MADISON, Wis. — A hot, dry summer means more bugs are ready to take shelter in our houses this fall.
It’s that time of year when creepy crawlers are determined to invade our homes as the weather gets cooler. Thanks to our weather this summer, you could see even more than normal.
Ryan Neerland is president of Kwik Kill Pest Control in Madison, and sister Breanna is the operations manager.
They’ve been swamped lately.
“Our fall invaders such as boxelder bugs, Asian beetles, brown marmorated stink bugs, are all starting to move towards the homes,” Breanna said.
Stink bugs are shaped like a shield, and look like they have a hard shell.
“They have moved to Wisconsin a lot in the last few years. We've seen those populations start to boom,” Breanna said. “They're probably becoming our biggest fall invaders at this point.”
These bugs are really living their best lives thanks to the hot, dry summer.
“They like that heat, they thrive in it,” Breanna said. “They can reproduce more quickly in nice warm temperatures.”
“Weather patterns drive everything,” said Jeff Harrison, who works for Premier Pest Elimination in Madison.
Luckily stink bugs aren’t harmful to humans or our homes. Still, that doesn’t mean you want them inside.
“It’s amazing how small of a crack that it can take,” he said. “Even a brand new home that’s sealed extremely tight. They inevitably find a way in.”
Harrison said if you see a stink bug in your home, don’t squash it!
“The general tendency is they just grab it and squish it right? That's actually a terrible thing,” he said. “It releases a pheromone which can actually draw more stink bugs into the house. So my best advice is grab it with a tissue, throw it outside, flush it, whatever.”
Spiders are having a field day right now too. However, they’re not bad company to have in your house.
“They feed on other insects, they’ll catch them in their webs,” Breanna said. “Some spiders are active hunters. So they’ll actually go out and find those insects. They’re definitely beneficial.”
Wisconsin isn’t home to many harmful spiders. The Badger State has northern widow and brown recluses, but those are the only poisonous arachnids in the state.
Those poisonous spiders are extremely rare: the brown recluse has only been spotted a handful of times here over the past few decades.
For advice on how to identify these spiders, click here.