Common Michigan Ants

Allegheny mound ant workers are about 1/4” to 1/8” long with a reddish brown head and thorax and a dark brown to black abdomen. These ants nest in mounds and leaf piles in fields and wooded areas. These mounds can get quite large.

Sometimes, these ants are mistaken for fire ants as they are aggressive and will bite when they are disturbed. They typically do not enter homes but can be found foraging around doors, patios, and decks. Locating and treating the mounds directly is key for control.

Allegheny Mound Ants

Image © S. VanDine

These ants get their name from the way they dart around the floor looking for food. Workers are 1/16” to 1/8” long dark brown to black. They like to nest under floors and in wall voids, especially by hot water pipes.

Special insecticide dusts in wall voids where ants are nesting seem to work best. Baiting for these ants can be successful if done carefully by a professional.

Crazy Ants

Image courtesy NPMA

Carpenter Ants

Jimmy Rakete,Dreamstime.com

Carpenter ants may vary in color from brown or red to black but are usually blackish in color in West Michigan. Their size may range from 1/8” to 1/2” in length. Carpenter ants construct two different kinds of nests: parent colonies, which, when mature, contain an egg-laying queen, brood, and 2000 or more worker ants, and satellite colonies, which may have a large number of worker ants but no queen, eggs, or larvae.

Carpenter ants may establish colonies inside and/or outside a structure. Carpenter ants found inside a structure may have originated from the parent colony located outdoors in a tree, tree stump, landscaping timbers, woodpiles, or one or more satellite nests hidden behind a wall. Carpenter ants prefer to nest in wood that has been damaged by water or fungi. They do not feed on the wood but hollow it out for nesting. Wood that has been damaged by carpenter ants contains no mud-like material, as is the case with termites. Shredded fragments of wood similar in appearance to coarse sawdust called frass are ejected from galleries through slits made by the ants or preexisting cracks. When such accumulations are found, it is a good indication that a carpenter ant nest is near. Unfortunately, all too often, the frass is hidden behind a wall or in another concealed area.

The best way to control carpenter ants is to find and destroy the nests. It takes experience, skill, and a little bit of luck to determine where carpenter ants are nesting. It also takes experience and skill to determine what type of products to use, and when and where to use them for successful elimination of carpenter ants in the structure.

These ants get their name from the pungent odor they give off when crushed. They are about 1/16” to 1/8” long with a brown to black body. These ants can be difficult to control because they nest inside wall voids and crevices around sinks and cupboards.

Some baits work well, but numerous placements are needed because the colonies can get large. Insecticide dusts also work well if they can be applied to the void areas where the ants are nesting.

Odorous House Ants

Image © Jefrey Budd, Shoreline Services, Inc.

iStock.com/Suman Ghosh

Pharaoh Ants

Workers are very small, about 1/16” long, and very pale in color. These ants are the most difficult to control in a building. The colonies are very large, usually in the thousands. New nests may be formed with a queen and a few workers from the original nest. This is called “budding.” If you think you have pharaoh ants, do not treat these ants yourself.

Treating these ants with a repellent insecticide will cause the nest to “bud” into several colonies. Baiting is the best method of control, and this has to be done with caution. If the foraging ants are disturbed by the bait or bait stations, this may cause the colony to “bud,” leaving you with a bigger problem. So if you think you have pharaoh ants, do not treat them; call us.

Bees, Wasps, & Hornets

Bees, wasps, and hornets are social insects found in West Michigan and all along the Lakeshore. Many are beneficial for pollinating plants. However, these creatures can be very aggressive in protecting their nest. The following are the bees & wasps that people are most concerned about and need help with pest control: the stinging ones!

Description

The honeybee is one of the world’s most beneficial insects. Many farm crops are dependent on pollination from these bees. The only problem is that occasionally they move their nest into the walls of your house. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to safely remove them and they usually need to be destroyed unless a professional beekeeper agrees to try.

Here is a link to the Holland area beekeeper website, Holland Beekeepers Association.

Honey Bees

Image © Photomyeye/Dreamstime.com

Everyone should be familiar with this bee. It is the one that likes to join our picnics in the late summer. Most people that get stung are usually stung by Yellow Jackets. Yellow Jackets over-winter as a queen that begins a new nest in the spring.

By July, the nest is large enough to become noticeable and its occupants can be aggressive. Many times the nests are built underground but are commonly built in wall voids or roof peaks.

Yellow Jackets

The European Wasp looks a bit like a German Yellow Jacket, except for its longer wasp- like legs. They build an umbrella-shaped nest with open cells for raising young. This wasp arrived in our area about 10 years ago and has become one of our biggest stinging pests.

They begin building nests in early spring and continue thru September. The nests are located on and behind siding or around roof lines. European Wasps will often build nests on playground equipment and mailboxes.

European Wasps

Treating bee and wasp nests is a dangerous and delicate job! Obviously, this is not a “do-it-yourself" job as it comes with a great risk of bodily harm. We at Shoreline Pest & Wildlife Control have many years of experience handling these creatures and can take care of them quickly and completely.

We also understand that when a customer calls us with a bee problem-they want it done NOW! Give us a call, and we will usually be able to stop out the same day.

Bee & Wasp Nest Removal

Common Flies

Cluster Flies

Image courtesy NPMA

Cluster flies are about 3/8” long, dark gray with no distinct stripes and short golden hairs. These flies get their name from grouping together when over wintering in structures. Adult flies lay their eggs in the soil, and the eggs hatch in about three days. The larvae becomes parasitic in earthworms. The development time from egg to adult is about 27 to 39 days. The adults normally live outdoors. When cold weather approaches, adults move to structures to over-winter, usually on the sunny sides of the structure. When the walls or void areas start to warm where these flies are hibernating, they become active and move indoors, congregating around windows and doors. This usually happens on sunny winter days or in the spring.

Shorline's Solution: Controlling cluster flies starts in the summer by sealing entry points. Although total exclusion usually is not possible, sealing cracks around pipes, windows, doors, and other areas is helpful. Also, using a 16 mesh screen over roof vents, eave vents, and weep holes is another control method. Treating the structure with a highly repellent insecticide outside around entry points will help in preventing the flies from entering. This should be done in mid to late August before the nights start turning cold. If cluster flies are visible inside in the winter or spring, they should be vacuumed up or use a space spray labeled for flies. Remember; this is only a temporary solution.

Fruit/Vinegar Flies

These small flies are about 1/8” long, including the wings, with a tan to black body and red eyes. They are attracted to rotting fruits and vegetables or food particles that are fermenting in water. Their life cycle from egg to adult takes about 8 to 10 days. They can multiply very rapidly.

Shoreline’s Solution: The key to controlling fruit flies is sanitation. Remove the breeding sites and you will eliminate the problem. Sometimes this is easier said than done. A breeding site can be a fruit or vegetable that has been swept under a counter or other furniture and forgotten. Mop water that contains food particles, pushed under baseboards or in other void areas where it sits and ferments is another common source. Old mop heads have also been known to harbor fruit flies. Space sprays labeled for flies can be used to treat the adult flies, but this is only a temporary solution.

Moth Flies

(drain/filter/sewage)

This fly gets its name from its fuzzy appearance and the areas that represent its typical breeding sites. It is about 1/16 to 1/8 inch long, gray to black in color. They are not very good fliers, and when resting on walls, their wings form a heart shape. Breeding sites may include slimy drains and sewer leaks. These flies have also been known to come up through drain pipes when the drain trap has dried out.

Shoreline’s Solution: The solution to this fly problem is to clean the drains to the trap line. This typically involves using a stiff wire brush and flushing the trap with clean water. Also, be sure to fix any leaking sewer pipes.

Phorid Flies

These flies are about 1/64 to ¼ inch long. They are also called “humpback flies” because of their humpback appearance from their side view, or “scuttle flies” because of the way they hop around in an erratic manner. They feed and breed in decaying matter of plant and animal origin. They are known to be a problem in morgues, mortuaries, and mausoleums.

Shoreline’s Solution: Eliminating the breeding sites is the key to control. Some breeding sites are decaying plant material, slimy drain pipes, soiled bedding materials, and pet excrement in the bottom of cages. They also have been a problem in the soil around broken drain pipes. This problem can be difficult to find and fix.

These flies are very small. They may exist in moist or damp areas that support fungal growth, like moisture in walls or ceilings or in pet excrement in the bottom of cages. The most common breeding sites in structures for these flies are over-watered potted plants.

Shoreline’s Solution: Eliminating the breeding sites by drying them out or removing them will solve this fly problem. You also could treat the soil of the potted plants with an insecticide labeled for this type of treatment.

Fungus Gnats

Common Michigan Ants

Bees, Wasps, & Hornets

Common Flies

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