The changing weather patterns are beginning to harm food resources and are leading to more insect invasions throughout the world. At first, pest pressures could be predicted more easily, but climate change makes it even more challenging to keep track of these damaging creatures.
Are you wondering how the weather affects insect problems? Changing weather patterns lead to changes in temperature, moisture levels, wind direction and speed, and rainfall. All these individually affect insects. These weather components can either increase or decrease insects populations, and whether they become a burden to you. Modern Pest provides services for a wide variety of pest issues. It’s like having insurance against pests no matter what the current issue might be.
Effects of Cold Weather on Insects
Most insects perish during the cold. However, in their final days, they complete their one true mission: reproduction. They do this by laying eggs in isolated places and providing their larvae with food to survive the cold. A good example includes the field cricket.
Other insects, such as monarch butterflies, migrate to a warmer place when winter approaches. They reproduce in warmer temperatures towards the south and then send their offspring back to continue the cycle.
If it doesn’t appear that your house is infested by insects during the winter, it still could be. Most of them are huddled together, trying to keep warm. Even though termites limit their activity significantly and bury themselves in the wood in your home, they continue to work bit by bit to keep the queen happy.
Other insects like cockroaches become more of a nuisance during winter. They find safe spaces to keep themselves warm and bury themselves in food, cabinets, or places where daylight reaches. Centipedes, too, need to protect themselves from the cold, and there’s nothing better than your damp basement!
Modern won’t be caught off-guard by pest activity! Call 1-800-323-7378 now to schedule service and protect your home
Effects of Hot Weather on Insects
Many insects start to multiply as soon as it starts getting warm. You’ll find that flies multiply quickly in hot weather. Their eggs, which normally take twenty hours to hatch, start to hatch within eight hours. No one wants the annoyance of flies buzzing around their heads.
Wasps and hornets tend to get aggressive in extreme heat as they search for moisture. Yellowjackets thrive and multiply quicker in dry, hot conditions. It only takes them a week to double in size. Hence, this makes them more likely to sting.
While mosquitoes are more active in summer, they dry out and die if it gets too hot. They also become lazy and less active in hot weather. This means that even if you catch them feeding, they will be slow to fly away so you can quickly dispatch them. However, be careful as mosquitoes can be infected with germs and diseases. Wash your hands after swatting them.
Effects of Moisture on Insects
Insects love moisture. Whenever there are leaks from pipes and toilets, excessive water damage in cellars, or poor ventilation in bathrooms, bugs tend to appear out of nowhere and thrive. Termites, for example, live and work in moist places. This is even worse when the wood in your house has moisture trapped in it. Carpenter ants, too, thrive in moisture. They lay their eggs in wet, rotten wood.
If your walls and floors have dampness, water stains, peeling paint, or rust on exposed metal parts, you may have a potential water issue. You also need to look out for rotten wood paneling and doors, loose floor tiles, and mildew stains as these things that attract insects.
Powder post beetles develop in a moisture content of 15% or higher and then start damaging the wood in your house. Decaying fungi, mold, ants, springtails, silverfish, booklice, termites, and wood-boring beetles can be found thriving in moist environments. You can use dehumidifiers to dry out a structure in your home so that pests do not reside in it, and fungi and molds are not produced.
Call Modern today at 1-800-323-7378 to protect your home from pests all year long!
Effects of Rain on Insects
Rain also impacts pest activity. Many insects that live underground get flooded out of their homes in heavy rain. They start to evacuate to higher ground to take shelter. Ants, for example, are known to build complicated tunnels underground. The rain drives them out of their homes and they seek shelter elsewhere. This means you may find lines of ants crawling into your warm home or dry spaces.
Rodents such as mice and rats also seek shelter in warm and dry places. Pests such as earwigs and springtails normally thrive in dark, damp areas and tend to be driven indoors when the rain gets heavy. This is why whenever it starts to rain, it’s a good idea to keep the windows and doors closed so that your safe space doesn’t become a home to these insects.
Don’t forget that not all insects hate the rain; in fact, some are fond of it! Mosquitoes thrive and breed in the rain. They lay their eggs near the slightest amount of water, which is why standing water, such as puddles, flower pots, birdbaths, and clogged gutters can become breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
The Modern Solution
Regardless of the weather, you have to protect your home from all kinds of insect infestations. Insects and rodents can seek shelter inside your home without you ever knowing. All they need is a tiny crack in the siding, foundation, or space where the pipes are. Once there, these pests will take advantage of this new source of shelter, food, and water and start to multiply, increasing the threat of disease and damage in your home. When you sign up for service with Modern Pest, it’s like having insurance against pests year-round, no matter what the weather is like. Call Modern today at 1-800-323-7378 for a free quote or to schedule service.