Warmer temperatures bring unwelcome house guests

By John Paul (jpaul@wsbt.com)

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Insect control companies say warmer temperatures bring out the insects and a spike in business. (WSBT photo)

By Beth Boehne

Story Created: May 25, 2009 at 2:25 PM EST

Story Updated: May 31, 2009 at 11:15 PM EST

The warmer temperatures aren't the only sign of spring. Ant hills and other crawling insects are appearing in yards across the area, and that’s leading to more calls for insect control companies.

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It's just before noon, but Nick Schmidtendorff is on his sixth call for the day.

“We've got a lot of different insects that we're battling this time of year,” he said, “so it’s definitely the busy time.”

“Right now our two most common phone calls are for ants and termites,” said Tony Young.

Young is the owner of ARAB Pest Control. He says a rise in temperatures leads to more business indoors.

“From the beginning of April until September we're 12 hours a day, 5-6 days a week,” he said.

But that means big problems outdoors.

“The swarmers are the winged reproductive stage of both ants’ and termites’ colonies coming out, aggressively foraging for not only food and moisture but a mate to start reproducing,” Young explained.

And the crawling insects are making their way right toward your home.

Schmidtendorff already found evidence of a problem outside one house.

“When you see ant hills in the yard, that’s a potential sign,” he said.

Young says some home remedies work for certain types of ants.

“As far as the wood-destroying insects, I would definitely leave that to a professional,” he said. “Carpenter ants and termites literally every year do more damage to homes than all storms combined.”

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