Pest Control St. Louis

Grey Squirrels are about 18 ins long head to tail. During the wintertime months the grey squirrel can be identified by its salt and pepper body, tan specks in its tail and its white belly. Its body color changes to a yellowish brown during summertime. The grey squirrel has small ears and a huge busy tail. Those found in Ontario and Quebec have a more dominate black color in their fur while those in the US have grey as the more dominate color. Albino squirrels have been located sometimes, but are unusual. Grey squirrels use their tail for balance when climbing trees, as a blanket during winter months, and in addition as a communication tool by flicking it to and fro to alert danger and to give its position to other squirrels. The grey squirrel gets it name from the Greek words skia, meaning shadow, and oura, meaning tail, because when it sits upright the tail curves up to their rear and shades them from the sunlight.

The Grey Squirrel and Red Squirrel are considered tree squirrels; ground squirrels include Arctic Ground Squirrel, Thirteen Lined Ground Squirrel and several others in the ground squirrel group, Order of Rodents (Rodentia.)

Although the grey squirrel spends most of its life climbing and descending trees, it gathers most of its food from the land during the night-time hours. Located in woods and urban areas, the grey squirrel slides sideways around tree trunks to exclude of sight of its predators and also remains perfectly still occasionally to make itself more tough to see. Most active at dawn and dusk, the grey squirrel gathers various kinds of food during each season. During the early spring it gathers maple tree buds, in the summer it gathers berries, wild fruits, seeds, nuts and apples and during the fall it eats nuts, acorns, hickory nuts, butternuts, walnuts, beechnuts and pine seeds. They also eat insects, caterpillars and bird eggs. The Grey squirrel finds its food by using its sense of smell.

Adult grey squirrels breed twice a year usually January to February and June to July. Women sit at the top of trees and make a "duck-like" call to get the males attention. Male adults then gather below the female who ensues a chase from tree to tree. Once she stops running, she mates with the male leading the pack. After mating, the male has no role in helping with the young. Female grey squirrels have one to six babies per litter. At birth the babies are called "pinkies" since they're born blind and without fur. They gain their hair at around three weeks old and are then called kits, kittens or pups. Once a kit is twelve weeks old, it leaves the nest. The nest of the grey squirrel is made in the cavities of trees occasionally in used woodpecker holes. If there are no cavities available, the grey squirrel will build its nest between tree branches. The outside of the nest is produced from twigs and leaves, while the inside is made of moss, grasses and bark. During the wintertime months, the man and female grey squirrel share a winter children's play room, although in the summer months they each find their own separate study. The males play room is typically bigger than the women.

The enemies of the grey squirrel are weasels, red foxes, bobcats, wolves, raccoons, snakes, hawks and owls. The grey squirrel carries ticks, lice, fleas, tape and round worms and scabies that removes their fur leaving them susceptible to common colds and infections.

The grey squirrel can become a nuisance if located in attics. They also unearth bulbs in gardens, drive birds away from feeders and cause injury to crops. They destruct forests by stripping the bark from tree trunks and branches leaving the trees susceptible to disease and starvation for nutrients.

Introduced in Great Britain and parts of Europe in the early 1800s, the grey squirrel has been pushing the red squirrel out of its habitat by competing for resources. Grey squirrels are larger and stronger, can put on more fat to survive the cold winters and thus hoards more food. They also are more adaptable to their environment and have in the past been known to carry the Parapox Virus which red squirrels are not immune to. Owing to these reasons, the red squirrel is now listed on the endangered species list in Europe.

Carpenter ants are a nuisance by their presence when found in parts of the home such as the kitchen, bathroom, parlor and several quarters. When 20 or more large winged and/or wingless ants are discovered indoors, in the daylight near one location, it is possible that the colony is better established in the home and the nest may have been extended into sound timber, occasionally causing structural damage. They don't eat timber, but often remove quantities of it to expand their nest size. Although, if only one or two large wingless ants are erratically crawling, they might simply be foraging for food with the nest located outside. Outdoors, they are often seen running over plants and tree trunks or living in moist, partly rotten wood stumps. Nonetheless, carpenter ant inquiries rank first over all other household/structural pests in Ohio.

Identification

Carpenter ants are among the largest ants located in homes and reside in colonies containing three castes comprising of winged and wingless queens, winged males and different sized workers. Winged males are much smaller than winged queens. Wingless queens measure 5/8 inch, winged queens 3/4 inch to the tips of their folded brownish wings, small minor workers 1/4 inch and large major workers 1/2 inch. Workers have some brown on them while queens are black. Workers have large heads and a small thorax while adult swarmers have a smaller head and large thorax. Carpenter ants have a smoothly rounded arched (convex) shape up of the thorax when studied from the side and a pedicel between the thorax and stomach consisting of just one segment or node. They have constricted waists, elbowed antennas and the reproductive's forewings are larger than the hindwings, transparent or brownish and not easily taking away. Adults are normally black with some species red, brown or yellow occurring on body parts and legs. Eggs are about 1/8-inch long, cream colored and oval. Larvae are legless and grub-like, later pupating in tough silken, tan-colored cocoons erroneously noted as "ant eggs."

Life Cycle and Habits

Queen Worker

Winged both sexes carpenter ants (swarmers) emerge from mature colonies usually from March to July. After mating, males die and freshly fertilized ladies (mated for all times), set up a new colony in a tiny cavity in wood, under bark, etc. and each lays 15 to 20 eggs in 15 days. The egg stage takes about 24 days, larval stage 21 days and pupal stage 21 days or about 66 days from egg to adult at 70 to 90 degrees F. Cool weather may stretch this period up to 10 months. The colony does not produce swarmers until about three years later. A mature colony, after three to six years, has 2,000 to 4,000 individuals. During the first incubate, larvae are fed entirely by a fluid secreted from the queen's mouth where she does not take food, but uses stored fat reserves and wing muscles for her nourishment. The few workers emerging from the first hatch assume duties of the colony, collecting food, excavating galleries to enlarge the nest and tending the eggs, larvae and pupae of the second generation. Workers regurgitate food for nourishment of the developing larvae and queen. She has few duties except to lay eggs.

In later generations, workers of different sizes are produced (polymorphism) into major and minor workers, that are all sterile ladies. Males formed are winged swarmers. Larger "major" workers guard the nest, battle intruders, explore and forage for food while smaller "minor" workers expand the nest and look after the young. workers, when disturbed, bring off the larvae and pupa, which has to be fed and tended or they die. In a mature colony, there is commonly one queen with 200 to 400 winged individuals produced as swarmers. Workers have strong jaws and readily bite (sharp pinch) when contacted.

Nests are normally established in soft, moist (not wet), decayed timber or often times in an existing timber cavity or void area in a structure that is perfectly dry. Workers cut galleries in the wood, expanding the nest size for the enlarging colony. Galleries are irregular, usually excavated with the timber grain ( now and again across the grain) into softer portions of the wood. The walls of the nest are smooth and clean (sandpapered appearance) with shredded sawdust-like timber fragments, like chewed up toothpicks (frass), carried from the nest and deposited outside. These piles of wood fragments, often found beneath special openings (windows) or nest openings, might comprise portions of insects, empty seed coats, etc.

Carpenter ants do not eat timber but excavate wood galleries to rear their young ants and carry aphids to plants, placing them on leaves for the production of honey dew. The food weight loss program is of great variety (omnivorous) of both plant and animal origin like plant juices, fresh fruits, insects (living or dead), meats, syrup, honey, jelly, sugar, grease, fat, honey dew (aphid excrement), etc. They feed readily on termites and usually never co-exist with them in a home. Workers are known to forage for food as far as 100 yards from their nest.

Control Measures

The most significant and often most hard part of carpenter ant control is locating the nest or nests. Once the nest location is found, control is very easy and simple. Occasionally more than one colony is present in the structure or on its grounds, so a thorough inspection is very important. Steps to a productive inspection include an interview with relatives, inspection indoors, inspection outdoors and sound detection.

Interview

Often children and adults of the residence know where ants are seen, where huge numbers are most prevalent, movement patterns, moisture in the structure, moisture problems of an earlier period, if swarmers were seen, location of sawdust-like material in piles, populations outdoors, etc.

Inspection Indoors

Nests can be found in either moist or dry wood. Nevertheless, carpenter ants prefer to nest in moist wood with a moisture content considerable over 15 percent, often caused by rain, leaks, condensation, etc. Structural wood is about 12 to 15 percent moisture. A moisture meter can find wet places to pinpoint possible nest locations. Inspect behind bathroom tiles, around tubs, showers, sinks, dishwashers, washing machines, refrigerator drip pans, etc. Check wood tormented by moisture from contact with the soil like steps, porch supports, siding, seepage from plugged drain gutters, chimney flashing, wooden shingle roofs, hollow porch posts, columns, leaking window and door frames, window boxes, crawl spaces, pipes, poor pitch of porch roofs, flat deck porch roofs, under porches, attics, etc. Occasionally, nests are located in dry environments, like hollow veneer doors, curtain rods, small void areas between the door casing and ceiling, false beams, or under insulating material in attics. Look for damaged timbers, swarmers in spider webs, wood piles indoors, piles of wood debris ejected from the colony (pencil sharpener shaving-like), "windows" or small opening to a nest, etc. Gently tap floor joists, etc. with a hammer. A nest cavity gives a hollow ring. A knife blade will penetrate the wood if infested.

Baiting

Some may make use of tiny piles of sugar at two to three feet intervals around the kitchen, washroom, etc. in attempt to work out where the nest can be found. Others use drops of honey or corn syrup placed on the back of masking tape. Make observations late in the evening, following ants back to their nest entrance.

Flushing Agent

A household aerosol spray, containing pyrethrins and piperonyl butoxide, applied directly into crevices, crevices or holes, will excite the ants (repellent action) causing them to come running out exposing the presence of their nest in some cases.

Inspection Outdoors

Search for ants traveling from a tree or stump to the structure. They could travel over tree branches or vines touching the roof, electrical and telephone wires, fences next to the house, piles of firewood, logs, or railroad ties nearby or hollow living trees with entrance knot holes, etc. Workers are busiest in the evening (midnight), traveling from their nest to a food source following trails but no particular trail leading straight to the nest. They do establish chemical (pheromone) trails.

Sound Detection

An engaged colony may produce a different, dry rustling sound ( sometimes loud), much in-line with the crinkling of cellophane. It can be heard in a wall when standing in a room. A listening device, like a stethoscope, may be of use when conditions are quiet and outside noises are at a minimum. Even a cat may hear noises in the home the result of ant mandibles (jaws) not from chewing timber or eating food, but as their form of correspondence, in particular when the colony is disturbed.

Prevention

Homeowners should trim all trees and bushes so branches do not touch or touch the house. Correct moisture problems such as leaking roofs, leaking chimney flashing, or plumbing, poorly vented attics or crawl spaces and blocked gutters. Replace rotted or water-damaged wood and eradicate timber to soil contact. Remove dead stumps within 50 feet of the home, if practical, and repair trees with damage at broken limbs, and holes in the trunk. Seal cracks and crevices in the foundation, particularly where utility pipes and wiring occur from outside. Be sure to store firewood off the earth away from the house and bring in precisely enough firewood (first examining it) to be used quickly . Consider non-organic mulches near the house in heavily infested ant areas. High moisture conditions must be eradicated to help control carpenter ants, prevent future attacks and prevent " timber decay" fungus infection.

This journal comprises pesticide suggestions that are dependent on change any time. These recommendations are offered just as a guide. It is always the pesticide applicator's responsibility, legally, to read and follow all current label directions for the specific pesticide being used. Attributable to never stand still labels and product registration, a few of the recommendations given in this writing may no longer be legal by the time you read them. If any info in these testimonials disagrees with the label, the recommendation must be dismissed. No endorsement is meant for products mentioned, nor is criticism meant for products not mentioned. The author, The Ohio State University and Ohio State University Extension assume no liability resulting from the application of these testimonials.

Damage from Termites

Due to their timber- eating characteristics, many termite species can do great injury to unprotected buildings and several wooden structures. Their trait of remaining concealed often leads to their presence being undetected until the timbers are severely damaged and exhibit surface changes. Once termites have entered a building, they don't limit themselves to wood; they also damage paper, cloth, carpets, and various cellulosic materials. Particles removed from soft plastics, plaster, rubber, and sealants such as silicone rubber and acrylics are oftentimes employed in construction.

Humans have moved many wood-eating species between continents, but have in addition caused drastic population decline in others through habitat loss and pesticide application.

Safeguards:

As reported by a site created for pest control in Saint Charles, MO http://2niceguys.com, it is advised to ALWAYS contact a professional when you think that there might be termites present at your residence. They also state that you keep mulch clear of your property and porch.

Here are some other safeguards that may be of use

* Avoid contact of vulnerable wood with ground by utilizing termite-resistant concrete, steel, or masonry foundation with proper barriers. Nonetheless, termites are able to bridge these with shelter tubes, and it has been known for termites to chew through piping made of soft plastics and even some metals, such as lead, to exploit moisture. Generally, new buildings ought to be constructed with embedded physical termite barriers so that there are no easy means for termites to gain concealed entry. While barriers of poisoned soil, so called termite pre- remedy, have been in the main use since the 1970s, it is better that these be use just for existing buildings without effective physical barriers.

* The intent of termite barriers (whether physical, poisoned soil, or some of the new poisoned plastics) is to avoid the termites from gaining unseen admission to structures. In most cases, termites attempting to penetrate a barriered building will be driven into the less favourable approach of building shelter tubes up the outside walls, and therefore, they might be visible both to the building occupants and an array of predators.

* Timber therapy.

* Use of wood that is naturally impervious to termites like Syncarpia glomulifera (Turpentine Tree), Callitris glaucophylla (White Cypress), or one or more of the Sequoias. Note that there is no tree species whose every individual tree yields only timbers that are immune to termite damage, so that even with well known termite-resistant timber types, there will sometimes be pieces that are attacked. No species of tree produces wood that is totally immune to damage from every species of termite, some individual pieces of wood may well be attacked.

When termites have already penetrated a building, the first action is commonly to ruling the colony with insecticides before taking out the termites' means of access and fixing the issues that encouraged them in the first place. Baits (feeder stations) with small quantities of disruptive insect hormones or other very slow acting toxins have become the preferred least-toxic management tool in most western countries. This has replaced the dusting of toxins direct into termite tunnels that had been widely done since the early 1930s (originating in Australia). The main dust toxicants have been the inorganic metallic poison arsenic trioxide, insect growth regulators (hormones) such as triflumuron and, more recently fipronil, a phenyl-pyrazole. Blowing dusts into termite workings is an extremely skilled process. All these slow-acting poisons can be distributed by the workers for hours or weeks before any signs occur and are efficient enough to destroying the entire colony. More up to date variations include chlorfluazuron, diflubenzuron, hexaflumuron, and novaflumuron as bait toxicants and fipronil and imidacloprid as soil poisons. Soil poisons are the least-preferred method of control as this needs much larger doses of toxin and ends in uncontrollable release to the surroundings.

Argentine Ant

Latin Name: Iridomyrmex humilis

Features: It is a small, dark-colored ant about 3 mm (1/8 inch) long that invades homes looking for food and water..

Color: dark-colored

Other: It is in addition light to dark brown in color, and it has six legs, as with other insects. The Argentine ants' antennae have twelve segments. The thorax joins the abdomen by a thin pedicel, a thin stalk.

Where can they be discovered? Outdoors in soil, under timber, slabs, debris, mulch, or in branches and cavities of trees and shrubs

Shallow, 1- to 2-inch deep mounds in open, often disturbed habitats, either moist or dry

The most common ant in southern California is the Argentine ant (Iridomyrmex humilis). This ant can likewise be found in the low eastern United States area. According to Wild (2004), this species was originally described in the genus Linepithema by Mayr in 1866; consequently, the correct binomial ought to be Linepithema humile. It is a small, dark-colored ant about 3 mm (1/8 inch) long that invades homes on the lookout for food and water. They are specifically fond of sweets, but will eat practically any food. They love hard boiled eggs and carry small yellow clumps of yolk back to their nest in endless ant columns.

These ants are really well adapted to urbanized areas of the US with mild climates and well-watered gardens. They pose a serious threat to native wildlife by upsetting breakable food webs. They are especially formidable attributable to their aggressive behavior and the enormous size of their colonies which can literally "team up" with other colonies.

If you reside in southern California, you probably have experienced endless single file columns of uninvited six-legged guests walking through your home. They follow a pre-marked pheromone "scent" trail first off established by scouts who were looking for goodies in your pantry. Although they prefer the outdoor life-style, they primarily enter houses for food and water. They are like sweets, tuna, syrups (even cough syrup), juices, eggs, dead spiders and rodents, vomit, feces and just about any other organic material they can find. They are fundamentally scavengers and they play a valuable role in the natural ecosystem–but preferably in Argentina. In hot, dry weather they often search your home for water, including restroom faucets and drains. I once followed an ant safari into my bathroom where they were neatly stacking their precious cargo of tiny eggs inside my toilet tank. They also relish the "honeydew" secretion of aphids, and safeguard their aphid friends from natural predators. In the fall months as the nights get icy cold, they once more seek the warmth and shelter of your cozy home.

The first Argentine ants set foot on U.S. soils in the late 1890's, as coffee ships from Brazil unloaded their load in New Orleans. Being prolific breeders and constantly active, they moved across the southern half of the United States. A single colony may contain 10,000 female workers, and there may well be many hundreds of colonies around your house; the entire amount of ants could reach a million. Although they cannot sting, they can bite; all the same, they are simply about 3 mm long and there tiny mandibles are too small to hurt humans. But, globally of insects, these ants are truly a living terror. They are very aggressive and readily overtake other ant species, even ants that are much larger and with powerful stings. Argentine ants are relentless and merely outnumber their adversaries until the enemy colony is destroyed. They even attack paper wasp nests under the eaves of a house, forcing the huge wasps to flee their nests in terror. Even nests of large carpenter bees are no match for these relentless ants. A "killer bee" nest probably couldn't withstand an encroachment in Argentine ants. They also will attack bird nests, driving off the mum bird and killing the helpless young. One possible redeeming quality about these little warriors is that they could attack dry- timber (aerial) termite colonies in your house. I have experienced this Lilliputian massacre in a termite infested table in the Palomar College greenhouse.

Most ant colonies are very highly territorial, and will fight different colonies of the same species. Since Argentine ants in the United States arose in the original colonizers in Louisiana, they are all intimately linked with alike DNA. They apparently will accept ants from different colonies as members of their gigantic family. In point of fact, Argentine ants from different colonies will actually "team up" and attack together in vast swarms. They just outnumber and overpower their enemy.

Argentine ants have become an essential threat to the coast horned lizard (Phrynosoma coronatum) in southern California. The primary food source for these endangered lizards are native harvester ants, particularly the California harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex californicus). I spent a number of years observing this interesting red ant while growing up in San Gabriel Valley, and I can personally testify that it features a traumatic sting. As of 2006, this large red ant is seldom seen in urbanized areas of coastal southern California.

California harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex californicus), primary diet of coast horned lizard.

Urbanization has certainly been a aspect in the demise of California harvester ants, but an even greater factor resulting in the excretion of native ants and coast horned lizards is the aggressive Argentine ant. Apparently the horned lizard is not like Argentine ants, and is in reality attacked by them in enormous swarms. Colonies of Argentine ants need a damp area to survive, and have not invaded a few of the dry habitats where native harvester ants and desert horned lizards (P. platyrhinos) still live. Naturally, they can readily colonize urbanized desert areas inhabited by people. Well-watered gardens with stepping stones and concrete slabs provide the idea living requirements for these ants. In their native Argentina they live under rocks.

Coast horned lizard (Phrynosoma coronatum).

Argentine ants are a terrible nuisance in gardens and orchards because they tend and look after scale insects and aphids. They even carry aphids to the tender buds of your prized roses. In return, the ants consume a sweet secretion from the aphids called "honeydew." In addition, swarms of these ants will invade orchard trees, destroying the fruit crop. This is specially serious in figs (Ficus carica) where the symbiotic pollinator wasps are destroyed.

Metallic green fig beetles (Cotinus texana) gorging themselves inside a fleshy, ripe syconium of the Calimyrna fig (Ficus carica). Although masses of minute, aggressive Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) are likewise foraging in the syconium (white arrow), the beetles are safe by their tough, impervious exoskeleton. These attractive beetles spend their juvenile larval stage in the land, often beneath manure piles, compost and haystacks.

According to entomologist David Faulkner, if you have a 10 x10 foot (3 x 3 m ) patio slab, you may have a million or more individuals and perhaps 20 or 30 queens. They interact fine because they're all associated with the original colonizers in Lousiana, perhaps from the original gravid (pregnant) female who arrived there. Workers live a month or more as adults, but queens live up to 10 years or more. With other ants, when the queen dies, the one-queen colony dies because no more ants are being produced. With multi-queen Argentine ants, another queen simply moves in and takes over the role of the deceased queen. As a matter of fact, a queen from San Diego would probably be accepted in a colony elsewhere in California.

Argentine ants (Linepithema humile): A wingless queen and various workers. Although these ants are just 3 mm long, they're very aggressive and quickly annihilate other ant species, even larger ants with powerful jaws and stings. They overpower other species by their sheer numbers. Argentine ants in the U.S. are descendants of original colonizers that entered Louisiana in the late 1890's, as coffee ships from Brazil unloaded their freight in New Orleans. U.S. populations are so closely linked that different colonies with multiple queens can literally merge together into supercolonies. Image taken with Nikon D-90 and 60mm Micro Nikkor AF-S F/2.8G ED Macro Lens using a Phoenix Ring Flash; hand-held at 640 ISO, F-32, 1/125th sec.

In their native homeland of Argentina, different colonies of Argentine ants are not so friendly to each other as their DNA has developed much greater variation. Neighboring colonies may fight one another, although they are simply 200 yards (200 m) apart. Also there are quite a few native predators in Argentina, including fungal parasites and bacteria. The narrow genetic variability that has kept all the California populations on friendly terms may eventually backfire thanks to extreme inbreeding. Perhaps some day these ants might not have the genetic variability to adapt to a changing environment.

How To Control Invasions of Argentine Ants"

Empty your trash often and make sure your property is free of crums and food particles that may attract ants. Ensure that food containers are tightly closed, without residual traces of the food on the sides of containers. These ants can also enter screw-top jars without seals. They follow the spiral threads until they're inside!

Avoid using toxic aerosol insecticides inside your house–unless you don't care about your lungs or your bone marrow.

Try spraying a deodorant detergent (Pine Sol

Article Title: Carpenter Bees and How to get rid of them

Carpenter bees are very close to bumble bees, in appearance. The most evident difference is that bumble bees have black abdomens covered with yellow hairs, and carpenter bees do not.

So, you have to wonder how long you've been noticing carpenter bees instead of actual Bumble Bees. A carpenter bee infestation is usually indicated by mounds of saw dust on the floor below an awning, or yellowish-brown feces that tend to build up on the walls near a nest, or perhaps even constant bombardment by a noisy lot of bees that don't bother to sting you. Occasionally an essential Carpenter bee infestation is noticed as the timber they have infested is pocked with holes from their burrowing and their predator's attempts to eat them. One way or the other, below are some practical advice about how to remove carpenter bees and ways to keep carpenter bees away for good.

Carpenter Bee Control

The male bee cannot to sting. It is the male carpenter bee, that is most often noticed. They hover in the vicinity of the nest and will dart after any other flying insect that ventures into their territory. A common behavior of the males is to approach people if they move quickly or wave a hand in the air. The males may even hover a short distance from people causing unnecessary panic. The female however, is proficient at stinging but seldom does. She must be extremely provoked (i.e. handled) before she will sting.

If you would like to do away with carpenter bees without using insecticide you may want to try plugging the entrances with caulk or putty. Now you're considering, “but won't they try to burrow their way out?” The answer is no. Whatever the reason, carpenter bees will not try to get out of the nest if they're trapped inside. So, a great deal of people simply caulk or putty the entrances to the carpenter bee galleries and then paint over them. It'll save you cash and time.A different way to do away with carpenter bees without employing insecticide is to agitate and vacuum them out. This can simply be accomplished if the nest is new, and only in the early night-time when the bees have returned to the nest and are relatively slow. A new colony will often times contains only 20 or so bees, with one queen. If you notice that the colony is relatively small, you may want to consider waiting beyond the nest with a vacuum cleaner while poking the nest with a stick.Any bee killer such as those provided by Raid can be used to eliminate carpenter bees. This is obviously the traditional conventional method of carpenter bee control, and like any other bee infestation you should take steps to ensure that you are properly dressed and make sure that it is late enough in the evening to get all of the bees. Once you are sure all or most of other bees are in the nest, simply pull out your bee killer, spray a great bit into the nest, and wait to see if any bees come out. Proceed and do this twice, just to make sure.Once you've killed the bees, make sure you keep them away by replacing the timber or covering the injury with putty. If the bees haven't done too much damage and you are not going to spend any cash on wood replacement, cover the entrances to the galleries with putty so other bees don't decide to take up residence there. Otherwise, if you have the money, it could be a good idea to replace any timber the carpenter bees have damaged—and take the next suggestion seriously.To make certain carpenter bees don't attack the outside of your house again, either install vinyl siding or have your house painted regularly. Vinyl siding (or any other non- timber siding) really is the only way you're going to ensure that carpenter bees don't damage your home. Obviously, there are the purists among us who won't stand for such nonsense. To those purists I say: proceed and use wood to side your home, but you better be damn well certain you keep the paint is kept up— wood stain will not stop carpenter bees.Carpenter Bee Extermination

Carpenter bees are seldom an important problem, and they seldom damage a structure to the stage where a huge renovation is required. But—and here's the big “but”—it does happen, and if it does happen you really have no choice but to call a professional exterminator with experience in supervising and exterminating carpenter bees. Again, this should just be done if carpenter bee damage is broad.

Otherwise, there should be no requirement to call an exterminator to rid your home of carpenter bees. A can of Raid should be all you need to take care of the issue, and more frequently than not it doesn't even require that.

href=”http://2niceguys.com”>Carpenter Bee Removal in St.Louis can be performed by Two Nice Guys Pest Control

Preventing Diseases in Fruit Trees

If you maintain any pitted fruit trees such as plums, peaches, or cherries, I'm sure you know that those sorts of trees are much vulnerable to diseases than any other type. While the fruits are delicious, it may be rather difficult to live with all of the maladies that can plague the life of everyone who has ever grown one of those sorts of fruit trees.

The chief disease that you will hear around the most is recognized as “Brown Rot”. This is a fungus that attaches to nearly all of the leftover fruits after the picking season has ended. Not only does it look disgusting on the leftover fruits, but it is additionally can return on the newer fruits, rendering them inedible (unless you enjoy eating fungus). To avoid this malady, you should prune your trees often to inspire good air circulation. Buildups of moisture are the main cause of the brown rot. Also when you are done picking for the season, you should remove all of the leftover fruits in the tree or on the ground.

A cytospora canker is a disgusting dark, soft area on tree branches. Gum protrudes through the bark, along with a large callus. The pathogen which causes these cankers usually enters the tree through older wounds. If you prune all of the sprouts that occur in late summer, cankers will have a harder time making themselves known within your tree. When you prune, always permit the wounds to heal naturally as opposed to use the wound dressings that you can buy at gardening stores. I've found that these usually do very little to help any situation, and only serve to make the tree look unnatural.

Those planting plum trees might handle something called Black Knot. The signs of black not are rough tumors or growths that can be viewed on the tree's branches. If you see any of these, you ought to immediately chop off the branch it has attached to. If you use branches for mulch usually, don't for this one. This ailment can easily re-enter the tree if it is within a certain distance.

Nearly everyone who has ever maintained a cherry tree has addressed the “Cherry Leaf Spot”. It usually shows itself when there are old dead leaves accumulated on the ground. Preventing this complaint is fairly simple. All you need to do is be fairly diligent in raking up all of the leaves that fall from your tree. If you have already seen signs of the disease, you ought to destroy all of your raked leaves. If not, then you are able to use them as mulch.

When your fruits ripen and become ready for picking, you should always be completely finished with picking within 2 weeks. It is better to daily go outside and pick all of the new ripe fruits, along with any that have fallen off of the tree or are starting to rot on the tree. So this way, you will prevent bees and wasps from becoming too subject to your tree for nourishment.

Growers of fruit trees are constantly faced with diseases and pests to worry about. Still, if you take the correct safeguards then you can avoid the majority of them. You should also search for any diseases that have been affecting your region, and attempt to take steps to avoid those as well.

Termites

The termites are a grouping of eusocial insects usually classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera (but see also taxonomy below). Simultaneously with ants and some bees and wasps which are all placed in the separate order Hymenoptera, termites divide labor among gender lines, produce overlapping generations and look into young collectively. Termites mostly eat dead plant material, more frequently than not in the kind of wood, leaf litter, soil, or animal dung, and about 10% of the estimated 4,000 species (about 2,600 taxonomically known) are economically significant as pests that can result in serious structural damage to buildings, crops or plantation woods. Termites are major detritivores, especially in the subtropical and tropical regions, and their recycling of wood and various plant matter is of considerable ecological importance.

As eusocial insects, termites live in colonies that, at maturity, number from several hundred to several million individuals. Colonies use a decentralised, self- organized systems of activity guided by swarm intelligence to exploit food sources and environments that couldn't be accessible to any single insect acting alone. An ordinary colony contains nymphs (semi-mature young), workers, soldiers, and reproductive individuals of both genders, often times containing several egg-laying queens.

Termites are often times called white ants, though they are not intimately linked to true ants.

female that has flown, mated, and is producing eggs is known as a queen. Likewise, a male that has flown, mated, and remains in proximity to a queen, is termed a king. Research using genetic methods to determine relatedness of colony members is indicating that the though. In the families Rhinotermitidae and Termitidae, and perhaps others, sperm competition does not appear to occur (male genitalia are very easy and the sperm are anucleate), suggesting that one male (king) more often than not mates within the colony.

At maturity, a primary queen has as a big capabilities to lay eggs. In physogastric species, the queen adds an excess set of ovaries with each molt, ending in a greatly distended abdomen and increased fecundity, often reported to result in a production of greater than two 1000 eggs a day. The distended abdomen adds to the queen's body length to several times more than previously mating and reduces her power to move freely, though attendant workers provide assistance. The queen is widely regarded a source of pheromones useful in colony integration, and these are thought to be spread through shared feeding (trophallaxis).

The king grows only slightly larger after initial mating and continues to mate with the queen forever. This is completely different from ant colonies, in which a queen mates once with the male(s) and stores the gametes always, and the male ants die shortly after mating.

Pest control in Saint Charles, MO appears to be booming thanks to the very dry season. http://blog.2niceguys.com had a link to an article showing how destructive termites actually are as well as pictures of termites hatching.

The winged (or 'alate') caste, also called the reproductive caste, are generally the only termites with well-developed eyes (although workers of some harvesting species do have well-developed compound eyes, and, in other species, soldiers with eyes often times appear). Termites on the path to becoming alates (going through unfinished metamorphosis) form a sub-caste in certain types of termites, functioning as workers ('pseudergates') and likewise as potential supplementary reproductives. Supplementaries have the proportions to replace a dead primary reproductive and, at least in some species, several are recruited once a primary queen is lost.

In areas with a unusual dry season like Saint Charles, MO, the alates leave the nest in large swarms after the first good soaking rain of the rainy season. In other regions, flights they come about all through the year or more commonly in the spring and autumn. Termites are virtually poor fliers and are readily blown downwind in wind-speeds of less than 2 km/h, shedding their wings right after landing at a satisfactory site, where they mate and attempt to form a nest in damp timber or earth.

Termites

The termites are a grouping of eusocial insects usually classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera (but see also taxonomy below). Together with ants and some bees and wasps that are all placed in the separate order Hymenoptera, termites divide labor among gender lines, produce overlapping generations and look into young collectively. Termites mostly eat dead plant material, more frequently than not in the type of wood, leaf litter, soil, or animal dung, and about 10% of the estimated 4,000 species (about 2,600 taxonomically known) are economically significant as pests that can lead to serious structural damage to buildings, crops or plantation woods. Termites are major detritivores, specially in the subtropical and tropical regions, and their recycling of wood and other plant matter is of considerable ecological importance.

As eusocial insects, termites reside in colonies that, at maturity, number from several hundred to several million individuals. Colonies utilize a decentralised, self- prepared systems of activity guided by swarm intelligence to exploit food sources and environments that couldn't be accessible to any single insect acting alone. A normal colony contains nymphs (semi-mature young), workers, soldiers, and reproductive individuals of both genders, often containing several egg-laying queens.

Termites are from time-to-time called white ants, though they're not intimately associated with true ants.

female that has flown, mated, and is producing eggs is called a queen. Likewise, a male that has flown, mated, and stays in proximity to a queen, is termed a king. Research using genetic methods to determine relatedness of colony members is indicating that the though. In the families Rhinotermitidae and Termitidae, and perchance others, sperm competition does not seem to occur (male genitalia are very simple and the sperm are anucleate), suggesting that one male (king) more often than not mates within the colony.

At maturity, a primary queen has as a big capabilities to lay eggs. In physogastric species, the queen adds an excess set of ovaries with each molt, ending in a greatly distended stomach and increased fecundity, often reported to run to a production of more than two 1000 eggs a day. The distended abdomen adds to the queen's body length to several times more than previously mating and reduces her power to move freely, though attendant workers provide assistance. The queen is widely regarded a source of pheromones useful in colony integration, and these are thought to be spread through shared feeding (trophallaxis).

The king grows only slightly larger after initial mating and continues to mate with the queen always. This is very different from ant colonies, in which a queen mates once with the male(s) and stores the gametes always, and the male ants die shortly after mating.

Pest control in Saint Louis seems to be booming thanks to the very dry season. http://blog.2niceguys.com had a link to a piece showing how destructive termites actually are as well as pictures of termites hatching.

The winged (or 'alate') caste, also called the reproductive caste, are by and large the only termites with well-developed eyes (although workers of some harvesting species do have well-developed compound eyes, and, in other species, soldiers with eyes quite often appear). Termites on the path to becoming alates (going through unfinished metamorphosis) form a sub-caste in particular sorts of termites, functioning as workers ('pseudergates') and likewise as potential supplementary reproductives. Supplementaries have the capability to exchange a dead primary reproductive and, at least in some species, several are recruited once a primary queen is lost.

In areas with a distinct dry season such as St. Louis, the alates leave the nest in large swarms after the first good soaking rain of the rainy season. In other regions, flights can come about for the duration of the year or more commonly in the spring and autumn. Termites are nearly poor fliers and are readily blown downwind in wind-speeds of less than 2 km/h, shedding their wings right after landing at an acceptable site, where they mate and attempt to form a nest in damp wood or earth.

Grey Squirrels are around 18 inches long nose to tail. During the wintertime months the grey squirrel can be identified by its salt and pepper body, tan specks in its tail and its white belly. Its body color changes to a yellowish brown during summertime. The grey squirrel has small ears and a large busy tail. Those located in Ontario and Quebec have a more dominate black color in their fur while those in the US have grey as the more dominate color. Albino squirrels have been discovered every so often, but are uncommon. Grey squirrels use their tail for balance when climbing trees, as a blanket during winter months, and in addition as a conversation tool by flicking it back and forth to alert danger and to give its position to other squirrels. The grey squirrel gets it name from the Greek words skia, meaning shadow, and oura, meaning tail, because when it sits upright the tail curves up behind them and shades them from the sun.

The Grey Squirrel and Red Squirrel are considered tree squirrels; ground squirrels include Arctic Ground Squirrel, Thirteen Lined Ground Squirrel and several others in the earth squirrel group, Order of Rodents (Rodentia.)

Although the grey squirrel spends most of its life climbing and descending trees, it gathers most of its food from the land during the night-time hours. Found in woodlands and urban areas, the grey squirrel slides sideways around tree trunks to exclude of sight of its predators and also remains perfectly still now and then to make itself more difficult to see. Busiest at dawn and dusk, the grey squirrel gathers various kinds of food during each season. During the early spring it gathers maple tree buds, in the summer months it compiles berries, wild fruits, seeds, nuts and apples and during the fall it eats nuts, acorns, hickory nuts, butternuts, walnuts, beechnuts and pine seeds. They also eat insects, caterpillars and bird eggs. The Grey squirrel finds its food by using its sense of smell.

Adult grey squirrels breed twice a year usually January to February and June to July. Females sit at the top of trees and make a "duck-like" call to get the males attention. Male adults then gather below the female who ensues a chase from tree to tree. Once she stops running, she mates with the male leading the pack. After mating, the male has no role in helping with the young. Female grey squirrels have one to six babies per litter. At birth the babies are called "pinkies" since they're born blind and without fur. They gain their hair at around three weeks old and are then called kits, kittens or pups. Once a kit is twelve weeks old, it leaves the nest. The nest of the grey squirrel is manufactured in the cavities of trees often times in used woodpecker holes. If there are no cavities available, the grey squirrel will build its nest between tree branches. The outside of the nest is made of twigs and leaves, while the inside is made of moss, grasses and bark. During the wintertime months, the man and female grey squirrel share a winter play room, still in the summertime they each find their own separate play room. The males study is typically bigger than the ladies.

The enemies of the grey squirrel are weasels, red foxes, bobcats, wolves, raccoons, snakes, hawks and owls. The grey squirrel carries ticks, lice, fleas, tape and round worms and scabies that removes their fur leaving them susceptible to colds and infections.

The grey squirrel can become a nuisance if found in attics. They also dig up bulbs in gardens, drive birds faraway from feeders and cause injury to crops. They destruct woods by stripping the bark from tree trunks and branches leaving the trees susceptible to disease and going hungry for nutrients.

Introduced in Great Britain and parts of Europe in the early 1800s, the grey squirrel has been pushing the red squirrel out of its habitat by competing for resources. Grey squirrels are larger and stronger, can put on more fat to survive the cold winters and therefore hoards more food. They also are more adaptable to their environment and have been identified as a way to carry the Parapox Virus which red squirrels are not immune to. Because of these reasons, the red squirrel is now listed on the endangered species list in Europe.

Argentine Ant

Latin Name: Iridomyrmex humilis

Traits: It is a tiny, dark-colored ant about 3 mm (1/8 inch) long that invades homes searching for food and water..

Color: dark-colored

Other: It is in addition light to dark brown in color, and it has six legs, like all other insects. The Argentine ants' antennae have twelve segments. The thorax joins the stomach by a thin pedicel, a thin stalk.

Where can they be found? Outdoors in soil, under timber, slabs, debris, mulch, or in branches and cavities of trees and shrubs

Shallow, 1- to 2-inch deep mounds in open, often disturbed habitats, either moist or dry

The most commonplace ant in southern California is the Argentine ant (Iridomyrmex humilis). This ant can likewise be located in the low eastern US area. As reported by Wild (2004), this species was originally described in the genus Linepithema by Mayr in 1866; as a consequence, the proper binomial ought to be Linepithema humile. It is a small, dark-colored ant about 3 mm (1/8 inch) long that invades homes in search of food and water. They are specifically fond of sweets, but will feed on practically any food. They love hard boiled eggs and carry small yellow clumps of yolk back to their nest in endless ant columns.

These ants are exceedingly well adapted to urbanized areas of the US with mild climates and well-watered gardens. They pose an essential threat to native wildlife by upsetting sensitive food webs. They are specially formidable owing to their aggressive behavior and the massive size of their colonies which can literally "team up" with other colonies.

If you reside in southern California, you probably have experienced endless single file columns of uninvited six-legged guests strolling through your home. They follow a pre-marked pheromone "scent" trail first of all established by scouts who were looking for goodies in your pantry. Although they choose to outdoor life style, they primarily enter houses for food and water. They're like sweets, tuna, syrups (even cough syrup), juices, eggs, dead spiders and rodents, be sick, feces and nearly any other organic material they can find. They are fundamentally scavengers and they play a valuable role in the natural ecosystem–but preferably in Argentina. In hot, dry weather they often search your house for water, including washroom taps and drains. I once followed an ant safari into my washroom where they were neatly stacking their precious cargo of tiny eggs inside my toilet tank. They also relish the "honeydew" secretion of aphids, and safeguard their aphid friends from natural predators. In the fall months as the nights get icy cold, they once more seek the warmth and shelter of your cozy home.

The first Argentine ants set foot on U.S. soils in the late 1890's, as coffee ships from Brazil unloaded their freight in New Orleans. Being prolific breeders and constantly busy, they moved across the southern half of the US. A single colony may contain 10,000 female workers, and there may well be many colonies around your home; the entire amount of ants could also reach a million. Although they cannot sting, they can bite; yet, they are just about 3 mm long and there tiny mandibles are too small to hurt humans. But, internationally of insects, these ants are truly a living terror. They're very aggressive and readily overtake other ant species, even ants that are much larger and with powerful stings. Argentine ants are relentless and simply outnumber their adversaries until the enemy colony is destroyed. They even attack paper wasp nests under the eaves of a house, forcing the massive wasps to flee their nests in terror. Even nests of large carpenter bees are no match for these relentless ants. A "killer bee" nest probably couldn't withstand an encroachment in Argentine ants. They also will attack bird nests, driving off the mom bird and killing the helpless young. One possible redeeming quality about these little warriors is that they could attack dry- timber (aerial) termite colonies in your house. I have noticed this Lilliputian massacre in a termite infested table in the Palomar College greenhouse.

Most ant colonies are very highly territorial, and will fight different colonies of the identical species. Since Argentine ants in the US arose in the original colonizers in Louisiana, they are all closely related with alike DNA. They apparently will accept ants from different colonies as guests of their gigantic family. As a matter of fact, Argentine ants from different colonies will actually "team up" and attack together in vast swarms. They only outnumber and overpower their enemy.

Argentine ants have become a serious threat to the coast horned lizard (Phrynosoma coronatum) in southern California. The main food source for these endangered lizards are native harvester ants, particularly the California harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex californicus). I spent many years observing this interesting red ant while maturing in San Gabriel Valley, and I am in a position to personally testify that it provides a uncomfortable sting. As of 2006, this large red ant is seldom seen in urbanized areas of coastal southern California.

California harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex californicus), primary diet of coast horned lizard.

Urbanization has certainly been a aspect in the demise of California harvester ants, but a greater factor resulting in the liquidation of native ants and coast horned lizards is the aggressive Argentine ant. Evidently the horned lizard is not fond of Argentine ants, and is in fact attacked by them in enormous swarms. Colonies of Argentine ants need a damp area to survive, and have not invaded some of the dry habitats where native harvester ants and desert horned lizards (P. platyrhinos) still live. Naturally, they can readily colonize urbanized desert areas inhabited by people. Well-watered gardens with stepping stones and concrete slabs provide the idea living requirements for these ants. In their native Argentina they live under rocks.

Coast horned lizard (Phrynosoma coronatum).

Argentine ants are a terrible nuisance in gardens and orchards as they tend and look after scale insects and aphids. They even carry aphids to the tender buds of your prized roses. In return, the ants consume a sweet secretion from the aphids called "honeydew." In addition, swarms of these ants will invade orchard trees, destroying the fruit crop. This is specially serious in figs (Ficus carica) where the symbiotic pollinator wasps are destroyed.

Metallic green fig beetles (Cotinus texana) gorging themselves inside a fleshy, ripe syconium of the Calimyrna fig (Ficus carica). Although masses of minute, aggressive Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) are also foraging in the syconium (white arrow), the beetles are protected by their tough, impervious exoskeleton. These attractive beetles spend their juvenile larval stage in the earth, often beneath manure piles, compost and haystacks.

As reported by entomologist David Faulkner, if you've a 10 x10 foot (3 x 3 m ) patio slab, you might have a million or more individuals and possibly 20 or 30 queens. They interact fine because they're all associated with the original colonizers in Lousiana, perhaps from the original gravid (pregnant) female who arrived there. Workers live a month or more as adults, but queens live up to 10 years or longer. With other ants, when the queen dies, the one-queen colony dies because no more ants are being produced. With multi-queen Argentine ants, another queen simply moves in and takes over the role of the deceased queen. In point of fact, a queen from San Diego would probably be accepted in a colony elsewhere in California.

Argentine ants (Linepithema humile): A wingless queen and various workers. Although these ants are merely 3 mm long, they're very aggressive and quickly annihilate other ant species, even larger ants with powerful jaws and stings. They overpower other species by their sheer numbers. Argentine ants in the U.S. are descendants of original colonizers that entered Louisiana in the late 1890's, as coffee ships from Brazil unloaded their cargo in New Orleans. U.S. populations are so intimately linked that different colonies with multiple queens can literally merge together into supercolonies. Image taken with Nikon D-90 and 60mm Micro Nikkor AF-S F/2.8G ED Macro Lens using a Phoenix Ring Flash; hand-held at 640 ISO, F-32, 1/125th sec.

In their native homeland of Argentina, different colonies of Argentine ants are not so friendly to one another because their DNA has developed much greater variation. Neighboring colonies may fight one another, although they are only 200 yards (200 m) apart. Also there are many native predators in Argentina, including fungal leeches and bacteria. The narrow genetic variability that has kept all the California populations on friendly terms may eventually backfire because of excessive inbreeding. Perhaps some day these ants might not have the genetic variability to adjust to a changing environment.

How To Control Invasions of Argentine Ants"

Empty your trash often and ensure your home has no crums and food particles that might attract ants. Ensure that food containers are tightly closed, without residual traces of the food on the sides of containers. These ants can also enter screw-top jars without seals. They follow the spiral threads until they're inside!

Avoid using toxic aerosol insecticides inside your house–unless you don't care about your lungs or your bone marrow.

Try spraying a deodorant detergent (Pine Sol