The rain moved out. The heat
\nmoved in. <\/p>\n
Then came the bugs.<\/p>\n
From swarms of mosquitoes
\nrising from neighborhood puddles, to ants climbing countertops and caterpillars
\nchewing through lawns, pest activity has exploded across North Carolina in the
\nwake of recent storms.<\/p>\n
Michael Connors, director of
\nfield operations at Moxie Pest Control, said the calls started pouring in
\nalmost as quickly as the rain itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll that flooding\u2014we\u2019re
\nseeing a huge uptick,\u201d Connors said. \u201cRain and moisture always bring pests, but
\nthis kind of extreme weather accelerates everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
The company is fielding
\ncomplaints about mosquitoes, ants, roaches, mice and even fall armyworms. With
\nthe heat index reaching into the triple digits this week, conditions are ideal
\nfor pest populations to grow quickly.<\/p>\n
Connors said he is finding
\nstanding water in unexpected places: inside trash can lids, mulch beds, shaded
\ngutters and low-lying areas where the ground is too saturated to absorb more.
\nThat stagnant water becomes the perfect breeding ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything becomes a
\npuddle,\u201d Connors said. \u201cAnd pests know how to survive in it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tFrom Bite to Risk<\/p>\n
It is not just about itchy
\nbites and brown lawns. State health officials are tracking an uptick in
\ndisease-carrying mosquitoes\u2014particularly in the Triangle, where West Nile virus
\nhas become a growing concern.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year, we had the
\nhighest number of West Nile cases in state history,\u201d said Michael Doyle, state
\npublic health entomologist with the North Carolina Department of Health and
\nHuman Services. \u201cThe early rains this year are showing that those species are
\non the rise again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doyle said the risk comes in
\nwaves. First, a large group of mosquitoes hatches within a week after a storm.
\nThen, as standing water lingers, another generation lays eggs\u2014causing the
\npopulation to swell even further over the next several weeks.<\/p>\n
In addition to West Nile,
\nstate officials are monitoring La Crosse encephalitis in western North
\nCarolina, which primarily affects children, and Eastern Equine Encephalitis
\nnear the coast, which can impact people of all ages.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll mosquito species need
\nwater to reproduce,\u201d Doyle said. \u201cThat can be a puddle in the woods, a toy in
\nthe yard or even just a gutter that\u2019s not draining right. We\u2019re especially
\nconcerned about the places people forget to check.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tHeat and Moisture: A
\nDangerous Combo<\/p>\n
Entomologists say the weather
\nis working in the insects\u2019 favor.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost insects, in order to
\ngrow and develop, need two things: heat and moisture,\u201d said Dr. Terri
\nBilleisen, a turfgrass entomologist at NC State University. \u201cAnd we\u2019re seeing
\nmore of both.\u201d<\/p>\n
That environmental pairing
\nspeeds up the development cycle for many species\u2014including mosquitoes and fall
\narmyworms.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe usually see a spike in
\nactivity one to two days after a significant rainfall event,\u201d Billeisen said.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s when they really explode.\u201d<\/p>\n
Armyworms, which are
\ncaterpillars that feed on grass, have already caused extensive damage across
\nthe state. After Tropical Storm Debby last year, NC State received thousands of
\nreports of lawn destruction.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole system of the
\nstorm kind of catalyzed everything,\u201d Billeisen said. \u201cWe\u2019re not quite there yet
\nthis season, but another big rain or two could set it off again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her lab tracks armyworm
\noutbreaks using an interactive map and collects live specimens for research.
\nShe recommends homeowners monitor for egg clusters on fences or siding and
\nwatch for fast-spreading brown patches in their lawns.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy the time you see the
\ndamage, it\u2019s often too late,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tPest Pressure Grows with
\nthe Climate<\/p>\n
Connors said the pests he
\nsees most\u2014ants, mosquitoes and armyworms\u2014have always been around. What has
\nchanged is the speed and severity of their return.<\/p>\n
\u201cExtreme weather changes
\neverything,\u201d he said. \u201cSomething that used to take a week to develop might take
\nthree days now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The recent pattern\u2014heavy rain
\nfollowed by intense heat\u2014is creating longer-lasting infestations and more
\npersistent pressure on homeowners. Though pest populations vary from year to
\nyear, Connors said one constant is ants.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone deals with odorous
\nhouse ants, or sugar ants, in North Carolina,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd the more rain we
\nget, the more they show up inside.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Connors, some
\npests can even sense changes in barometric pressure and enter homes ahead of a
\nstorm.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re survivors,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cThey know where to go before we even know it\u2019s coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat You Can Do<\/p>\n
Experts agree that prevention
\nis key. Dumping standing water remains the top recommendation for mosquito
\ncontrol, followed by wearing insect repellent and protective
\nclothing\u2014especially at dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active.<\/p>\n
Doyle also encourages
\nresidents to support community mosquito control programs and to treat hidden
\nwater sources such as gutters, irrigation tubing or plant trays.<\/p>\n
For other pests, Connors
\nrecommends inspecting your home\u2019s perimeter, trimming overgrown vegetation, and
\nworking with a licensed professional before pests take hold.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy the time you\u2019re reacting,
\nthe damage is already done,\u201d Connors said. \u201cYou have to think of pest control
\nthe same way you think of storm prep. You don\u2019t wait until it\u2019s already here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Billeisen agrees, adding that
\nNorth Carolinians should expect insect pressures to continue rising as the
\nclimate changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re seeing longer seasons
\nand earlier activity,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s not going away.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The rain moved out. The heat moved in. Then came the bugs. From swarms of mosquitoes rising from…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":69442,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[746,159,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-69441","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114867669795151025","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}