Answers To Your Tough Pest Questions

Winter-swarming ants

Q. I have had swarms of ants in a customer’s home. It is unusual in that it is November and it has been fairly cold. The activity of ants has slowed considerably. The ants swarmed in the upstairs bedroom and there is a skylight in that room. I identified them as acrobat ants. Can they be active and where could they be coming from? (S.H., Va.)

A. Acrobat ants can be active inside structures and usually swarm later in the summer or early fall, and although late fall swarms are unusual, they obviously can happen. These ants can be found in structures and are often associated with a moisture condition. Check for leaks, although this would not be the absolute indication of a problem with moisture. I would check the ceiling around the skylight for signs of moisture. Use a moisture meter to find out the humidity and moisture level in the area. There does not have to be rotting wood.

Inspect and see if the ants continue to be active. I would suggest injecting either a dust or aerosol into the frame around the skylight. Baiting this ant at this time of year may not be an option. In the spring when the ants become more active, baiting may be an option. I would also note that there is probably a colony nearby the outside of the structure or around an old stump or tree hole.

Q. I have found a bug that looks similar to a boxelder bug. I have traced it back to an insect named Jadera haematoloma. What is it and where can I get more information about it? (R.R., Texas)

A. This insect has no common name and very little is known about it. Maybe a PCT reader can tell us more.

The bug is related to the boxelder bug and seems to be most plentiful in the Texas/Oklahoma area, where it has similar characteristics to the boxelder. They find their way into houses during the fall and winter and create all of those nice complaints during the warmer days of winter. The insect has red striping and eyes like the boxelder but they tend to be bluish while boxelder’s are black. I have not been able to find a picture of one. These insects feed on a variety of plants outside from cotton, to ash and bluebonnets. They don’t seem to damage plants in their feeding.

Control would be similar to that of boxelder bugs. Seal openings where they may get in. Use encapsulated or wettable powder formulations for crack and crevice applications around windows and door frames or other openings they may find. Insecticide dusting into void areas above entrances or around guttering and fascia boards will also help.

Q. I have enclosed a sample of damage my customers found in some of their sweaters. I cannot find the organism that caused the damage. Any suggestions? (D.Z., Va.)

A. Yes, burn the house! No, I’m only kidding. The damage looks like it is from a dermestid beetle, most probably a varied carpet beetle. You should be thoroughly inspecting closets and areas where damaged materials are found for cast skins of the larvae to confirm the identification. The damage does not appear to be by a moth.

Carpet beetles are common in most structures. Check on window sills for dead or alive adults. Checking for cast skins can be frustrating. If the customer has pets, look in and under areas where the animals may sleep or hide. Fur from these animals would be a great source of food. If cats are present, ask the customer if their cats occasionally get hairballs. Cats have a way of coughing up hairballs in unlikely areas, so hiding places become important. These insects can also infest stored products. In other words, there are a multitude of places they can be found and a lot of things they can feed on.

Monitoring with sticky traps is possible, especially around areas where pets habituate. Be careful where you place these and I would use one of the many covered monitors available. You can also use pheromones in these traps. There are also commercial traps available for the black carpet and varied carpet beetle that contain pheromones. Once found, infested material can be thrown out. Cracks and crevices in closets can be treated with dust or residual insecticides.

Q. I inspected a home that had both termite and powderpost beetle damage. I found evidence of activity in the crawlspace of both insects but the temperatures have been in the 30s and I did not think these insects would be active in the crawlspace at this time of the year. Do they ever slow down? (D.D., Va.)

A. Slow down, maybe; completely stop, no! The termite activity you saw may be attributed to a large infestation. Certainly cold temperatures in this situation would slow them down physically but obviously will not stop them completely. Studies reported on at the Entomological Society of America meeting and the Purdue Conference a few years ago indicated that termites stayed active inside a building in the dead of winter (even at 10 degrees below zero). The air temperature inside the building was in the low 40s if I remember correctly, but the basement was where the tube remained active throughout the winter.

When you say you found powderpost beetle activity I assume you saw frass coming out of a hole or exit holes with frass below them. This could indicate an "active" infestation but the beetle larvae were most likely not active then. In March, feeding activity will begin again.

As for control at this time of year, wood will not take borate solution well, fumigation is out of the question with air temperatures and with frozen ground, termite control with liquid is a no-no on the label. You could install a monitoring system so that it would be in the ground in the spring when foraging starts. Above-ground baits on the active tubes could be installed but there are no guarantees on hits at this time of the year.

The author is president of George Rambo Consulting Services, Herndon, Va. E-mail questions to grambo@pctonline.com or fax them to 703/709-9637.