Flying Pest Control This Spring

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Flying bugs and insects can be harmless, or they can be venomous disease-carrying pests. Flying insects can inflict a nasty sting, and damage your garden, or beneficial insects that perform vital tasks like pollinating.
Let’s take a look, a comprehensive look at some flying bugs and insects common to the Philadelphia area, so that you can attract the beneficial insects, and keep the harmful ones away.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BUGS AND INSECTS ANYWAY?

Insects are in a class known as (Insecta) – they have six legs, and three body segments that include the head, thorax, and abdomen. Flying insects include Butterflies, Wasps, Flies, Dragonflies, Grasshoppers, and Beetles. Bugs are a type of insect that belong to a group called (Hemiptera). Bugs feed on juices from plants, animals, or other insects. Bugs include Stink Bugs, Aphids, Water Bugs, and Bed Bugs.

Incidentally, Spiders are not insects at all, these eight-legged creatures are of the class called (Arachnida).

HOW CAN YOU IDENTIFY FLYING INSECTS?

Start by observing their size, shape, and how they behave. Some flying insects become highly aggressive if you bother them, like Wasps, and Bees, and some act like they are harmless, like butterflies. Some insects are attracted to a night light.
What do they look like? Two or four wings? Segmented body, clear or colorful wings?
How about their shape? Oval body, or long larvae like body?

WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON FLYING INSECTS IN PHILADELPHIA?

Here in Philadelphia, like most parts of the country, we have a lot of flying insects that come out in Spring, and many become pests. Bees, Wasps, Carpenter Bees, all kinds of Flies, Gnats, Mosquitoes, Dragonflies. Even some Cockroaches, Ants, and Termites can fly when they need to.

WHAT ABOUT COMMON FLYING PESTS IN YOUR HOME?

Every Spring, and through the Summer months, flying pests become a problem indoors. Common to Philadelphia, and the Delaware Valley, insects such as Drain Flies, Fungus Gnats, Fruit Flies, Mosquitoes, and House Flies arrive, attracted to damp conditions and decaying organic matter. You might even see a flying Cockroach if you are not lucky. Some of these pests can be a real problem because they are recognized as disease carriers. These pests can carry E. coli, Cholera, and Typhoid.

The most common flying pests in your home are House Flies, but you will also see a lot of Fruit Flies, and Gnats if you have any decaying organic matter present, or rotten produce sitting on a kitchen counter – even just for a short time. Keep your garbage cans tight to avoid attracting these pests.

Drain Flies have short furry bodies and are often found around sinks, and the organic sludge that can accumulate in drains and sewers.

Have you even noticed a Fungus Gnat? They tend to fly around your face a lot. They are small, black, and live off fungus in your house plants.

House Files which are a big problem for Philadelphia restaurants can cause infestations quickly, and are attracted to meat, fruit, vegetables, and are known to be disease carriers.

Blowflies are large metallic blue and very annoying. They may act like a common House Fly but they disease-carrying insects feed on decaying flesh, feces, and rotten organics. It is important to keep these nasty flies out of your residence.

Moths can be identified by their mostly nocturnal activities, and by their feathered, furry bodies. Moths in the home can end up eating holes in your cloths.

Cockroaches, some of which are identified as (Brown Flying Insects) are most times seen running up a wall, or across the floor, however some are excellent flyers, like the Pennsylvania Wood Cockroach. They tend to be nocturnal, hard to spot, and very difficult to eradicate. Call Evans pest Control at once if you see them because it is vital to get rid of these disease-carrying insects in your house.

BEES (Anthophila)

Bees are common in Philadelphia and all over the country. These flying insects that are seen throughout the summer pollinating flowers and collecting nectar. Most species have yellow and black stripes and oval bodies. However, various distinguishing features help identify individual bee species. For example, a Bumblebee has a rounder, bushy body with fur, and a honeybee has a thin, smoother body. Bumblebees tend to fly in an erratic manner and are rounder with a furry body. Bumblebees do not make honey like Honeybees. Bumblebees live in nests, and only store small amounts of food.

Carpenter Bees are big black flying insects. They like to dig into wood, creating tunnels. Here in Philadelphia, especially on the roof top decks here in Philly, Carpenter Bees case a lot of damage, and quickly.
Mason Bees with metallic green, or blue looking bodies are solitary and are good pollinators.

Wasps have smooth, slender bodies with yellow and black bands. You can tell a Wasp by the distinctive slim waist between the abdomen, and the thorax. Wasps tend to be aggressive flying insects and can inflict a nasty sting on humans.

Yellowjackets can be confused with the much more aggressive Hornet, but they are much smaller. They nest in holes, cracks, and become pests in your garden if they can find a good nesting area.

Hornets are a type of oversized Wasp. There are three types of Hornets in North America, but around here, the European Hornet is the most common. These enormous wasps can be aggressive when they feel threatened. You can recognize a hornet because it looks like a giant wasp except about an inch long, maybe even bigger.

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