Are you looking to hang out near Erie, Indiana? Maybe you want to buy a house in Indianapolis or find a place to camp out by a cabin in the woods. The state of Indiana has a lot of great attractions that make it a state worth living in.
As great as Indiana is, there are still pests that you may have to worry about when you first settle in. How you deal with them is up to you, but the truth is that prevention tends to be the best course of action. Let’s talk about how to keep your area pest-free.
What are the most common pest insects in Indiana?
There are a ton of different insects that tend to make their rounds throughout the state of Indiana. Here are the biggest baddies on the map…
1. Ants
Let’s start with the most obvious and ubiquitous insect out there: ants. From the tiny black ants you see crawling around on a picnic blanket to the carpenter ants that bore holes in wood, Indiana has a wide variety of ant species that can pop up in awkward places.
Ants are by and large, insects that focus on food. If you remove their food sources, most of them will leave of their own volition (save for carpenter ants). What does this mean? Well…
- Carpenter ants will need to be prevented by treating dry wood with sealant and paint. Moldy wood needs to be disposed of immediately.
- Homes that have frequent ant problems should remove lawn litter, rotting logs, and leaves from around the house. A manicured lawn can go a long, long way.
- Keep food off the countertops and toss out garbage daily. This is especially true when it comes to sugary treats like cookies and fruit. Ants love those.
- If all else fails, use pesticides to curb your pest problem before it gets indoors. Some areas are just ant-prone. Sometimes, you gotta “grab life by the antennae” and tackle the problem yourself.
2. Cockroaches
You had to know this was coming up, right? Every single state in the nation has companies offering pest control services related to cockroaches. They are true pests in every sense of the word, and they are quite common in most city and suburban areas of Indiana.
The most common roaches in this state are German cockroaches, followed by Oriental cockroaches. Regardless of the species, the truth is that they are a menace. They spread disease, infest food, and also can cause unsightly brown stains as they walk.
All species of cockroaches should be treated as a serious issue. If a roach infestation becomes too much, it can easily become too populous to remove from your house without serious intervention.
Roach prevention includes taking out the trash, not leaving food on countertops, and also asking for preventative spraying sessions outside of your home. If a neighbor has roaches, spraying pesticides or using diatomaceous earth can help you avoid an infestation of your own.
PRO TIP – Roaches are great at being sneaky. If you see a single cockroach in your home, that means that you have more than one in your home. You need to call a professional exterminator if you see them.
3. Spiders
Love them or loathe them, spiders are a fact of life. Most arachnids in the Indiana region don’t have venom. They just look creepy.
The only serious exception to this is the Brown Recluse Spider, which can lead to extremely painful or even lethal bites. Other venomous (but rarer) spiders to see here include the black widow and the wolf spider.
For the most part, you may want to leave them alone. Spiders are predators of most other pests, including ticks, fleas, flies, and ants. It’s up to you.
4. Wasps/Bees/Hornets
There are a lot of flying, stinging insects that make Indiana home. Though they all have their own place in the ecosystem, the truth is that they will still be pests with wings to a typical homeowner.
If you are allergic to bee stings or wasp stings, then you really need to watch out for these critters and prevent them. For the most part, the only prevention that you can have is to seal up cracks and crevices that could allow them entry into your home.
If you are worried that wasps or bees made a home in your attic or porch, call animal control or a pest removal company. You’ll be glad you did.
5. Mosquitoes
There doesn’t seem to be a person alive who hasn’t experienced the annoying itch of a mosquito bite. Mosquitoes are a menace because they are carriers of disease—most commonly, West Nile Virus.
In Indiana, it’s unlikely that you will get bitten by a disease-carrying mosquito. However, it’s still possible and no one likes to be food for these aggravating creatures. Preventing bites can be done with bug spray. If you have pets, getting them heartworm prevention can help.
To prevent them from making a home in your home, burn citronella candles when you’re outside and remove standing pools of water around the house.
PRO TIP – Always keep screens on your windows. They are the easiest way to prevent mosquitoes from entering your home.
6. Bed Bugs
Ah, the bane of every apartment building owner. Bed bugs suck on human blood for nourishment, so they will always try to find a way to move into your own home. You are, in fact, their prey of choice.
Bed bugs are extremely difficult to get rid of and at times, even detect. You usually get your first signs by waking up with strange marks on your body. Other signs include brown stains on pillows and bedding, as well as eggs and casings near the seams of mattresses.
If you find bed bugs in your home, don’t try to fix this problem yourself. This is one of those things that you can really only rely on professional pest services since these bugs tend to become immune to pesticides fairly quickly.
Prevention includes checking bags and luggage before you return home from a trip and avoiding places known for bed bug infestations.
7. Japanese Beetles
Beetles are going to be a nuisance in every corner of the globe, but these beetles tend to be less of a pest than other creatures on this list. Most people will only see them in their gardens, where they forage for leaves and flowers to eat.
When they get inside a home, they don’t like to stay inside. They just want plants to eat. This can be used to your advantage. Placing your plants indoors and keeping them away from balconies will suffice.
8. Termites
Termites, particularly subterranean termites, tend to be a menace in areas that are rural and filled with moist soil. These bugs are famous for eating wood and anything fibrous material…and that means your home is their target.
Termites are aggravating because you can’t always see them crawling around your home. While you may see the telltale signs of holes in your wood, you might not actually see them. That’s because they can go from the bottom of your house and eat their way up.
This, as you can imagine, turns into a serious problem.
The best way to prevent this is to have a concrete barrier around the bottom of your home that prevents termites from chewing their way in. Experts also suggest getting your home checked for termites once every 10 years, just to make sure that they don’t live in your walls.
PRO TIP – If you store firewood near your home, stop doing that. Termites love to eat firewood that’s been left out in the rain.
9. Flies
Flies tend to come into the house by wandering outside, but that doesn’t mean they can’t turn into a problem in attics, garages, and kitchens. They generally are attracted to moisture, heat, and food.
If you want to prevent flies, then you should do the following:
- Keep foods away from countertops and reduce the amount of debris around your home. Flies love to eat. If they have a food source, they will stick around.
- Seal up cracks and crevices in areas where flies might congregate. This often happens in attics and garages.
- Use flypaper to get rid of any flies that come inside. You may also want to use fly traps around the outside of your home.
In conclusion…
Your best bet when moving to Indiana is to learn to love nature but to still keep a close eye on the pests in your area. Though Indiana’s cold weather tends to dissuade most truly terrifying creepy crawlers from entering the state, there are still some creatures you want to avoid.
A good pest control company will help you determine the easiest way to make your home pest-proof. So, when in doubt, ask a local pest control company what the best way to make your home pest-free will be.