Homeowners nationwide struggle with nuisance pests at different times of the year. If you find insects in your home, contact A Five Star Termite & Pest Control experts for identification. Bugs, like all living things, require food, water, and shelter to survive. You can keep your home immaculately clean, store food appropriately, and secure your trash, but pests will still find a way to take advantage of a free meal. While it is true that many insects can go without food, insects must have access to water. For this reason, pests are particularly attracted to the moisture most commonly found in the kitchen and bathroom of your home.
Where is Moisture Found in a House?
Regarding moisture, kitchens and bathrooms are the most apparent places where water is found. Your kitchen is also a smorgasbord board of crumbs, food particles, and water droplets, particularly appetizing to insects and rodents. Kitchens also tend to have much higher humidity levels than other areas of the home. Bathrooms contain multiple water sources, from showers, sinks, and tubs which tend to keep the area damp. Organic matter like hair, dead skin, and nails attract pests looking for a food source or materials to build a nest. During the hot, humid summer months, steam from the bath and shower can keep bathrooms damp, encouraging mildew growth, which many insects use as food sources. Any moist area in your home will attract insects and rodents, especially leaking pipes.
What Bugs are Attracted to Moisture?
Moisture provides an ideal habitat for many pests; some of the most common home invaders searching for water include mosquitoes, termites, ants, and cockroaches.
1. Mosquitoes: Mosquitoes can be found inside and outside your home. Mosquitoes need water to breed and mature, so items that catch water, including pots, buckets, toddler pools, or any container that holds water, make the perfect breeding ground. That being said, mosquitoes can breed inside your home with a standing water source, a forgotten vase, for example, that is undisturbed. It’s essential to remember that it only takes one mosquito to turn into a full-fledged infestation.
2. Termites: Termites can be found in the structures in and around your home, including the walls and foundation. Termites are capable of causing millions of dollars of damage to homes in San Antonio, Texas, and the surrounding areas each year. Termites eat away at wood and other cellulose products, such as paper and plaster. Subterranean termites did mud tubes searching for moisture. Termites are often found in the walls but can also utilize mud tubes under the foundation to travel back and forth between the colony to access food and water sources inside your home.
3. Ants: Ants are always on the hunt for scrapes of food and moisture, which they carry on their backs back to the colony to feed the queen and larvae. Ants can be found in kitchens where ample crumbs, water, and other food items are easily accessible. Sugar Ants are common in Texas and, when squashed, emit an unpleased odor similar to rotten coconuts. As the name implies, sugar ants (aka odorous ants) are attracted to anything sweet and areas where moisture can be found.
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To learn more about pests attracted to moisture, and to schedule an appointment for a comprehensive pest control treatment plan for your San Antonio home, contact the experts at A Five-Star Termite & Pest Control today.
