In early summer 2012, the Dallas Morning News reported that residents across the Dallas area were experiencing the nuisance of living with an explosion of cricket populations, caused by the mild winter weather. Will 2013 see a sea of crickets comparable to last year’s plague? How can homeowners prepare for the possibility of these pests invading their homes?

Outlook for 2013 Cricket Populations

After the relatively mild winter that Dallas has enjoyed for the 2012-2013 season, it’s likely that cricket populations will once again grow steadily in the early summer months. Homeowners should take steps to prevent crickets from entering their homes throughout the spring, in order to avoid infestations in the summer. However, it’s still possible for crickets to occasionally enter a home even if preventative measures are used.

Detecting a Cricket Infestation

Unlike most pest infestations, crickets tend to be easy to detect because of their distinctive chirp. However, it may be unclear whether one cricket or many have entered a home when the source of the chirping cannot be located. Dallas pest control inspections that are completed by a professional company can help homeowners determine whether they are dealing with a full-fledged infestation.

Preventing a Cricket Infestation

Clemson University suggests that homeowners keep crickets out of their homes by detecting points of entry and keeping these points covered at all times. Screening can be used for doors or windows that are kept open when the weather is warm.

The lawn directly around the perimeter of a building should be kept neat to discourage crickets from getting too close to a home. Lights and hiding places attract crickets, so keep porch lights, deck lighting or any other outdoor light sources off whenever possible.

Because of the difficulties associated with controlling cricket populations that have gotten out of control, contacting a professional exterminator in the Dallas area is recommended.

Whether crickets come back in Biblical proportions or stay relatively controlled throughout the summer months, households across Dallas experience pest control problems every year. If you’re dealing with infestations of crickets, termites, rodents or other common household pests, call ABC Home & Commercial Services for thorough pest control services from thoroughly-trained and knowledgeable specialists.

Scorpions are one of the most fearsome pests in Texas. These venomous arachnids crawl around homes under the cover of night and pose a serious threat when disturbed. Texas is home to 18 scorpion species, but only one is found in the Dallas area. Fortunately, none of these scorpions are known to cause fatal stings. The most common species in Texas and the only species in Dallas is the striped bark scorpion, which has two striped bands running down its back. These scorpions only measure 2 inches long, but their venom is packed with neurotoxins that cause intense pain and swelling.

Scorpions at Night

Closely related to ticks and spiders, scorpions have evolved to withstand desert-like conditions. To conserve moisture and regulate their temperatures, scorpions hide in dark places during the day and prowl for food at night. Because scorpions are nocturnal, infestations often go unnoticed. One of the best ways to identify hot spots is by using a black light. This method is ideal for detecting outdoor populations, as well as scorpions that are living in attics and indoor spaces. Scorpions living in attics are especially dangerous because they migrate into air conditioned spaces as the weather changes.

Managing Scorpions

The first step to keeping your family safe is removing leaf litter and materials that scorpions inhabit. The Texas Agricultural Extension emphasizes outdoor prevention measures because scorpions are difficult to control with insecticides. To protect your property, remove dead vegetation, lumber, logs and leaf litter promptly. Trim all grass and vegetation around the foundation. Place garbage and recycling in sealed, elevated containers. Homeowners are also urged to repair window screens, replace weather stripping and caulk cracks around pipes, window frames and eaves.

Exterminating Scorpions

Scorpions are not easy to exterminate. Therefore, it’s advisable to hire a Dallas pest control expert to address the problem. Scorpions are difficult to treat with insecticides because they hide in deep cracks during the day and adults have a thick exoskeleton that gives them additional protection. To reach the entire population, regular insecticide applications are required. Exterminators apply a perimeter of powerful insecticides to the foundation and exterior walls. They’ll also treat windows, door frames, eaves and other entry points.

Scorpion Stings

To avoid a venomous sting, always wear protective gloves and full-coverage shoes when working outdoors. If anyone is stung by a scorpion, apply ice to the sting and have the victim stay still. Monitor the sting victim for signs of an allergic reaction. The Central Texas Poison Center instructs residents to call their local branch if they have been stung or have questions. Only call 911 if the victim cannot breathe or is having a serious medical emergency.

If you have noticed scorpions in or around your home, call ABC Home & Commercial Services promptly. As temperatures rise, these venomous arachnids will be making their presence known. Protect your home by making the first move now.

As a restaurant owner, your worst nightmare is making a customer ill with your food and that’s exactly what could happen if just one disease-carrying cockroach or rat gains entry into your establishment. Almost every episode of “Kitchen Nightmares” features a horrifying scene of Gordon Ramsay pulling a refrigerator or grill away from the wall to reveal a sticky film of grease, rodent droppings and hundreds of cockroaches. The restaurant owners on the show often react with shock, but if they had been keeping up with basic sanitation practices and other preventive measures, the infestation never would have happened. If you suspect that you have a pest problem or want to prevent one, ABC Home & Commercial Services can ensure that your next health inspection doesn’t result in your restaurant being featured on television for all of the wrong reasons.

Preventing a Pest Problem in Your Restaurant Kitchen

To prevent pest infestations in your commercial kitchen, you must first identify and eliminate all possible entry points that bugs and rodents may use. Make sure that door sweeps and window screens are functional and in good repair. You should also seal cracks on the outer and inner walls of the restaurant as well as any open spaces around water or stove pipes. Sanitation and proper food storage are also key factors in preventing infestations. You shouldn’t leave food sitting out any longer than it takes to prepare and cook it and spills should be cleaned up as soon as they happen. You should also perform a thorough cleaning and sanitization of all visible kitchen surfaces after each service. Additionally, do not wait until the health inspector is due for a visit to remove appliances and all other items from the kitchen and perform a deep cleaning. This task should be performed at least once a week.

Signs of a Kitchen Infestation

Often, the signs of an infestation are obvious—you’ll see a roach crawl across a pile of dirty dishes or find ants in a bag of sugar. However, you may need to dig deeper to spot a problem before it escalates, especially if you’re dealing with a rodent infestation. Those droppings and urine stains hidden in dark corners could indicate that you have dozens of rats living inside your walls. Rather than do all of the detective work yourself, call upon our trusted professionals at ABC Home & Commercial Services to assess the situation and devise a treatment plan.

Your Only Choice for Pest Control in Dallas

To keep your commercial kitchen in great shape, choose ABC Home the same Dallas pest control experts you trust to keep your home free of pests. Our pest control experts will help you eliminate infestation risk factors so that you can get back to the business of serving safe and delicious food to your customers.

With only one confirmed sighting in Texas, the brown marmorated stink bug has yet to become a pervasive presence in our great state, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t encounter one in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in the near future. As expert hitchhikers, these non-native insects have already invaded several states and left a number of ruined crops in their wake. ABC Home & Commercial Services wants you to know the facts about this pesky insect.

Origins of Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs

The first North American sighting of brown marmorated stink bugs was in Pennsylvania in 1998, and since then, they have spread to several East Coast states and as far west as California and Oregon. They are native to Japan, China, Taiwan and Korea, but researchers have yet to discover how they managed to hitch a ride to the United States. Experts do know, however, that they made their recent trip to Corpus Christi by way of a trailer that was transported from Pennsylvania.

The Problem With Marmorated Stink Bugs

Brown marmorated stink bugs pose no threat to humans or animals, other than the foul odors they emit when they enter homes in the fall and winter to escape the cold. However, they are agricultural pests that cause extensive damage to plants and food crops, including soybeans, corn, and tree fruits. As a sucking insect, the brown marmorated stink bug pierces the skins and outer surfaces of fruits and vegetables, damaging the appearance of crops and often rendering them inedible.

Invasive Species

Because these insects are not native to Texas or the United States, they are considered an invasive species. This means that they do not fit into the local ecosystem or have natural predators to keep their populations in check, which allows them to reproduce rapidly and inflict widespread, costly damage to the environment. Other invasive insects that have disrupted local ecosystems in Texas include the red imported fire ant, the European earwig and the citrus root weevil.

Pest Control in Dallas

Brown marmorated stink bugs are similar in appearance to our native stink bugs in Texas and have a shield-like shape. If you spot one in your home or garden, contact ABC Home & Commercial. Our entomologists will determine if the stink bug is a native or invasive species, and our Dallas pest control experts will eliminate them from your home and identify and seal entry points to prevent them from invading your space again.

Some pests are obvious and leave clear signs of entry. However, the less conspicuous pests lurking in the cracks and walls can still cause problems for homeowners.

How Do These Pests Get Inside?

Regardless of size, home-invading critters can utilize the smallest cracks and the narrowest holes to enter the home. For example, rodents only need an opening large enough for their skulls, a hole that can be as small as your fingertip.

Additional Problem Areas

• Door sweeps
• Door and window casings
• Baseboards
• Seals where utility lines enter the home
• Loose wallpaper

Careful home maintenance can prevent many major pest-related problems. For more information on how pests can physically enter the home, visit the University of Kentucky’s guide to pest-proofing a home.

Signs of a Hidden Pest Invasion

Even the most secretive of pests will leave some indication of their presence. A thorough inspection of the house can reveal the pest problem.

• Droppings can be a huge red flag when it comes to potential pests. Depending on the organism, droppings can range from tiny pepper-like specks to larger elongated pellets. Any sighting of potential droppings is worth investigating.
• Some pests will leave evidence of their work. Small wood shavings and wood dust can indicate pest activity. Small holes or gnawed wood surfaces will often accompany the wood shavings.
• Noises can indicate the presence of a pest. Rodents frequently make scratching noises that can be heard through the walls and under floorboards.
• Unexplained stains can indicate pest activity.
• Nesting material is fairly common with some pests, particularly small mammals. Nest material might consist of torn paper, pieces of fabric, hair, and other matter.
• Some insects will shed their wings at some point in the life cycle and a concentration of wings can indicate an infestation.

The signs listed above are just a sample of some of the possible indicators of an infestation. Seeking expert advice in detecting and eradicating pests is the best course of action. ABC Home & Commercial Services provides pest control to Dallas property owners. Having an exterminator/pest control specialist in Dallas inspect and protect the home can prevent damage and eliminate pest-induced stress.

Those majestic old trees on your property have been growing just fine on their own for decades or even longer, so why do you need a tree service? Trees will perform self-maintenance if left to their own devices in a wooded environment, but the coexistence of trees and people in cities and residential areas requires human intervention to ensure safety and prevent damage to homes, landscaping and the tree itself. For a harmonious existence between you and your trees, turn to the Dallas lawn care and tree care specialists at ABC Home & Commercial Services.

Benefits to Your Home and Lawn

Overgrown trees may need pruning for several reasons, such as providing clearance for power lines, buildings, homes or people. Trees may also need to be thinned at the crown to increase the amount of sunlight and air that reaches the foliage, encouraging optimal growth. Thinning additionally helps shed more sunlight on the landscaping below the tree. One of the most common pruning techniques, cleaning, is used to remove diseased or dead branches from the tree to prevent them from falling onto a person, car, house or other structure during a storm. Exposed tree roots are another issue that can be addressed to restore the health and beauty of your landscaping.

Benefits to the Tree

While improper pruning can negatively affect the growth of the tree and even shorten its life, proper pruning promotes ideal tree health. Young trees that are maintained by tree care professionals will grow into strong, mature trees that hold the proper shape with very little maintenance. Mature trees that are routinely removed of damaged and dead branches and thinned to allow for good sun filtration and wind penetration will live a long and healthy life.

Dallas Lawn Care and Tree Maintenance

A single, improper pruning cut can cause undue stress to your tree and allow diseases to spread, so don’t take chances with just any tree service. You may also want to consider installing new sod if your lawn has experienced drought, fungus, insect damage or general deterioration. New sod is beneficial to your lawn because it increases oxygen generation, controls erosion, and is more appealing to the eye.  Contact the same professionals you trust with your Dallas lawn care, landscaping and pest control. With a few minor adjustments today, ABC Home & Commercial Services can prevent future damage to your home, lawn and trees.

Buying a real Christmas tree this holiday season offers the pine smell and a beautiful base for decorations, but a live tree could be harboring pests. Learn how to identify insects and take measures to get rid of insects that have already hitched a ride into your home on your Christmas tree.

Types of Insects Found in Christmas Trees

Aphids are insects that are commonly found on trees and can quickly cause damage to a tree. These pests are small, so it may be hard to detect them without careful observation.

The warmth of a home can encourage aphid eggs that have been deposited on a tree to hatch. The University of California Agricultural and Natural Resources guide provides visual examples to assist in identification.

Mites enjoy hitching a ride on Christmas trees, and these pests can exasperate allergy issues that occupants of a home may have.

Praying mantis eggs are not uncommon on Christmas trees. As with aphids, the warmth of a home will allow the eggs to hatch.

Looking for Insects in Christmas Trees

Check the trunk and branches of the tree for insects, and take care to check both the top and underside of the branches.

It may be difficult to spot small insects in a tree, but there are some signs of insect activity that can be detected. Look for any holes that have been burrowed into the trunk of the tree. Although these holes can be small, a distinctive sawdust trail is often visible underneath the holes.

The amount of insects that are introduced into the home through a Christmas tree can be reduced by shaking the tree before taking it home. Make sure to shake hard to dislodge insects from hiding places.

Getting Rid of Christmas Tree Insects in the Home

Pesticides should not be used directly on a Christmas tree because they are flammable. Some bugs can simply be allowed to live out their short life cycles, but an infestation may occur if a high number of insects made it into the house by hitching a ride on a tree.

If you need assistance with a pest problem in the home, contact an extermination specialist in Dallas for help. ABC Home & Commercial Services provides rodent removal and pest control in Dallas to help homeowners and business clients get rid of insects that could cause damage or promote disease.

You get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and find a long, silver-colored bug slithering in the sink. The next day, you rummage through a box in the garage and are horrified to find the same type of creepy crawler feasting on the binding of your favorite book. What are these pesky creatures that somehow manage to make your skin crawl as much as cockroaches? They’re silverfish, and although they are harmless to humans, they can cause considerable damage to your possessions and contaminate your food supply if you have an infestation.

Appearance, Habitat and Diet

Silverfish are insects that are long and shaped like a teardrop, and their color varies from brown to silver. Adult silverfish can grow up to an inch in length, and they have two antennae on the head and three projections on the tail end. While they can survive for long periods without food, they generally settle into dark, moist areas where they can feed on starchy foods, paper, natural fabrics and mold. You can find these pests all over your home, including the kitchen pantry, closets, the basement, the bathroom and the attic.

Life Cycle

Silverfish can live anywhere from two to eight years, and females lay eggs throughout their adult lives (up to 50 at a time) and at any time of the year. The eggs take three weeks to hatch, and silverfish reach adulthood within four to six weeks of hatching. These nocturnal creatures move very quickly and often go unnoticed until their quick reproductive cycles allow for a massive infestation.

Controlling and Preventing Silverfish Infestation

While do-it-yourself pest control measures may kill the insects that are visible, they can’t touch the countless others that are lurking in the dark corners of your home, not to mention the eggs that are about to hatch. To truly get to the root of the problem, you need Dallas exterminators you can trust. Our specialists at ABC Home & Commercial Services have the skills and experience to fully assess your infestation and will not only eliminate your problem but also recommend measures you can take to prevent a future infestation.

Dallas Pest Control

Stop these creatures from eating away at your valuable possessions once and for all by calling on the most trusted pest control experts in north Texas. For the best pest control in the Dallas area, including Arlington and Irving, contact ABC today.

Pests are the natural enemies of homeowners, but pests can put a serious damper on a business’s success and reputation. Visible pests are an obvious issue, but business owners should not underestimate the full impact of pests in the business place. For the reasons outlined below, it is important that local businesses seek appropriate pest control options in Dallas.

First and foremost, pests can lead to swift and certain negative attention. Some customers will only make a scene on the premises, but many customers will take their disgust straight to the public. With the overwhelming presence of review websites, social media, and other internet outlets, it is extremely easy to spread a negative review. Since internet review sites are so popular, this could seriously impact potential customers, and many businesses with bad reviews know that those reviews are basically permanent. Additionally, the prevalence of smart phones and camera phones means that customers can easily provide photographic evidence of the pest problem.

Pests can cause very expensive physical damage to a business. Some pests, such as termites or rodents, can cause structural damage to the building, leading to costly repairs. Pests can also destroy inventory and even hard copy records. Additionally, in the case of restaurants, pests can contaminate food. The publicity for making someone ill is not any better than the negative attention for having visible pests on the premises.

Some pests are disease vectors, and illnesses can affect the owner, employees and even customers. Not only is this a danger to health and productivity, but there are also potential legal consequences of exposing other people to contamination. Luckily, steps can be taken to prevent and treat an infestation.

For more information on the damage caused by pests in a place of business, visit Bugs.com.

When it comes to quality exterminators, Dallas business owners have no need to fear. ABC Home & Commercial Services provides the Dallas area with effective pest control and ensures that a business’s reputation is protected.

A Bug-filled Business Will Soon Be Out of Business

With fall knocking on your door and winter just around the corner, you put a lot of effort into making your home nice and comfortable. Well not only does that make it warm and inviting for friends and guests, but for those UN-invited pests as well. Pest invasion is not exclusive to warm weather; the autumn and winter season has just as many nuisances as the spring and summer.

According to the NPMA (National Property Management Association), rodents alone invade an estimated 21 million homes in the U.S. each winter. While rodent control is a concern to homeowners, that estimation does not include snakes and various insects. All types of creatures will find that cozy little house of yours to be the perfect home away from home during the autumn and winter weather.

Rodents like mice and rats are burrowers, which means that warm, soft insulation in your attic and between your walls is perfect for giving birth to a small litter. The damage these rodents can do require complete removal of your walls and insulation that ends in money spent for hiring a crew, time spent moving things out of rooms that are “under construction,” and the inconvenience of learning things the hard way.

An insect is not unlike any other creature on this planet—they too strive to survive no matter what, which includes the need to breed. The winter weather is just as devastating to the cold- blooded insect as it is to a warm-blooded rodent, which means sharing your warm home is perfectly acceptable to them. During adverse environmental conditions insects go through a phase of dormancy, so the crevices of your home are vacation destinations for these desperate little bugs.

While the holidays may require you to play host to undesirable guests like in-laws, that doesn’t mean you have to share your home with wintering critters. Dallas exterminators are on call and ready to rid your home of those pests and their plans to turn your home into a retreat. ABC Home & Commercial Services in the Dallas-Fort Worth area are pest control specialists. We are the largest independently owned and operated pest control company in the state of Texas. ABC is the right choice for making your home pest free for the holidays.