Throughout Colorado, the locals have a plethora of pests, even during the winter. Where some pests are fairly obvious, others are surprised to learn active pests during the cold winter months. Today, we at Effective Pest Services would like to discuss the most active pests Colorado has in winter.
Rodents are Active in Winter
Rodents are always a problem. Most rodents will break into home the home during fall to seek refuge from dropping temperatures and look for food and water. Once rodents get inside, they set our destruction and can even spread dangerous bacteria and diseases including Hantavirus, Tularemia, Leptospirosis, and Salmonella that can cause serious illnesses. House Mice and Norway Rodents are the biggest threat.
Why Do I have Cockroaches in the Winter?
By far the most common species of cockroach in the world are German Cockroaches. They can be Identified by two dark stripes along their back as well as adults being a pale to medium brown, and about ½ to ⅝ inches long. These roaches have well developed wings, but rarely fly and prefer to run. Nymphs have a single light stripe down their back and are smaller, darker (nearly black in color), and don’t have wings. Roaches are insects that can create a massive infestation in a short time. They spread the filth and germs they pick up to dishes, utensils, food supplies, and other food preparation surfaces. Contamination from roaches can affect the flavor of foods and may lead to nausea, abdominal cramps, food poisoning, vomiting, diarrhea, dysentery, and other illnesses. Also, their destruction usually involves draperies, stamps, envelopes, bindings of older books, and older types of wallpapers
Do Ants Die in the Cold
Ants are more of a nuisance. In Colorado, there are quite a few ants that can be caught pilfering crumbs in your home. They include the brief list below.
– Carpenter Ants. The largest ant in Northern Colorado measuring about 1/4 – 3/8-inch long are carpenter ants. With reddish brown thorax, they are black or black. These ants are commonly found in homes and destroy wooden materials. These ants feed on both protein and sweet foods.
– Harvester Ants. Ranging from red to brown and black in color, worker harvester ants are about 1/4 to 1/2 inches long. As they remove vegetation from around their nests, harvester ants have a painful sting and can cause bare spots in lawns. These ants will eat almost anything, though they are so named because they harvest seeds as their main food source.
– Odorous House Ants. Odorous House ants are black in color and are about 1/10 of an inch long. They may come inside looking for sweet foods, though they do not typically nest inside homes.
– Pavement Ants. The most common ant species found in Northern Colorado are pavement ants. They prefer greasy protein rich foods to eat, these ants are about 1/10 – 1/16 of an inch long, dark brown in color. They can be found in both indoors and outdoors.
– Field Ants. Commonly found outside Northern Colorado houses and in gardens are field ants. They are about 3/16 – 1/3 of inch long and are black or reddish brown in color. These ants prefer sweet foods and field ants prefer sweet foods.
– Pharaoh Ants. They are only about 1/12 of an inch long and are quite small. They are light brown in color and will nest inside. Pharoah ants enjoy both sweet and greasy foods and are known to split their nests and can create what is called a satellite colony.
Spiders Survive Winter
In Colorado, spiders include black widow spiders, cellar spiders, funnel weaver spiders, garden spiders, ground spiders, house spiders, jumping spiders, orb weaver spiders, tarantula spiders, wolf spiders, wood louse hunter spiders, and yellow sac spiders. Because of our cold winters and dry climate, brown recluse spider is rare in Colorado can be found.
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