What is an Occasional Invader?

While there are a number of common household pests that can be a problem at any time of the year like cockroaches and ants, there are other pests that can venture into home and cause trouble under select conditions and circumstances. These pests are known as occasional invaders and may startle or confuse you when you see them present indoors.

Some of the more uncommon occasional invaders include pests like Beetles, Silverfish, Ladybugs, Spiders, Crickets, Lizards, Geckos, and Boxelder bugs, to name a few.

Conditions for Invasion

When it comes to bugs like spiders and geckos, they are active scavengers and like to eat tiny insects smaller than they are. Them wandering into your house is purely accidental as they are just looking for food and happen to have found a way indoors via a crack or some other point of entry.

Other pests make their way indoors because the conditions outdoors are not favorable for them. If temperatures have dropped to near freezing, pests like ladybugs and boxelder bugs move on indoors to find warmth and shelter. This is why they are also called "overwintering pests".

Beetles and crickets usually invade a home or yard because they are attracted by light, either by fixtures set up outdoors or light coming from inside the home. This is why bugs may congregate around a window.

Silverfish and Earwigs may sneak their way into a home because they found a nice damp area to set up camp. These pests love moisture and will typically found in areas where there is an accumulation of moisture such as in crawl spaces, bathtubs, basements and other such areas where moisture can be a problem.

Discourage The Invaders

If you don't want these occasional invading pests to target your home as a place to gather, some IPM (integrated pest management) practices are necessary to make your yard and home less appealing for the pests. You can do this by clearing up leaf litter around your yard, sealing off points of entry with caulk, placing screens on windows and doors, installing non-fluorescent yellow bug lights and reducing moisture as much as possible both inside and outside the home.

You can also use Supreme IT Insecticide, which is labeled for over 70+ common household pests. This product also contains a residual effect which will last up to 90 days. We recommend using it as a barrier perimeter treatment to keep pests away from homes and yards.

What is an Occasional Summer Invading Pests

The only other peak period of invasion is the summer months when pests such as centipedes, millipedes, Japanese beetles, scorpions, and even clover mites escape from their warm environments to more cool, moist habitats which your home provides.

Centipedes and millipedes are similar-looking arthropods that have long slender bodies and multiple legs. Centipedes are flattened with 1 pair of legs per body segment, while millipedes are more tube-shaped with 2 pairs of leg per body segment.

Japanese beetles grow from beetle grubs, and emerge from the ground in early to mid summer. They are typically ½ an inch in length, with glossy green heads and shiny brown elytras. Japanese beetles are known to be major outdoor pests, but if populations are large enough, they can invade to feed on any indoor plants you may be keeping.

Scorpions are arachnids with 8 legs, 2 pincers, and a long tail with a stinger on the end. They can grow up to 7.25 inches in length, but most invading scorpions will only be as large as 2.5 inches. Scorpions will invade when the climate becomes dry and will search for cooler, moist locations to inhabit.

Clover mites are tiny arachnids that are usually found on bushes, shrubbery, or foliage. When the plants overgrow and creep against the sides of structures, this gives them easy access to even the tiniest cracks and crevices that lead to indoor spaces. Clover mites are typically stimulated to move indoors after excessive rain or excessive heat. These pests can easily leave red stains in infested areas.

While just one bug inside your home shouldn't cause any problems, the presence of even one pest indoors should alert homeowners to take action. If left unchecked, a single pest can lead to a full-blown infestation in no time.

Prevention

The first thing a homeowner can do to stop summer pests from invading is to employ Integrated Pest Management strategies, or IPM. IPM is an effective approach to pest management that relies on common-sense practices. We will use these strategies to lower the conducive conditions for pest activity, and eventually achieve stronger pest control.

For the pests mentioned, start by trimming back any overgrown shrubs. Clear excess foliage at least 2 feet away from your structure, and trim back any overhanging tree branches. This makes it more difficult for scorpions and clover mites to invade indoors, as they rely on overgrown plants to lead them to access points along your structure.

 Step 1: Fertilize and Water Your Lawn

Improve the health of your lawn and plants by properly fertilizing and watering your turf and garden. Apply a fertilizer that will leave your lawn with balanced Nitrogen levels and a healthy amount of Phosphorus.

Water your ornamentals as recommended by gardening specialists, but deeply water your lawn with at least 1 inch of water in the morning once a week. Applying the proper amount of Phosphorus and deeply watering your grass will drive the roots deeper into the soil, improving its health and its ability to fight off pest damage.

By having healthy grass and plants, minor pest damage from Japanese beetles or clover mites won't seriously injure your lawn or garden. This keeps their targeted food sources outdoors and stops them from wandering indoors for food.

Step 2: Repair any Potential Indoor Moisture Conditions

After improving conditions outdoors, fix any moisture problems you may be having indoors, such as leaky faucets, leaking drain pipes, or faulty air conditioning. Pests like centipedes, millipedes, and scorpions need moist environments to live, so you can keep them out by ensuring you keep dryer spaces indoors than outdoors.

Step 3: Block Entry Points with Caulk and Copper Mesh

You will need to use exclusion methods to block any entryways pests can use to enter your structure. Common exclusion products include caulk and copper mesh.

Use these to seal tight cracks and crevices and block voids on the outer or inner perimeters of your structure. Outside, look around windows, around doors, around ventilation openings, around the roof, and around utility penetrations for potential pest entryways.

In some cases, you may also need to replace door or window screens and weather stripping to ensure those close properly.

Step 4: Apply Insecticide

In order to stop occasional invaders from entering your structures during summer, you will need to use an insecticide that will leave a killing and repelling residual barrier. We suggest you use a product formulated with Bifenthrin like Supreme IT.

Supreme IT is a liquid insecticide concentrate that's labeled to control over 70 pests, including pests that commonly invade structures. You will apply this product as a perimeter treatment around your structures in order to prevent pests from invading. Apply Supreme IT at a rate of 0.33 to 1.0 fluid ounce of product per 1,000 square feet of treatment area.

To mix your spray solution, open the sprayer, add half a gallon of water, and add your measured amount of Supreme IT. Add the remaining half a gallon, close the sprayer, and shake to ensure an even distribution. Pump your sprayer a few times to produce a low pressure spray.

Conduct a perimeter treatment around your structure. Start at one point and continue to treat along the outside by spraying 3 feet up the structure and 3 feet out. Once you finish treating your structures foundation, proceed to treat other common entry points, such as your doors, window frames, air vents, and where plumbing or other utility pipes penetrate the walls. Be careful not to over apply in spots that have already been treated, and allow treated areas to dry.