Find a pro

Pest Files: page 3

One reference page per pest: identification, the damage it does, what treatment involves and how long it realistically takes.

Articles

Rows of round alfalfa hay bales in a cut field at golden hour with a wire fenceLawn and garden

Blister Beetles: Skin Blisters, Horses and Hay

Blister beetles do not bite or sting, but their cantharidin blisters skin and can kill horses through alfalfa hay. How to identify them, which species are...

October 30, 2026Sun dappled forest bank of packed soil, moss and fallen oak leaves on a gentle slope seen at ground levelSpiders and scorpions

Trapdoor Spiders: Burrows, Bites and Where They Live

Trapdoor spiders are tarantula relatives that hide under a hinged lid of silk and soil. The US species, when males wander, and why the bite is...

October 30, 2026Home vegetable garden bed recently converted from lawn, with turned soil and young plants in morning lightLawn and garden

Click Beetles: The Eyed Click Beetle and Wireworms

Adult click beetles are harmless porch-light visitors; their larvae, wireworms, are the garden pest. How to identify them, why they come indoors and how to check...

October 30, 2026Home vegetable garden with sprawling squash and pumpkin vines in late summer lightLawn and garden

Squash Bugs: Eggs, Nymphs and How to Protect Your Plants

Squash bugs are harmless to people but hard on squash and pumpkins. How to spot the eggs and grey nymphs, why adults resist sprays and which...

October 30, 2026Sun dappled eastern hardwood forest floor in June with a fallen decaying oak log and fernsLawn and garden

Stag Beetles: Do They Pinch, and Are They Harmful?

Stag beetles look fierce but are harmless decomposers whose grubs live in rotting logs for one to two years. How to identify US species and what...

October 30, 2026Woodland edge beside a suburban lawn in August with tree roots and dappled sunlightFleas and biting bugs

Botflies: Cuterebra in Pets and the Human Botfly Explained

The botfly people meet in the US is Cuterebra, a rodent and rabbit parasite that turns up in pets in late summer. What it is, how...

October 30, 2026Northern woodland river with clear water tumbling over rocks under a cloudy late May skyFleas and biting bugs

Black Flies: Bites, Season and How to Avoid Them

Black flies (buffalo gnats) breed in clean streams and bite by day in late spring. Why yard spraying fails, what bites do, and how to avoid...

October 30, 2026Wooded suburban backyard in early autumn with a stone path and fallen oak leavesWildlife

Copperhead Snakes: Identification, Bites and Yard Safety

Copperheads are venomous pit vipers whose bites are painful but rarely fatal. How to tell one from harmless look-alikes, when they are about, and how to...

October 30, 2026Pale painted living room wall beside a wooden doorframe and ceiling corner in evening lamplightSpiders and scorpions

Huntsman Spiders in the US: Size, Bites and Where They Live

The US huntsman spider is a big, flat, fast cockroach hunter of Florida, the Gulf Coast and Hawaii. How to identify it, what a bite does...

October 30, 2026Sunlit late summer garden border of goldenrod, purple asters and white milkweed blossomsSpiders and scorpions

Crab Spiders: Identification, Colour Change and Bites

Crab spiders are small, web-less flower hunters that are harmless to people. How to identify the common US species, how their colour change works and what...

October 30, 2026Two storey wooden house at dusk with lit windows beneath tall hardwood trees whose branches overhang the roofWildlife

Flying Squirrels in the Attic: Signs, Noise and Removal

How to tell flying squirrels from grey squirrels and mice in the attic, how many share a nest, when young are present, safe exclusion and the...

October 30, 2026Quiet farm pond with a grassy earthen dam, cattails along the near bank in early morning lightWildlife

Muskrats: Pond Damage, Identification and Control

What a muskrat is, how to tell it from a beaver, nutria or rat, what it eats, how its burrows damage pond dams, and the extension-approved...

October 30, 2026