What Happens to Insects During Summer?
How do insects respond to extreme heat? Does hot weather bother them? If you’ve ever spent any time in the tropics, you know the answer to this question. In the summer, insects flourish. The hotter it gets, the more insects you will notice, and they are likely to be extremely active. Insects are cold-blooded, so when it’s hot outside, they warm up and gain more energy to look for food. If you live somewhere that gets particularly humid during the summer months, the insect activity will be even more intense, because many pests thrive in heat and humidity. What insect reacts to hot weather with the most intensity? We have the scoop on all things related to insects in the summer season, including how to get rid of summer insects.
Which Bugs Are the Biggest Nuisance in Hot Weather?
Plenty of insects thrive in the heat, but not all of them will bother you. Cicadas, for example, won’t eat your plants, bite you, or do anything else particularly worrisome, so you can largely ignore them, aside from cleaning up their discarded exoskeletons. Unfortunately, some bugs that are extremely active in summer are also extremely troublesome. Ants, mosquitoes, and ticks are a problem, and many types of stinging insects, flies, and termites relish the summer season. These pests get more active the warmer it gets, aggressively seeking food and multiplying frighteningly quickly.
- Mosquitoes handle the heat best when they have access to water. If the humidity is very low, they sometimes dry out in intense heat, but in humid environments, they thrive. They lay their eggs in water, so it’s important to keep standing water out of your yard in the summer, to avoid being overrun by mosquitoes.
- Stinging insects like wasps, yellow jackets, and hornets enjoy heat. They are predatorial insects and can be aggressive, especially when water is not easily accessible. These insects cause painful stings and, in some people, life-threatening allergic reactions. They will swarm if their nests are threatened, so it’s best to stay away from the nest and contact a professional immediately to safely remove the nest from your property.
- Ants and termites are looking for food in the summer. Ants want the water and crumbs in your kitchen, and termites want the wood in your home and furniture. Neither of these situations are ideal, and an infestation of either type of insect can be extremely difficult to eradicate, without professional help. Termites, left to their own devices, can access interior structures of a building through foundation cracks and will eat through drywall, wood and any type of cellulose, compromising its integrity and leaving you with the expense of major repairs. Both ants and termites are vulnerable to temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, but they find a way around this problem, often by moving into the cooler areas of your yard and home. Even in extreme temperatures, they won’t become less of a problem; they just go deeper.
- Smaller, more benign insects can also add to your pest control woes. Prey species, like certain types of flies and ants, can thrive in the summer and provide food for predator insects. When nuisance bugs don’t have to work so hard to find food, because the smaller bugs are so plentiful, they will flourish in summer and become even more of a problem for people.
Partner with the Professionals to Keep Insects Under Control All Year
No matter what kind of insect is bugging you, it pays to enlist the help of professionals who can provide effective pest control solutions. Since 1929, Franklin Pest Solutions has been serving customers in the state of Indiana. Our experts provide quality residential and commercial service to communities within a 50 mile radius from each of our branch locations, including Hammond, Michigan City, Lafayette, New Albany, Indianapolis, and South Bend. We offer bed bug solutions that are eco-conscious and effective, using integrated pest management best practices, We prioritize your health. Our multi-generational, family-run and operated American business has earned a reputation for excellence, not just in the way we treat pests, but in the way we treat our customers. Having been in business for nearly a century, we’ve seen the services and methods of our industry change and evolve, but our values have remained the same.
We work to embody the ideals of an industry leader, providing pest control solutions in a careful, conscientious, professional manner, and making customer satisfaction our top priority. The experts at Franklin Pest Solutions are certified by several local, state, and national associations, and we are committed to respecting the role insects play in our ecosystem while also protecting public health. Through community outreach, we work to create cleaner and healthier homes and workplaces while also educating people and serving our community through volunteerism. To schedule a consultation, reach out to a location near you, call 1-800-GOT-PESTS? or contact us through our website.
