What Pest Are You Seeing?

Termites have a small, two segment body with straight antennas and equal wing lengths. Termites also construct mud tubes as seen in the picture above. Termites can cause a lot of damage to a structure and should be taken care of immediately.

Carpenter Ants have a three segment body with bent antennas, two sets of wings and a black or dark brown color. The front wings are larger than the back wings. Carpenter Ants will typically be found around moist, decaying wood

Powderpost Beetles are a reddish brown in color and have a slim body. Powderpost beetles can quickly cause damage and may never be seen. They can be identified by piles of sawdust around lumber and holes in studs and joist that look like they were poked with an ice pick.

German Cockroaches are light brown in color and have two stripes down their back. German roaches can quickly reproduce and become a major problem in a matter of weeks.

Oriental Cockroaches are a dark brown or black color. They do not reproduce as fast as the German Cockroach but can still become a problem if left untreated.

American Cockroaches are the largest of the commonly seen roaches in Iowa. Adults are well over an inch long and are a reddish brown color. They are commonly found outside but can find their way inside when looking for food.

Bedbugs are a small brown insect about the size of an apple seed. Bedbugs feed off of blood and will hide in mattresses and bed frames. Bedbugs will commonly bite around your torso.

Fleas are a very small brown insect commonly seen on pets, as they feed on blood of mammals. They can be hard to see, but you may notice bites around your legs and ankles when you have an infestation of them.

There are many types of ants, but all of them have a body with three segments, six legs and bent antennas. They can be brown, red, and black colors and some may have wings.

Iowa is home to all sorts of spiders. All spiders have eight legs and can be many different different colors, most commonly black, grey, and brown.

Earwigs are a long dark brown insect about one inch long with pinchers on its rear end. although they look intimidating, they are harmless to humans.

Wasp have a long slender body usually a black and or yellow color. They often make a honeycomb like nest in eves and in tight hidden areas like porches and sheds.

Yellow Jackets are a smaller sized wasp typically with a black head and a black and yellow striped body. Yellow Jackets have large colonies and can be found in walls and under ground.

Bald Faced Hornets are black with white on the face and white stripes on the rear end. They build large paper nest hanging above the ground as pictured above.

Mice are small grey rodents with long tails. While they may look cute they can do a lot of damage to a house and tend to make a mess.