Killeen has various yard pests, including ants, crickets, beetles, and paper wasps. If you’re unlucky enough to have yard pests, it’s vital that you react now before they start breeding and further take over your yard. So, how do you get rid of these yard pests?
If you have pests in your yard, there are several steps you can take to get rid of them:
- Pest Identification
- Identifying Common Killeen Yard Pests
- Pest Prevention
Pest Identification
Before you begin any treatments to get rid of yard pests, you must identify what pests you have. While it’s tempting to start treating all pests in your yard, many are actually beneficial to your yard and the environment.
Only five to fifteen percent of bugs in your yard are considered a threat, so ideally, the other bugs in your yard can be left alone to continue benefiting the plants in your yard. For example, spiders and scorpions are helpful to your garden because they eat other harmful pests that are far more damaging to your yard.
Let’s take a look at some of the most common, malicious yard pests in the Killeen area so that you can identify which pests you would benefit from treating.
Common Yard Pests in Killeen
Ants
Ants are a massive problem in Texas. There are a large number of ant species in the Texas area, including acrobat ants, fire ants, carpenter ants, odorous house ants, and rover ants.
Ants can quickly multiply into huge colonies, which can cause large amounts of damage to your yard. Ants live underground and damage plants through the mounds of soil they create. In addition, ant tunnels also dry out the ground, which can kill your yard plants.
Fire ants are a terrible nuisance to human enjoyment of the outdoors because of their infamously painful bites. Most people develop a local reaction that looks like a raised, red welt that may blister. Some people will experience a sizable local reaction where the bite sight swells and occurs alongside extreme itchiness and swelling. At worst, a small percentage of people may experience anaphylaxis, which is a severe allergic reaction where a person struggles to breathe. Anaphylaxis can be life-threatening if not treated immediately.
While fire ants aren’t necessarily more destructive to the yard than other ant species in the area, they can make enjoying the outdoors difficult and even dangerous.
Crickets
Crickets are another common yard pest in the Killeen area. Unfortunately, crickets can cause a lot of damage to young plants and flowers.
A single cricket will do minor damage to your yard. However, a cricket outbreak can quickly cause massive damage to your garden.
Beetles
Beetles are highly destructive pests that can quickly damage plants and crops in your garden. Adult beetles can chew leaves and roots, which can stunt a plant’s growth and cause it to die.
Stinging Insects
Texas is also home to various stinging insects, including bees and wasps. Paper wasps are particularly common in Texas. To identify them, look for wasps with a pinched waist and six thin legs. Their black or brown bodies have prominent yellow or orange markings.
Unfortunately, wasps are not good pests to have around because their stings are quite painful. Their stings can even cause anaphylaxis, a dangerous allergic reaction that may cause fatality in humans. Some wasps feed insects to their young. Unfortunately, they also can sting and become aggressive when a human is in the area, so the benefits wasps may provide your garden are often outweighed by their aggressive nature.
Pest Prevention
Prevention is always better than treatment.
Here are a couple of ways you can keep your yard and garden protected from yard pests:
- Plant many types of hardy plants
- Clean up any food supplies, such as fallen nuts or fruits
- Pull dead plants and weeds from your yard regularly
- Get rid of nesting materials, such as paper, cardboard, or garbage
- Trim tall grass and plants
- Examine your shed or garage for any holes or entryways for pests and seal off these entry points
If you have a pest problem in your yard, don’t wait to call a pest control company in the Killeen, Texas, area.