Lakeland Florida is one of the best places to live in the general Tampa/Central Florida area. You’re right smack dab in the middle of Central Florida, and nothing is too crazy of a drive away from you. However, that doesn’t mean that life in Lakeland is perfect. Just like everywhere else in Florida, you’re going to have to deal with bugs. But don’t worry, we’re going to talk about Lakeland pests, and why you may need to see a Lakeland Exterminator sooner rather than later.
But if you’re dealing with a pest issue right now, visit our website at insectfree.com and fill out the pop-up. You can also give us a call at 1-800-634-1313 today for a free consultation. Earth’s Best has been serving the Central Florida area for three decades, so give us a chance to earn your trust like we have the local communities for the past thirty years!
Common Lakeland Florida Pests
To begin, let’s touch on some of the pests you’re going to need to look out for in Lakeland as a homeowner. And of course, let’s start with the obvious. And what is the obvious? Well, cockroaches.
It’s said that roughly one in three Florida homeowners will have to deal with a cockroach infestation every year. And as someone who was born and raised here, I can attest to that. You can be as clean as you could possibly like, but if you live in an apartment building or near some woods, or even places like restaurants and stores, the roaches will come. The state is just too inundated with every kind of roach species there is. But the worst of them is the German Cockroach.
German cockroaches are small, yellowish-brown cockroaches that only have to mate once in their lives. After this, the female retains the male’s sperm and can have up to three hundred thousand children throughout her life. So in this situation, literally a single roach can become an infestation on their own!
Ants
Lakeland and Central Florida in general has a particularly bad ant problem. I don’t know if it’s all of the cattle farms and ranches, but there really is just no end to them. Stand in a park and throw a rock, and there’s a good chance it just lands on an ant mound. There are a few species that are notable in the area. For example, ghost ants are small and hard to see, but can build many nests in one home. Carpenter ants, too, they can damage the wood of your home. But one species is the heavyweight champ of central Florida ants. And it’s the fire ant that will have you running for the Lakeland Exterminator.
Fire ants get their name from their venom. It’s alkaline and burns like fire once they grab a hold of you and stings you. And this species is extremely aggressive, with some scientists believing that the venom actually has a signaling chemical to attract more ants to whatever threat they swarm.
These ants prefer open, sunny patches of lawns and fields. And once they establish themselves, their colonies can number in the hundreds of thousands. To accommodate so many ants, you can see how those underground labyrinths can extend across several properties and be very tough to root out.
flies
Down here in Florida, there’s not just one kind of fly to worry about. And don’t get me wrong, we have plenty of garden variety flies here. Bottle flies, bow flies, and house flies will gladly swarm over any garbage or compost you leave uncovered. And while not very aggressive, these filth-breeding flies can spread disease if their populations are left unchecked.
However, the real problem in Florida is the mosquito like parasitic flies. Biting flies like Yellow Flies, Deer Flies, and no-see-ums are all huge problems in Florida. From the large and aggressive species like yellow flies and deer flies that fly on your face and neck to bite you and even chase you into the house. There’s also the slow-flying, low-flying, and nearly invisible no-see-ums. You can step outside on a summer day in shorts, never see them, but walk into a cloud and end up covered with bites without ever knowing who the culprit was.
Lakeland Exterminator: Lawn Pests
Lawn pests are a special concern in Central Florida. For one, you need to look out for chinchbugs in Lakeland. Chinch bugs feed on grass blades, which causes yellow or brown patches to form in your lawn. They love St Augustine turf grass and are very small in size. You’re likely to see the damage caused by these pests before you can see the pests themselves.
Next are the mole crickets. Large, chunky, brown crickets with shovel-like appendages on the front of their bodies. These pests tunnel through the roots of your lawn and eat them from under the surface. Most of the time, mole crickets are unnoticeable and won’t go out of control. However, enough in one place can cause a lot of cosmetic damage to your lawn.
And while not specific to grasses and lawns, ticks are a big problem in any grassy field in Florida. Ticks find host animals through a behavior known as questing. When questing, ticks find blades of grass or short shrubs and crawl to the top while extending their limbs. When a prey item walks past, the tick grabs on and begins to suck out their blood meal. When walking through long grass in Lakeland, make sure to wear long pants and check yourself when you go inside.
Outside of a call to the Lakeland exterminator, the best thing you can do to protect your lawn is to move to sustainable gardening practices. Choose native grasses that pests are less likely to attack. On top of that, use less chemical fertilizers. High nitrogen balance can be caused by fertilizers, and that makes your lawns particularly attractive to many of these pest species. Mow at the correct height as well, as overmowing or mowing the grass too low can actually weaken it.
