A gardener with any degree of experience usually knows that there are both good and bad bugs that live in a garden. Make sure you know which is which before you call a Las Vegas exterminator to control your garden pests.

Good Bugs

Lady bugs may be the most well-known of the good bugs. These critters are so helpful because they eat aphids and add a pleasant touch of color to a garden.

Parasitic wasps are also one of the good guys, even though their name suggests something very different. It is called parasitic because this wasp lays its eggs on the larvae of tomato hornworms. The larvae of the wasp then eats up the tomato hornworms, much like parasites elsewhere in nature.

Lacewig

There are many other bugs that don’t pose a threat to a garden or its gardener. The lacewig is a beautiful, bright green bug that is attracted to light at night. This flying creature is harmless and is great for the ecosystem of a garden. The assassin bug is another helpful insect, because it is a trained killer. This creature is a dark, hairy bug with a massive appetite for other insects. This bug can inflict a painful bite if it feels threatened, so be careful around it.

Bad Bugs

Slugs and snails are well known garden nuisances that should be removed without an insecticide. Unless you are working on a large parcel of land with commercial plants, insecticides should be avoided as a general rule.

The potato beetle is not a friend to any garden. Both the beetle and the larvae have huge appetites that strip the leaves off plants. Without leaves plants are unable to photosynthesize, so they are unable to flourish. Catch the bugs, pluck them off your plants and place them in soapy water to remedy the issue. Do this instead of using an insecticide because you don’t want to kill the good bugs that are living in your garden alongside these culprits.

Tomato hornworm covered with parasitic wasp larvae

Tomato hornworms can be considered the worst of the worst on this list. This long, light green worm is the larvae of a moth that can grow to be five inches long. This insect gets its name from the horn on their rear and they have a dangerous tendency to be aggressive.

The Japanese beetle is another dangerously hungry bug, introduced to the United Stated roughly 100 years ago. It is most commonly found in gardens with roses, grapes and plum trees because they love to eat the leaves off these fragrant flowers. To avoid the irrevocable damage they can cause, pick them carefully off the plants and place them in your soapy water. They can be caught more easily early in the morning.

The experts at R and C Pest Control are dedicated to keeping your home and garden pest free. No matter what type of infestation or how large, they can handle any job effectively. For more information about Las Vegas pest control, contact 702.257.2847.

Especially during the summer time, you may find that your plants are laced with a fine webbing. You may even start seeing tiny holes appear on the leaves. Unfortunately, these are the signs of a spider mite infestation. When this occurs, it is important that you take steps to get rid of them to prevent all your plants from dying.

What are spider mites?

Most species of the spider mite family reside in North America. They will attach to both indoor and outdoor plants. Spider mites are classified as a type of arachnid, which are relatives of spiders, ticks and scorpions. Adult spider mites are only about 1/50 inch long, which is about the size of a period dot.

Spite mites tend to reside in colonies, usually under leaves. They feed by biting the leaf tissue and sucking up the plant’s fluids. If the feeding continues, the leaves will eventually turn yellow and can even dry up and fall off. Spider mites are most commonly found in hot, dry conditions, like Las Vegas. They especially love areas where their natural enemies have been killed off.

Spider mites can be hard to detect initially, which is why there are usually heavy infestations by the time someone notices the damage. Spider mites enjoy strawberries, melons, beans, tomatoes, eggplant, ornamental flowers, trees and most houseplants.

How long do spider mites live?

If spider mites have taken residence in a plant, they will begin laying their eggs on the leaves during winter. As the temperature warms in spring, the eggs will begin hatching and the larvae will feed for a few days before seeking shelter. Once they find shelter, they will molt into the first nymphal stage. They still have to pass through two more molts before becoming full-grown adults.

Female spider mites will produce as many as 300 eggs in just a few weeks. Hot weather conditions will speed up the process. In the middle of summer, it may only take 5 days for the spider mite to go from egg to adult.

How do you get rid of spider mites?

Certain chemical pesticides will only make the infestation worse, because it kills insects that prey on them. Spider mites are even able to develop a resistance to many pesticides. Because of this, you can only use natural, organic methods to get rid of spider mites.

First, discard any plants that are infested. This will prevent them from further spreading. Insects such as ladybugs, lacewings and predatory mites are the spider mite’s natural enemies. These types of insects won’t badly affect your plants and they can easily be purchased in many stores.

Spider mites are attracted to dust, so it is important that you wash away any dust with water. Spider mites are also attracted to plants in need of watering, so you need to properly maintain your plants.

When all else fails and you can’t seem to control the spider mite infestation, an exterminator will have to do the job for you. The experts at R and C Pest Control are dedicated to keeping your home pest free. No matter what type of infestation or how large, they can handle any job effectively. For more information about Las Vegas pest control, contact 702.257.2847.

Bees can be an extremely annoying issue. With many people allergic to bee stings, it can be a major problem having a swarm of bees anywhere near your home. Here are some tips for removing bees from your house.

In the Home

1. First and foremost, it’s important to know you are dealing with bees and not wasps or hornets. Bees perform a valuable function in nature and are generally not very dangerous, so avoid killing them whenever possible. Wasps and hornets tend to be much more aggressive, so be sure you are taking the appropriate action to handle your pests.
2. After you’ve confirmed you have honey bees, call a beekeeper. He or she is qualified to safely and effectively remove the bees from enclosed spaces. Bees prefer spaces like wall cavities, roofs and chimneys.
3. Another option is to call an exterminator, or purchase your own pesticides to kill the bees. Only take this step if local beekeepers are unwilling or unable to remove a nest from your home.

In the Garden

1. The easiest option to tackle unwanted bees is to do nothing and wait for bee season to pass. Bees are rarely aggressive, unless they feel threatened. If you leave them alone until the cold winter months, the worker bees will die and the queens will relocate, leaving you safe to remove the hive.
2. Call a beekeeper if you want to remove the problem without committing mass genocide. A qualified beekeeper can transfer the bees to a hive box and remove them from your property.
3. Relocate the bees to an area away from your house by carefully cutting out the tree section with the bees. Just remember to wear the appropriate protective clothing and to place the hive in an area where it won’t accidentally be agitated.
4. Use pesticides to exterminate the bees if you don’t have the time, resources or the patience to safely remove or relocate them. Apply insecticides by following the directions on the label, while wearing protective clothing.

Preventative Measures

1. Seal any holes in the exterior of your home’s walls to prevent bees from ever entering. Look for holes or cracks that can fit a pencil and seal them with caulk.
2. Fill any wall cavities you find with expandable foam, to keep bees from building a hive if they manage to get into the wall.
3. Remove any traces of honey or beeswax, since bees are naturally attracted to places where other bees have already lived. They can smell traces of previous hives, so be careful to remove these substances completely once the hive is gone. This can be done with a power hose for outdoor traces and strong cleaning products or fresh paint for indoor traces.
4. Use natural repellents to keep bees from being attracted to your home or yard. Citronella plants and candles and cucumber peels scattered throughout your garden are effective ways to repel bees naturally. A basin of sugar water will also do the job. This is because they are believed to be attracted to the honey-like scent and will drown themselves in the water.

Save yourself time and energy by calling a Las Vegas pest control company to take care of the problem within a day. The exterminators at R & C Pest Control are dedicated to creating pest free environments for their clients. For more information about bed bug pest control, contact 702.257.2847.

You’re all packed and ready to go on vacation. As the plane touches down in your destination city, a moment of terror strikes you. What if there are bed bugs in the hotel room? This is a genuine concern to have, but by being careful, you can avoid bringing home any unwanted souvenirs.

Nowadays you can research a hotel online to learn everything about it. There are often reports about bed bugs, but these review aren’t always reliable. Some of them are fake and infestations can change on a day-to-day basis. When you initially arrive to your hotel room, follow these steps to ensure you aren’t sleeping with pesky bugs.

Step 1: Put your luggage in the bathtub

Luggage is the easiest way for bed bugs to get transported from place to place. The bathroom is least likely to be infested with pests and is also the most vigorously cleaned part of the hotel room. If you do happen to find bed bugs during your search, you can take your bags out of the tub and leave without risking contamination.

Step 2: Tear the room apart

Move the bed away from the wall. Often times the headboards are fastened to the wall, which can make a great home for bed bugs to reside. Use a flashlight to get a good visual behind the headboards and underneath the bed. Strip all the blankets and sheets off the bed. Check the ridges along the mattress and even check the box springs underneath the mattress. After you have effectively searched through the bed, inspect the nightstands. Open the drawers and carefully examine the corners. Finally, inspect the luggage rack by lifting up the fabric. Often times, bed bugs like to remain within 20 feet of the host. This means in a small hotel room, bed bugs could hide in nearly any crevice in the room.

Step 3: Check your sheets in the morning

Even if you have thoroughly stripped and searched the room, it is still possible that you missed a couple bed bugs. Humans act as a food source for bed bugs, so they will bite you while you are sleeping. Check your sheets for little blood stains or rust spots, because that could be a sign you were bitten. Not everyone will have a reaction to a bed bug bite. Some could have itchiness and swelling while others won’t react at all.

What do you do if you find bed bugs?

First, take your luggage and get away from the room. Just because one room has bed bugs doesn’t mean every room will. You can ask to changes rooms or you can find another hotel. Finding bed bugs in a hotel room doesn’t mean that the hotel is bad, it simply means that someone transported the pests from somewhere else. Bed bugs love to latch on to luggage, so they aren’t hard to transport. When you do get a new room, be sure to repeat the process of inspecting the room.

Fortunately, it is fairly simply to get rid of bed bugs. A Las Vegas pest control company can take care of the problem within a day. The exterminators at R & C Pest Control are dedicated to creating pest free environments for their clients. For more information about bed bug pest control, contact 702.257.2847.

“Sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite!” Many people will tell this to their children when tucking them in at night, and for most, it’s just a fun expression to help the child sleep better. However, bed bugs are very real. They haven’t always been a problem in the US, but recently bed bugs have become a major nuisance in society.

What are bed bugs?

Though their name doesn’t sound real, bed bugs are small, wingless insects that feed on animal and human blood. They are only about a half a centimeter long, which is about the size of a match head. They are reddish-brown in color, but can be hard to detect because of their small size. Bed bugs can be extremely irritating, and can leave red, raised bumps on your skin. Fortunately, they don’t carry or transmit diseases.

Even though bed bugs don’t pose a serious threat, they are very annoying to deal with. They will bite any exposed area of your body while you are sleeping, which will leave your face and arms covered in itchy bumps. Sometimes the itch may not go away for a few weeks. The bumps may not show up immediately, and could take a few days to appear. Similar to other bug bites, scratching will only cause them to get worse. If they become inflamed, it could mean they are infected. This would require you to seek medical attention.

Where are bed bugs found?

Bed bugs get their name because they are frequently found in beds, but this isn’t the only place they hide. Bed bugs can be found in any upholstered furniture, along with any type of clothing. They will even hangout on your backpacks or luggage, and follow you outside of your home. Bed bugs will also hide in nightstands, baseboards and any cracks in the walls or floors. Basically, bed bugs can be found in nearly every room of your home.

How do I get rid of bed bugs?

Keeping your house clean on a regular basis will diminish the amount of bed bugs in your home, and vacuuming everything on a daily basis will help. This includes vacuuming any cracks and crevices in your walls. After you have effectively vacuumed the entire house, dispose of the vacuum bag immediately in an outside trash can. Bed bugs can easily climb their way out of the bag, so avoid another infestation by disposing of it outside your home.

Wash your clothes and sheets in hot water that is at least 120 degrees. This will kill any bed bugs that latched themselves onto your clothing. Dry all the items on the hottest setting for at least 20 minutes, which should effectively kill all the bed bugs. For items that shouldn’t go in the washing machine, just putting them in the dryer will be as effective.

In cases of bad infestations, you may have to get rid of your mattresses and other furniture. When you do this, take them as far away from your house as possible to avoid them coming back in. Take these items to a dump instead of leaving them on your curb.

The most effective and sure fire way to get rid of the bed bugs is to hire a Las Vegas exterminator. The experts at R & C Pest Control are dedicated to making your home pest-free. If you have an exterminator come to your home on a regular basis, the bed bugs shouldn’t return. For more information about Las Vegas pest control services, contact 702.257.2847.

Dogs and cats are curious creatures. Any insect they come in encounter with, they will either try to kill or play with. What happens if your beloved pet gets stung by a bee or wasp? Here are tips for taking care of a bee sting.

Moment of the Sting

Usually if your dog or cats gets stung, the area will be tender and have swelling. Pets are most commonly stung on the paws or face, and a sting to the nose is going to be more painful for the animal. If the dog or cat was stung inside their mouth, you need to seek the services of a veterinarian as soon as possible. These stings could be very dangerous, and the swelling could block the airway. It is important to act quickly. If only the area that was stung is swollen, it is a localized reaction to the sting. You need to remove the stinger from your pet as quickly as possible, which will prevent the venom from spreading any further. The stinger can release venom into your pet for up to three minutes after being injected.

Do not try to squeeze the stinger out with your fingers. This could cause the venom sac to rupture, which would expose more venom in your pet. The most efficient way to remove a stinger is by scraping it out with a credit card. Keep a close eye on your pet and make sure the swelling does not increase or spread to other areas.

You also need to be aware of the different types of stinging insects. A bee’s stinger is designed to kill the bee after it is injected. However, a wasp can sting multiple times if provoked. If needed, contact a veterinarian. They will most likely advise you to give your pet Benadryl, and the vet will instruct you of the correct dosage based on your pet’s weight. The product must contain diphenhydramine, as anything else could be fatal for your pet.

After the Sting

After you have removed the stinger from your pet, you need to create a remedy to sooth the pain. Applying a mixture of water and baking soda to the affected area can help reduce pain. You should also apply an icepack to the wound so the swelling will go down.

You also need to watch for signs of an allergic reaction. If your pet is having difficulty breathing or the swelling has extended, you need to take your pet to a vet immediately. Also, if your pet was stung multiple times, it will require a trip to the vet.

If you have a bee or wasp problem in your home, you need to get it taken care of as soon as possible. You should avoid the possibility of your pet getting stung at all costs. There is no reason your animal should have to go through that pain. R & C Pest Control can take care of the problem at an affordable cost. The Las Vegas exterminators are dedicated to making your home insect-free. Regardless the size of the infestation, they can handle it. For more information about pest control services, contact 702.257.2847.