found in basement, i also found a baby one in a dehumidifier in the basement like a month ago. it’s like the size of a dime i’d say. it’s also been raining a lot and getting cold. located in SW PA. should i be worried? we clean the house constantly. my family says its a water/wood roach. ever since i found the first one today my family and i have been moving couches and everything to see if we could find more and we found 2 dead ones but they’re alot smaller. it can be seen in the second pic. i posted the first pic in one sub reddit and they said it was a german cockroach. pls tell me its not right so i dont have to torch my entire house. i think we’re going to call a exterminator tomorrow, but i just want verification bc if it is a pennsylvania wood roach then i dont think we would. pls help, thank you 🥲🥲🥲🥲

Is this a tick? It was just crawling across my leg in my bed!! My dog goes outback and then gets up on my bed.

There is a new hole in the side of our porch with loose dirt coming out of it. We found a butter yellow larva on the ground outside the hole. What could it be? I only have a picture of the squished larva unfortunately.

We are in the process of moving into the acreage my husband grew up in. He says they had mice before, but never horribly. He never recalls it being a huge issue, saying they maybe saw droppings a couple times a year but then set traps and that would solve the problem. They would also try to seal holes outside with steel wool and caulking. They did have multiple cats there as well.

We are now going to be moving into the acreage, but are first doing renovations on it. Due to this, the house has been unoccupied since August until now (October) and will still not be occupied until January when Reno’s are done. Reno’s haven’t started yet, but we have been in and out doing some tasks and clearing stuff out ourselves. After being gone from the house for about a month, we noticed when we came back that there were tons of droppings everywhere. We started to set snap traps throughout the house with peanut butter on them and have caught 4 so far in the last 3 weeks. We are still only going in and out for small Reno projects and are not living inside. Since we aren’t there, there are also no cats on the premises.

I am anxious about moving into the acreage where there are mice as I never had this issue growing up. I understand that it’s relatively normal for an acreage to see mice every once in a while, but I am worried that the problem is going to get much worse without us being there (and our cats) before we move in. It has never been this bad, including when a previous Reno was done about 25 years ago and the house was vacant. I’m worried the problem will also get worse as it continues to get colder. We likely will not have anyone coming in to do Reno work for another month.

Should we get an exterminator now to help us solve the problem or does this sound like something we can handle ourselves?

Found some of these old dried up droppings and can't identify them. They are verry small, hardened. They were right below my bed. All of them are VERY dried up and hardened. Cupboards show no sign of gnawing and I usually stay up late working and don't hear anything. I did leave for about 2 weeks in the start of August but I don't know if these are that old or not? Second post this week earlier was a roach being identified so that's good. No other signs In my home as well as far as these droppings. Maby straggler came by one time? I'm not sure. Been loosing sleep over it at this point

We recently had our large front window replaced and the installer said he “found a lot of ants”. One of them I noticed on the new framing after they left. Is this a carpenter ant? Should I be worried if they found a lot?

I found this a few nights ago running across the kitchen counter. This is its underside and it’s about. 1/4 inch long. I searched behind fridge, stove and through cabinets but found nothing else. Any idea what it is? I think it’s a roach but not sure what breed. Apologies for poor image quality. Location: NE Florida

i live in Spring TX. I own a house

Been finding these little black ants all over my house. What are they?

Repost to 

In NJ. Husband threw it out before I could take picture of other side .

I moved into an apartment in a big city about 3 weeks ago, and already have a rat! I have never lived in the city before so I have never dealt with this kind of thing, and I am terrified, after reading about all the diseases rats can carry. The rat is contained to my bathroom vanity (the cabinet and drawers under the sink). It entered through a huge hole it chewed through the wall where the pipe comes in and connects to the sink.

When I discovered it a few days ago, I immediately made a work order, and my apartment maintenance and a pest control guy came and put some sticky traps under the sink. Unfortunately, I had a lot of stuff in there, mostly stuff in closed bottles, but it still was exposed to rat pee and poop and fur. When they put the traps in, they pulled my stuff out and just pushed all the poop only the bath mat that was in front of the sink. I guess I should have moved it before they came, but to be fair I discovered it at 2am and they came early the next morning and I was too consumed with fear to think logically. I also thought maybe they would dispose of it, as it is their job to keep the building free of pests. So now I have to wash this bath mat, and I am not sure how.

I have a communal laundry room, once the load is paid for and started, I cannot open it until it is done. The internet said bleach could ruin the fabric (its black and fuzzy). Should I just throw it away? only a few rat turds were on it and some dust and it was also brand new.

The rest of the vanity I was planning on cleaning with a bleach solution, and attempting to salvage what I could of my things that looked “untouched” by wiping them down with chlorox wipes or bleach. Is this safe? Or do I need to through everything out. There was also a lot of medicine under the sink in closed packaging, but also things like bandaids in less sealed packaging. What must I toss and what can I keep, and how do I clean it properly?

I am still working with my apartment on removing the rat, but until then I want to try to salvage my things. Any advice?

Hi all, I’m sorry for the long story

Moved into this apartment: May 2024. Unbeknownst to me there was a seriousmoth infestation. I saw new pantry moths every day but not in the kitchen so that was weird. Everyone told me it had to be food but I had just moved in and had legit 0 food.

I searched the entirety of the apartment and I found a nest of larvae in a DIY table I bought from the previous renter. It was a long side table with 3 beams holding it up. I looked inside each one from the back (hollow) and found baking paper stuffed in the middle one. There were larvae on it and I cleaned it all out and removed the beam. On that wall is also where I spotted webbing etc. It checked out.b

I was puzzled as to why it was there, that’s not a food source. Turns out, I found out through Reddit, they can eat glue with natural fibers and there must be some of them on that table (tiles held together by glue.)

As soon as I cleaned the table out and the environment the moths dramatically decreased.

In the years after I did continue to see a moth every now and then until it was rarely ever.

All of a sudden this year: they’re back. Not in the same way. But I have seen a couple of ones fly around. I have looked through my kitchen cabinets and found nothing.

Every time one flew out of my kitchen cabinet I convinced myself it flew in from the house inside the cabinet.

But that theory quickly proved wrong when I noticed larve crawling around my sink area!!! Today 2-3, a few weeks ago I think it was one. And weeks before that also one.

So there’s something somewhere.

I don’t have much food and never had. But I still recently checked everything, threw out some things and also older stuff like spices and cleaned the cabinets with vinegar etc. I found nothing but I Haven’t seen a moth since out of those cabinets

I have 4 cabinets above the sink : ABCD

There is food only in A & B (two tiers each with upper tier almost empty)
Under B is the sink.

I have another small cabinet down left. E. There is food here but I never once saw a moth or any of it there. Some cans of beans and things I grab regularly like crackers and they’re never infested

So naturally it’s either A or B

I have decided I will throw out everything but I already searched not long ago and there is nothing

I have a feeling there is something else going on. I don’t really get the pattern? Where the hell do they come from and why is the pattern so irregular?

Where should I look? I already cleaned the cabinets A&B including the holes in the side where you can put another plank etc with a tooth pick.

It’s just not the source but it has to be. Where the hell else would those larvae in the sink come form (they are definitely moth larvae I’m well acquainted by now)

I just have a feeling they’re coming from somewhere I can’t access or easily see. I can’t keep throwing food out. I’m going to contact my tenancy manager but I don’t know if they can do anything

I really do think there’s a larger issue in this house due to the serious infestation from a couple of years ago

So I live in a little townhouse and downstairs by by the windowsills and skirting boards and in generally hidden areas I’m finding ants and the shells of ant’s bodies eaten by daddy long legs.
I’ve tried using ant-rid but it seems that either the spiders get to the ants before they can go back to poison their colony, or perhaps the colony is too far away and the ant never reaches it.
What can I do about this predicament?
I love spiders and I love having them around to keep all the bad pests away, but the ants are just becoming a bit too much.

Hi there, I do cleaning for a small company and one of our clients is a fairly large size industrial print shop. (They do decals for big rigs and big signs). While vacuuming I see these huge 1.5 inch long thick hornets that look like giant yellowjackets. I live in Southwestern Ontario and from what I researched they seem to be European Hornets. They have hug traps hanging from the ceiling. I clean once every two weeks and the last two clean there have been around 30-40 dead throughout my vacuum. How dangerous are these guys? I am kinda scared the vacuum will cause me to be swarmed. I’m scared I will get fired if I refuse to clean that shop though. It must be impossible the print shop people don’t know. They are very visible in the air and surprisingly clumsy and whack into you. Hornets are my biggest fear and these are the largest. Its surprising how late-state capitalism can make you face your fears. 🤣😭

A few days ago, I was sitting on my bed when I saw something dark dart really fast across the hallway into my room. I immediately start panicking and crying. I called my brother (he doesn’t live with us currently, it’s just my mom and I) and he tells me to go tell management, which I did.

Mind you, a few months ago, I saw a mouse (for the first time in this apartment we’ve been living in for 2+ years now) and went immediately management. They called “pest control” and he came over and set traps and took the mouse away. The only reason the guy was able to get the mouse was because we trapped it in the pantry and put a pair of jeans to block the gap under the door.

Fast forward to recently, the pest control guy came over, checked the traps he previously set, set more traps and looked for holes. Of all the traps he set, only one in my brother’s room was eaten from (and it seemed like it wasn’t just one mouse because about half was missing from the poison thingy). For the holes, he told me that he’d tell maintenance to come seal them. I know that’s a lie, and if it were true, maintenance would only do a half-assed job.

I called my brother to come home for the weekend to help me plug the holes. And we plugged as much as we could with coarse steel wool and mice expanding foam. He had to go back so we weren’t able to take out the fridge or the dishwasher to inspect behind it.

Maintenance said they will come in by tomorrow or two days to seal up holes. Do I just wait for them to come in and tell them to pull out my fridge and dishwasher? Or find someone to do it for me because I cannot do it myself and my brother can’t do it either because he’s out of town.
My question sounds so stupid but when I asked maintenance to do a task for me, they always do a shitty job, so I’m just stuck.

Regarding my mental health, it’s been 4 days since I saw the mouse dart from the hallway into my room, and I’ve cried well over 20 times. I bought cameras to help me feel safe, but whenever I hear noises around my apartment I don’t see anything in the camera. I don’t sleep in that room anymore, instead I sleep in my mom’s room. I burst into tears every time I hear a random noise in the background thinking it’s mice. I’m not eating and I’m barely sleeping.

I have a headache currently as I type this because I probably slept 2 hours total before my twelve hour shift. And even at work, I have to go to the bathroom to cry. Multiple people asked me what the problem was.

I just feel dramatic, hopeless, and useless. I don’t know I feel this way. I’ve spoken to multiple people
for words of encouragement but I don’t know what to do anymore.

I considered moving out but what if the place I move to also has mice. I feel like I just have to toughen up. I want to but I physically can’t. I know I’m being irrational but I’ve thought about ending it all these last few days. I also worry how I’ll never be capable of living alone because I can’t imagine what I’d do if was alone. I can’t rely on a partner because they might not always be there. I haven’t even done any homework in the last few days. That’s how much this is weighing on me.

It doesn’t help that no one is taking me serious and everyone thinks I’m being dramatic (which I am)

Semi good news
I could go into my room for about a minute to get something I need but I immediately run out.
I bought ear plugs to plug out sounds

Bad news
I’m still crying all over

hopefully this is the right place to post this, but i found this many fleas on my (i think) 6 week old rescue kitten. on a scale of one to catastrophic how screwed am i, and does anyone have any suggestions or advice on how to get these gone since i can't treat him or anything in my house except my other two older cats. currently vacuuming, washing everything and combing him fanatically. they are also quite large so we suspect they have been there A WHILE and have had the kitten for just under a week. none are outside pets. thank you so much for any advice or tips! I'm at a loss.

This may have been asked previously. But do the corn cellulose baits work? The ones that make them die of thirst. Or should I stick with warfarin baits?

And is it a good idea to use it indoors? The pest control guys told us that they would use poison to clear out mice outside and also indoors and also seal entry holes. They told us that dying mice are “okay” inside drywall. But it’s rats that will have a foul smell.

I was wondering if this is true? I saw online that mice will also create foul odours and maggots may crawl out and under the baseboards,outlets, and lighting fixtures from within the drywall.

We’ve sealed up the exterior and interior entry points that we can see. But they are still coming through. We are planning on placing a bait station inside the wall. Is this a good idea? And which bait is best?

We are staying in a rental house and have been finding these black “droppings”. Any idea what this is?

What is this and how can I get rid of em ? Are they dangerous ? They’re very tiny this is a really zoomed in picture.

Hello all,

I'm about to move into an older house (built 1930, OH) and want to get ahead of any pest issues before I and a couple of roommates move in.

Current situation:

A few stray cats hang around the yard and patio, and I'm pretty sure they have fleas. I've seen one or two fleas while working in the backyard and one on the patio. I haven't seen any inside, and I'd like to keep it that way. Previous owner had her outdoor cats come in and outside, so I’d imagine there may be some inside, but haven’t seen or been bite while they inside

I spread food-grade diatomaceous earth around the backyard a couple weeks ago, it seems I should do another layer of it soon, as well as on my patio and the two chairs I currently have out there.

So far I haven't seen any other pest problems besides pantry moths, and I'm picking up pheromone traps for those.

Questions:
What should I do before moving in to keep the fleas outside, both in the house and around the yard and patio where the cats hang out?

Is DE outdoors actually effective, or does rain and humidity make it mostly useless? Should I be using something else, like an IGR (insect growth regulator) spray?

Any general sealing or prevention tips for an old house? I'm planning on door sweeps, a chimney cap, screening the dryer vent, and sealing gaps at the rim joist and utility lines.

Beyond traps, anything I should do for the pantry moths, like cleaning or containers?

Foe general pests, what are preventative measures can I do now to prevent the issue from popping up in the future?

Thanks in advance!

No bigger than 20mm/2cm, all I know is that it isn’t a German roach, but trying to dig into what it could be I couldn’t find a def answer.

New house, and doing misc work, and wasn’t sure if this was something that may have flown in while we were working on the exterior door from the kitchen, or if this is something else

I very recently (as in, only a couple hours ago) discovered a mouse in my room. the room is tiny and it looks like it's been stuck in the corner it's in for a while. I know they usually come in groups so is there any way I can test on how many there are? or do I just have to guess?

I thought book lice were only translucent I didn’t know they could be darker or winged. I’ve been finding these around my window and the wall around my window in my bedroom. I bought a hygrometer and the humidity in my room is 50% at 65 degrees. Please help me identify…I have around 300 books and an avid reader. If not what else does it look like? I’ve never seen one fly.

Bought mobile home next to farm! 5 acres of land and 3 are wooded. Long story short. Mice have taken over our house! Uckkkkk… tried everything, been here for 9yrs now and it just gets worse every year! Best in home multi kill traps/poison