On the west coast of Florida, we have a lot of positives. But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows when it comes to owning a home! Pest issues are all over Florida. So let’s touch on some Pasco natural pest control today, and get into the main bugs you need to look out for.
Pasco Natural Pest Control: Are bugs bad on the west coast of Florida?
The short answer to any “is x area of Florida lousy with bugs” is unfortunately yes. There’s just new many cards stacked in the favor of creepy crawlies for Florida not to be. Let’s touch on some of those reason now.
For one, we’ll always have the native bugs. Florida’s subtropical ecosystem provides countless nurseries and feeding grounds for all members of the insect and arachnid families. Our pristine beaches with dense shrubbery, our forested central Florida with rolling pastures punctuated with cusps of trees, and our low-lying swamps that are filled to the brim with buzzing. Florida isn’t just paradise for hairless apes like us, ya know!
And then you have the simple nature of human activity. Where people go, bugs follow. We’re garbage making machines and have transformed this state into a massive tourist hub. And when people come down here with cars loaded with stuff, you know they’re bringing anything that infested them back home with them!
And to cap it off, our shipping and international tourism industries don’t help either. While they may be the main pillars of our massively strong economy, they’re also the reason that insects from all corners of Africa and Asia have made their way here. At the end of the day, you’ll likely need some Pasco natural pest control at some point.
Pasco Natural Pest Control: What types of pests are common in Florida?
Alright, now let’s touch on some of the common pests you’ll find down south in Florida.
Florida Cockroaches
And what better to start off with than one of Florida’s most infamous creepy crawlies. Cockroaches can be found from the panhandle to the keys, and there’s usually a few species you can expect to invade your home.
For starters, the bug that’s often mistaken for the palmetto bug. The American cockroach is the largest species of roach in the United States. There may be some tropical species that are larger, but you won’t find them here. American cockroaches are mahogany brown in color, sometimes with a reddish hue. In regards to their size, they reach roughly three inches in length as an adult. Not only that, but they can fly!
American cockroaches are fully capable of flight as adults. Capable, but not very good at it. They’re heavy bugs and very clumsy flyers. It’s not an uncommon story for an open window at night to invite in a whirling, tumbling cockroach as big as your hands buzzing around the room like a helicopter!
The other species you’ll find, and arguable the worse of the two, is the German cockroach. These roaches are a little under an inch in length. Their shells are pale yellow, and they have two distinct parallel black stripes that run down the back of their heads. A female from this species only has to mate once in their life. After that, they retain the seed and get pregnant whenever they have the resources to. And after that, she can lay up to three hundred thousand eggs in her lifetime. A single roach of this species can lead to massive infestations, and lead you to needing some Pasco natural pest control
ants
Ants are another species of pest that most homeowners will have to deal with at least once. This state is home to dozens of species, but two that present a particular problem are fire ants and ghost ants.
Fire ants are an invasive species of ant that come from South America. Their natural ecosystem is massively competitive, and when they arrived in the Southern United States in the 1930s, they took over in a big way. These are hard stinging pests with an alkaline venom in their thorax. They grab their prey with mandibles and inject them with venom that signals for other ants to rush in and attack as well. Red fire ants are also known for chewing wood and eating the cellulose much like termites. So not only do they bite hard, but they cause structural damage to your home and leave you needing some Pasco natural pest control in a big way.
Then there’s ghost ants. These are small, cream colored ants that are hard to see and love sugar. They’re difficult to control because of their nesting habits. Once inside a home, Florida ghost ants will spread and create several colonies that produce queens that continue to make more. These colonies remain interconnected and help each other to grow. Infestations from ghost ants can reach many thousands of ants in the home. They invade easily through overhanging tree branches, or shrubs and hedges that make contact with the outside of your home.
Pasco Natural Pest Control: How to deal with Florida Pests?
Because of Florida’s bug friendly environment and many invasive species, pest control isn’t a go it your own thing down here. And chemical, store bought pest solutions can be a dangerous prospect with iffy results. For example, ants reproduce rapidly and have many generations in a short amount of time. Because of this, improper use of these pesticides can lead to mutations that cause resistances in short time. Not only that, but having pets makes using chemical controls extremely dangerous. And anything you poison along a chain on the ecosystem will continue into predators, and the greater environment at large.
Instead, contact Earth’s Best pest control. Visit our website at insectfree.com and call us at the number listed in the top right, or fill out our pop-up on the home screen. Let Earth’s Best show you why we’ve been trusted with Pasco natural pest control for three decades and have a 4.7 star rating on google reviews!
