Summer Pests In North Texas

With the Dallas & Fort Worth, summer heat and change of season come the summer pests to the state of Texas. North Texas is home to many species of stinging pests, termites, grasshoppers, ants, mosquitoes, fleas, ticks, spiders, snakes, and the occasional scorpion depending upon location. Each of these is very important to the environment but can spread diseases and sometimes cause anaphylaxis, poisoning, or even death.

Like humans, some wasps and hornets are social. Social wasps live in colonies of up to several thousand and build nests together made of primarily wood pulp and saliva. Similarly, bees use wax to construct and adhere to their hives and live together in colonies. The construction of hornets’ nests is started by the queen and continued by sterile worker hornets. Some nests are half a meter across and contain up to ten thousand hornets. Interestingly hornets eat the leaves and sap of trees in addition to flies, bees, and other insects. In a hornet colony, the queen is the only female to reproduce.

Insects such as termites, grasshoppers, ants, and mosquitoes are affected greatly by warm-to-hot weather. With the change of season, insects are more likely to be seen as they swarm onto your property, eating your vegetable garden and intruding on your backyard fun. They begin swarming in search of creating new colonies and finding food and water. From March to October, depending upon temperatures, termites, grasshoppers, ants, and mosquitoes are actively swarming. The warmer weather causes them to find new homes as they go out creating more colonies.

Termites, ticks, fleas, and mosquitoes are more prevalent after a mild winter. This change of temperature sends insects into a breeding frenzy. Many of these insects live for only a few months. The lifespan of a mosquito is anywhere from one week to two months; this is time enough for them to transmit diseases, such as malaria, dengue, and West Nile. Interestingly, it is the female mosquitoes that seek out blood meals and typically transfer deadly illnesses and diseases.

Fleas and ticks are sunlight and humidity sensitive and seek to live in tall grass, underneath items, and on carpets. They both seek out hosts - usually your pets - for a blood meal. Two common spiders in Texas are brown recluse and black widow spiders. Each of these is seen more often in the warmer months. The venom of brown recluse spiders contains enzymes that cause systematic reactions, weakness, dizziness, nausea, fever, slight redness and swelling, joint pain, restlessness, and sometimes death. Although there are only six venomous snakes in Texas, there are many others that you may come across during your travels. Snakes travel during the early morning and late evening hours but are sometimes found sunning during the middle of the day. Scorpions do exist in Texas - more so in the sandy loam areas - but are not prevalent throughout the state.

If summer pests have made unwanted appearances around your home or business, call Cantu Pest & Termite and schedule an appointment today with one of our friendly, experienced pest removal experts.