Additional Pests
Occasional Invaders
Most of these pests live outside of buildings and come indoors only on occasion. Although they may enter in large numbers, they usually do very little damage and are considered a nuisance simply because of their presence. Some factors that may cause these pests to move into structures include environmental extremes such as unusual dry spells, excessive rainfall, poor drainage adjacent to the foundation, onset of winter, or presence of some unusual food source within the structure.
The presence of one or a few individuals of some species indoors may not really be a problem, but only an occurrence. In this type of situation, it may not necessarily indicate a need to institute a substantial pest control program.
Most centipedes live outdoors in damp areas, such as under leaves, stones, boards, tree bark, or in mulch around outdoor plantings. If provoked, larger centipedes may bite. This can cause some pain and slight swelling. Smaller species are not large enough to penetrate human skin.
Millipedes live outdoors in damp places, such as under leaves and in mulch. In dry weather, they will migrate from litter piles as the leaves dry and enter buildings in large numbers. This also occurs in lawns containing thick thatch layers, or yards were large piles of leaves are present.
Earwigs are recognized by the pincers at the end of the abdomen. They are primarily scavengers of dead animal and plant material, but some can be predatory. They are active at night, and some are attracted in large numbers to lights. They are often transported in potted plants or other plant material.
Silverfish are flattened, long and slender, broad at the front and tapering gradually toward the rear. The antennae are long and slender. Three long appendages are found at the rear. They have a uniform silvery color over the top surface of their body. They can be found almost anywhere in a home.
Scorpions are eight-legged carnivorous arthropods. They are nocturnal, and will find shelter during the day in cool underground holes or under rocks. They will come out at night to hunt and feed. Scorpion venom is usually harmless to humans — stings only produce local effects such as pain, numbness and swelling.
Fleas
Fleas are pests of humans and their domestic animals all over the world. While most fleas prefer nonhuman hosts, many can and do feed readily on humans when infestations are heavy or when other hosts are not available. Fleas are small, wingless insects that can vary from as small as 1/25″ to 1/3″ long. When viewed from the front, head-on, the adult flea’s body is narrow from side to side. This allows it to move readily between hairs in an animal’s fur into very narrow areas, such as crevices and folds of upholstery, or even below flooring and into sub-flooring areas.
A General Overview
Adult fleas have piercing-sucking mouth parts to penetrate the skin of the host and suck blood. Their long, powerful legs permit them to jump as high as 7 to 8 inches vertically and as far as 14 to 16 inches horizontally. Cat fleas and dog fleas are two very similar species that occur throughout the United States. Cat fleas are by far the most commonly encountered of the two species. Dog fleas are usually found on wild hosts rather than on domestic pets. Both species prefer dogs or cats as hosts, although they may be found on a wide variety of other animals, including rodents and livestock.
Life Cycle
Fleas have a complete metamorphosis. Since flea eggs are not attached to the host, they will often fall off and hatch on the ground (e.g. into carpeting, the host’s bedding, upholstery, or cracks in flooring). Flea larvae are small, active maggot like creatures. They feed on all types of organic debris, and develop particularly well when they can feed on the feces of adult fleas, which contain undigested blood. The mature larvae spins a cocoon for pupation. Many adult fleas emerge from the pupa within 7 to 14 days after the cocoon is formed, but some will remain in a pre-emerged adult state, from which they may not emerge for several months to a year later.