Ants

• More than 20 varieties of ants invade homes throughout the United States during the warm months of the year. Worldwide, there are more than 12,000 species, but only a small number cause problems.
• Destructive ants include fire and carpenter ants. Others ant types include the honey, Pharaoh, house, Argentine, and the thief ant.
• All ants share one trait: They’re unsightly and contaminate food.
  Ants range in color from red to black.
• Fire ants are vicious, unrelenting predators with a powerful, painful sting.
  At least 32 deaths in the U.S. can be attributed to severe allergic reactions to fire ant stings.
• Millions of dollars are spent each year eradicating fire ants alone.
  Carpenter ants range in size from one-quarter inch for a worker ant to up to three-quarters inch for a queen.
• A carpenter ant colony can have a long life span. Each colony is founded by a single fertilized queen that establishes a nesting site in a cavity in wood.
• A carpenter ant colony does not reach maturity until it contains 2,000 or more workers, which can take three to six years.

Flies

• More than 120,000 species exist ranging in size from one-twentieth of an inch to well over three inches long.
  
• Take on various shapes. In the larva or maggot stage, flies resemble greasy white worms.
  
• Do not have teeth or a stinger, but rather thrust needle-like hooks into victims and inject a digestive juice that breaks down cell tissue.
  
• Have life span of approximately 21 days (house flies).
  Are attracted to a variety of warm, moist substances from animal feces to human food and garbage.
  
• Spread at least 65 human pathogens including typhoid fever, diarrhea, tuberculosis, salmonellosis and cholera.
  
• Breed in garbage cans, compost heaps, pet feeding and pet elimination areas.

Subterranean Termites

• Cause serious damage to structures often long before they are discovered – more than $1.5 billion in property damage a year to over 600,000 homes in the U.S.
  
• Feed on books, papers or anything containing cellulose.
  
• Favor warmer climates and actively avoid light.
  
• Live in underground colonies – some containing over two million members.
  In a larger nest, a queen and king may live for 15 years, with the queen laying up to one egg every 15 seconds for most of her life.

Cockroaches

• One of the oldest insects – fossil remains date back 200 million years.
• Crawl around on six legs, have wings and two antennae.
  
• Like dark, damp places with a plentiful food supply; hide during the day in warm, dark places, such as under sinks, behind dishwashers, stoves and refrigerators, and inside cupboards.
  
• Feed on a variety of foods, especially starchy and sugary materials, including book bindings, photographic film, linens, leather goods and numerous food items; usually forage at night.
  
• Can survive a month or more without food, but less than two weeks without water.
  
• Have an acrid odor that may permeate items with which they come in contact.
  
• Can transmit bacteria and organisms responsible for diseases in humans including food poisoning, cholera, dysentery, salmonellosis and strep.
  
• A study by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a report in the New England Journal of Medicine indicate that exposure to cockroach allergens is a major health concern for asthmatic children.
  
• Under optimum conditions, cockroaches can produce two million offspring in one year, with an average breeding season resulting in 350,000 offspring.
  
• Found around the world. Two species are prevalent in the United States, the American cockroach and the German cockroach.
  
• The American cockroach has reddish-brown wings and light markings on its thorax and reaches lengths of up to 1.5 inches.
  
• The German cockroach is between one-half and five-eighths inches long and is light brown with two dark stripes down its back.

information obtained from www.pestworld.com