Spring in South Louisiana is a vibrant season, filled with warm weather, blooming flowers, and the return of greenery. However, it also marks the return of various pests that can become nuisances to homeowners and gardeners alike. Understanding which pests to look out for during this season is crucial for effective pest control and ensuring your outdoor activities remain enjoyable. This blog post will guide you through the common pests that emerge in South Louisiana during spring and offer tips on managing them.

Termites
South Louisiana is notoriously known for its termite activity, particularly in the spring when these pests swarm to start new colonies. The warm, humid climate of the region provides an ideal environment for Formosan and subterranean termites, which are particularly destructive. These termites can cause significant damage to homes and other structures, often unnoticed until it's too late. To prevent termite infestation, homeowners should:

• Eliminate wood-to-soil contact around their home.
• Maintain proper ventilation in crawl spaces to reduce humidity.
• Regularly inspect their home for signs of termite activity, such as mud tubes, swarms, or damaged wood.

Mosquitoes
The spring rainfalls in South Louisiana create perfect breeding grounds for mosquitoes. These pests are not only annoying but can also pose health risks by transmitting diseases such as West Nile Virus and Zika Virus. To combat the mosquito population, individuals can:

• Eliminate standing water in yards, including in flowerpots, gutters, and bird baths.
• Use mosquito repellents when spending time outdoors.
• Consider installing screens on windows and doors to keep mosquitoes out of the home.

Ants
As the ground warms up in spring, ant activity increases. Fire ants, in particular, are common in South Louisiana and can deliver painful stings. Carpenter ants, which burrow into wood to create their nests, can also be a problem, potentially damaging wooden structures in and around your home. To deter ants, consider the following:

• Keep food sealed and crumbs cleaned up to not attract ants indoors.
• Seal cracks and crevices around your home’s foundation to prevent entry.
• Use ant baits or contact a professional pest control service if infestations occur.

Rodents
Rodents, such as mice and rats, may seek shelter in homes as they emerge from their winter hiding spots. These pests can damage property, contaminate food, and spread diseases. To prevent rodent infestations, homeowners should:

• Seal holes and gaps in the exterior of the home where rodents could enter.
• Store food in rodent-proof containers.
• Keep the yard clean and free of debris where rodents might nest.

Cockroaches
Cockroaches thrive in the warm and moist environment that spring in South Louisiana offers. These pests can enter homes in search of food and water, potentially spreading bacteria and allergens. To keep cockroaches at bay:

• Keep kitchens clean and free of food debris.
• Fix leaky pipes and faucets to eliminate sources of water.
• Use cockroach baits or traps, and consider professional pest control if infestation persists.

Tips for Managing Spring Pests in South Louisiana
Managing pests requires a combination of preventative measures and timely action. Here are some additional tips to help keep your home pest-free:

• Regular Maintenance: Regularly inspect and maintain your property to identify and rectify potential pest entry points or breeding sites.
• Professional Assistance: For persistent or severe pest problems, professional pest control services can offer more effective solutions.
• Natural Predators: Encourage natural predators in your garden, such as birds and beneficial insects, which can help control pest populations.
• Chemical Treatments: Use chemical treatments as a last resort, and always follow the manufacturer's instructions to minimize environmental impact and health risks.

Spring in South Louisiana is a beautiful time of year, but it also brings challenges in the form of various pests. By staying vigilant and implementing effective pest control measures, you can enjoy the season without the nuisance and potential harm these pests can cause. Remember, the key to pest management is prevention, early detection, and appropriate action.

Mosquitoes are one of the most common pests, especially during Louisiana's warmest months. If you often find yourself swatting at these little pests, you might want to plan ahead for mosquito season. With a few precautionary measures and some professional assistance, you can enjoy your outdoor spaces in the spring and summer months, free from mosquitoes.

When Is Louisiana's Mosquito Season?
The season for mosquitoes occurs when the conditions for the invading insects are ideal. These flying pests love heat and moisture, so the season for them can last anywhere from spring to fall. If you want to stay on top of preparing your property, start your precautionary measures around April and plan to maintain them until October. The actual timing varies depending on the year, but it is a safe bet to say that the season for mosquitoes in Louisiana lasts about seven months.

How Can You Prepare for Mosquito Season?
Whether the season for these annoying insects is months away or right around the corner, you can take some simple, practical steps to prepare. Here are some easy ways to get started.

1. Remove Standing Water
Eliminating moisture is one of the first steps the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends when preparing for mosquito season. Since mosquitoes lay eggs near water, you can prevent potential infestations by draining standing water sources on your property. Keeping your outdoor spaces free of moist areas gives mosquitoes fewer places to lay eggs and multiply. 

2. Keep the Air Moving
Mosquitoes are notoriously weak fliers, so creating maximum ventilation in your outdoor space is an effective way to repel them. If you don't have a natural breeze that flows through your property, try keeping a few fans handy in areas that you use frequently. Not only will ventilation keep the mosquitoes away, but it also keeps you cool.

3. Check Your Gutters
If you need another excuse to keep your gutters clean, add mosquito prevention to the list. Your gutters are another common area where moisture can collect, attracting mosquitoes and giving them a place to lay eggs. Additionally, functional gutters should help keep water from pooling around the edges of your house and attracting further pests. Stay on top of your gutters by cleaning them regularly yourself or retaining a service to do this.

4. Hire an Exterminator
The most effective step you can take to protect yourself from mosquitoes is to enlist professional help. A trusted and experienced exterminator can treat your property for pests and give you advice on how to maintain your space during mosquito season. If you're serious about prevention, you can look into our mosquito misting system, which reduces the presence of mosquitoes by 98% in the first week of use. If you've taken precautionary measures and want to make sure all your bases are covered, an exterminator can make sure you're fully protected.

Take the Next Steps​
You're now prepared to take on Louisiana's mosquito season. Check out our services for mosquito control and enlist the help of southern Louisiana's most trusted exterminator.

Spiders
 
Unlikely. Spiders are not aggressive bugs. They only bite when they are feeling threatened. In fact, they do not want to have contact with you any more than you want to with them, and they will only bite in cases of accidental contact, such as a human reaching into a nook where a spider is hiding. Most spiders’ fangs cannot penetrate human skin. More sensitive individuals could sometimes experience localized swelling, redness, and pain should a bite occur when there is inadvertent contact (during the night while sleeping, for example), but many humans would not even notice a bite.
 
There are more than 3,000 species of spiders throughout the United States, with only three of these considered dangerous to humans. All three of those species are found in Louisiana:
 

• Brown recluse
• Black widow
• Brown widow

 
The best rule to avoid these bugs is to look before sticking your hand anywhere. Pay attention to your surroundings. One of the names says it all: recluse. These spiders want to find quiet places, and they only bite if they feel severely threatened. Leave them alone, and they are more than happy to return the favor.
 
Stink Bugs
 
Probably not. So-called stink bugs are vegetable and fruit eaters, and they usually do not bother humans. Like other insects such as termites, they only bite if they feel severely threatened.
 
Cockroaches
 
Not likely. Cockroaches are generally not biting bugs. They may bite humans only in cases of severe food depletion, and even then they only target people who are sedentary.
 
Ants
 
Yes. Ants do bite. However, each species has its own type of “attack.” Sugar ants sometimes bite humans in defense, but their bites usually do not cause pain. Carpenter ants, however, can inflict painful bites if they are feeling threatened. Fire ants also bite, but it is their sting that has become infamous. They bite in order to grip their prey securely, then begin to sting. Fire ants can build huge mounds from which they swarm out if disturbed. They have been known to harm and even kill livestock.
 
Bees
 
No. Bees are not biting bugs but rather stinging insects. Female bees are the ones that can sting. When a honeybee stings, however, it pays the ultimate price: Its stinger becomes embedded in the human’s skin, and the bee dies. Queen bees retain their stingers and can sting multiple times, but they seldom venture out in the open and encountering one is not likely.
 
Bumblebees are not hostile. When a female bumblebee feels severely threatened, though, it will caution you up to three times before stinging by raising and then straightening its middle legs and displaying its stinger. If you see this, back away from the bee, and it will not bother you. If a bumblebee is driven to sting, it retains its stinger and so does not die.
 
Wasps
 
No. Like bees, wasps are not biting bugs; they sting. Only the females attack humans, and their stingers do not detach, allowing them to sting multiple times during an assault. Like most insects, they become violent only to defend themselves when they feel they are in danger. They will not bite humans, but they can bite prey or objects when building a nest.
 
Caterpillars
 
No, but some sting. For example, the large American Dagger Moth is safe enough, but its caterpillars are bristly and will give anyone who gets too close an uncomfortable sting. Generally, if in doubt, do not touch. 
 
Insect Etiquette 101
 
Just like humans, insects in southern Louisiana want to feel safe while they go about their daily activities. Most biting bugs and stinging insects are not aggressive in themselves, as long as you respect their spaces and do not provoke them. In some cases, however, such as termite infestations, you may want to engage pest control professionals to prevent costly damage to your home or business. Other species, such as mosquitoes and ticks, feed on blood and will seek you out. A good rule is to leave insects alone and show consideration for their habitats, and teach children to do the same. The best way to coexist with insects is to carefully look but do not touch, and chances are they will not harm you.

Almost everyone has lived through this situation. After several days of rain, the sun finally fights its way through the clouds and creates a lovely, warm day. With weather this nice, you can’t help but go outside. The day feels just about perfect, but soon your arm starts to itch. Then it’s your leg. Before long, your entire body feels like one giant mosquito bite. You rush inside in search of some relief from the swarm that ruined an otherwise wonderful day, and it’s at that point you realize that you need mosquito control.
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Nobody enjoys the nuisance of mosquito bites, and with over 60 different species in Louisiana alone, there are plenty of opportunities to be bitten. Besides being uncomfortable and itchy, mosquito bites can transfer nasty diseases like West Nile or Zika virus. While you could just hide under a mosquito net for the rest of your life, there are many other pest control options that can help limit the number the mosquitoes in and around your home.  

Everyone knows about the blood sucking vampire mosquito. Let’s focus on the less talked about vegetarian mosquito. Once mosquitoes hatch from their eggs, they are called larvae. These little ones hang out just below the water and feed on algae. Once they get enough food, they grow into their next phase called pupae. Pupae mosquitoes don’t eat anything. They still hang out just under the water, but all they do is grow. Once they are done growing, they go up to surface of the water and fly away as the adult mosquitoes we all know and hate. All adult mosquitoes feed on flower nectar, rotting fruit, or plant honey dew as their primary form of nourishment. Mosquitoes only need sugar to live.
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Mosquitoes have a mouth mechanism called proboscis. It looks like a flexible, thin, long needle. The proboscis is really comprised of a number of different long needle like objects that split and search for blood once in the skin. Like antennae that split off from the main needle, whose main purpose is to locate blood and guide the main shaft to it. The male proboscis isn’t as complicated as the females since the male mosquito diet does not consist of any blood. The mosquito pumps saliva from its hypopharynx when biting you. This saliva has a numbing agent and an anticoagulant. This is why most people do not notice they are being bit. Once the mosquito saliva begins to wear off, it starts to itch and swell. This how we know we’ve been bitten.

Female Mosquitos Bite
Mr. mosquito lives completely off of a plant-based diet. Ms. mosquito only eats on you when she needs to produce eggs. Female mosquitoes have 2 stomachs. The front one is for storing and processing nectars and sugar. The rear stomach is for digesting blood. The rear stomach can hold enough blood for multiple broods of eggs. Female mosquitoes quit seeking animals to bite when the days start to get shorter. They focus on eating enough plant nectar to survive the winter while hibernating until spring. Most mosquitoes can produce about 10 eggs without your help. With the protein boost from your blood, they can produce about 100 eggs.

Don’t feel too special. Besides the tiger mosquito, most prefer other animals such as blue jays, robins, sparrows, ducks, geese, and most other birds. They also get blood from rats, dogs cats, raccoons, possums, and coyotes. They can draw blood from lizards, snakes, frogs, and even fish! If mosquitoes prefer other animals to humans, then what is with all of the mosquito bites?  Humans are much bigger than most of the other blood sources for female mosquitoes. We move around a lot, sweat a lot, and breath out a lot of carbon dioxide. Female mosquitoes can detect the carbon dioxide everyone exhales at a range of 75 feet! Female mosquitoes are opportunist. Even if you aren’t their favorite meal, you are right there and easy to reach.
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