Harmful Versus Non-Harmful Pests

In most American households, any insect that moves risks death by book or shoe. It’s true that many bugs can pose significant threats to our health, home, and well-being. However, there are hosts of insects all around us which are entirely harmless and even beneficial. Here are a couple of non-harmful pests and why they are not to be feared.

Non-Harmful Pests

Ladybugs

Few people think of ladybugs as dangerous creatures anyway, but they are still worth mentioning. Mainly because many people may not know all of the good that these pretty insects bring. Ladybugs consume whiteflies, mites and fleas, pests which cause actual harm to people and plants. Not only that, but one ladybug can feed of off 5,000 aphids during their lifetime, making them organisms to be admired, not killed.

Praying Mantises

Like small assassins, these little predators take out everything from moths to caterpillars to crickets. With amazing eyesight and heightened reaction speed, praying mantises are efficient hunters and great to have around the yard to guard against anything that may want to eat your clothes.

Spiders

Ironically, spiders are often the first bug that people imagine when they hear the phrase ‘harmful pests.’ However, spiders pose practically no health risk, as they generally don’t travel around areas with human food, they never target people unless they feel threatened, and they are experts at ridding your house of mosquitoes, moths, and flies. It’s understandable if you don’t want to look at them crawling across your floor on a daily basis, so if you choose, you can take a duster and clear cobwebs from places like your living room, kitchen, and bathroom, herding them into out-of-the-way areas like laundry rooms, crawl spaces and garages.

Braconid Wasps

Despite the word wasp, these creatures are not a threat to humans. They are, however, a significant threat to hornworms, caterpillars, and aphids. Braconid wasps kill these pests in a rather macabre fashion, by laying their eggs inside of them and allowing their larvae to eat the pest to death from the inside. Though a nightmare in the insect world, Braconid wasps are entirely harmless to people.

Harmful Pests

Rodents

Whether they’re chipmunks, squirrels or larger members of the family, rodents are exceedingly destructive house guests. Outside of the cost involved in the removal of potentially hazardous waste products, rodents are famous for loving to chew. This can lead to extreme damage to insulation, wiring, walls and sometimes even your pipes.

Groundhogs and Gophers

While they don’t typically venture inside, groundhogs and gophers like to burrow near your foundation. As these rodents build large dens under your house, they leave the potential for water damage under your foundation. Removal, sanitation, and replacement of these structural items is costly. Thankfully, you can avoid these expenses through regular maintenance and deterrence of rodents with safe, effective exterminator services.

Bees and Wasps

If wasps or bees find a home in the eaves of your roof, they can open your house to the elements through roof and shingle damage. Only a few months of weather exposure can lead to major roof problems, which can then affect the walls, wiring and structure of your home.

Termites

Famous for the consumption of wood, termites can damage a home in record speed. When a colony nests into your house, they bore holes through uncovered wood supports. Eventually, these holes become so numerous the structural integrity of your home is jeopardized. In addition to this concern, termites could infest nearby trees, weakening them and putting your house at risk of fall damage.

While pests such as termites, ants, bed bugs, roaches, ticks, and silverfish can bite, contaminate food and damage property, not all insects and bugs deserve the fear they receive. For more information, or to find pest control services, contact us.