Common Household Bugs

Household pests, or house bugs, can span every inch of the property and home you own. Some pests can sting, bite, or injure you. Most try to go undetected, seeking the resources in parts of your home or garden. There are wood destroying, food contaminating, fabric pests, and many vertebrate pests. These vertebrate pests can be dangerous and are generally attracted to the household bugs or just seeking a new home in your home.

Pests can gain access to your home anywhere they can find an opening, and this is often your fault. If there are any holes or damaged walls, they will gain entry into your home. Fortunately, there are many do-it-yourself pest control options available to you for combating pests in and around your home.

The first uncontrollable causes for increased house bug populations are the changes in seasons or weather, which can influence sudden emergence of all kinds of insects. When the weather shifts towards earlier warmer temperatures can also lead to the early blooms an emergences of house bugs. The high populations of insects around the home increases the pest predator populations as well.

• Fall and winter seasons are usually the most common for household pests trying to gain access to your shelter and food. The cold usually kills most types of house bugs.
• Summer and spring seasons are usually the peak of insect and other pest populations.

As the temperature and moisture levels increase, it is commonly known as the season for growth. Growth can be great for your garden and decorative landscaping. The negative to that is with the thriving plants come the growing house pests populations to feed.

Common Household Bugs:

• Ants
• Bed bugs
• Cockroaches
• Flies
• Mosquitoes
• Termites
• Bees
• Hornets
• Scorpions
• Wasps
• Yellow Jackets
• Fleas
• Horntails
• Jerusalem Crickets
• Kissing Bugs
• Kudzu Bugs
• Amphipods
• Beetles
• Box Elder Bugs
• Caddis flies
• Centipedes
• Millipedes
• Crickets
• Dobson Flies
• Dragon Flies
• Earwigs
• Silverfish
• Scorpion Flies
• Psocids
• Moths
• Mites
• Snails
• Slugs
• Sow bugs
• Spiders
• Springtails
• Stink bugs

Common household spiders

• Brown recluse spiders
• House spiders
• Wolf Spiders
• Jumping Spiders
• Hobo Spiders
• Garden Spiders
• Crab Spiders
• Ground Spiders
• Spiny backed orb weaver spiders

Other common household pests

• Birds
• Mice
• Rats
• Bats
• Rabbits
• Raccoons
• Moles
• Opossums
• Pocket Gophers
• Squirrels
• Wood Chucks
• Snakes
• Skunks

How to Prevent Common Household Insect Pests

Understanding your pest

• House bugs need two things:
  • Protection from predators
  • Water
• This is why they drift towards your home, because it providesmoist hiding places
  • Ex: house insects love dark and damp conditions
• Household Insects also look for food:
  • Anything from plant parts, fungi, human food, pet food, seed, and other insects
• Top spots insects are drawn to:
  • Junk 
    • Anything laying in the yard providing cover such as:
      • Sheets of wood, stacks of firewood, plastic buckets, containers, pots, stacks of stones, and bricks.
  • Pets
    • Leftover food & water
    • Pet feces
  • Leaves from trees and garden plants
    • Organic matter or decaying plants make for great cover and snack for a host of house bugs
  • Edible crops & plants
    • Gardens are targeted areas
    • Plants, shrubs, trees near the home also give access to the walls of your home
  • Standing water
    • Standing water of any kind from bird baths, water troughs, etc.
  • Lawn, Weeds, and trimmings
    • The higher your grass the more likely you are to attract pests of all kinds              
    • This also leads to more weeds which also are favored by insects
    • The piles of clippings from trimming hedges or other landscaping provide shelter