers. They then move from flower to flower doing this helping spread genetic material around from female flowers to male flowers allowing the production of fruits, vegetables, and nuts. These then allow the plant to continue its species. This in turn gives us humans more food that is healthy and safe to eat.
These wonderful little workers also produce a classic favorite sweetener and that Honey. A product that has a long shelf life due and tastes so good. Many people choose local honey due to it containing pollen strains from local plants; thus aiding in a person’s allergies. These little workaholics also produce Beeswax, a common ingredient in modern items from Chapstick, to lotion, to candles; there are many uses of this soft malleable product. One last by product made by bees is propolis or Bee glue. It can be used for medicinal purposes for anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties and it can be applied to wounds to assist with inflammation and infection. These are just how the bees benefit us humans but they have even more important roles in our amazing ecosystem.
To reiterate they help in the reproduction of plants to produce the fruits, vegetables, and nuts. They also help non fruiting plants reproduce in creating the necessary means to reproduce whether it be burs, gliders, or any variation of seed spreading the plants have. Without the bees that plants would not produce like they should and we would watch as our ecosystem died off without reproduction until the lands are bare. Yes there are other insects that pollinate like mosquitos, wasps, ants, butterflies, moths, and many other of our Arthropoda friends. Their assistance in the reproduction of many species of plants allowing biodiversity.
Biodiversity: the diversity of life in our ecosystem is greatly thanks to bees. They allow many plants to grow that may not be able to grow without pollinators. These little busy bodies help our gardens blossom beautiful flowers, help our farmers and gardeners grow delicious food. Our trees would not be able to continue their lineage of tall, beautiful, and shady ways. Without biodiversity we couldn’t have a self sustaining ecosystem of different plants that can help each other with growth. An example is per native American tradition the three sisters.
Corn, Squash, and beans; these 3 plants all assist each other in growth, one providing nitrogen to the soil, one allowing the other to grow on it, and the other providing shade acting like a mulch. These three plants help each other grow big and strong; however, this would all be wasted without bees. Without bees the tree sisters would struggle to produce their beautiful bountiful of vegetables and legumes. Without the native Americans may not have survived the harsh south west. Assisting with the biodiversity meaning many plants can grow means habitats for other species.
Habitats are crucial for survival trees providing shade and shelter from the sun and weather. This also provides resources such as wood for shelter. This also provides a healthy habitat for rodents, birds, and other insects to have food and shelter.
This means this provides food hunters like birds of prey, carnivorous mammals, and humans. Without bees these habitats would die off the rodent, birds, and insects would leave and die. The creatures further up the food chain would suffer due to lack of food source. In the end, we owe bees our lives and we need to start taking better care of our little buzzing buddies.
We've been looking for a pest control company to get our pests under control and have been very happy with this company. Thomas was very responsive and came to our home and walked the property with me so I could tell him areas to focus on. I've noticed a big improvement already! Thank you Thomas and crew!
If you have a pest problem, I highly recommend calling Harper Pest Control.
