Many insects start emerging when the weather starts to warm up in the spring. From adults who have overwintered deep within the soil or within your home to newly hatched eggs; these insects are on the move to a brand-new year. So, wakey-wakey bugs, it’s springtime.

Some of the more common insects you’ll see in the spring are: carpenter ants, wasps, termites, and flies. You may experience some of these insects during a Texas winter because Texas weather is unpredictable and they don’t overwinter (hibernate) like they should. Some insects go into hibernation mode when temperatures drop below 50 degrees but come out briefly with elevated temperatures. This is called temporary hibernation or daily torpor.

Springtime is mating season for a large majority of insects. Nuptial flights of winged ants and termites can be observed in the evenings or after a rain. Wasps also mate in the spring but prefer to stay on the ground close to their nest. Flies, however, will mate on any stable surface.

Carpenter Ants

Carpenter ants are one of the first ants to emerge. Coming out in late winter/early spring, the winged males and future queens begin their mating swarm so the newly fertilized queen can shed her wings and move on to create a new colony. The males die shortly after mating.

Once the queen has created a nest, she will lay her eggs which will hatch in approximately 4 weeks. A strong colony takes up to 3 years to fully colonize and the queen can survive over 20 years and continue laying eggs during that time.

Termites

Often mistaken for carpenter ants, while in their nuptial flight, termite swarms fall in behind after ant mating season. Winged female termites, like the carpenter ant, take flight in hopes of finding romance. Once mated, both the female and male stay together to create a colony. The female will lay her eggs and within 2 weeks the eggs hatch and over the next 4 weeks the nymphs mature to adults. If left untreated a termite colony can grow to over 300,000 termites in 4 years.

Wasps

Springtime also brings people out. Picnics, BBQ’s and other outdoor gatherings all include food and trash; things wasps find attractive. So, when a new queen has built her nest and worker wasps start emerging, they follow these scents in hopes of foraging food for the colony. Wasps will continue searching these areas even after the food or trash is gone in hopes it will return.

Queen wasps can lay 100 per day and it only takes 30 days for a wasp to mature once the egg hatches.

Once temperatures reach freezing in late fall/early winter, wasps begin to die off. Queens, however, will burrow into the ground to survive the freezing temperatures only to emerge in spring and create a new nest near last year’s nest and start a new colony.

Flies

There are many types of flies when to comes to the word fly. There’s the household fly, crane fly, March fly, dragonfly, midges, and so many more to mention. All these flies, except the household fly, mate n the spring after overwintering in their larvae or pupal stage of life. Household flies are a year-round problem but are most active when warmer weather is present.
These flies live up to 1 month after reaching adulthood.

Protect your home or office before spring insects wake up. Contact Safe Earth Pest Control today to get started. We have a plan to fit all your pest control needs. 214-321-2847