Organic Tick & Pest Control
On Long Island

What You Need To Know

Ladybugs

Generally thought of as "garden helpers" ladybugs eat aphids. Aphids are soft bodied insects that suck the juices out of plants. If you have roses in your garden, you have seen aphids. Aphids also come in a variety of colors and not all ladybugs like all the "flavors" of aphids. Ladybugs will also feed on scale insects and plant mites. If you see ladybugs in the garden, give them a hand! They're helping to keep your flowering plants happy and healthy.

Praying Mantis

The praying mantis is named for its prominent front legs, which are bent and held together at an angle that suggests the position of prayer. While they may look ferocious, praying mantis are also helpful garden residents, and spend their days eating moths, crickets, grasshoppers, flies, and other insects. If you see a praying mantis, just leave it alone. It doesn't mean to frighten you, it just wants to eat garden pests!

Less friendly garden residents are legion. From flying ants to wasps and hornets, there are many winged insects that can pose a danger to children, pets, adults, and even your home.

Bald Face Hornet

The bald-faced hornet is a relative of the Yellow Jacket. It is mainly black with a white face. This stinging insect is large and above-ground nest. Bald-faced hornets are aggressive. Be careful! They will attack anyone or anything that invades their space.

Living in large colonies from 100 to 700 members, Bald-faced hornets build paper nests at least three or more feet off of the ground. You might see their nest in a tree, shrub, on your home's overhangs. Nests can be as large as 14 inches around and more than 24 inches long. They usually appear in late summer when populations are largest. Unlike other stinging insects, bald-faced hornets make a new nest every year. If you see these wasps or their nests, call us for professional pest control service.

Carpenter Bees

Carpenter Bees are unique with their activity and behavior, despite looking like bumble bees. They are easily identified by their shiny black body and helicopter flight pattern. Carpenter bees actually bore holes in wood to create a tunnel in which to raise their young. Entry holes are usually located in well-lit and sheltered areas, such as headers, roof eaves, porch ceilings, fascia boards, decks, doors, and window sills. Soft wood, such as California redwood, cedar, white pine, and poplar is preferred for nest building. Over time, carpenter bees can cause extensive damage to your home. Control of carpenter bees requires treating each hole. A dust insecticide can work. The holes should be sealed in the fall and repairs made. Our trained pest control professionals can help you get rid of carpenter bees.

Subterranean Termites

Subterranean Termites' wings are brownish gray with a few hairs. They also have two dark veins on the leading edge. The soldiers are wingless with white bodies, rectangular yellow-brown heads (which are two times long than their width) and large mandibles, which lack teeth.

Because they swarm in the soil, termites are extremely difficult to find and capture. Our professional technicians will be best equipped to destroy the colonies. Control of subterranean termites takes persistence and experience. An infestation sometimes can be controlled using over-the-counter baits and other products, but termites have many hiding places, deep in the ground and often in hard-to-reach, wet, dark crawlspaces. Also, they are often not attracted to baits, but rather stumble across them accidentally. The important thing is to block them from their life supply, and our pest control professionals can help you get rid of termites.

Yellow Jacket

Yellow jackets build their flat paper nests in stacks, which are surrounded by a paper envelope. They usually build their nests below ground and in other protected locations. Social wasps use their nests only one season. Unlike bees, these wasps aggressively defend their nests and can inflict multiple stings. They produce very large colonies with some yellow jacket nests containing as many as 30,000 individuals. These insects are considered to be beneficial because they feed their young a wide variety of insects. They become a nuisance, however, when they build nests in or near structures; scavenge for food in recreational areas and in other places frequented by humans; and seek overwintering sites in structures. If you see yellow jackets or their nests, call us for professional pest control service.

Mosquitos

Mosquitos have a deservedly awful reputation. Sometimes called "the biggest killer on the planet" or "the most deadly animal in the world," with just one bite it can cause great havoc by spreading devastating illnesses like West Nile Virus, Encephalitis, Malaria, Chikungunya and even Heartworm in pets. Here on Long Island, mosquitos are a particularly difficult problem to handle, because of our proximity to the water, and our being surrounded by marshlands. For mosquito control, and pre-treatment precautions, contact us today.

Ticks

The 2015 tick season is predicted to be the worst on record for Long Island. Read our blog for more information and up to date articles on new tick threat levels and diseases. Read Our Blog »