Every Bug Has Their Season A Seasonal Guide To Common Florida Pests by Petri Pest Control in South Florida

Pests in Florida can feel like a year-round problem. Although we might not have the typical four seasons that other parts of the country have, we do see increases in pest pressure and the types of pests found in South Florida homes throughout different times of the year. Learn more about the top three common pests found in Broward and Palm Beach County homes and lawns in winter, spring, summer, and fall and what can be done to prevent pest issues.

Spring Showers and Rising Temps in South Florida

Spring marks the real beginning of insect season because, like other regions of the country, with rising temperatures and spring showers, insects become more active.

Bees, wasps, and other stinging insects usually mate during the spring and early summer. As plants begin to bloom, bee activity increases.
Additional moisture in spring provides ideal conditions for mosquitoes to lay their eggs in stagnant water around your yard – and they don’t need much, a bottle cap is enough.
Ants mate in the spring and may build their nests near a food source, like your home.

Summer’s Heat and Humidity Run Rampant in South Florida

In late spring and early summer, hot and humid conditions make an ideal time for ants and termites to invade homes across Broward and Palm Beach.

Native drywood termites live inside the wood they infest and can be found in your home’s framing or even in furniture. Depending on the extent of the infestation, tent fumigation or a no tent solution may be recommended. Aggressive, invasive, and destructive Formosan and Asian subterranean termites live in nests located outside your home. Asian and Formosan subterranean termites build mud tubes under the ground that they use to transport the wood in your home to feed the other members of their vast colonies. Termites can go unnoticed for a long time but their damage can be very destructive. Scheduling an annual termite inspection and getting on board with a termite protection plan that renews annually is a smart move in South Florida.
During the summer months, lawn and ornamental shrub pests can have a heyday with your lawn, including army webworms and chinch bugs, while your landscape plants contend with whitefly and scale.
Summer is prime season for mosquitoes who thrive in warm and humid conditions, like those in your backyard or by your pool. Homeowners can take precautions such as avoiding the outdoors early in the morning or at dusk (peak mosquito hours), wearing insect repellant and proper clothing when outdoors, removing any standing water on your property, eliminating shady areas with dense vegetation where mosquitoes like to hide during the daytime, and changing pet water bowls and birdbath water every other day.

Cooler Fall Temps in South Florida

When the somewhat cooler fall weather starts in South Florida, everyone is dancing for joy after the long summer.

Rodents want to come indoors to stay warm on those “cooler” nights. They want to settle down for the winter and grow their families. Your home provides the food, water, and shelter rodents require to survive and even thrive. Exclude rodents from your property by sealing cracks and holes in your foundation and around windows and doorways. Installing wire mesh or steel wool behind vents can also help deter rodents from entering your property’s interior spaces.
Stinging insects such as yellow jackets and wasps can become more aggressive due to decreasing food supplies as the weather cools in the fall. Most stinging insects will die off in the winter. Do not attempt to remove hives or nests from your property yourself, contact a professional to relocate beehives and remove wasp nests.
Ants including ghost ants, white-footed ants, rover ants, Caribbean crazy ants, carpenter ants, and fire ants are more prevalent in the fall. While most ants in South Florida are considered nuisance pests, some, like the Caribbean crazy ants can pose threats to your electrical circuitry and carpenter ants can damage the wood in your home. Additionally, fire ants can pose threats to humans, pets, and livestock. Steering clear of fire ants is usually easy to do, as their mounds are out in the open and highly visible. The smaller ants you see in your Broward and Palm Beach County kitchens are foraging worker ants. Ants can be difficult to eliminate because they live in nests in your yard and extensive nests may contain multiple queens.

Warm Winter in South Florida

During the “winter” in South Florida, temperatures do drop and the humidity magically vanishes for a blissful couple of months . . . but there are still pests in and around South Florida homes.

Rodents will try to invade your home to avoid predators, the occasional cold temperatures, and the lack of food and water outdoors. Keep them out of your warm home by sealing up cracks and any small holes around doors, windows, and your foundation. Installing wire mesh or steel wool behind vents leading to your attic or crawlspace can also help prevent rodents from entering your home.
Roaches like dark, damp places to breed in your home, such as under your fridge or in cardboard boxes in storage spaces. Seeing one roach in your home usually means that many more are nearby. Because roaches are highly adaptable to heat and cold, and can stay underwater for an extended period, an infestation can prove difficult to eliminate on your own.
Bed bugs are a real nightmare. Traveling during the holidays can mean an uptick in bedbug activity and because they are difficult to detect, these blood-sucking pests can easily hitchhike their way into your home on your suitcases and bags. Treating bed bugs can be tricky and should be done by a professional at the first sign of a bedbug infestation.

How to Keep Your Broward and Palm Beach Home Pest-Free in Every Season?

In South Florida, proactive homeowners contact a trusted, professional pest control company to pest-proof year-round. At Petri Pest Control Services, we treat the exterior of your home with baits that pest-proof from the exterior to keep pests from entering your safe space. Sealing off all entry points around your foundation, doors, and windows also keeps pests from entering your home. As a homeowner from Hollywood to Jupiter, you can help deter pests in every season by:

Removing food sources that attract pests
Thoroughly cleaning food prep and dining areas after snacks and meals
Storing dry food items in airtight metal, glass, or hard plastic containers
Eliminating leaky faucets and other water prone areas
Decluttering in your home, garage, and attic and avoid using cardboard boxes for storing
Eliminating potential harborage sites by decluttering your yard
Stacking firewood at least 10 feet from your home
Keeping grass cut short
Eliminating areas of tall vegetation near your property
Keeping branches trimmed away from your home
Inspecting your yard for areas of standing water

From season to season, Petri Pest Control Services provides your South Florida home with the preventive tools needed to ensure a pest-free environment year-round. Serving South Florida since 1956, family-owned and operated from our location in Pompano Beach, Petri Pest Control Services is on a mission to be your trusted neighborhood pest control service that you can rely on time after time to prevent and eliminate common pests in Broward and Palm Beach Counties.

Request a free pest inspection today!