Declutter
Pests love nooks and crannies and fun places to hide among your clutter. The holidays typically bring a massive amount of clutter into the home and outside of it. From gift boxes to wrapping paper, packaging to recyclables to food waste, and more, your property can become a haven for pests of all types. Roaches and rodents love clutter, so getting rid of breeding grounds is key.

Inspect
Another way to facilitate holiday pest control is by inspecting things that come into your home over the holidays. From bedding to boxes, pests can hitch a ride straight into your house on lots of different things especially if those things were being stored outside before they got to you. Cracks, holes and crevices make perfect entryways for unwanted visitors. Be sure to check your home regularly for these passageways and block them or fix them to prevent pests from coming in. Don’t forget, doors, windows and chimneys should be checked as well.
If you happen to find a bug or other sign that your home has pests, it’s time to bring in the professionals. Call Southern & Sovereign Pest Control and take care of that pest problem now (833) 952-1599.

Organize and Repair
During the colder months, pests are seeking shelter from dipping temperatures. Some of the most bothersome pets in January are rodents, and cockroaches – none of which you want to take up residence in or around yours.

Store your garbage in sealed containers and dispose of it regularly. Don’t keep stacks of broken-down cardboard laying around garages as this makes the perfect home for an opportunistic pest looking to get in out of the cold. Also, be sure to store your firewood at least 20 feet away from the house or any structure and 5 inches off the ground to avoid an infestation.Store your garbage in sealed containers and dispose of it regularly. Don’t keep stacks of broken-down cardboard laying around garages as this makes the perfect home for an opportunistic pest looking to get in out of the cold. Also, be sure to store your firewood at least 20 feet away from the house or any structure and 5 inches off the ground to avoid an infestation.

Since rodents and other pests can enter your home through the smallest of spaces, be sure to repair fascia and soffits. If they’re rotted, pests can access these areas and enter your home quite easily. Once pests, like rodents, get inside your home, not only will they seek out food, rodents can also chew through wiring, insulation, sheetrock and many other areas of your home.

Benjamin Franklin famously advised fire-threatened Philadelphians in 1736 that “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Clearly, preventing fires is better than fighting them. As is the case with most things which is why the saying has stood the test of time.

It is more more cost effective to prevent an infestation. Southern & Sovereign Pest Control can help you eliminate an infestation or stop one before it starts.
Call SPC today! (833) 952-1599

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The NEW deal is the lowest price ever offered by Southern and Sovereign Pest Control.

• Preventative exterior and interior insect control treatment for residential, single-family homes.
• Helps eliminate ants, scorpions, roaches, spiders, crickets, centipedes, and many more annoying pests.
• Southern and Sovereign Pest Control’s state-of-the-art software scheduling system allows for clients to schedule on-the-hour appointments. No more sitting around waiting hours for a technician.

For more information please call Southern and Sovereign Pest Control at (800) 627-0577.

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ROACHES
The largest cockroaches found in homes, the American cockroach, is not native to North America. The American cockroach most likely was transported to North America via ships from Africa in the 1600s. Being nocturnal, cockroaches spend the daylight hours in dark secluded areas. They venture out at night in search of food and water.

• Cockroaches need daily consumption of water
• Females can hatch up to 150 offspring per year
• Cockroaches don’t get their wings until they become adults
• Cockroaches are mainly nocturnal and run away when exposed to light
• Cockroaches will eat just about anything, including plants and other insects
• Sightings of the cockroach are most commonly reported in the evening hours
• Cockroaches can cause allergies and trigger asthma attacks, especially in children
• The average lifespan of an adult cockroach is about 1 year depending on the species
• Most species of cockroach are about the size of a thumbnail, but several species are bigger
• Cockroaches prefer warm environments close to food and water, therefore they are commonly found in kitchens and bathrooms
• Cockroaches prefer close spaces, fitting into small cracks and crevices, thereby evading humans and eradication efforts

ANTS
Trouble distinguishing an ant from a termite? This can be difficult because termites and ants do look very similar, especially during the spring when female termites seek a mate before losing their wings and finding grounds for a new nest. When wings are present, the front wings will be longer than the back wings on ants. Only reproductive ants, queens, and males, have wings. Queens shed their wings after the nuptial flight.

Ants are social insects that typically live in underground colonies, made up of workers and a queen. Most queen ants live for many years and breed millions of baby ants. The queen, the female workers, and males make up the ant colony. The queen and the males have wings, while the workers don’t have wings.

Ant colonies also have soldier ants that protect the queen, defend the colony, gather or kill food, and attack enemy colonies in search for food and nesting space. If they defeat another ant colony, they take away eggs of the defeated ant colony. When the eggs hatch, the new ants become the slave ants for the colony. Some jobs of the colony include taking care of the eggs and newborns, gathering food for the colony and building the anthills or mounds.

• An ant has three distinct body regions: head, thorax and abdomen, as well as antennae
• An ant’s head contains many sensory organs
• Two antennae (“feelers”) are attached to the head; these organs detect chemicals, air currents, and vibrations
• The queen is the only ant that can lay eggs
• Once the queen grows to adulthood, she spends the rest of her life laying eggs
• Depending on the species, a colony may have one queen or many queens
• Queen ants may live for up to 30 years, while ant workers live from 1 to 3 years
• Ants are active during warm/hot weather, but hibernate during cooler/cold weather

Ant invasions usually start with a few lone ants striking out to find a food source for the rest of the colony. Scout ants mark a scent path to the food and then return to the colony. The scent trail leads other worker ants straight to the food source. Ants will eat practically any kind of food, but are especially attracted to sweets.

MOSQUITOES
Best known as a summer pest, female mosquitoes can lay up to 300 eggs at a time. Mosquitoes can develop from egg to adult in 10 to 14 days. Once reaching adulthood, the mosquito may live 5-6 months.

A mosquito uses heat sensors on its antennae and around its mouthparts to locate capillaries near the skin’s surface. The mosquito has a proboscis, a long pointed mouthpart, uses it to pierce the skin and to tap the capillary then drink up to three times its weight in blood.

• Mosquitoes are attracted to your body warmth and odor
• Carbon dioxide is considered to be the greatest attractant to mosquitoes
• When the female mosquito sense carbon dioxide (your breath), she will fly back and forth in a zigzag pattern, until she finds the source
• Female mosquitoes need protein to lay their eggs and get it by feeding on warm-blooded creatures. If a mosquito bites an infected animal or a person, then bites you, it can pass the disease to your blood through its saliva
• Mosquitoes breed in soft, moist soil or stagnant water sources such as storm drains, old tires, clogged gutters and birdbaths
• Mosquitoes are busiest at night and will fly up to 14 miles for a blood meal
• Mosquitoes spread diseases such as West Nile Virus, malaria and dengue fever
• People with Type O blood attracted more mosquitoes than any other blood type
• Almost all mosquito-bite illnesses have similar symptoms: Fever, Body aches, Rash & Headache
• Ideally, you want to avoid being bitten by wearing long sleeves and long pants or other protective measures

The post Usual Suspects – The Top Three Insects and Bugs Expected To Be a Pest In 2019 appeared first on Southern Pest Control.

Trouble distinguishing an ant from a termite? This can be difficult because termites and ants do look very similar, especially during the spring when female termites seek a mate before losing their wings and finding grounds for a new nest. When wings are present, the front wings will be longer than the back wings on ants. Only reproductive ants, (queens & and males) have wings. Queens shed their wings after the nuptial flight.

Ants are social insects that typically live in underground colonies, made up of workers and a queen. Most queen ants live for many years and breed millions of baby ants. The queen, the female workers, and males make up the ant colony. The queen and the males have wings, while the workers don’t have wings.

Ant colonies also have soldier ants that protect the queen, defend the colony, gather or kill food, and attack enemy colonies in search for food and nesting space. If they defeat another ant colony, they take away eggs of the defeated ant colony. When the eggs hatch, the new ants become the slave ants for the colony. Some jobs of the colony include taking care of the eggs and newborns, gathering food for the colony and building the anthills or mounds.

• An ant has three distinct body regions: head, thorax and abdomen, as well as antennae
• An ant’s head contains many sensory organs
• Two antennae (“feelers”) are attached to the head; these organs detect chemicals, air currents, and vibrations
• The queen is the only ant that can lay eggs
• Once the queen grows to adulthood, she spends the rest of her life laying eggs
• Depending on the species, a colony may have one queen or many queens
• Queen ants may live for up to 30 years, while ant workers live from 1 to 3 years
• Ants are active during warm/hot weather, but hibernate during cooler/cold weather

Ant invasions usually start with a few lone ants striking out to find a food source for the rest of the colony. Scout ants mark a scent path to the food and then return to the colony. The scent trail leads other worker ants straight to the food source. Ants will eat practically any kind of food, but are especially attracted to sweets.

The post #1 Top Five Pest Concerns for 2018 appeared first on Southern Pest Control.

• Honeybees have hair on their eyes.
• Ants have the largest brain of any insect.
• The average housefly lives for one month.
• Dragonflies can fly up to 50 miles per hour.
• About 80% of the Earth’s animals are insects.
• The common garden worm has five pairs of hearts.
• Cockroaches have their skeletons on the outside of their bodies.
• Some male spiders pluck their cobwebs like a guitar, to attract female spiders.
• An Ant’s jaws open sideways like scissors and squeeze the juice out of their prey.
• Out of every 1,000 Mosquitoes, one female carries a disease that could be fatal to humans.
• An Ant has two stomachs: one to feed itself and the second one is used to feed other ants.

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With the reputation as one of nature’s top escape artists and able to disappear from sight at the flick of a light, sightings of the German Cockroach are most commonly reported in the evening hours. Though nocturnal, this cockroach can be seen in the day occasionally, especially if the population is large or they have been disturbed.

Cockroaches are known for spending time in filthy environments picking up pathogens and bacteria from those environments on their legs and bodies allowing them to carry salmonella, a diarrhea-causing amoeba and polio-virus. When inside a residence with an exposed food source, they will spread bacteria directly to our foods, causing us to get sick, in addition to triggering allergies and asthma in some people.

German Cockroaches prefer close spaces, fitting into small cracks and crevices, thereby evading humans and eradication efforts. The German Cockroach reproduces faster than any other residential cockroach, going from egg to sexually mature adult in approximately four months. If you have a small cockroach infestation, it is best to have it exterminated immediately, before it has a chance to grow into a problem that becomes more difficult to control. Successful cockroach control begins with prevention and sanitation. Your residence does not have to be dirty or unkempt for a cockroach problem to develop. Homeowners should eliminate all sources of water since cockroaches cannot survive long without it. Make sure there are no leaking pipes or standing water in the kitchen and bathrooms, including all sinks and catch basins under refrigerators.

Homeowners may wish to tackle the problem themselves, or they may elect to contract the services of a professional pest control exterminator. Southern & Sovereign Pest Control have the equipment and training to do a thorough job and have access to quality products not available to homeowners.

The post The German Cockroach appeared first on Southern Pest Control.

Did you know that termite infestations can go unnoticed for 3-8 years? Termites can live inside of the wood, behind walls, inside insulation, and underneath floor coverings. They rarely (or never) emerge except when swarming. Because they tend to leave the outer surface of the wood intact, they are extremely difficult to find unless you’re specifically looking for them.

Termites, carpenter ants, carpenter bees, beetles, and other creatures are attracted to moist, rotting wood, in which they eat and/or build their homes, causing serious structural damage.
Additionally, wood-eating and wood-boring pests can prove to be extremely destructive to the structural wood of your home. They can wear away the protective coatings and coverings on wood, exposing them to moisture and the elements. As these pests bore into the wood, their tunnels can channel water, humidity, and mold spores deep inside, where it accelerates the breakdown and rotting processes of the wood beams, posts, sills, and floor joists.

The best way to solve a pest problem is to prevent it from happening in the first place. At Southern & Sovereign Pest Control, we recommend annual inspections for termites and other pests to ensure your investment is safe and protected.
If your home has been invaded by pests, Southern & Sovereign Pest Control are ready to help keep it pest-free for many years to come. To schedule an appointment, call or e-mail us today!

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