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Latin Name: Echidnophaga gallinacea
Common Name: Sticktight Flea
Other Names: N/A
Pest Details
Origin:
Possibly native to Europe or Asia but transported around the world on infested animals.
Biology:
This species of flea is found throughout the world, including in the U.S. along the East Coast south to Florida and west to the Pacific Coast and north into Oregon. It feeds on a wide range of host animals including birds and poultry, dogs and cats, rodents, horses, and occasionally humans. The adults attach themselves to the host animal and remain in place, often in large masses and often around the ears, eyes and mouth area where the skin is bare or nearly so. Females may move about at night, but in general the adult fleas remain in place for several weeks. Their feeding creates skin lesions and swelling and the eggs are laid into crevices there. The larvae then emerge and fall to the substrate to feed on organic
Latin Name: Forficula auricularia
Common Name: European Earwig
Latin Family Name: Dermaptera
Other Names: Pincher bugs
Pest Details
Origin:
Probably from Europe or Asia, but this species is now found throughout the world. It was first found in the U.S. around 1907 near Seattle, Washington.
Biology:
One of about 7 species of pest earwigs in the U.S., the European Earwig is the most common. It has a simple life cycle, requiring 3 to 5 months to go from egg to adult, depending on temperatures. Adults generally live only about one year. Adults are capable of some flight. Earwigs feed primarily on plant material, but also are predators on many other insects.
Identification:
Earwigs are most easily identified by the strong "pincers" at the hind end, as modifications of their cerci. These are used for defense, food capture, and some other uses. Wings on adults consist of the hind pair used for flight,
Latin Name: Euborellia annulipes
Common Name: Ringlegged Earwig
Other Names: Red-legged earwig
Pest Details
Origin:
Believed to be native to Europe, but now found throughout the world. It is found commonly in the southern states of the U.S. and less commonly in most of the other U.S. states and north to southern Canada as well as Hawaii.
Biology:
This is the most common earwig species in Florida but rarely reaches damaging populations, being primarily a nuisance pest. Adults overwinter deep in the soil. Females deposit up to 7 clutches of eggs during warm weather with around 50 eggs per clutch. There typically will be 2 generations per year in warm regions. These earwigs will feed on some amount of plant material, but most of their food is other insects and they are considered to be highly beneficial as predators.
Identification:
The adults of this species are without wings. They are less than 3/4 inch long with females
Latin Name: Labidura riparia
Common Name: Striped Earwig
Other Names: Tawny earwig, striped earwig, giant earwig, common brown earwig, shore earwig
Pest Details
Origin:
Several hundred native species occur in North America.
Biology:
This is a cosmopolitan species that is found throughout the world, often occurring near aquatic habitats. Despite its status as a “pest” it is a voracious predator that feeds on many other insects and mites, with reports that it can eat up to 20 armyworm caterpillars in one night, or consume 25 scale crawlers in 60 seconds. It also feeds on aphids and in lab settings would consume any other insect offered to it, grabbing the prey insect with its forceps and then eating it with its mandibles. It feeds on plant materials only when no living prey is available and it is considered a beneficial insect. As with other earwigs the female lays a clutch of eggs in a protected cavity, guards them, and moves them
Latin Name: Ceuthophilus spp. is the most common group in North America
Common Name: Camel cricket
Other Names: Cave crickets
Pest Details
Origin:
Many species are native to North America.
Biology:
Camel crickets are commonly found in natural settings and landscape under boards, logs, or rocks on the soil. They are nocturnal and only seen when disturbed, and generally occur in such low numbers that they cause no damage and do not require eradication. Occasionally one or two may find their way indoors and due to a nuisance factor can be removed with a vacuum. Some larger species have been found occupying darkened, damp crawl spaces, where again they cause no problems. They feed on plant materials, but may chew on paper inside a structure out of desperation to find food.
Identification:
These crickets range in size from less than 1 inch in length to some very large species with body lengths over 2 inches. They
Latin Name: Gryllus spp.
Common Name: Field Crickets
Latin Family Name: Gryllidae
Other Names: There may be as many as 25 species in this genus in North America. Often the name Gryllus assimilis is used for all field crickets.
Pest Details
Origin:
These crickets are native to North America, and well as throughout Central America and into South America.
Biology:
These are outdoor insects, but they commonly enter structures to escape weather extremes or to seek hiding places following nocturnal activity. Like the House Cricket they have been known to damage fabrics, paper, leather, furs or other materials indoors, and outdoors they can cause tremendous destruction to landscape or agricultural plants. These crickets are subject to huge population surges, and may suddenly be extremely abundant almost overnight. Weather conditions appear to be one factor that influences this. Depending on the species, either
Latin Name: Acheta domestica
Common Name: House Crickets
Latin Family Name: Gryllidae
Other Names: N/A
Pest Details
Origin:
Apparently native to Europe, but introduced to North America in the 18th Century.
Biology:
These crickets are found outdoors as commonly as indoors, and are sold in stores for pet food, fish food, or live bait for fishing. They are a nuisance indoors due to their habit of chewing on fabrics, often chewing large holes in clothing. They attack all types of material, and often it is synthetic fabrics that are most damaged, although cotton, wool, and silk are attacked as well. They also may feed on food materials such as baked goods, as well as chewing on paper products. They even feed on other insects, dead or alive. Females appear to be prolific, producing an average of 730 eggs. In outdoor environments they may place them in the soil, and in structures may place them in
Latin Name: Stenopelmatus
Common Name: Jerusalem Crickets
Latin Family Name: Stenopelmatidae
Other Names: Potato bug, earth baby, child of the Earth, child of the desert, stone cricket
Pest Details
Origin:
Several species of these native insects occur in North America, and in recent years the group was more carefully studied to reveal the number of species. These are most common in the western U.S.
Biology:
Jerusalem crickets are potentially huge insects that feed on vegetables and root crops, but primarily are predatory on other insects. Females are even known to kill and eat a male following copulation. They have huge, strong jaws which they use for digging, allowing them to burrow under rocks or bury themselves in holes in the soil. These are nocturnal insects, they are wingless, and with their large size and active movement they cause fear among people who stumble upon them. They are capable of biting but otherwise
Latin Name: Anabrus simplex
Common Name: Mormon Cricket
Other Names: N/A
Pest Details
Origin:
Native to western North America.
Biology:
Despite being called a cricket this destructive insect is actually a form of a katydid. It is native throughout western North America in sagebrush areas, rangelands, and grasslands, and is subject to population outbreaks that cause result in serious agricultural losses. Up to 100 large adults per square meter may be seen. Adults are wingless and cannot fly, but during swarming periods may travel up to 1.5 miles per day, crossing highways in such numbers that they become a hazard to vehicles. Most eggs in the soil will hatch when soil temperatures reach 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and nymphs pass through 7 instars to become adults in 60-90 days. Mating occurs and females push their ovipositor into the soil to deposit up to 100 eggs.
Identification:
Adults are very large insects, up
Latin Name: Gryllotalpa hexadactyla
Common Name: Northern mole cricket
Other Names: N/A
Pest Details
Origin:
Appears to be native to North and South America
Biology:
The northern mole cricket is the most widespread mole cricket in North America, found from Canada throughout the eastern U.S. and all the way to southern South America. They are an extremely destructive mole cricket in landscape turf, where they spend nearly all their time within the soil digging tunnels and feeding on the roots of turf and landscape plants. They are able to fly and will be attracted to lights at night. Eggs are deposited in a chamber in the soil, and begin hatching in late spring. A life cycle is completed in about 1 year.
Identification:
Mole crickets are so named not only because of their burrowing, subterranean existence, but also because of the widely expanded front legs and claws that are used for digging. They are