Having pests crawling all over the place where you live is more than annoying and inconvenient, it’s harmful to the overall health of your family. They bite, bring you diseases, taint the food you have stored, and cause damage to your property.

For these reasons and more, pest control is important in order to keep the unwanted insects out of your home and off your yard.

Implementing an effective pest control program requires predicting and correctly identifying the kinds of pests that could infest your home, depending on where you live, and the habits of the pests in your area.

Once you are able to identify the pest and learn about its lifestyle, then you will have an easier time controlling and exterminating it.

Here is some of the important information can that make you all the wiser about pest infestations in 2016.

The Correlation Between Bugs and the Weather

First let’s take a closer look at bugs and the weather. The lives and habits of insects depend on the temperature. It is during the cold winter months that many pests spend their time burrowed underneath the ground, waiting for spring to come around, and we don’t see them.

Conversely, during periods of higher temperatures, pests get out of their self-imposed hiatus and move out of their habitats. It is then that they become problematic, reproducing swiftly and improving their growth rate.

Warmer temperatures also mean that pests can feed earlier in the day and for a longer amount of time than they normally would during the winter season.

Unfortunately, this could also mean that the destructive pests that thrive in hotter climates also increase their population, and increase the number of diseases they carry.

This year we are experiencing a milder than normal winter, which as you can see, often results in more pests.

Insects are Surviving in the Mild Winter

Many insects imitate the robins: they survive harsh cold winters by going southwards in search of warmer weather as soon as the temperatures begin to drop. For other bugs, they wait out winter by burrowing down into soils and into the bottoms of ponds.

Still others become larvae and pupae so that by the time spring rolls around, they can emerge as a fully-grown adult insect. But now, there are plenty of insects that can tolerate the mild winter weather we are having and stay above ground.

Epidemic Potential for 2016

With the current weather conditions, there are potential epidemics at hand for 2016.

Industry experts predict that mosquito-carried diseases will reach epidemic levels in many countries around the world.

Zika virus

As you have surely heard, the Zika virus has seen a massive outbreak in Brazil and is also causing havoc in other Caribbean and Latin American countries. If infected, it could cause birth defects, including brain damage to the fetuses.

Just recently, its alarming spread across the Western Hemisphere has caused the WHO to declare the Zika virus as a public health emergency. US residents are not immune to this also because Zika is spread by the yellow fever mosquito, also known as Aedes aegypti, which is commonly found in Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Chikungunya virus

The Chikungunya virus is considered as a cousin of the Zika virus, because it is also transmitted through mosquito bites, and both diseases have similar side effects on their victims. A person suffering from the Chikungunya virus can experience fever, headache, muscle pain, and joint swelling.

Lassa fever

Another disease caused by pests that could continue to make its presence felt this year is Lassa fever.

This disease is spread by rats and is transmitted to humans through food and other materials that have been contaminated with rat feces or urine. Lassa fever has caused the death of at least 100 people and counting in Nigeria.

Dengue

Dengue is expected to continue to be an epidemic in Southeast Asia in 2016, due to the fact that the El Niño effect continues to be experienced in the Pacific. This weather pattern brings heavy rains, flooding, and a generally wet environment where mosquitoes thrive.

As these conditions are not unlike our own weather, those in our area should be prepared for an active pest season this year.

It is wise to be attuned to the kind of weather you are having, as well as the kinds of insects that live in our area, in order to take the proper prevention steps to ensure a healthy home. Dugas Pest Control is your ally in the fight, so get in touch with us today to keep your family protected this year!