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David R. Hoffman
Specialist: Bedbugs, Termites
Phone: 513-602-5424


David S. Hoffman
Specialist: Animal Control, Bedbugs
Phone: 513-602-0274


Merlin's Pest Control Shop
DIY Products Sold to General Public
Bedbugs, Ants, Rodents, Cockroaches
Phone: 513-432-8622

Common Pests

Pests are everywhere. They are on your body right now. They are living inside you. Pests are something that we cannot escape. We can, however, control them.

This is a simple list of just a few pests that may be lurking around inside your home. This page has scientific information, as well as our own spin on each pest.

Ant

Ants are social insects, related to wasps and bees. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than 12,500 out of an estimated total of 22,000 species have been classified. They are easily identified by their elbowed antennae and a distinctive node-like structure that forms a slender waist. A few ants classified as pests include the pavement ant, yellow crazy ant, sugar ants, the Pharaoh ant, carpenter ants, Argentine ant, odorous house ants, red imported fire ant and European fire ant.

Most ants are harmless, although there are a few dangerous varieties. Fire ants are a kind of wingless wasp that has been known to kill humans. Carpenter ants, while probably cannot kill you directly, can chew through important areas in your home's woodwork and cost thousands of dollars in damage.

Cockroach

Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattaria. There are about 4,500 species of cockroach, of which 30 species are associated with human habitations and about four species are well known as pests. Most kinds of cockroaches don't even bother mankind, but the few species that do bother us bother us so much they make up for the 4,496 species that don't.

Among the best-known pest species are the American cockroach, which is about 1.2 in long, the German cockroach, about 1/2 in long, the Asian cockroach, also about 1/2 in in length, and the Oriental cockroach, about 1 in.

While oriential, American, and asian rarely hurt us, German cockroaches do. They are sometimes called "Kitchen Roaches" since they harbor where food is. Diseases spread from these can kill humans. Necrotizing fasciitis, otherwise known as flesh-eating disease, has been associated with German cockroaches.

Bedbug

Bedbugs are small hemotophagious (blood eating) parasitic insects. The term usually refers to species that prefer to feed on human blood, although there are many kinds of "bedbugs". All insects in this family live by feeding exclusively on the blood of warm-blooded animals. The name 'bedbug' is derived from the insect's preferred habitat of houses and especially beds or other areas where people sleep. Bedbugs, though not strictly nocturnal, are mainly active at night and are capable of feeding unnoticed on their hosts.

In heavy cases, their feces left behind can be thick enough to harbor some nasty diseases, such as the bacteria MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), which can be fatal. Diseases spread by bedbugs include Lyme Disease, Hepititus B, and American Trypanosomiasis (Chagas Disease).

Raccoon

The common raccoon is a medium-sized mammal native to North America. It has a body length of 16 to 28 in and a body weight of 8 to 20 lb. That's about the size of a beagle hound.

The raccoon is usually nocturnal and is omnivorous, with a diet consisting of about 40% invertebrates, 33% plant foods, and 27% vertebrates. Most people picture raccoons as only living out of trash cans, but they eat just about anything.

It has a grayish coat, of which almost 90% is dense underfur, which insulates against cold weather. Two of its most distinctive features are its extremely dexterous front paws and its facial mask, which are themes in the mythology of several Native American tribes.

Raccoons are noted for their intelligence, with studies showing that they are able to remember the solution to tasks up to three years later. The original habitats of the raccoon forests of North America, but due to their adaptability they have extended their range to mountainous areas, coastal marshes, and urban areas (urbaniziation), where many homeowners consider them to be pests.

Raccoon's can spread very serious illnesses. One is rabies, and rabies is fatal. Only one rabies related human death by spreading directly from raccoon is documented. Of course, if a rabies stricken raccoon bites a dog and then the dog bites a human...

Squirrel

Squirrels are highly agile arboreal rodents.  They are incredibly fast. The tree squirrel is part of the genus Sciurus, which is native to the eastern and midwestern United States, but in Ohio there are over seven squirrel species.  They are incredibly adaptive and can live on every continent except Antartica, just like raccoons.

Squirrels are very aggressive when they feel in danger, and can seriously harm humans. Their claws are sharp and their jaws hold a set of rodent incisors that can bite to the bone. It is highly suggested to call Animal Control to deal with these rodents. Don't underestimate their size.

Termites

Termites are a group of social insects that are polyneopterous, which means that according to scientific classification, they are related to cockroaches and mantids. Along with ants and some bees and wasps, termites divide labor among gender lines, produce overlapping generations and take care of young collectively.

Termites mostly feed on dead plant material, generally in the form of wood, leaf litter, soil, or animal dung, and about 10% of the estimated 4,000 species are economically significant as pests that can cause serious structural damage to buildings, crops or plantation forests. Don't let that number fool you, as typically one termite colony has enough termites to fill an entire pick-up truck bed.

Termites have also been shown to actually farm fungus for consumption. They grow fungus in a chamber, and when the fungus is ripe enough, they can use it to sustain themselves.