Residential

Testimonial

"Ron, number 17, treated our home exactly the way he'd treat his own home. He did an excellent job, a very thorough job in eliminating our pests and was courteous and explained everything he was doing to me and everything he was going to do. I would really recommend Ron to anyone who needs him."

Insect Pest Identification

Use our insect identification resource to learn how to identify common household insects and bugs found throughout the home and property. Many of the house pests pictured below are found throughout Washington DC, Maryland and regions of Virginia.

Ants

Ants are social insects belonging to the order of insects known as “Hymenoptera” – the same order containing bees and wasps.

Bed Bugs

Bed bugs are very small parasitic insects that are rising in number, making a strong comeback after nearly 50 years of limited activity in the United States.

Box Elder Bugs

Box Elder Bugs (Boisea trivittata) are common pests – sometimes called “Garage Beetles” or “Maple Bugs” – that can be found throughout Maryland.

Carpet Beetle

Carpet beetles are often found inside homes, warehouses, museums and other buildings in Maryland, Virginia, and DC, where they may cause serious damage to stored fabric items.

Cigarette Beetle

Like the drugstore beetle, the cigarette beetle is a common pantry pest that occurs in our region and is most common in the fall and winter months. As its name implies, the cigarette beetle is a pest of dried tobacco.

Clover Mites

Clover Mites are tiny red bugs that invade households and are close relatives of ticks and spiders. They are considered true mites, not insects.

Cockroaches

Human habitation is associated with 30 of the 4000 species of Cockroach in the world but only four species are considered pests in the United States.

Crickets

There are thought to be around 900 species of true Crickets, belonging to the “Gryllidae” family. These crickets tend to be nocturnal and are generally characterized by slightly flattened looking, light brown and long antennae.

Drugstore Beetle

Drugstore beetles are considered pantry pests and commonly infest a wide variety of foods including those made from dried plant or animal products. Reddish-brown in color the drugstore beetle is oval in shape and is about 1/8 inch long.

Earwigs

Earwigs are an insect easily recognized by their long, smooth bodies and pair of appendages in their abdomen called “cerci”. Pincer-like in appearance the cerci are fairly straight while the females are more curved.

Fleas

Ctenocephalides felis, the ‘Cat Flea’, is one of the most profuse and prevalent fleas found in the world. As the name suggests, the ‘Cat Flea’s’ primary host is the domestic cat but they can also live on other pets and animals.

Flies

Flies are insects of the order ‘Diptera’ and have a single pair of wings. Of the many types of fly, the three most encountered by American Pest Management are: Blow Fly or Bottle Fly, Fruit Fly and House Fly.

House Centipedes

House Centipedes belong to the family Chilopoda and are not an insect, but a common arthropod relative. These “hundred-footed creatures” are commonly found throughout most of the US and the entire world

Indian Meal Moth

Indian meal moths are pests of stored food products that are frequently encountered in our area. As adults, Indian meal moths have wings and fly, with bodies ranging from 1/2 to 5/8th of an inch in length.

Ladybird Beetles

Ladybird Beetles belong to the order Coleoptera and are also commonly referred to as Ladybugs. An adult Ladybird Beetles are oval, convex and are typically red in color with 6 black spots on each wing. Their hemispheric body is about the size of 1/2 of a pea.

Mosquitoes

Thousands of species of Mosquitoes inhabit the earth, although only around 150 species are home to the United States. Mosquitoes feed on nectar but female mosquitoes will also feed on the blood of humans.

Rodents

Rodents are mammals that are characterized by having two incisors which must be kept short by gnawing as they grow continuously. Among the most well known and common rodents are: Mice, Rats, Chipmunks and Squirrels.

Silverfish

The Silverfish is a small insect with a long, slender, flattened body measuring from ½ to 1 inch in length. It derives its name from the light grey and blue coloring which can shimmer and look silver as it moves its gradually across floors and surfaces.

Spiders

The American House Spider, House Spider or Domestic Spider is found throughout the world, and is common throughout the United States and Canada. The adult male spider is smaller, with an elongated abdomen.

Springtail

Springtails, or Collembola, are closely related to insects but are in a group of 6 legged arthropods now considered apart from insects. Tiny and soft-bodied, the Springtail ranges in size from 1mm to 6mm and tends to dwell in soil, leaf litter and other humid areas

Stinging Insects

There are many species of stinging insects that range from the beneficial Honeybee and parasitic Wasp, to the invasive European Paper Wasp. Some of the primary species found by American Pest are Yellow Jackets, wasps and more.

Stink Bugs

Stink Bugs belong to the order hemiptera and are also known as Shield Bugs. They are appropriately named because Stink Bugs have small glands located on their thorax that are capable of emitting a offensive smelling liquid.

Termites

Termites are small, foraging insects that live in large social colonies while feeding on cellulose from leaf litter, wood, soil and dung. It is thought that there are around 4,000 species of Termite with around 10% of these considered as pests to wood.

Ticks

Ticks are members of the ‘Ixodidae’ family of insects. They are external parasites that feed on the blood of non-domestic wildlife such as mice, deer, fox, raccoons, and rabbits. Ticks pose serious health concerns as they are known to carry and transmit disease and illness.