Los Angeles Common Pests

With the warm, temperate climate of Southern Calfornia, comes the incursion of many unwanted household pests. Below are common pests found in the Los Angeles and Southern California areas, treated by certified experts from Los Angeles Preventive Pest Control.

Ants
Location:  Often found trailing next to the structure foundation, sidewalks and driveways just below the grass line, and along the base of fences/walls.  Typically live in outdoor nests near a food source, but often forage indoors for food.  Ant colonies develop in moist soil, in trees, and under stones and concrete slabs.
Treatment:  Ants are attracted to and feed on both sweet and protein based baits which are placed indoors where ant trails have been established or locations they have been seen.  Nests in wall voids are treated by aerosol injection or application of a dust formulation.  Outdoors, typical trailing areas are treated with a non-repellant insecticide while ant trails are followed to the nests which are drenched with a residual insecticide. 

Spiders
Location:  Areas that attract insect prey.  Low to the ground – near clutter and debris inside structures, overhanging areas at the base of structures, and woodpiles, rocks, furniture and other protective outdoor areas.  High - eves, patio cover corners, around outdoor lighting.  Also found in wall and concrete slab voids.  Black Widows and Brown Recluse spiders are among the most dangerous common types in Southern California.
Treatment:  Webs and egg sacs near eves, patio furniture, and other protective outdoor areas are removed.  A microencapsulated residual insecticide is applied to common infestation areas.

Wasps
Location:  Umbrella shaped multi-celled paper nests are most often found under the eves of a house and in other protected locations.  Nests are aggressively defended with painful stings.
Treatment:  The nest and surrounding area is treated with a residual insecticide and the nest is removed.  Returning workers searching for the nest contact the residual pesticide and die.

Rats/Mice
Location:  Prefer to nest in dark secluded areas where there is little chance of disturbance, and in areas where nesting materials (paper, cardboard, insulation, cotton etc) are readily available.  Attics, under concrete slabs, low ground cover, trees, burrows, voids etc.  They are often nocturnal and can carry disease.  Commonly cause large amounts of damage to nesting and foraging areas.
Treatment:  The best solution is exclusion.  Entry holes are sealed.  Indoor use of snap traps and glue boards is effective.  Outdoor perimeter bait stations can prevent a population from being established indoors.

Fleas
Location:  Adults and larvae are found in pet bedding and resting areas.  Wild animals nesting near structures can initiate indoor flea populations.  Adult fleas remain on the host animal throughout their lifetime but are knocked off by scratching.
Treatment:  A 3 step cooperative process – sanitation, insecticide application, and on-animal flea control.  Indoors, a residual insecticide in combination with an insect growth regulator (blocks development of larvae into adulthood) is applied to carpeted areas, furniture where pets reside, and cracks and crevices on hard floors.  The customer and pets should remain out of the treated area until all surfaces have dried.  A microencapsulated product is applied outdoors at the same time that the house is treated.  The pet should also be treated by a veterinarian on the same day.

Termites - Drywood & Subterranean
Location:  Drywood termites: establish colonies in non-decayed wood and maintain residence as long as the wood lasts.  Colonies are found in various locations - attics, door and window frames, trim, eves, and furniture.  The first signs of infestations are swarmers or the accumulation of fecal pellets below holes.
Subterranean termites: colonies are usually located in the soil from which workers build mud tubes to structural wood where they then feed.  They are always connected to the soil and/or close to a moisture source.
Treatment:  Drywood termites: A thorough inspection to determine infestation area is performed.  Occaisionally, infested wood is removed and replaced.  Fumigation is the most effective method of control.  A number of spot treatments and applications of residual insecticides are available.
Subterranean termites:  A thorough inspection is performed to determine points of entry, extent of infestation, and contributing factors.  An insecticide barrier between the colony in the soil and the wood in the structure is provided.  Galleries located in wood can be injected with a residual insecticide as well. 

Roaches - American, German, Oriental
Location:  American cockroaches: They are abundant in sewers and commercial accounts, preferring warm and damp locations.  Large numbers accumulate in outdoor locations such as dumpsters.
German cockroaches:  the most common household insect.  Infests kitchens and bathrooms, but will live anywhere there is food, water, and harborage.  They remain hidden in dark secluded areas, e.g., under cupboards, behind cabinets, and in wall voids.  Rarely found outdoors.
Oriental cockroaches:  not common pests in most homes.  They are abundant in sewers and commercial accounts.  Indoors they infest damp secluded areas such as basements, water meter boxes, and drains.
All have been shown to transport a number of pathogenic bacteria and viruses on their body, including those that cause tuberculosis, cholera, leprosy, dysentery, and typhoid.           
Treatment:  Cockroaches are often brought into a facility through equipment and storage boxes, so close inspection is important.  Good sanitation is essential to an effective cockroach management program, in order to eliminate food, water, and harborage sources.  Caulking is used to seal cracks to eliminate harborage and prevent entry into structures.  Baits are applied in many small spots close to harborage sites.  Large populations are eliminated with careful application of sprays and dusts.

Crickets
Location:  Prefer to live outdoors, but move indoors when it gets colder and to find moisture.  They are active at night, hiding in dark warm places during the day.  Crickets can typically be found under outdoor debris, concrete slabs, and in crevices and voids in structures and walls. 
Treatment:  A microencapsulated product is used to treat the moist habitats that they prefer.  It is applied as a 6 foot band around the perimeter of the structure, around entry points, and directly into cricket harborage sites. 

Earwigs
Location:  Earwigs are mostly outdoor insects and feed on plant material.  They are active at night, hiding during the day under stones, door mats, and other objects.  Indoors, they are usually found in cracks and crevices and under furniture and carpeting.
Treatment:  Microencapsulated and granular products are used in the moist habitats that they prefer. 

Silverfish
Location:  Silverfish prefer warm, moist locations in structures.  Generally hiding during the day and resting in tight cracks and crevices, they can be found throughout a structure.  Outdoors, silverfish can be found in mulch, and under siding and roof shingles.
Treatment:  Indoors, application of residual insecticide into wall voids and cracks and crevices is performed.  Outdoors, a microencapsulated product is used around the structure and into habitat areas.

Snails
Location:  Snails are voracious vegetation eaters, and as such are commonly found in planter areas.  They can also be located around stacks of firewood, mulch piles, dense ground cover, flower pots, damp and shady shelters, debris, weeds and ivy.
Treatment:  A specially formulated bait pellet is scattered in infested planter areas.

For more information on Pest Control in the Los Angeles area, please don't hesitate to contact us.