Expert Pest Control in Chesapeake, VA and the Surrounding Areas

• Beetles are destructive in their larval stage — they’ll eat nearly anything organic.
• If they’ve heavily infested your food, it’s best to throw it away.
• Lightly infested food may be kept and used, but only after freezing it for a few days.
• Some beetles infest your carpet and are fittingly called carpet beetles.
• Others can infest your cabinets and shelves, and these areas should be vacuumed and cleaned thoroughly.

• Carpenter ants and bees are quite different species, but they both nest in wood and can cause significant damage to your home or business.

Carpenter Ants

• Carpenter ants are polymorphic workers, which means they can vary in size.
• They’re most active between sunset and sunrise, and while they do not sting, they do have a painful bite. 
• They nest in wood, including tree roots, shrubs, mulch piles, and anywhere wood is available. You can spot their signs of infestation by the piles of sawdust and insect parts, as well as the foraging trails.

Carpenter Bees

• Carpenter bees are solitary bees that can typically be found nesting in unpainted or weathered wood. They’ll bore holes into painted or stained wood but generally prefer unpainted and unstained wood.
• Adult bees will spend the winter inside empty nest tunnels. 
• The males are aggressive, but they do not have stingers.
• The females have stingers but do not sting often.
• The female lays her eggs four to six inches inside the hollowed-out wood, and she usually lays five to six eggs per hole.
• The eggs take up to 36 days to hatch.

• Centipedes are reddish-brown, flattened, elongated insects with multiple body segments, most of which have a pair of legs.
• The first pair of legs is really a set of venomous jaws located just below their mouth.
• They feed on small insects (roaches, clothes moths, houseflies, etc.) and small mammals by using their venom to kill their prey. If you crush one, it will probably bite you, and the venom can cause pain and swelling.
• They do not eat plants, nor do they damage human food supplies or household furnishings.
• They’re slightly over one inch in length.
• You’re more likely to encounter centipedes in damp basements in the fall.
• Centipedes become adults in the winter and lay their eggs in soil during the warm months. A few species give birth to live young.

• In the Poquoson area, the most common crickets are house, field, and camelback crickets. We have specialized techniques for dealing with these insects.

House Crickets

• Adults are ¾ to one inch long.
• They’re light yellowish-brown in color and have three dark bands on their head.
• You can find crickets in all the usual insect hiding places in your home, including basements, crawlspaces, kitchens, and fireplaces. They’re also found behind appliances and baseboards, as well as in other cracks, crevices, and wall voids.
• House crickets eat almost anything and will damage wool and silk.
• House crickets are nocturnal.

Field Crickets

• Field crickets are slightly longer than house crickets.
• They are dark brown, gray, or black.
• They prefer to live outside, but they will enter your home or business if their food sources dry up or there are extreme temperatures.

Camelback Crickets

• Camelback crickets are also known as hump-back crickets or camel crickets.
• They’re approximately ½ to 1 ½ inches long.
• They’re light to dark brown in color.
• Camelback crickets eat almost anything and are particularly fond of clothing.
• You can find them in crawlspaces and basements, but they also live in cool damp areas outdoors such as under logs or stones.

• An old superstition claims that earwigs enter the ears of sleeping people and bore into the brain. This belief is misguided — earwigs are only harmful to plants!
• Earwigs feed on living plants and are considered pests in gardens, greenhouses, and field crops.
• Most earwigs eat rotted plant materials and dead insects. Some are predators.
• They are 1¼ inches in length.
• They are red-brown to black in color.
• Most are wingless. A few species have a pair of leathery forewings that cover a few segments of their abdomen, plus membranous hind wings that protrude.
• They have forceps-like appendages at the end of their abdomen. These are strongly curved on males and smaller and less curved on females. They use them for defense and during courtship. The forceps-like appendages are harmless to humans.
• Earwigs are active at night and are attracted to light in large numbers.
• You can find them living beneath stones, boards, sidewalks, or debris piles.
• They lay their eggs two to three inches beneath the surface of the soil. The young leave the nest after their first molt.
• Heavy rains and rapid temperature changes are harmful to earwigs.

• Firebrats look very similar to silverfish, but they have a darker color.
• They prefer to live in dark areas that have high humidity and high temperatures. Boiler rooms, hot attics, and similar locations are their preferred nesting areas.
• They’ll feed on any food product that has proteins or carbohydrates.
• They’ll also feed on fabrics, such as linen, cotton, and silk.

Shoo, Fly! Don’t Bother Me!

Almost every summer picnic in the Poquoson area is interrupted by blow flies. They show up at almost every outdoor gathering, especially if meat is on the menu. They’re attracted to hot dogs, hamburgers, and other meats.

Blow flies are a diverse group of flies, but they share some common characteristics. They’re ¼ to ½ inch in length, and they’re black, blue, coppery green, olive green, or bronze in color. They usually have a metallic sheen. All adult blow flies have blunt mouthparts and cannot bite humans.

Maggots (blow fly larvae) feed on decaying organic matter and help break it down. They’re attracted to carrion, garbage, and other refuse, as well as to nectar. Blow flies deposit eggs in carcasses or open wounds. They can infest untreated wounds on cattle, sheep, deer, and other animals. The larvae hatch and feed on decaying flesh or matted hair. They do not attack healthy tissue.

Despite their disgusting appetites, blow flies play important roles in several ecosystems. One of the most interesting roles they play is in solving crimes. The life cycle of the blow fly is well understood, so law enforcement forensics experts are able to accurately determine the timeline of a murder based on the presence of maggots and flies, decomposition, and climatologic data. Medically, blow fly larvae have been used to remove necrotic tissue from patients.

Still, blow flies are rarely welcome in your home or business. If you see blow flies, it usually means there is an animal carcass or other food source nearby. You may have a mouse, rat, bird, squirrel, or other species of urban wildlife that has died in or near your building. You may have blow flies gathering in your crawl space or attic.

You can count on Mares Exterminating for expert blow fly elimination. You can also have us prevent rodents and other urban animals from entering your home and potentially becoming blow fly food. Call today for a free consultation.

Tips to Keep Blow Flies Away

There are a few things you can do that will reduce your home’s attractiveness to blow flies. To keep your patio free of these pests for your next summer cookout, do the following:

• Keep all meat products covered tightly until you’re ready to put them on the grill. Keep plates and other utensils covered.
• Keep grill lids down except when you need to flip the food.
• Remove any stagnant or standing water from the area. This also cuts down on mosquitos.
• Dump bird baths weekly and refill them with fresh, clean water. Fill mud puddles or shallow areas where water accumulates. Clean drains and gutters. Drain potted plant basins.
• Don’t overwater your yard before a party. Set sprinklers and irrigation systems to minimal levels.
• Remove cat and dog waste from your yard.
• Keep your trash cans and recycling bins tightly covered and away from your porch or patio. 
• A gentle fan blowing across the food storage, prep, cooking, and eating surfaces will make it difficult for flies to enter the area.
• As long as safety is not an issue, use yellow lightbulbs instead of white ones. This works against a variety of flying insects and spiders because they cannot perceive the yellow light wavelengths and are not attracted to them.
• Keep lights angled away from the picnic and grilling areas.
• Keep patio and window screens in good repair.

Call Mares Exterminating if these tips don't work as well as you hope.

• You’ll typically find grasshoppers active from spring to autumn, and they’re usually in grasses and gardens.
• Grasshoppers are brown with a few darker markings.
• Most are one to five inches in length.
• They are closely related to crickets.
• They are active during the day.

As seasonal temperatures rise, fleas become a greater problem for pet owners. Since most fleas travel (and dine) on your pets, it’s important that you use an appropriate preventative recommended by your veterinarian.

Unfortunately, by the time you notice a flea problem on your pet, it may have already migrated into your home.

Fleas respond to exterior conditions. They’re more active in warmer summer months, but their life cycle is shorter (about three weeks). During cooler winter months, they become inactive and can live for up to six months.

The flea life cycle consists of four stages: egg, larva, cocoon, and adult. Fleas lay their eggs in dark environments. In your home, under the carpet is a common spot. The eggs hatch in one to ten days, and the larval fleas inhabit similar dark environments for five to 11 days. They may move into the seams and crevices of furniture, burrow into carpets, or hide in the cracks in your floor. Carpeting is quite popular because they can attach their cocoons to the fibers. They remain in the cocoon stage for the next week to six months. At that point, they emerge as adults.

You’ll notice that for the first three stages of life, a flea does not need to come into contact with your pet(s). Only after they become adults do they need a host. While a flea bath is effective against the adult fleas (and eggs) living on your pet, it does nothing to stop the immature fleas that may be elsewhere in your home.

One of the most effective tools for combatting fleas (and other insects) in your home is to clean deeply and often. Vacuuming can be quite effective against fleas. Use your vacuum’s crevice tool and pay close attention to the edge of the carpeting along the baseboard and all furniture seams and crevices. Vacuum slowly, including all carpeted and wood floors.

In many cases, vacuuming can remove up to 50% of the flea eggs and most of the fleas that have emerged from their cocoons. It isn’t very effective against the cocoons, but with frequent vacuuming, you can catch the fleas before they hop onto your pet(s).

Be sure to throw away the bag immediately after you finish vacuuming. If your vacuum has a canister, empty it into a plastic bag and discard it. Vacuuming does not kill the eggs or larvae, so it’s important to put the bag outside (even if it’s only partially full).

If you’re having your home treated for fleas by Mares Exterminating, please vacuum prior to our arrival. Vacuuming makes our treatment more effective.

You will also need to wash your pet’s bedding (and yours if your pet sleeps in your bed) and pay particular attention to cleaning any area where your pet sleeps. Larvae and cocoons are sensitive to heat, so wash the bedding in hot, soapy water and dry it in a hot dryer.

When you have Mares Exterminating treat your home or business for fleas, we use a chemical that requires approximately two hours to dry. You and your family will need to be away from home during that period. Our treatment takes several days to be fully effective, as the chemical continues to work against emerging adult fleas. Depending on the intensity of the infestation, a second treatment may be required after ten days.

In some cases, applying a treatment outside of your home may be necessary. Please let us know any details about your pet’s habits that may be helpful. For example, one of our clients had a problem with recurring fleas even after multiple treatments. She let us know that her pets liked to lie under the deck during the day. We applied a treatment under the deck and solved the problem!

Fleas are covered under our Pest Control Service Agreements, so please call us today for a free consultation.

• There are several varieties of hornets, but the most commonly recognized hornet is the yellow jacket.
• Hornets typically build enclosed aerial nests out of paper.

• Powderpost beetles earned their name because the adults bore small holes (1/16 to 1/32 of an inch) into wood and lay 15 to 50 eggs in each hole.
• The larvae bore farther into the wood to complete their developmental stages. As they emerge, they produce fine sawdust from the holes. This powder is your indicator that you have powderpost beetles, and we can use it to tell which holes are active and which are not.
• The egg-to-adult growth takes anywhere from nine to 12 months.
• Successful development requires wood with at least 8% to 32% wood moisture content.
• Finish on the wood prevents them from laying eggs.
• The adults can fly and are active mainly at night.

• Itch mites and chiggers are not closely related, but both are tiny insects that can cause itching, redness, and discomfort when they make a human their host.

Itch Mites

• Itch mites are 0.2 to 0.45 inches in length. They are oval in shape, and they are not hard-bodied.
• They will burrow into your skin around your wrists, on your hands (between the knuckles, fingers, and palms), in your elbows, along the backs of your knees, and other areas.
• They are usually spread from person to person.

Chiggers

• Chiggers are 0.15 to 0.6 millimeters in length.
• They are red in color, so they are sometimes called red bugs.
• They generally live in the soil of grasslands or forests, as well as in lawns, marshes, the crevices of decaying wood, and similar places.
• They will attach to humans where clothes are tight-fitting. You’ll find them most often around your ankles, waist, and armpits.

• In Virginia, the most common types of ticks are dog ticks and deer ticks.
• Both attach themselves to human and animal hosts, and both can transmit a variety of diseases and parasites, including Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and others.

Dog Ticks

• Dog ticks are about 3/16 to ⅛ of an inch long,
• They are hard-bodied and larger when engorged.
• They are brown with whitish to grayish markings.
• They do not survive well indoors.
• Dog tick activity starts around the end of March and continues until September.
• They are found along roads, paths, and trails, and they will attach themselves to you or your pet(s).

Deer Ticks

• Deer ticks are about ⅛ inch long.
• They are orangish-brown in color and not hard-bodied.
• They feed on humans by attaching themselves at the back of the neck or at the base of the skull.

• Silverfish are attracted to water, so they’re usually found trapped in bathtubs, sinks, or washbasins. They’ve crawled in, but they are unable to crawl out.
• They are ½ to one inch in length.
• They are brown or silver-grey in color.
• They are small, soft insects that do not have wings.
• They can run swiftly and are nocturnal.
• They also live outdoors. They make their nests under rocks, bark, and leaf mold, and in the nests of birds and mammals. They will also move into termite nests.
• They prefer to eat vegetable matter that has high carbohydrates and protein. In your home, they will eat just about anything, including dried beef, flour, starch, paper, gum, glue, sugar, molds, and breakfast cereal. They will eat fabrics like cotton, linen, rayon, and silk.
• Silverfish can go up to a year without food.
• They lay their eggs in cracks and crevices. The eggs are very small, and they lay up to 50 at a time. They hatch anywhere from two weeks to two months later.
• During a female silverfish’s lifetime (two to eight years), she will lay about 100 eggs.

• Most spiders found in Virginia are beneficial. They eat insects and other spiders that we generally prefer not to have around. Only the black widow and brown recluse are dangerous to humans.
• Spiders are most common in the fall.
• They can be found around windows and doors, in basements and garages, and on house plants.

Golden Garden Spiders

• These have a flat head and thorax covered with whitish hair. They are black with yellow markings.

Large Orb Weavers

• These are not as big as golden garden spiders. They have shorter legs and bodies. They’re usually found in and near houses in the fall.

Wolf Spiders

• These are large and hairy. They look much worse than they are.
• Some people believe they are venomous and likely to attack, but they are not.
• They are not associated with webs.
• They are common in the fall as they enter homes looking for warm places for the winter.
• You’re likely to find wolf spiders around windows, doors, garages, and house plants.

Jumping Spiders

• These are small spiders that are usually black with red or white markings.
• They are often found in windows. 
• They rarely bite.

House Spiders

• These have white or gray markings on their abdomens that may appear to be dirty.
• They build complicated webs in corners, under tables and chairs, and elsewhere in your home.

Sheet Web Spiders

• These have yellowish heads with a pair of dark bands across their head, thorax, and abdomen.
• They’re common on weeds and shrubs around your home or business.

Brown Recluse Spiders

• These are not common in our area.

Black Widow Spiders

• These are common, but reports of bites are infrequent.