This time of year, mosquitoes seem to be everywhere. They are in your home, your yard, and even in your car when you are driving to work in the morning. You can’t have a picnic without them showing up. You can’t even sleep in your bed at night without waking to a couple of new […]
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How to Defend Your Property Against Mosquitoes
This time of year, mosquitoes seem to be everywhere. They are in your home, your yard, and even in your car when you are driving to work in the morning. You can’t have a picnic without them showing up. You can’t even sleep in your bed at night without waking to a couple of new […]
Mosquitoes egg larva mosquito mosquito control mosquitoes pupa
Carpenter Ants
Summer is a popular time for building things. When a new home is built, those people doing the building are called carpenters. In this blog, however, the kind of carpenter we’ll be talking about is not the kind you want working on your home. The Carpenter Ant does not construct and build in the manner […]
Subterranean Termite: behavior, habitat and diet
There are over 45 different kinds of termite species found in North America and are categorized into one of three termite groups – subterranean, dampwood or drywood. Each termite group has unique environmental requirements and behaviors that determines whether or not they live in soil and where they construct their colonies. Termites create more harm to our economy […]
What attracts cockroaches to my home?
Clean house or dirty house, it doesn’t matter when cockroaches are around. Often, cockroaches are associated with dirty homes, when in fact they are happy to be around any place that provides them with food, shelter and water. Cockroaches have simple need: food, water and shelter. Dirty homes are more likely to attract cockroaches than […]
Mosquitoes – where do they come from?
There are two main ingredients needed to produce mosquitoes: water + warm weather. If you have those two items in or around your home, then you will most likely experience mosquitoes. Mosquitoes need water to deposit their eggs. Stagnant water such as ponds, marshes and swamps provide the perfect nest for mosquito eggs. The calm […]
The stinging insects of Fredericksburg and how to identify them
The stinging insects most commonly encountered by Sigma Pest Control, in and around Fredericksburg and the surrounding area, are yellow jackets, paper wasps, European and bald-faced hornets, and honeybees. Stings and bites from these pests are common, and often result in redness and swelling in the injured area. Sometimes a sting or bite can cause […]
Carpenter, Odorous, and Pavement ants – what’s the difference?
Carpenter Ant Odorous Ant Pavement Ant Carpenter Ant Carpenter ants get their name from their nest building. They prefer to nest inside decayed, wet wood, and excavate the wood to form tunnels from which to get around. Unlike termites, carpenter ants do not eat wood, they only tunnel and chew through wood to create nests. […]
Meet the Eastern Subterranean Termite
Reticulitermes flavipes – the eastern subterranean termite is the most common termite found in North America and is responsible for as much as 80% of the money spent on termite control. These termites are survivors. For more than 55 million years they have adapted to a diversity of environments (wet, dry, hot, cold) which explains […]
Bed bug life cycle
Knowing what to look for is the first step in identifying and controlling bed bugs; this is the real gist of the article. While being able to identify a bed bug life cycle is important, it is equally important to be able to identify bed bugs altogether. Egg shape, nymph, or adult, bed bugs are […]
What diseases do mosquitoes carry? … and other interesting facts.
Few animals on Earth can ruin your outdoor fun as much as a mosquito can. They land, they bite, and before you can kill them, they take flight; with your blood as a prize. Inside the home, mosquitoes have the uncanny ability to find our bedrooms, and the persistent, high pitched hum of their wings […]
Where do cockroaches live?
These creepy crawling pests are often associated with garbage, dirty kitchens, and filth. They are also know for spreading a range of diseases and triggering asthma and other allergies. Keeping a clean house is useful and very important in order to reduce food sources used by cockroaches, but regardless of how clean your house is […]
Spider Spotlight: the Black Widow
The name, Black Widow, comes from a popular belief that the female EATS the male after mating. This is a rare occurrence and seldom happens in nature. Male black widow spiders tend to select their mates by determining if the female has eaten already to avoid being eaten themselves. The black widow spider is a […]
Mosquitoes bite, why do they do it?
Nearly everyone is sensitive to mosquito bites, but every year, during the warmer months, mosquitoes appear and so do the red, itchy welts, that usually appear after they bite. Why do they do this? All adult mosquitoes feed on the nectar of plants to get sugar. The sugar provides both male and female mosquitoes with […]
What types of Termites live in Fredericksburg?
Over 2,000 species of termites exist around the world. Lucky for us, we only have to worry about ONE type of termite – the Eastern Reticulating Subterranean Termite. Termites are known as the ‘silent killers’ because they are able to chew through wood undetected. As the ground warms, termites spring into action with the scout […]
How to handle wasps and hornets in and around your home
Warmer weather is just around the corner. That means the stinging insects, like hornets and wasps, will take flight and make their presence known at our picnics and on our front porch or deck. Beginning in June but mostly from July through October, these pests thrive in outdoor areas and can make their way into […]