The pest year
Twelve months, twelve answers. Termites swarm in spring, mosquitoes breed in the rains, roaches peak in the heat and rats move into attics on the first cool front.
The season
South Florida does not have a pest season. It has twelve of them. This is what we are treating right now, and what is coming next.
See the full yearOctober
Flooding pushes fire ant colonies to higher ground, which is usually a lawn or the edge of a driveway. New mounds appear within a day of standing water draining. Treat the mound and the yard, not just the mound.
What we would do
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Book a October inspectionFlooding pushes fire ant mounds up onto lawns and driveways. The inspection is free either way; booking now gets the yard treated, not just the mound.See open timesJanuary
Cooler nights push rats into attics
January is when roof rats stop living in the trees and start living in your attic. You hear them just after dark, along the roof line above a bedroom. We trap, then close the way they got in: soffit gaps, A/C chases, loose roof tile.
February
Nesting season · roof-line entry
February is nesting season, so one rat becomes six. Droppings in the garage and gnawed mangoes in the yard are the tell. Trapping alone will not hold. The entry points have to be sealed in the same visit.
March · Swarm season
Subterranean swarms begin
The first swarms of the year come off in March. You will see winged termites at a lit window and, a day later, small piles of discarded wings on the sill. Mud tubes on block walls mean subterranean activity. This is the month to get looked at.
April · Swarm season
Formosan swarm peak
April is the peak, and in South Dade that means Formosan colonies, the aggressive ones. A swarm indoors is not an emergency the way a fire is, but it does mean a mature colony is already established nearby.
May · Swarm season
Drywood + first rains
Drywood termites swarm as the rains start, and they do not need contact with soil. They live in the wood itself. Hollow-sounding trim and tiny pellets under a window frame are the sign. Treatment is spot or whole-structure.
June
Rainy season · termite swarms continue
The rains arrive and Aedes breeds in whatever holds water for a week: plant saucers, gutters, bromeliads, a tarp. They bite in the daytime and they breed within 150 feet of your door, so the walkthrough matters as much as the treatment. Termites are not done either: drywood swarms keep coming off after evening rains, so winged termites at a window light still deserve a call.
July
Ghost ants indoors · late termite swarms
Ghost ants trail to the kitchen sink and the bathroom in July: tiny, pale, and impossible to ignore. Spraying them splits the colony into several, which is why we bait instead. Bigheaded ants leave soil piles along pavers. July is also the tail of termite season: late drywood swarms still show up, and discarded wings on a sill mean a colony nearby.
August
Palmetto bugs at peak heat
August heat brings the big brown American roaches (palmetto bugs) up out of drains and into garages at night. They are a moisture and entry-point problem, not a housekeeping one. Drains, harborage and the exterior perimeter all get treated.
September
Storm season · ants + roaches still high
September is the wettest month and everything is active at once: mosquitoes breeding in every container, ants moving indoors after each downpour, roaches out at night. A barrier treatment plus a breeding-site walkthrough does the most here.
October
Fire ants after floods
Flooding pushes fire ant colonies to higher ground, which is usually a lawn or the edge of a driveway. New mounds appear within a day of standing water draining. Treat the mound and the yard, not just the mound.
November
First cool front · attic checks
The first cool front is the signal. Rats look for a warm, dry place and the attic is the warmest, driest place they know. November is the right month for a look at the roof line before anyone moves in.
December
Holiday storage = shelter
Boxes come down from the attic and go back up, and cardboard in a warm attic is shelter and nesting material in one. If a box comes down chewed, something is living up there.
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