Insects are everywhere! This is the time of the year when crawling insects are crawling inside and outside of your property. Indeed, Canada’s weather is unpredictable! After a Canadian winter, people wait for summer whereas crawling insects make their way to your home through cracks in the foundation and dark, wet places to survive. Summer is the best time to be outside exploring, but hot and humid temperatures bring nasty INSECTS inside our properties!  When temperatures rise for us, don’t forget they rise for crawling insects as well!! What they are looking for is a moist or wet place inside or outside your property to thrive. Common areas that you can find in and around the home are; the basement, bathroom, closets, floor drains, or under cardboard boxes and under concrete slabs.

For people, all pests look alike but the fact is they are not – one pest is characterized into different spices or categories! If you are eager to know more about pests, this post will help you out!

Crawling Insects: You should be prepared in advance!

What They Are, Prevention Tips and how to get rid of them!

Centipedes

Centipedes are Yellowish to dark brown, sometimes with darker stripes or markings. They are elongated, flattened, worm-like and 4-152 mm in size. Centipedes are sometimes called house centipedes or “hundred-leggers” because of their many pairs of legs. They are widely distributed throughout most of Canada, the United States, and the world.  

Prevention

Remove piles of leaves and grass clippings, logs, stones, and rocks on your property. Store firewood off the ground. Provide adequate ventilation in basements, attics, and crawl spaces. Seal holes, cracks and gaps that enable outdoor centipedes to get inside a home.

Millipedes

Millipedes belong to a class of soil arthropods that have two pairs of legs on each body segment. As they grow, millipedes increase their length by adding body segments. With each additional segment comes two pairs of new legs. In Ontario, most millipedes lay clusters of 20-300 eggs in nests buried in the soil.

Prevention

The most effective way to prevent a millipede infestation is to reduce areas of moisture in and around your home. Make sure your foundation, basement, and crawl spaces are dry by using dehumidifiers if needed. Seal holes, cracks, and gaps that enable outdoor millipedes to get inside a home and ensure there is proper ventilation. To get rid of in-house millipedes provides an adequate vacuum.

Silverfish

This insect gets its name from its silvery, metallic appearance and fish-like shape and movements. Silverfish have no wings, but they run very fast. Millipede found anywhere in a home but mostly prefers humid, moist conditions. They eat linen, rayon, and cotton fabrics as well.

Prevention

To prevent silverfish repair leaky pipes and drains or repair any mouldy or wet wood. Consider a dehumidifier for your home to reduce humidity. Keep food items sealed at all times.

Fact: Silverfish can survive for weeks without food or water.

Earwigs

Earwigs have slender, flattened bodies, 6-35mm long with antennae and a pair of large pincers. But few earwigs fly, and many species are wingless. Earwigs hide during the day under debris or in dark spaces, emerging at night to feed on plants, organic waste, and smaller insects.

Prevention

Earwigs prefer moist protected areas; they usually congregate in areas with high condensation such as unventilated basements. Earwigs are also attracted to dirt and leaves, so an unfinished basement floor is an ideal environment for these pests. Using a dehumidifier and cleaning up cement floors can help prevent earwigs from getting comfortable in a household.

Sowbugs

Sowbugs also called isopods, woodlice and pill bugs. These creatures are not insects but more closely related to shrimp, crabs, and lobsters. Most pill bugs are grey to brown in colour and about one-fourth of an inch long with seven pairs of legs. They live in damp places – under rocks, logs, leaves and mulch. Moisture-seeking sowbugs invade structures but do not damage indoors.

Prevention

To prevent an infestation, seal cracks in the structures, install door brushes to fill gaps beneath doors, and correct moisture problems.

Spiders

Spiders are not really bugs nor are they insects. But like insects, they are arthropods related to crabs, lobsters, shrimp and similar organisms. Unlike insects, spiders have a two-part body, a cephalothorax and abdomen.

Prevention:

Effective spider control begins with IDENTIFICATION! To know whether the spider is a hunting spider or web hanging spider. Control can be as simple as destroying the webs and squashing the spiders that roam in search of prey. A vacuum cleaner works well too and leaves less mess. Vacuuming spiders and their webs as good as it is a non-toxic method. Also, use yellow “bug lights” especially outside of your property instead of white light or mercury lights as this helps deter them. Spider elimination is a combination of several control methods. Non-Toxic methods combined with IPM (integrated pest management) your home can be spider-free.

Even after applying proper prevention methods to eliminate crawling insects on your own, and if you are still facing issues contact GreenLeaf Pest Control in Toronto! They will help identify your pest issue also properly layout a treatment plan that is best suited for you and your family. 

The GreenLeaf way, Way Better!

About the Author:

Navjot Kaur, the Digital Marketing Specialist and Web-Developer at Greenleaf Pest Control. Happily graduated from Lambton College in Mobile app design & development. She is new to the pest control world. In her free time, she is an avid gardener, reader, likes to explore and definitely has some great dance moves.