Pest Prevention
How do flies get into my Belleville, IL home? How can I prevent them?
Did you know there are about 120,000 different kinds of fly? The world is blessed (many would say cursed) with all sorts of flies that perform two public services – the first is eating every form of garbage (and poop) known to man, the second is becoming food for a bevy of other creatures. But despite the best efforts of flies, the majority of us find the fly most annoying. Residents of Belleville are no different. Read on about common flies and your options for pest control!
How Do Flies Get Into My Belleville, IL Home?
While a great question, the answer requires knowing what kind of fly we’re talking about. There are five species of flies that are ubiquitous to N. America. Identifying what type of is invading your home is going to be the first step in any kind of pest control or pest prevention.
Flies common to N. America
- Common House Fly – is typically grey and most prevalent during the summer months. These flies are attracted to things such as rotting garbage and feces. If you are getting them in your home, typically it’s going to be from an opened door/window or even hidden cracks in the walls. A female can lay 600 eggs at a time so that they may have been born in your home.
- Fruit Flies – about 1/8 inch long, having a yellowish brown coloring. As the name implies, they are attracted to decaying fruits, vegetables and sugary substances like spilled soda or juice. If there in your home, there’s a really good chance that they came up through one of the drains.
- Drain Flies – also called a moth fly, its body is covered with small fury hairs. Again as the name implies, these likely came up through a drain as well.
- Blow Flies – about twice as large as a house fly, with a metallic blue or green color. Blow flies are attracted to rotting flesh. If they’re in your home, it’s possible that there is an undiscovered dead animal, like a mouse or squirrel in or near your home. Call your local exterminators to check it out.
- Horse Flies – or stable flies or giant house flies, feed on blood including humans. Typically these pests are going be found in more rural areas, as they like to hang around wet hay.
Having identified the enemy, we can now take some preventative steps at pest control or preemptive pest prevention altogether.
6 Ways To Prevent Fly-mageddon in Your Belleville, IL Home
Try using a few these tips to prevent flies from entering your home
- Be mindful of open doors/windows.
- Fill in any cracks in the walls, especially around doors/windows.
- Replace any torn or ripped screens.
- Keep it clean – common house flies are attracted to rotting food, garbage, and feces.
- Throw away rotten fruits/vegetables immediately. Use a separate plastic bag before you throw it in the trash.
- Plant pest-repelling plants and flower around your home. Lavender and Lemon Grass are two good ones. Go ahead and lavender air fresheners as well. Get rid of the pests, and smell good too.
When Are Mosquitoes Most Active in O’Fallon, IL? How Can I Prevent Them?
Just as winter gives way to spring and O’Fallon, IL residents are ready to enjoy the sun, mosquitoes seem to get the same idea. Nothing interrupts a pleasant morning walk or a quiet evening lounging on your deck quite like mosquitoes, whose bites not only cause an unpleasant allergic reaction but can also carry a variety of dangerous illnesses. Here’s everything you need to know about mosquito season and what you can do to protect yourself and your family from mosquito bites.
What Time of Year Do Mosquitoes Come Out?
Mosquitoes don’t like being exposed to temperatures below about 50 degrees, so they are unlikely to be a problem in the earliest days of spring. However, as temperatures begin climbing, so does mosquito activity. O’Fallon IL residents can expect to begin experiencing problems with these pests starting in early April.
What Time of Day Are Mosquitoes Most Active?
The time of day that mosquitoes are the most active depends largely on their species. Some in the genus Aedes, which includes many mosquitoes that are the biggest nuisance to humans, are most active in the morning and late afternoon. Others, such as those in the genus Culex, are mostly active at night.
Mosquito Prevention
Fortunately, mosquitoes stay pretty close to their home; they don’t cruise for miles looking for someone to bite. This means that if you are being swarmed by mosquitoes every time you go outdoors, those mosquitoes most likely live right in your yard. If you can cut down on their population, you can significantly reduce your overall exposure to them.
First, take a look around your yard. If your lawn doesn’t drain correctly and you tend to have standing water in places, this will attract mosquitoes. Water features, especially those that don’t have moving water, can also provide breeding grounds for the pests. There are treatments available for ornamental ponds and pools that will make the water unattractive to female mosquitoes who are looking for a place to lay their eggs. Additionally, you should eliminate any standing water on your property, such as the water that collects in clogged gutters, in garbage cans, or underneath outdoor dripping faucets.
After you’ve taken care of the places that are most likely to draw mosquitoes, you can work on destroying the mosquitoes that are already residing on your property. At Imel Pest Control, we treat for a wide variety of pests, including mosquitoes. Contact us today to learn more about the services we provide or to schedule your consultation.
Tips to keep ants out of your Glen Carbon, IL home
Keep ants out with these tips in Glen Carbon, IL
There’s nothing that ruins a good day faster than realizing you are sharing your home (and food!) with thousands of tiny soldiers. And while it is easy for homeowners in Glen Carbon, IL to easily attract house ants, carpenter ants or even fire ants, ant removal can be much more difficult. Once established, an ant colony can thrive for years in one spot. Make sure you take these tips into account when it comes to ants in your home, or contact a local professional to ensure the job gets done right!
All-natural treatments to keep ants out of your home
There are many all-natural methods for keeping ants out of your home. Ants leave a scent trail for their comrades to follow when they find food or any type of sugary substance, so one way to keep ants from invading your house is to keep food and sweets from falling on the floor. If you have kids or messy spouses, this might not be feasible. In this case, you can focus on repelling the ants by messing with their ability to communicate.
Ants do not like the strong aroma of coffee beans, chili powder or cinnamon because they disrupt the pheromone trail that ants use to signal other ants to follow them to food. If you want to keep ants from entering windows or door cracks, spray a vinegar/water mixture or spread baking powder, baby powder or flour along the boundaries. Ants will avoid traveling through the powdery substance.
Common ants and solutions for prevention
The three most common ants found in the Glen Carbon, IL area are the
- Pavement Ant
- Odorous House Ant
- Carpenter Ant
While preventing their interest in your home altogether is preferable, even your best effort at keeping your home clean can fall short. Natural remedies may work to repel ants that are simply looking for food, but carpenter ants don’t just want food, they want your wood, too. In cases like this it is important to remove the problem altogether. Sprays can kill the ants that are currently in your home, but what of the thousands that remain only a short distance away in the colony? And what about the queen, whose only function is to continue to create new pests to aggravate you.
To rid your home of trouble ants, you may need to pass the baton to a professional pest company like Imel Pest Control. They have been dealing with the toughest infestations since 1967.
