Positive Pest Management Exterminators

Very Important Topic: *Termite Inspections!!* Termite inspections are very important to do in a new house or even just every so often. Some signs that suggest you might have termites in your house include; buckling in your wood floors, discolored drywall, damaged/rotted wood, wood with visible holes in it, chipped or bubbling paint which can be mistaken for water damage, loose flooring, and the most obvious would be clusters of termite wings near doors and windows. To prepa...re for termite inspections, you should move items away from storage areas like attics and garages. Removing storage below sinks is helpful as well. The termite inspector will look for damaged or hollow wood, access points for termites, termite droppings or mud tubes, and cracks in the foundation or any other damage in the houses’ structure. Once the inspection is done, recommendations for termite treatment and protection will be provided. The types of termites you can have in your home are Dampwood termites that infest wood with high moisture content, Subterranean termites that build mud tubes, and Drywood termites that infest areas of dead or dry wood. Different types of treatment methods for termites include doing a structural fumigation, placing bait stations throughout the house, and termite insecticide. To prevent termites from coming back in the future, you can cover openings like vents outside of your house with steel mesh that termites can’t get through, repair plumbing leaks, point sprinkler heads away from the foundation to avoid moisture buildup, and use termite-resistant wood on structure like porches and decks. No matter where you live, termites can be a problem that you don’t know about until it’s too late. To lower the risk of bad infestations and damage, having yearly termite inspections is a good thing to do, even if there are no signs of termite activity. See more

A bug you might not recognize in your garden or home, the Earwig! Earwigs are bugs that feed on algae, mosses, fungi, lichens, spiders and mites, sometimes aphids, and other insects. They will eat the insects dead or alive. Earwigs can also feed on living plants, meaning they can live in greenhouses and on some crops like forages, fruits, vegetables, field plants, and ornamentals. This means they could cause a lot of problems for gardeners. They have 3 body parts, 6 legs, 2 a...ntennae, and a set of pincers on the end of its abdomen. Even though earwigs don’t bite, they can pinch, but it’s known not to be painful. Earwigs can lay up to 80 eggs at a time and once they have hatched, they become adults in just about 70 days. Their lifespan is about a year. So if you see one, just know that there might be more. For survival, earwigs need moisture, so low spots around the foundation of your house, leaky faucets, and downspouts are good spots for them to hide in. To reduce the population of earwigs your home, it’s a good idea to try and get rid of damp conditions in crawl spaces under the house and damp conditions around air-conditioning units. Earwigs inside of your home can be found in kitchens, basements, potted plants, and laundry rooms as well. Depending on how you landscape, you might have to change the way it’s being done so that water will instead flow away from the foundation of the house. Other ways to prevent earwigs in your house or in your plants is to clean up wood that may be rotting around your property and keeping shrubs and plants that you have, trimmed to reduce hiding places during the daytime. A barrier you can use against earwigs and other pests is having ornamental stones or gravel, and of course applying a granular pesticide all around the outside foundation walls will give some prevention. #bugs #pestcontrol #exterminator #nyc #plainview

Millipedes are common inside or outside your house, so here is what you should know about them! #bugs #pestcontrol #exterminator If you don’t know what a millipede looks like, the nickname thousand leggers might ring a bell. They will usually curl up into a tight curve like a C shape and not move if touched. They live outdoors for the most part, but are attracted to cool, moist, dark places and might come indoors if there is an excessive drought or heavy rains. There is ...usually a large amount of them that live together, so seeing a lot at one time shouldn't be alarming. Millipedes will leave very dry or very wet outdoor conditions to then find their way into your house through cracks in wall vents and windows. They like to live in first floor rooms and basements. Even though millipedes do not bite people or cause damage to anything in your home, their presence can be very annoying. To get rid of millipedes, it is best to try and eliminate damp, dark, moist places in your home which is where they would reproduce and feed. Millipede habitats outside could be piles of grass clippings, wet mulch, compost piles, and accumulations of leaves. Raking leaves and exposing the soil surrounding the foundation of the house to give it sunlight, will help eliminate millipedes living on your property. To get rid of entry areas for millipedes, you can repair openings and cracks found in door/window frames and foundation walls. You can also prevent an infestation by treating the outside perimeter of your house with a barrier of liquid pesticides that label millipedes as a target. While applying the pesticide, make sure you put enough liquid so that it soaks through any mulch or soil you have surrounding your house and repeat weekly if needed. See more

Here is what you should know about having Silverfish inside of your home! #bugs #pestcontrol #exterminator Silverfish are very unappealing bugs, like most are. They are wingless insects that are covered with silver scales and have 3 antennae-like things called bristle tails that come out of the end of their abdomen. Silverfish are only a half inch long and are very fast insects. They like to live in moist and warm spots, hiding in tight cracks. You can find them anywhere on ...Continue reading

Here's what you should know about having Clothes Moths in your home! #bugs #pestcontrol Clothes moths are small and obviously different from regular moths. If you see a large moth in your house that seems to be attracted to the light, you have no worries pertaining to your stored clothes. Clothes moth larvae are white, wormlike, and small of course. While feeding, they spin silken cases, so when you spot irregular shaped holes in your clothing, look for silk threads because ...that most likely means you have a clothes moth infestation. The clothes might also have fine, white powder on them which is the larvae’s excrement. It’s almost impossible to mend clothes damaged by clothes moths because of the irregular shaped holes that they make. Storing your clothes in a location where the moths can’t get to is the best protection, like places with tight fitting doors and tight fitting plastic containers. Using sunlight or high pressure sodium lights will also help to keep the clothes moths away. If you use mothballs, they can be effective but they're not a repellant. When you put mothballs in storage areas with no ventilation, the fumes build up in the air and kill the moth eggs, larvae and adult moths. Air currents in spaces will cause the mothballs to be ineffective and naphthalene was the most commonly used pesticide in mothballs, until just recently. The pesticide was found to be toxic to humans, flammable, and possibly a carcinogenic. If you have used mothballs, it’s best to air out the clothing that has been stored with the mothballs before wearing them. The mothballs also have a very strong, repugnant odor so you will probably want to air out the clothes anyway. An alternative non-toxic treatment for clothes moths is sticky pheromone traps to control them. These traps are safer for human health and it attracts the male moths, but if you have a large infestation the traps won’t work to get rid of them all. Items that contain natural fibers should always be stored clean and you can kill the eggs and larvae by ironing clothing as well. A food source for clothes moths is lint or hair so vacuuming is an effective way to get rid of them. Clothes moths are attracted to stains so try not to store items with stains on them. It’s also a good idea to store clothes in a cedar chest if possible because clothes moths don’t like the oil from that kind of wood. See more

If you are noticing Centipedes inside or outside of your house, here is what you should know about them! Although no one really likes bugs, centipedes are a beneficial insect because they feed on other pests like crickets and cockroaches. They also will sometimes feed on bats, small birds, and reptiles depending on the size of the centipede. Centipedes attack their prey by wrapping their back legs around the victim and then attacking it with its 2 front legs that have poisono...Continue reading

Here's what you should know about Fleas in your house! Flea larvae can be found in houses along baseboards, in furniture or beds, in floor cracks and crevices, and under rug edges. Adult fleas can live up to a year without feeding but won’t survive or lay eggs without blood meal. Larvae on the other hand, do not suck blood. To figure out if you have fleas and where they might be coming from, you can take a shallow pan of water with a little bit of dish detergent and place it ...Continue reading

Pantry Moths- need to know! Indian meal moths are common around the world and are well known for getting into stored grain products in pantries. It doesn’t matter the conditions of the kitchen either because they can get in whether the cabinets are clean or dirty. Indian meal moths can get into cardboard boxes by chewing through them and can get into sealed plastic bags. The larvae of Indian meal moths like to eat dried fruit, seeds, spices, cereals, flour, whole grains, pa...Continue reading

Positive Pest Management continues to honor the fallen and we shall NEVER FORGET!

Advance Termite Bait Station Inspection

Mostly Harmless!