This might come as a surprise, but winter is a crucial season for pest control. The decisions you make in the “offseason” sets the tone for what kind of spring you can expect. Though you may see less insects during the winter, they’re never really gone.
So, where do they go? Here are five ways insects make it through even the most frigid of winters in the Pacific Northwest.
- Survive through their children.
Kids are resilient. Insects, while in the development stages, do not rely on mom or dad. Flea eggs, for example, can stay dormant for upwards of five months (and you don’t need pets to have a flea problem).
While more mature bugs have a tough time sustaining themselves, one of their primary objectives is to ensure its offspring has a fighting chance. Eggs that are securely placed during winter months have everything they need to play the long game.
- Home and businesses provide everything an insect could need.
Whether they hitch a ride on items going inside or navigate their way in through a crack or crevice of your home or business, structures inhabited or frequented by humans are the most ideal place to last the winter months. Temperatures are comfortable, food is accessible, and there are many places to safely stash eggs.
Not every insect, like the Monarch Butterfly, have the ability to migrate long distances. From ants to wasps, every insect who cannot travel to warmer parts of the country benefit long-term by establishing themselves in your home or business.
- Cooler weather doesn’t bother them, for everything else there’s diapause.
Spiders can adapt to live almost anywhere. When temperatures begin to drop, they go into what is known as diapause. Diapause occurs when spiders, and other insects such as mosquitos lower their metabolisms to halt their development.
Prior to complete diapause, spiders and mosquitos can continue their activities between 40 and 50 degrees, respectively. Climate changes that extend the length of warmer days throughout the year helps an insect’s chance of survival.
- The Earth will provide relief.
There are many places an insect can retreat to, including the ground underneath your feet. Wood stacks, areas of overgrown vegetation, piles of leaves, and tree stumps on your property are all feasible options.
Dead, fallen, or trees with holes nearby provide an excellent place for overwintering. If the nest is secure, provides shielding from cold winds, and is remotely insulated, insects can hold up just fine until the weather warms up.
- They band together.
Ants that have established in underground nests will do so several feet below ground, but carpenter ants, who nest inside wood, seal off the nest, huddle together, and when the cold gets intense, release from their bodies a natural anti-freeze formula called Glycerol. Utilizing Glycerol allows carpenter ants to remain motionless for about three months.
Make no mistake, if carpenter ants establish themselves inside a home or business, they will continue to stay active throughout the winter months, continuing to destroy the wood inside the structure.
Playing defense when the offense is at its weakest.
There is no downside in maintaining your pest services or performing upkeep during the winter, yet far too often people underestimate what insects are capable of, mistaking an absence in the environment for an all-out disappearance.
What can you do to ensure your home is safeguarded from overwintering and stays pest free during the Spring? By taking the following steps.
- Ensuring your home is sealed tight by repairing damaged caulk and addressing gaps and cracks where insects may enter.
- Move firewood to alternative storage and keep clear any yard debris from the home.
- Exterior and Interior treatments can be applied to kill off remaining offspring and provide a barrier around the home.
Getting ahead of the game.
An insect’s winter, like a rodents, is not only about surviving, but the gift of thriving if they manage to make it to spring. We’re here to stay on top of it no matter the season. From ground contact products safe for winter use to knowledge of how and where pests survive, we know how to tackle pest problems in every season.
Give us a call and ask us how we can help defend your home and business from pests this winter season.
