Pest Library

What You Need To Know About Pests

Use the following pest library to learn more about our area's most common pests. Learning about a pest's behaviors, food preferences, and other needs will help you stop your Sierra Vista property from being overrun by bugs and other pests. 

Arthropods

Arthropods make up a large percentage of all the animals living worldwide. While insects make up the largest group of arthropods, there are other groups like arachnids (scorpions, spiders, ticks) and myriapods (centipedes and millipedes). Arthropods like centipedes, millipedes, scorpions, spiders, and ticks primarily live outdoors, but from time to time move into our structures. These pests migrate indoors, usually during periods of unsuitable weather conditions or a lack of food.

Yards with a lot of ground cover, trees, and landscaping provide plenty of sheltered hiding spots and food sources for these pests. Our yards also provide them with easy access into our homes; they typically move inside through gaps under doors, cracks in the foundation, and damaged screens or weatherstripping. Once inside, if they have access to food and water, they may make themselves at home. Regular pest control services are the best way to keep any arthropod out of your house.

We want to help you avoid problems with arthropods by offering the following prevention tips:

• Repair damaged screens, weatherstripping, and trim that can provide entry points for spiders and other arthropods.
• Remove woodpiles, leaf piles, and other yard debris from your property. 
• Keep your lawn cut short.
• Keep storage areas in your home free of clutter.
• Use dehumidifiers to reduce humidity levels in your home. 

For help with arthropods that have found a way into your home, reach out to Mule Mountain Pest Control.

Bed Bugs

Bed bugs are small insects about as wide as they are long and are reddish-brown. They are wingless, have six legs, and have short antennae. These insects feed on the blood of warm-blooded animals, with humans being their preferred hosts. After feeding, a bed bug's body elongates and swells, and they turn a deeper purple, red color. Many insects look similar to bed bugs; if you spot what you think are bed bugs in your home, it is always best to contact a professional for help.

Bed bugs have adapted to living indoors with people and move with ease from structure to structure with the help of people- hitchhiking on our clothing or belongings. After finding their way inside, they seek out hiding spots that put them near their hosts. In our homes, the seams in mattresses, cracks in headboards, footboards, and other wooden furniture, and spaces behind electrical outlets are common hideouts. After feeding, bed bugs will move back to their hiding spots, where they lay low and digest their meal over five to ten days. When hungry, individuals will emerge once again to feed. 

We want to help you avoid problems with bed bugs by offering the following prevention tips:

• After traveling, leave your suitcases outside and bring your clothing inside to wash and dry on the highest heat setting possible.
• Place your luggage on hard surfaces up off the floor in hotel rooms.
• Regularly vacuum your floors and upholstered furniture.
• When purchasing secondhand items, always clean and inspect them for bed bugs before bringing them inside.
• Reduce the clutter in your home that provides hiding spots and camouflages bed bug infestations.

For help with bed bugs that have found a way into your home, reach out to Mule Mountain Pest Control.

Cockroaches

Much to everyone's dismay, cockroaches are common household pests. No one is immune to finding these unsavory pests inside their homes. Cockroaches have survived the test of time by being adaptable. They can live almost anywhere, including our homes, and eat almost anything, like the food stored in our pantries. Having cockroaches in our homes is not just an annoyance; these insects are dangerous because they spread disease-causing pathogens and allergens and contaminate food.

Avoiding problems with cockroaches is difficult because there are so many ways that they can get into our homes. People often unknowingly introduce them by bringing secondhand items, deliveries, or boxes inside that house roaches. Cockroaches can also find their way into our homes on their own, moving inside through cracks and other openings they discover in the exterior. In multi-unit buildings, they move into new spaces through walls, floors, and vents. Many cockroaches have adapted to living inside with people, making them tricky to avoid.

We want to help you avoid problems with cockroaches by offering the following prevention tips:

• Regularly vacuum your home to pick up stray crumbs, not forgetting spaces under furniture and large appliances.
• Place appropriate covers over vents and drains leading into your house.
• Seal cracks and crevices in your foundation and gaps around doors and windows.
• Inspect boxes, secondhand items, and deliveries for cockroaches before bringing them inside. 

For help with cockroach control in your Sierra Vista home, reach out to Mule Mountain Pest Control.

Rodents

Mice and rats are both considered commensal rodents. Rodents have developed a close relationship with people and "want to share our table.” Though rats and mice can survive outside on their own, they have learned that our structures offer them easy access to the things they need to survive like food, water, and shelter.

Food waste, food contamination, structural defects, and the spread of diseases and bacteria are all problems a rodent infestation can cause and why they are such unwanted guests. Unfortunately, keeping mice, rats, and other rodents out of our homes is difficult because there are many entry points for them to take advantage of like gaps under doors, vents, cracks in the foundation, and damaged door trim. Once inside, rodents can live in your home hidden for long periods before they and the problems they have caused are finally noticed. Being proactive and implementing year-round pest control services is the best way to maintain a rodent-free home. 

We want to help you avoid problems with rodents inside your home by offering the following prevention tips:

• Inspect your home’s foundation and exterior walls, repairing any defects you may discover.
• Cut dense vegetation back from your home's exterior that could allow rodents to move in and out of your house unseen.
• Reduce the clutter in your storage areas that could provide rodents with hiding and nesting spots.
• Limit their access to food by storing food in the fridge or airtight locking containers.

For help preventing a rodent infestation, reach out to Mule Mountain Pest Control!

Stinging Insects

Stinging insects are insects that we hate to hate! We know their feeding habits and pollination are beneficial to the ecosystem, but we don't want them to nest in our yards. When stinging insects live in our yards in large numbers, they put you, your kids, and your pets at risk. The venom they deliver with each painful sting is potent enough to trigger severe and sometimes life-threatening allergic reactions.

Two species of stinging insects in our area that can become problematic in our yards are the Africanized bee and the paper wasp. Africanized bees are super aggressive and known to chase people and animals for more than a quarter of a mile- earning them the nickname "killer bee." Paper wasps are also territorial and will sting anything they view as a threat to themselves or their nest. If a stinging insect places a nest in a high traffic area of your yard or, worse, in your home, it will daily put you and your family in danger. 

We want to help you make your property less attractive to stinging insects by offering the following prevention tips:

• Eliminate standing water from your property that provides a water source for both the stinging insects and the insects they hunt.
• Repair damaged screens, weatherstripping, trim, roof shingles, and siding that stinging insects can use to move into your home. 
• Cut tree branches and shrubbery back away from your home's exterior.
• Remove yard clutter that could provide a shelter nesting spot for stinging insects.

For help with stinging insects that have taken over your outdoor space or have moved into your home, reach out to Mule Mountain Pest Control.

Termites

Termites are social insects that live together in large groups and have a diet comprised solely of cellulose. They meet their nutritional requirements through the wood they feed on. When termites live in our yards and homes, they cause damage to things like fencing, wooden structures, trees, and the structural integrity of our homes. Termite damage can become extensive and quite expensive to repair. Termites can feed on a home for years unnoticed, and most homeowners' insurance won't pay for the cost of repairs.

Termites can find their way into any of our homes, where they have the potential to cause extensive damage. Most people don't realize that these tiny insects generate more than five billion dollars in costs across the country each year! Termites are not pests that you can ignore. Partnering with an experienced professional to provide regular inspections and pest control treatments to control and eliminate termites is always the best defense! 

We want to help you avoid problems with destructive, wood-eating termites by offering the following prevention tips:

• Limit excess moisture on your property by repairing leaky outdoor fixtures, hoses, and damaged irrigation systems.
• Create a crushed rock barrier between any soil and your home's foundation.
• Regularly inspect your foundation, sealing any cracks you discover.
• Remove unnecessary wood debris from your property and replace water-damaged wood inside your home.

For help preventing a termite infestation, reach out to Mule Mountain Pest Control.