The 8 Most Common Summer Pests in Florida

June 20th, 2021

Most Common Summer Pests in Florida

Bugs are a constant issue here in Florida due to our warm, sunny, and moist weather. It creates a perfect environment for bugs to flourish, and flourish they do! If you live in Florida, you’re almost guaranteed to make contact with one of the following at some point:

• Summer Pests #1: Mosquitoes

You haven’t been to Florida until you’ve seen a mosquito big enough to carry you away. Not only are these blood-suckers creepy, but they also carry bloodborne diseases that are dangerous to you and your pets.

• Summer Pests #2: Bed bugs

Bed bugs tend to be a bigger problem in the hot summer months, likely due to an increase in tourists and “snowbirds” in the state. These blood-sucking critters come out at night to feed and easily hitch rides on luggage and clothing, meaning they spread quickly. They are notoriously hard to get rid of and may cause you to lose many belongings in the process.

• Summer Pests #3: Termites

Termites are every homeowner’s nightmare. They dig their colonies right into the wooden frame of your home, compromising its structural integrity. They also leave nasty little fecal pellets everywhere, a tell-tale sign of their presence. Unaddressed, termites can destroy your home.

• Summer Pests #4: Chinch bugs

Chinch bugs will cause spots on your lawn to turn yellow and then brown before they die off completely. They mostly affect hot, dry, sunny areas and like to live near driveways and asphalt. Chinch bugs have even been known to damage driveways with their razor-sharp beaks in severe cases.

• Summer Pests #5: Fire ants

No summer in the South is complete without at least 10 fire ant bites. These vicious little guys seem to be everywhere and will make moves to enter your home in search of food and water if you are not careful. Their bites are painful and can even be deadly if they swarm a small pet or young child.

• Summer Pests #6: Spiders

Spiders are the creepy-crawlies that some people fear the most, and with good reason! Many types of spiders here in Florida can be fatal, including the black widow and the brown recluse. The bite of a Black Widow is 15 times stronger than a rattlesnake’s, making them the most venomous spider in America. Brown recluse spiders love to hide away from humans, but if threatened, will deliver a bite that rots away human flesh.

• Summer Pests #7: Whiteflies

If you start noticing the plants around your yard slowly dying off with white swirls on the bottom of the leaves, you probably have a whitefly infestation. These flies are the size of a small moth, have a white, waxy substance covering their body and wings, and love to lay eggs on the bottom side of leafy plants, making them hard to find at first.

• Summer Pests #8: Palmetto bugs

While the name makes them sound exotic and interesting, these are really just big cockroaches. Also known in some places as “water bugs”, these gross creatures spread filth and disease. They’re becoming a huge problem in Florida due to our ideal climate and abundance of food resources.

If bugs have moved into your Tampa Bay area home and you don’t know what to do, call the experts at Green Solutions Lawn Care & Pest Control. We can develop an affordable pest control plan for your home that keeps the critters at bay all year long!