Which Pests Can Be Controlled with Mosquito Joe’s Perimeter Pest Service?

 

One of the biggest challenges for homeowners is dealing with a variety of pests that seek to invade their home. These pests vary by region, but certain insects are common across many areas and climates. Here’s a look at the typical pests targeted by perimeter pest control services here in Texas.

Ant on the floor of a home.Ants

Ants are among the most frequent invaders when it comes to perimeter pests. Common species include odorous house ants, pavement ants, and carpenter ants. These pests tend to nest outside but often venture into homes for food, particularly when the weather changes. By following pheromone trails, they can establish colonies in hard-to-reach areas of a building. Without a solid barrier, ant infestations can rapidly grow, becoming a persistent problem.

 Centipede on the sidewalk. Centipedes and Millipedes

Centipedes are predators that feed on other insects, while millipedes are scavengers that feed on decaying organic material. Both types of pests thrive in moist environments and can find their way indoors, particularly after periods of rain or cold. Their presence can be unsettling, and centipedes can bite if handled.

Spider on its web formed outside of a home. Spiders

Spiders, while not always harmful, can create unsightly webs around the exterior of homes, especially around windows, doors, and eaves. Many species are common across the U.S., and perimeter pest control helps prevent webs from forming and stops spiders from making homes inside.

Pill bug on the ground. Pill bugs and Sowbugs

These moisture-loving pests are often found around the exterior foundation of homes, hiding under rocks, in mulch, or within moist soil. While they primarily feed on decaying plant matter, they can also damage gardens and young plants. In large numbers, pill bugs and sowbugs can enter homes through small openings, particularly in damp areas.

ear wig on a flowerEarwigs

Mostly nocturnal, earwigs often hide in small, moist crevices during the day, and are active at night. Damage to foliage, flowers, and various crops is commonly blamed on earwigs. Very few earwigs can survive outdoors in cold climates – making your home the perfect escape for them to survive the colder months!

Not sure what’s invading your space? Mosquito Joe has on-call Urban Entomologists to help identify what’s bugging you. We’re here to help – even if it’s just answering some questions for you. However, if you would like a free quote on our perimeter pest control service or have questions about how bundling services can save you money, give us a call at 281-815-0228 today!

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Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program

 
Screen shot of Mosquito Joe NW Houston and Mosquito Joe of South Brazos Valley local blog. Over the last 9 years, we have written monthly about mosquitoes and other biting insects that can cause you issues in your yard, offering insight and suggestions on how to make things better for yourself. After approximately 108 blog posts you wouldn’t think that there was anything left to say. But that’s what is so fascinating about the battle between humans and mosquitoes/fleas/biting midges/ticks and more. It is ever-evolving.

We recognize the importance of insects in our world. Their contributions are immense, and without them, the pollination of our plants and flowers would not occur. But as humans, we also want to reclaim our spaces to enjoy and keep our crops safe from destruction. Maintaining homeostasis while controlling our insect populations is not easy, but thankfully gone are the days of killing everything in sight in a bid to reclaim our land. We also recognize the need to protect your loved one’s health from the diseases carried by mosquitoes (EEE, West Nile and many more).

Mosquito Joe is focused on making your outside fun again while leaving as small a footprint as possible. This is why we rely on a lot of all-natural products, such as garlic and natural oils, to control insects in your yard. Our job is to remove as many mosquitoes from your yard as possible while minimizing our impact on the beneficial insects.

Definition of PESP Silver MembersTo that end, Mosquito Joe joined the EPA’s Pesticide Environmental Stewardship program several years ago and is currently a silver member. The PESP was established in 1994 to promote Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices. IPM involves treating in an informed way, to reduce your insects but also pesticide usage. It involves adjusting the landscape (removing water and containers to take away a mosquito’s laying place), being conscious of product placement (we always use garlic around flowering shrubs to chase mosquitoes out and keep the pollinators in those plants happy) and minimizing usage (we want the product to dry on the leaf, not drip off due to overuse or cause run-off).

Garden with a lot of different colored flowering plants. Our yards are living ecosystems, and our job is to make them more comfortable for you while having as little impact on the balance of nature within. In short, the PESP is guided by the principle that we will do the right thing for the big picture, using all the tools in our tool belt to manage mosquitoes and other insects, not just pesticides alone. In other words, that we will be stewards of the environment, adopting the use of natural compounds, methodology, and more to reduce your pest issue by the most economical means and with the least possible hazard to people, property, and the environment.

As science evolves and new methods of mosquito control are discovered, Mosquito Joe is always listening and implementing all the tools available to us. We want our customers to enjoy their outside spaces, but to also protect those outside spaces from poorly thought-out applications that can do more harm than good. We offer our customers the choice of an all-natural service, a botanical service, or a combination service. We will continue to strive to do the right thing in all things – for our customers, for their yards, and for the environment. If you want to learn more about this program you can visit https://www.epa.gov/pesp and if you have questions about our approach to mosquito control don’t hesitate to give us a call at 281-815-0228.

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Mosquitoes After Flooding

Back in May we saw some crazy weather with high winds and intense rains, which created several flooding events for us. With forecasters suggesting that this hurricane season will be a big one, we thought it was an opportune time to talk about the effects of flooding on mosquitoes.

The most obvious impact of flooding is standing water, which you know by now is our major source of mosquitoes. Compounding this issue for our customers is the movement of water from one yard to the next. This water carries mosquito eggs along and deposits a whole new population in your yard.

This water causes a population explosion that can be up to ten-fold of our typical population. Mosquito eggs are incredible. They can sit dormant in the soil for 10 years and hatch when added to water. They can stay frozen in ice for years and hatch when the ice thaws. Everywhere we walk, underfoot and in the soil, millions of mosquito eggs are lying in wait. When flooding hits, drenching the soil and causing puddles, and sometimes small ponds, all those eggs start hatching. It impacts the shorelines of creeks, hatching the eggs laid along its banks. It pulls water down off building sites into yards, it sends water (and eggs) downstream as the creeks fill and water floods south to the ocean.

Asian tiger mosquito feeding. Aedes albopictus, or the Asian tiger mosquitoes, pictured here, are a very aggressive mosquito and the only one you will see out during daylight hours. They tend to feed (bite) in the afternoons. Asian Tigers are container breeders, loving old tires, pots and backyard junk as a place to make their home. After flooding all these items fill with water and suddenly their population explodes. These mosquitoes are much harder to control as they are good fliers and might be coming from something in your neighbor’s yard. Talk with your neighbors too! The less standing water in your neighborhood, the better!

Inland floodwater mosquito. Aedes vexans, more commonly known as the inland floodwater mosquito, also make an appearance after flooding. They hatch in masses almost simultaneously and can travel up to 15 miles to find food, making them one of the best fliers of all the mosquitoes. Estimates suggest that per acre there are between 0.7 and 1.3 MILLION eggs lying in wait for a flood.

Adding to this nightmare, are the biting midges in our grass. Their population will also explode after flooding. Biting midges look like a mosquito, but they are out all day and live in the ground and grass.

Here’s a cheat sheet with suggestions you can do to help expedite the decline in mosquito numbers after flooding:

  1. If you see mosquitoes during the day, and they are black and white striped, they are Asian Tigers. These are container breeders, so look around for anything holding water and remove it. Unfortunately, Asian Tigers fly far and are good at it, so the issue may be in a neighbor’s yard.
  2. If you are bitten during the day and they look like “baby mosquitoes” or are smaller than the average mosquito, those are biting midges. Clear up leaf litter and pine needles, these guys love decomposing organic matter.
  3. Keep an eye on your yard after rain. Remove anything that holds water; planters, buckets, outdoor kitchens, kid’s toys like playhouses or water fountains can hold a lot of water inside the plastic and be a big source of mosquito breeding.
  4. Gutter checks are infrequent in the spring and summer but keep an eye on them. With storms and flooding, leaves will fall, and you may have water standing up there you didn’t notice.

Flooding brings huge mosquito issues, but if you stay on top of the water in your yard you can reduce your numbers dramatically. If you would rather, we do that for you just give us a call!

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Installed LIV Systems

When it comes to dealing with mosquitoes, Mosquito Joe of NW Houston has you covered with a variety of options tailored to your yard. Barrier services work amazingly well for yards with privacy fencing or a strong wood line. Misting systems are great for those golf course lots or yards with no physical barrier between neighbors. But what if your needs are smaller? What if you are not worried as much about your yard but simply want to enjoy your patio or balcony? We have a solution for that too!

Mosquito Joe can install and monitor a Thermacell LIV system for you that you control via your smartphone or with a simple push of the button. It can cover your deck, patio, firepit, and play-space areas at the push of a button. These systems are people, pet, and planet friendly and repel mosquitoes through the use of an odorless, invisible vapor.

Our Thermacell LIV and Misting System specialist, Tanner, will come to your property and measure the area you are wanting to protect. He will then come back to the office and design a system to fit that area and provide the protection you need. This design will be emailed to you along with a quote. Mosquito Joe will monitor your system daily and reach out when you are in need of a refill, or to let you know we will be visiting because the system requires it.

The design of the system will cover the area much like the two examples below:

Thermacell 945 Sq FT design and Thermacell 1,575 Sq Ft design

Thermacell smart hubThermacell smart hubThe design begins with your outdoor power source and installation of the Smart Hub. This Hub is small and unobtrusive as you can see.






Thermacell repeller in yardThe Repellers, each creating a 315 sq ft zone of mosquito protection, are installed to the Hub using low-voltage cables in the areas you want to protect. These Repellers are made of all-weather die-cast aluminum and are built to withstand all our weather conditions. The cables are buried under the ground or neatly mounted and the Repellers are inconspicuous, blending into the landscaping and lighting. One Smart Hub can link a maximum of 6 Repellers. You can always opt for two Smart Hubs’ if your needs are greater.

Thermacell smart phone connection. Once the LIV system is installed, we will get you connected on your smart phone so you can turn the system on and off at the click of a button. The system does have an “automatic-off” override after 6 hours, so if you forget after that party, we’ve got you covered! Of course, you can always turn the system on with a simple button-push at the Hub.

One fill provides about 180 hours of coverage, but Mosquito Joe of NW Houston will let you know when you are getting low and schedule a visit to refill the repellers. Check out this great video to see one in action! If you want to learn more, or obtain a free quote from us, just give us a call at 281-815-0228 and ask for Tanner.

Thermacell voted as one of The Best Inventions 2022

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How to Avoid Yard Complacency

Yard with rain puddle.Yes, we just invented the term, but we’ve seen it every year since we opened back in 2015. Let’s discuss:

Potential new customers call us for a quote, and many tell us that they have “no water in the yard at all”. Frankly, we have yet to find a yard without water somewhere. But we spend time speaking to them about the potential pitfalls of water, and of course, when we treat a yard, the technicians always report in with problem areas that they note. This information goes into the customers’ account notes, but we often also reach out to the customer and let them know. Some issues, like a cracked septic tank lid for example, require the help of the customer to remedy.

Watering flowers on porch. Still, we are used to thinking about the upkeep of our yard in the fall; when raking the leaves and keeping the gutters clean goes a long way to minimizing water collection. In the spring, we busy ourselves removing the weeds, cleaning up the shrubs, and planting new flowers. But rarely do we do any of this in mid-summer.

The thing about water is, it doesn’t just collect from a rainfall or summer storm. Typically, most customers are either watering their yard with a sprinkler system or setting some hoses out to run in the early morning or evening. But there is something about our brain that, in the light of a drought or extreme heat, makes us forget that this alone may be causing standing water. Remembering that it only takes 1 teaspoon to breed 300 mosquitoes. We see a lot of customers who try to combat the heat by overwatering, but our technicians see the results in a couple of ways: first they sink into the mulch because the ground is so saturated, and they also notice a lot of water collected at the edges of flower beds. Combine this water with the temperatures and the result can be a huge uptick in your mosquito numbers.

Clear vase with dried out flowers. Another thing to consider is the consequences of a drought. Last year, we saw the trees dropping their leaves in mid-summer as they struggled with the lack of rain. This mimics a fall scenario, where our gutters fill and clog. At the first rain we will see standing water in all these gutters, but for some reason our brain thinks “it’s summer, no need to check the gutters”.

Yard with rain puddle.We will gather firewood and twigs when we clean out shrubs in the spring, and then store them behind our fence or to the side of the house for the winter. In other words, these items are sitting in shady areas begging mosquitoes to come hang out. We won’t rake the fallen “drought” leaves in the summer, causing the same kind of issues that we see in the fall. We will put the pool toys, kids’ playhouses, and other toys outside and leave them there. Then we will water the yard and let these collect items water for the mosquitoes to lay in.

Yard complacency occurs when you make assumptions about your yard simply because of the season or the weather. Hot weather does not mean it’s dry in your yard, and summer doesn’t automatically mean your gutters are clean. The best approach, when battling the never-ending war against mosquitoes, is to approach your yard with the same eyes no matter the time of year. The mosquitoes won’t thank you, but you will benefit greatly in the long run.

281-815-0228

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