It’s that time again! No, not back to school time, though I’m sure, as a parent, by this time you can’t wait. Like children, they like to cluster together and this is where they get their common name. If you haven’t guessed by now, I am referring to Cluster Flies. Large, dark grey and rather slow moving, they are beginning their migration indoors between August 15th and the 30th.

The adults will go dormant over winter in your home/business and emerge in the spring to mate. The eggs are laid in cracks in the soil and hatch in about three days. This is the cool part of the whole process as the larvae parasitoid, which is a fancy word for larvae that are parasites that eventually kill their hosts. The development time can vary from 27 to 39 days and there is usually four generations per year.
Read more…

The sun is shining and it’s a perfect day to enjoy the great outdoors. You have selected just the right location to picnic with family and friends and as usual, you can’t wait to have all the goodies spread on the table. Have you ever wondered why the minute you start setting the table, it’s not just you and the children that are eager to start on the goodies? They seem to have been waiting as well. Who? Flies. They love picnics just as much as you do. Have you ever wondered what they do when they land on your food? It’s only a fly what’s the big deal? How bad can it be anyway?

Do you have any idea where it’s been? They are general feeders, being attracted to a variety of substances from excrement to human foods. Flies have been shown to carry over 100 different kinds of disease causing pathogens, many of which are associated with filth. The pathogens include typhoid fever, cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, tuberculosis and salmonella as well as parasitic worms (No Way!).
Read more…

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Here’s a clip of Nick Brooks on the WPYX Top Rated Morning Show, “Wakin Up With the Wolf” on 8.19.09.

Over the past thirty years in the pest management industry one thing that has remained consistent; the client’s desire to have their pest issues disappear instantly. As a pest management professional, that is my goal, however, the reality is that it’s never that easy. At times the unrealistic expectation of a client makes you wish you had a Magic Wand. The fact that pest management is not an exact science, but rather an art form that requires years of training, as well as years of experience, emphasizes the need for good communication skills.
Read more…

Pop quiz…Guess the pest. You don’t need pets present to have them. They are able to jump 6” vertically they can hitch a ride on your shoes or trousers. You need to take them seriously, not just because the discomfort their bites cause but their ability to transmit several diseases. In extreme cases, you can such as plague, highly infectious, usually fatal, epidemic disease and murine typhus acomparatively mild, acute, endemic form of typhus and characterized by fever, headache, and muscular pain. Have you guessed what it is yet? If you said a flea you win, unless you have them, at which time the only thing I have to say is “ouch”.

A female can lay as many as 4-8 eggs after each blood meal, allowing her to produce some 400-500 eggs in her lifetime. Their eggs are not stuck to the hair or body of their host but rather deposited between the hairs. This makes it easy for them to drop off onto bedding or any other areas an infested pet/animal may frequent. Rabbits, spotted skunks, opossum and occasionally rats are common carriers. Here is something to keep in mind, the larvae stage dies at relative humidities below 45% and above 95% and therefore are rarely found outdoors. They also fail to develop at temperatures below 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
Read more…