Question We’ve been rearranging our living room and found a couple of small piles of sawdust in a corner where a large china cabinet used to be. How can we tell what caused the sawdust? I’m worried that the cabinet is infested. Answer Probably the first step is to make sure that the sawdust is
VIEW MOREQuestion We’ve had an ongoing problem with little flies that we’re told are phorid flies. A pest control company has sprayed our house twice and it seemed to help for a couple of weeks, but the flies always came back. I’ve looked them up on the Internet and it seems they are often associated with
VIEW MOREQuestion We have a vacation cabin near Wachusett Mountain that we visit a few times a year. The cabin was built just five years ago. Last week when we were there, I noticed piles of sawdust on the floor in one corner of the main room and a couple of holes in the logs directly
VIEW MOREThroughout history, mankind has had a close relationship with animals. Animals have played a large role in human life as food sources, working animals, and companions. Both inside and outside of our homes animals create conditions that may lead to pest activity. Some pests like fleas and ticks feed on the pets themselves. Pests like
VIEW MOREEach year we get a number of calls related to Sowbugs and Pillbugs. These ubiquitous little creatures are the only crustaceans that are able to live out of water. In fact, sowbugs and pillbugs actually have gills similar to crabs and lobsters. Due to their close relationship to ocean dwellers, sowbugs and pillbugs require a
VIEW MOREJust because it’s almost winter, don’t think that you’re safe from deer ticks and the diseases that they transmit. In fall, the most common stage seen is the adult tick which remains active all winter, seeking blood from deer (or you, if you’re handy). Deer ticks don’t hibernate; they are not killed by frost or
VIEW MOREQuestion We need your advice desperately! We’ve lived in our new home for 3 months now. About three weeks ago, we started seeing these really tiny beetles everywhere. They’re in almost every room and they fly to lights at night. They’re driving us crazy and we can’t figure out where they’re coming from. Answer I
VIEW MOREWith summer and baseball season approaching, it seems like a good time to ask that eternal question, “Why do flies like beer?” That’s just what entomologists at University of California Riverside did, and they came up with the answer. In case this sounds like frivolous research to you, know that Anupama Dahanukar, whose lab conducted
VIEW MOREI recently saw this tiny brown bug with pincers walking on the ceiling in my bedroom. What is it? It sounds like a pseudoscorpion. The first thing you might be thinking is eek! Scorpion! Danger! Not to worry, but I agree with those sentiments about real scorpions and am quite happy they’re not up here
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