10 Common Summer Bug Pests To Avoid, Poisonous Flies, Biting Bugs

For you, it translates to a higher chance of experiencing mosquito bites whether you are resting up at home or putting your feet up in your backyard. Some mosquito bites can be dangerous and cause diseases such as the West Nile virus, malaria, and yellow fever, which makes it important for you to steer clear of them.⁷

How To Get Rid of Mosquitoes in the House and Outdoors

You will be happy to know that some of the most effective ways to prevent mosquito bites are also the easiest. These steps include clearing out standing water around your home to reduce mosquito population as well as putting up screens on your doors and windows.⁸

If you have to go outside, especially around the time of sunrise and sunset, you can wear clothes that cover your arms and legs. In case you are not averse to topical treatments, you can also try some mosquito repellents.

These tips help you learn how to get rid of mosquitoes in the house and outdoors.

You will be correct in guessing that it’s due to the psychological and physical damage that they can inflict upon you when you are at your most vulnerable in the state of sleep.⁹ From unexplained welts across your body to a lack of sleep during the night, bed bugs can cause a variety of problems in your life.

As a result, you might not be surprised to learn that bed bugs are classified as public health pests.¹⁰

Summer Bug Control: How To Get Rid of Bed Bugs

Learning how to get rid of bed bugs can be a bit stressful for you at first. But if you follow this task with a few tips in mind, you can easily say goodbye to these uninvited house guests.

First of all, you need to understand that bed bugs are so prevalent in the summer because it’s easier for them to hop onto people’s luggage, clothes, and bedding during seasonal travels; and not because they thrive under heat. In fact, high temperatures can be deadly to them.

That’s why, one of the most effective ways to eliminate bed bugs is through the use of heat.¹¹

While you cannot argue that ticks are tiny in size, you also need to understand that they carry significant chances of harming you in their small forms. If you have read about Lyme Disease, you may know that it is caused by bacteria that can be transmitted via tick bites, particularly from the black-legged tick or deer tick.¹³

How To Get Rid of Ticks

Before you find an answer to this question, you may want to know that ticks are highly prevalent in outdoor environments, which makes it difficult for you to get rid of them. Instead, what you can do is protect yourself from tick bites by covering your arms, legs, and feet during outdoor activities.

You can also wear topical repellents to keep ticks away. If a tick does bite you, you can remove it by using tweezers while being careful that its legs don’t get stuck in your skin.¹⁴

In case you develop a fever or rash after the bite, you should talk to your doctor immediately.

4. Black Flies

If you have put up with black flies in the past, you may wholeheartedly agree that they make for annoying summer bug pests. While you might be relieved to learn that black fly bites often do not cause long-term conditions for those who live in the U.S., it’s important for you to know that they can still lead to symptoms such as fever, nausea, headache, and itching.

Apart from being harmful to you and your family, black flies can also be deadly to animals.¹⁵ This also makes them known as poisonous flies, even if that’s not the case.

How To Get Rid of Black Flies

When the summer season starts, you can expect to see black flies thriving in the hot weather, especially in humid areas. But unlike mosquitoes that usually bite during dusk and dawn, you need to be ready for black flies to strike any hour of the day.

If you head into parks or the woods during the summer, you may want to apply insect repellents that keep these pesky flies off of your skin. You can also put up a campfire in the woods to repel black flies via smoke.¹⁶

With that, a part of summer is also mating season for bees.¹⁷ As a result, you may see more honeybees, bumblebees, and other kinds of bees under the delightful summer heat as compared to the rest of the year.

How To Get Rid of Bees

Before you learn how to get rid of bees, you should know that they are an important part of the ecosystem. By giving many flowers and plants the chance to thrive, bees allow you, your loved ones, and the human race to continue inhabiting the planet and enjoy its rewards.

Besides, as compared to other bees such as the black and white bee, only honeybees and bumblebees choose to sting, and that too when they get threatened. As a result, you should practice bee safety tips whenever possible instead of thinking about how to cover bee exterminator costs.¹⁸

6. Wasps and Hornets

You now know that many types of bees don’t sting, while those that do only sting rarely. But you might be amused to learn that bees get this false infamy due to wasps and hornets.

It’s because wasps such as yellowjackets are often indiscriminate in choosing why they are stinging humans and how many times in their lifetime they should do that. As a summer bug, they are also more active this time of year, which increases the chances of them invading your personal space.¹⁹

Since wasp stings can cause symptoms such as significant swelling and nausea, you might want to steer clear of their path.²⁰

How To Get Rid of Wasps

If you want to bid farewell to wasps, you need to locate their nest before you do anything else.²¹ While starting this DIY exterminator adventure, you should also put on protective gear and clothing that protects you from the bites of this noisy summer bug.

Once you locate the nest, you can remove it. With that being said, given the difficult temperament of wasps and hornets, you might find it a better choice to call an exterminator in your area.

Some types of ants such as carpenter ants can actually damage your property by carving holes into wood.²² If you have been wondering when to call an exterminator for ants, having carpenter ants at your home often stands out as the biggest motivator behind this decision.

How To Get Rid of Ants

You can use a variety of natural methods to get rid of ants by yourself.²³ Similar to many other types of pests, you may often find prevention to be the best cure in this regard.

By covering your food and edible items, doing dishes right away without leaving them overnight, and covering any holes or cracks in your walls and windowsills, you can keep many types of ants at bay. But the quest to learn how to get rid of carpenter ants is a bit more difficult and requires you to call an exterminator.

With that, if you happen to get spider bites, they may sometimes cause painful symptoms such as pain and swelling.²⁵

How To Get Rid of Spiders

Instead of spraying your home with insecticides to get rid of spiders, you might want to opt for the simple trap-and-release method.²⁶ If you ever followed this practice as a child, it would be easy for you to recall it.

It simply involves you sliding a flat card under the spider, and putting an upside jar on top of it. You can then carry the trapped spider outside and release it into the wild.

Similar to other pest prevention methods, covering holes or cracks in your walls can also keep spiders out of your home.

You might also want to know that some centipedes are also venomous, while some millipedes can emit a foul odor when threatened.²⁷ You may know that centipedes and millipedes make their home in the dark and damp corners of your home, but you may be amused to learn that they sometimes like to declare themselves a part of summer bug pests in some regions due to reaching higher population activity during the season.

How To Get Rid of Centipedes and Millipedes

If you find only a couple of centipedes and millipedes in your home over the course of a few weeks, you may not need to resort to pest control treatments right away.²⁸ Instead, you can catch these creatures with devices like a vacuum cleaner and drop them outside of your home.

Other prevention methods such as keeping your sink cupboards, basement corners, and backyard furnishings in a dry state can sometimes prevent these insects from calling your home their own.

The reason is simple: If you learned about roaches in science class, you might remember that they like warm and humid areas. That’s why, they often get out of the nooks and crannies in your home’s pipes and foundation to enjoy hot summer nights.

How To Get Rid of Cockroaches

While getting rid of cockroaches is a bit trickier than eliminating many other summer bug pests, it is not impossible. When you think about the myriad of diseases that cockroaches can cause, you may often feel a renewed motivation to kick them out of your home.³⁰

You can start by using certain insecticides, sealing your sewer pipes, and caulking your windows. With that, the practice of not leaving out uncovered food overnight and maintaining hygiene in your kitchen as well as bathroom can also go a long way.

After learning about these 10 common summer bug pests, you can be more confident in protecting yourself against poisonous flies and biting bugs alike.

How To Get Rid of Bugs Outside

Before you learn how to get rid of bugs outside, you need to determine what type of bug you are trying to remove from your property. It’s because if you want to get rid of mosquitoes from outside your home, you may need to clear standing water.

But if you want to repel centipedes from your backyard, you need to clean up damp furniture first. By speaking to a professional, you can learn which pest control method as well as exterminator prices suit your needs the most.

What Defines a Summer Bug?

Simply put, the term summer bug refers to insects that thrive in the warm weather of summer and become more visible during the season. You may find some of these pests to remain dormant throughout the year except for June, July, and August.¹

Whereas, you may notice that other insects become more active during the summer, but still make their presence known the rest of the year in one way or another. You may also want to remember that the term ’summer bug’ is not limited to the specific type of insects such as the June bug which is characterized by its wings and segmented body.

Common Poisonous Flies (Sand Flies at the Beach)

Instead, it can refer to bugs that bite, insects that crawl, and pests that fly. You might also want to remember that depending on the area you live in, you may encounter different types of summer insects.

The most yucky are poisonous flies, like sand flies at the beach. To repel these, try natural essential oils and other products to prevent them from biting you.

And, while you may find the most mosquitoes in Texas during the summer, you might discover yellow spiders to be most active in South Carolina around the same time of the year.^3,2

Why Should You Learn About Common Summer Bug Types?

As you learn about the notorious group of summer bugs that comprise a variety of insects such as ants, wasps, and ticks, you also need to keep in mind that they carry several health risks for you and your family. These problems may range from developing a rash to harboring a fever due to insect bites.⁴

But even when you put these health hazards aside, the general feeling of unease that creeps up on you upon the sight of insects such as spiders or termites is reason enough for you to get rid of these pests. But that’s not all.

As unsightly and unwanted as summer bug pests can be for your senses, they also carry certain rewards for your well-being as well as the planet’s survival.⁵ These benefits include but are not limited to pollination, waste cleaning, and medicinal uses.

Since your first instinct upon seeing a summer bug might be to eliminate it, learning about their helpful properties can help you keep an open mind towards other methods of controlling and repelling these pests such as growing the allium flower to keep mosquitoes at bay. As a result, you may feel more enthusiastic about familiarizing yourself with summer bugs and how to avoid them, without harming the larger processes of nature.

With this in mind, the following section sheds light on common summer pests and ways to safeguard yourself against them.

How Much Does an Ant Exterminator Cost?

Your total carpenter ant exterminator cost is directly influenced by the type and extent of infestation that you have. This means that your price for getting rid of fire ants in a one-bedroom apartment might be different from covering the carpenter and exterminator cost for a three-bedroom home.

If you want something along the lines of Terminix pricing, where pest control companies manage different types of pests for you under a flat fee, you can also reach out to local vendors in your area.

Summer Bug Pests: How To Protect Yourself From Them

While the disadvantages of coming across summer insects can range from painful insect bites to lethal allergies, you can take certain steps to lower your chances of being harmed by these pests.

This way, you can protect yourself and your loved ones from these summer bug challenges year after year.

Use organic repellents when possible, and look for natural remedies for exterminating summer bug pests from indoors and you’ll be able to enjoy the summer without being bugged.

Frequently Asked Questions About Summer Bug