The Fall Pest Invasion in Middle Tennessee

Temperatures dropping down into the 50’s and 60’s in the Nashville area tells us that Fall is near! That also means you need to brace for the fall pest invasion. You may have read some of our blogs in the past about “overwintering pests.” But now it’s time for your annual reminder. 

This year’s reminder focuses on the boxelder bug. 

A Quick Review of Overwintering Pests

In case you’re just joining us, we’ll briefly define what we mean by “overwintering pest.” Overwintering pests include ladybugs, stink bugs, and boxelder bugs. These pests spend most of their lives outside. But they survive the cold weather by moving somewhere warm to hibernate until spring. Often, that warm place is your home! 

Checking for a Fall Pest Invasion of Boxelders

If you don’t have boxelder trees, you may be thinking that this is one fall pest you will avoid. Unfortunately, that may not be the case. Boxelder bugs also feed on maple trees – and there are maple trees everywhere in middle Tennessee. 

If you have maple trees in or near your yard, you should check the exterior walls of your house. On a sunny day, check the south and west walls in the mid-morning and early afternoon. If you have boxelder bugs, you will probably see them warming themselves on your walls. Young boxelders are solid, bright red. Fully mature boxelder bugs are flat, gray, and have red “X” markings on their wings.

Preventing Boxelders from Entering Your Home

If you can see boxelder bugs now, it’s quite likely that they soon will be wriggling their way through cracks into your house. If you don’t want to take a chance, give us a call. The technicians at Bug Authority perform very thorough treatments to discourage boxelder bugs, ladybugs, and stink bugs from entering your home.