Beneficial Bugs Help With Pest Control Treatment

Many people are afraid of spiders — who remembers the movie “Arachnophobia”? It doesn’t matter how big or small they are; something about their eight legs and poisonous reputation is enough to send a lot of folks to the other side of the room. Bugs and insects in general are unpopular with humans, which is why many homeowners sign up for a regular pest control treatment plan in Houston.

But some bugs and insects are around for a particular reason, and maybe, just maybe, they aren’t so bad after all. Seriously – keep reading! Spiders, lizards, geckos, and a few other types of bugs and insects can be beneficial to your home. In fact, without certain types of spiders and geckos around your home could possibly become infested with a whole different crop of critters.

“There are many bugs and insects that help me out because they help control the mosquito population,” said John Moore Services Pest ControlManager Brian Menn. “Our Houston climate is a breeding ground for a lot of different bugs. But having spiders, lizards, and geckos around can reduce the population of some really annoying insects.”

Geckos

Geckos are reptiles and a part of the lizard family, and there are over 5,900 different species of them. While it might make you a little uneasy to see one crawling around inside your home, next time you see one you might want to consider yourself lucky. Geckos feed off of mosquitos, spiders, roaches, and a variety of other flying insects. Having a few geckos around your home means that the population of these other harmful bugs and insects will not be as high.

Typically they like to hang around outside of the home in places like the garage and in bushes and trees. But it isn’t uncommon to see one or two inside your home from time to time, and they often get inside through small holes or cracks around your house. They are nocturnal, which means as soon as it gets dark they begin to search around your yard for food.

“Geckos are not harmful to humans at all and they protect us from other bug populations getting out of control,” said Menn. “We don’t even have a way of treating the home for geckos because they are really no threat. But if people do not like them then the only way to make sure they won’t get inside the home is to caulk any small openings around all doors and windows.”

Spiders

Just like geckos, spiders are beneficial because they too have an appetite for bugs and insects. In fact, certain spiders eat geckos. But there is one spider in particular that is very common in Houston and does a great deal for the home, and that is the Yellow Garden Spider.

Its long legs, impressively intricate webs, and ominous black and yellow coloring automatically make one assume that it is poisonous, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. They make large webs in wind-free areas of the backyard, often in trees or near fences that can block breezes from destroying their home. And sometimes these webs can be as large as 2 feet in diameter. But it is their web that makes them beneficial because they use it to catch their dinner. And lucky for you, they like to eat all the annoying flying insects you hate like flies, wasps, June bugs, and mosquitoes.

You may not want spiders and geckos inside your home, but having them around outside isn’t such a bad thing. But even with them around it is still a good idea to get your home sprayed for other bugs and insects a few times a year. And with the cold weather here, you should also be focused onrodent-proofing your home because rodents like to be warm just like we do! If you have a pest problem that is out of control, or any questions regarding beneficial bugs, call the expert pest control technicians at John Moore Services. We can help keep the beneficial bugs around and the bad bugs out!