You may have noticed an influx of pests in and around your home or business during the fall. Pests come inside for different reasons, like mating or raising their offspring. Some are seeking shelter, water and food. Regardless of their reason for coming inside, it’s much healthier and safer for you to keep them out!

These eight pests are the most common fall invaders in New York. Learn about each type to prevent them from entering your building and correctly respond if they do. If you are struggling with a pest invasion, contact a professional pest control service to help you become pest-free again.

Spider Infestations

While some spiders live inside your home permanently, others prefer to live outside. House spiders tend to be spindly, while outside spiders are often beefy, hairy and more likely to send a tingle down your spine.

Unlike many other pests, spiders don’t come inside to get warm. They can survive in cold temperatures due to several amazing survival mechanisms, like entering a temporary state of dormancy.

If you experience an influx of creepy spiders during the fall, they’re most likely looking for a mate. There are several things you can do to prevent seeing spiders inside:

• Seal up any cracks or crevices around windows and doors.
• Keep windows and doors closed during the fall season.
• Treat your home’s interior and exterior for spiders.

Wolf spiders are a common species that comes indoors during the fall. This species can get large, and they eat insects like flies and ants. While they sometimes come inside accidentally, they may also follow the pests they’re hunting into a building.

Although you can spray for spiders, it’s most effective to remove their food sources and ensure buildings are sealed against entry. Treating an ant or fly infestation inside a building often resolves a spider invasion simultaneously.

Stink Bug Prevention

If you’ve ever crushed a stink bug, you’ll understand the source of their name. These insects have a brown shield shape and tend to fly around the lights inside buildings, and they make a distinct buzzing sound while flying.

The unpleasant smell they create when crushed is a chemical signal that warns other stink bugs of danger. Because stink bugs smell, many people prefer to flush them down the toilet after catching them.

Over the winter, stink bugs enter an inactive state called torpor. They look for a place to stay that’s warm, dark and humid — sound familiar? Attics, basements, closets and other rooms inside your house provide an ideal location for stink bugs to spend the winter.

Unfortunately, stink bugs release a pheromone that attracts other stink bugs once they’ve found a place to stay. That’s because they like to gather in groups over the winter. If you’ve ever cleaned out your attic or closet and found multitudes of stink bugs hiding in the same place, this is why!

Here are several ways to get rid of stink bugs:

• Set soapy water near lights to catch and drown stink bugs.
• Spray repellent, white vinegar or a water and mint essential oil mix on the outside of the building to prevent entry.
• Use spray or fog inside spaces where stink bugs are hiding.

Although they’re harmless, stink bugs can be a nuisance. Keeping buildings tightly shut and sealing up any cracks during the fall can help prevent these bugs from entering.

Cluster Fly Management

During the fall, cluster flies are another pest that comes inside. Named for their practice of grouping, these flies often clump together in the sun along screens, windows or a building’s exterior.

Cluster flies enter buildings through cracks around windows, attic vents and electrical wiring. They breed outside during the warm months and migrate inside to keep warm during the winter. When it heats up inside a building, they’ll try to exit and often gather along windows.

Although cluster flies may look like common houseflies, they have several different characteristics. Most noticeably, they fly more slowly and are darker in color. Cluster flies can be irritating because of their constant buzzing and large size.

Unlike other flies, cluster flies don’t reproduce inside your home. They don’t eat garbage or spread disease like other fly species. However, an infestation of cluster flies can be incredibly irritating. Because flies generally carry germs, cluster flies can give businesses a bad reputation.

Treating cluster flies involves several steps. The first defense against cluster flies is to seal them out with caulking, mesh and other barriers along any cracks in a building’s exterior. If they’re already inside, you can treat cluster flies with fumigation, lights, bait and traps.

Ladybug Invasions

Like stink bugs, ladybugs get inside homes in the fall to safely enter an inactive phase during the winter. You likely won’t notice these insects until it gets warm outside. As temperatures rise, they’ll crawl out of the walls and start congregating around light.

Ladybugs are attracted to light-colored houses and prefer homes with lots of sun from southern or southwest exposure. Once inside, they often form groups along windows and may get trapped in light fixtures. Although ladybugs are usually considered harmless, some people are allergic to them.

If you’re experiencing an influx of ladybugs or you want to prevent them from taking over your building, there are a few things you can try:

• Seal any cracks and crevices in the building’s exterior to prevent entry.
• Keep plants that attract ladybugs far away from your building.
• Hire a pest control company to spray fog to deter ladybugs.

Once ladybugs are in your home, you can set light traps to catch and remove them. Asian lady beetles look and behave very similarly to ladybugs. You can use the same treatment methods to prevent and remove both species from your home or business.

Boxelder Bug Solutions

Boxelder bugs get their name from the boxelder trees they spend a lot of time on. These insects eat the fluid in leaves and seed pods from boxelder, ash and maple trees. Boxelder bugs are distinctive looking — they’re the shape of a seed and have black and red bodies.

They grow to about ½ inch long and come inside during the fall for warmth. Like stink bugs, they enter an inactive phase and then come out of their hiding places once it gets warm in the spring. Although these pests are not toxic or dangerous, boxelder bugs tend to come inside in large numbers.

When they all emerge at once, it can be overwhelming. Unfortunately, cutting down or removing boxelder trees from your yard won’t necessarily keep boxelder bugs away. They can fly for several miles looking for shelter.

Like many other insects, they’re attracted to buildings with warm south- or southwest-facing walls. If you live in an area affected by boxelder bugs, there are several steps you can take to manage these pests:

• Seal any cracks or small openings in the exterior of your building.
• Hire a pest control company to spray the exterior of your home or facility.
• Trap boxelder bugs inside with soap traps or vacuum them up.

If you vacuum boxelder bugs out of your building, seal the debris in a bag and take it outside promptly. Vacuuming may not kill these insects, and they can crawl back out. Seal the vacuum debris inside a bag to prevent their escape.

Centipede Treatment

Centipedes come inside during the fall to escape cold outdoor temperatures. They like moisture, so you’ll often find them in bathrooms, laundry rooms, basements or other spaces with accessible water.

Because they’re nocturnal hunters, centipedes usually enter buildings after dusk. These pests don’t spread disease, and they will bite only if they feel threatened or cornered.

Centipedes make most people’s skin crawl, and spying one zipping along the floor can be unpleasant — there’s just something about a centipede’s speed and their many legs that can be unsettling. Thankfully, there are several practical ways to treat and remove centipedes!

Start by ensuring any exterior entryways are tightly sealed to prevent entry. Centipedes can enter your house for warmth and may stay for food if they find plenty of spiders and small insects inside. Keeping your building clean and pest-free will discourage centipedes from wanting to live there.

You should also keep your home dry. If there’s significant moisture in your bathroom or basement, use a dehumidifier to reduce the humidity. Centipedes don’t like dry spaces and will avoid them. When you find a centipede inside, you can vacuum it up and then take the debris outside promptly.

Silverfish Control

Like centipedes, silverfish like damp environments like bathrooms and basements. These insects are named for their silvery color and movement when walking. Their body is fish-shaped, with a round head and thin, tapering end. They have three tendrils that stick out behind them.

While silverfish don’t carry disease, they can damage personal property like books, furniture and clothing. They eat carbs and may chew holes in natural fiber fabrics like cotton, linen and wool. Silverfish also chew on the glue found in old books.

Unlike many other household pests, silverfish do reproduce indoors. If you have a silverfish infestation, the population can grow quickly inside your building. When you see silverfish or notice damage from them inside, it’s important to treat them quickly.

Treatment options include:

• Removing their food sources like dust, clutter, carbs and moisture.
• Sealing any exterior cracks in your building to prevent entry.
• Calling a professional pest control company for additional support.

If your silverfish infestation has grown out of control, reach out to a pest control company. They can help you quickly remove these insects and keep them from causing more damage.

Rodent Response

Unfortunately, rats and mice also often come inside during the fall. They may migrate indoors to escape cold temperatures or find more abundant food sources. Rodents do carry disease and are extremely unpleasant to find in your building.

You’ll know rodents are inside your building if you see one, find a nest or discover damage they’ve caused. Another sign of rodents is finding their excrement — rats tend to choose a specific place to leave droppings, while mice shed droppings wherever they please.

Like other pests, the best way to eliminate rodents is to eradicate their food source. If they can’t access food and water inside your home, they’ll go somewhere else to find it. In addition to making all food rodent-proof, you can take additional steps to get rodents out of your building:

• Set up traps inside with baited food to catch rodents.
• Seal the exterior of your building so rats can’t access it anymore.
• Keep garbage, compost piles and wood piles far away from your building.

Sometimes, rodents will live inside a building for shelter and then travel outside for food, or vice versa. Call a professional pest control company if you’re having trouble getting rid of rodents. They can help you quickly eliminate indoor rodents, keeping your building clean and people-friendly.

Preventive Measures for Fall Pest Exclusion

While pest needs and habits differ, all pests come inside in search of food, water and shelter. If you make your building an inhospitable place for pests, you can save yourself a lot of time and trouble.

Here are several steps you can take to exclude multiple kinds of pests at once:

• Maintain your building’s exterior. Seal up any cracks or crevices so pests can’t get inside. You can use caulk, mesh and door sweeps to help prevent pests.
• Store food in pest-proof containers. Many pests can get inside the cardboard containers you buy at the store. To truly deter pests, keep your kitchen crumb-free and put food inside glass, steel or hard plastic containers.
• Eliminate excess moisture. Many pests like damp conditions, and they all need water to survive. They’re less likely to stay if they can’t find water inside your home. Use a dehumidifier and deal with any leaks quickly.

When dealing with pests, it’s important to treat the root of the problem. For example, centipedes often come inside to eat ants or other pests in your building. By treating the ants, you can get rid of the centipedes too.

What Is Integrated Pest Management?

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs are the most reliable, effective and eco-friendly approaches to controlling pests in your home or business. IPM involves proactive instead of reactive pest management to prevent infestations and problems before they happen.

The pest technicians at Pestech Pest Solutions will create a customized IPM plan for your residential or commercial property so you can enjoy a pest-free environment all year.

Schedule an Inspection With Pestech Pest Solutions Today

Enjoy the changing season without looking over your shoulder for unwanted pests! At Pestech Pest Solutions, we serve families and businesses in Hudson Valley and Central New York. We’ve been protecting our customers from pest problems for over 25 years.

Our goal is to work with you to remove pests and preserve healthy living conditions in your home or business. Our technicians have a reputation for wonderful customer service and will work with your schedule.

Contact us to schedule your free inspection and enjoy this fall pest-free!