You call them pillbugs, some call them roly-polys, and they’re often confused with the closely related sowbugs (see Sowbug or Pillbug? It’s Just a Chucky Pig!). Pillbugs aren’t insects, they’re crustaceans and actually more closely related to shrimp! When threatened, both pillbugs and sowbugs roll up into a protective ball. Pillbugs Are Common in Damp
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That’s not the most common place to find clothes moths, obviously, but it’s not that uncommon either. It’s the clothes moth larval stage that does the feeding damage but these small (up to 1/2 inch long) caterpillars are rarely seen since they spin silken tubes in which they hide. The “strange debris” that you see
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Maybe yes, maybe no. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to pin down the source of a food insect infestation. Food can become infested at several stages from harvesting through storage, through packaging and shipping, and even while sitting on store shelves (see How Do Food Pests Get Into My Food?). People think that once a
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Many of us think, or at least hope, that ticks die off after the first hard frost. Unfortunately, that’s not so. In fact, the adult blacklegged (deer) ticks that spread Lyme disease begin their prime feeding activity just about the time of the first frost. That’s because their main host animals are deer and deer
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It is definitely not bird nesting season here in the Northeast. Bird mites feed mostly on the young birds in the nest and they migrate to new locations when the young birds fledge and leave the nest. Bird mites are primarily a spring and early summer problem. If what you’re seeing are indeed mites (and
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One of our common fall-invading insects is the western conifer seed bug. It’s a tree-feeding insect that likes to move into homes when the weather gets cool in the fall. Once inside, the bugs go into hiding in wall voids or cracks and crevices and may not be seen again until spring. Most of us
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I believe I can help. We always say that avoiding tick habitat is the best way to avoid tick bites and the risk of Lyme and other tick diseases. However, in so many regions tick habitat is our very own yards. Ticks are especially plentiful in edge areas where woods meet open spaces. That’s because
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With the holiday season well underway, we’re starting to get the usual seasonal pest questions as our customers bring holiday greens and firewood into their homes and notice that insects have tagged along. Others are worried about picking up bed bugs as they travel to Grandma’s. We’ve addressed most of these issues before in our
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Your sister is right about everything but the spider part. Silk is harvested from arthropods that produce silken threads, but it comes from silkworm caterpillars, not spiders. It is largely harvested by hand in China as part of a very labor-intensive process, called sericulture. The Mulberry Silkworm Spins Tirelessly Although there is production of synthetic
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Worcester, MA 01604
47 Thames Rd Ste 6&7
Hooksett, NH 03106