Identifying Common Household Insects in Pennsylvania

INDIAN MEAL MOTH SAW-TOOTHED GRAIN BEETLE LARDER BEETLE

AMERICAN COCKROACH GERMAN COCKROACH BROWN-BANDED

COCKROACH ORIENTAL COCKROACH BLACK CARPET BEETLE BED

BUG HUMAN LOUSE TICK FLEA MOSQUITO HOUSE FLY PAPER WASP

ASIAN LADY BEETLE BOOKLICE WESTERN CONIFER SEED BUG VINEGAR

FLY EUROPEAN EARWIG HOUSE CENTIPEDE SILVERFISH BROWN

MARMORATED STINK BUGS CARPENTER ANT TERMITE CARPENTER BEE

College of Agricultural Sciences “What is THAT crawling across the kitchen floor? Why are there holes in my new cashmere sweater? Why is the oatmeal full of webs?” If you’ve asked questions like these, then you need this fact sheet. Proper pest identification is the first step in making an integrated pest management (IPM) decision. Improper identification can lead to unsuitable solutions to pest problems. The pictures and descriptions in this publication should help the homeowner or apartment dweller identify common insects found in the home. Once the pests have been identified, other sources of information can be used to determine the species’ potential as a pest and how to prevent or control them. Good places to obtain this information are the Pennsylvania IPM Program Web site (www.paipm.org, click on “Problem Solver”), Penn State Department of Entomology Web site (www.ento.psu.edu) or your local county Penn State Cooperative Extension office. The phone number may be found in the Blue Pages of the phone book. Indian Meal Moth (adult) Saw-Toothed Grain Beetle (adult) Larder Beetle (adult) Commonly found: pantry and Commonly found: pantry and Commonly found: pantry and kitchen kitchen kitchen The larva of this common pantry A common flour, pasta, and cereal This household pest lays its eggs pest can be found in foods such as pest, this small insect will likely go in and feeds on dry pet food, corn flour, corn meal, dried fruits, bird unnoticed until it becomes abun- meal, animal products, and dead in- 1 feed, and dry dog food. The adult is dant. The beetle is about ⁄16 inch sects. The beetle is dark brown and seen flying around the house, espe- long. approximately ½ inch in length. cially in the kitchen or pantry. The moth is ½ inch long.

American Cockroach (adults, German Cockroach (adults Brown-Banded Cockroach (adult) nymphs, and egg capsule) nymphs, and egg capsules) Commonly found: pantry and other areas Commonly found: pantry, kitchen, Commonly found: pantry and other bathroom areas This pest can be found in warmer areas of homes and apartments This reddish-brown cockroach is The German cockroach is the most and is about ½ inch in length and approximately 1½ inches in length. common cockroach species in hous- light brown. It can rapidly spread It is commonly found in basements, es, apartments, and hotels. Usually throughout an entire building. packing houses, and grocery stores found in kitchen and bathrooms, it 5 and feeds on a variety of materials. It is ½ to ⁄8 inch long and tan to light likes wet areas. brown. Look for the dark stripes on its “neck.” Oriental Cockroach (adult) Black Carpet Beetle (adult) Bed Bug (adult) Commonly found: kitchen, base- Commonly found: throughout Commonly found: bedroom ment, and other areas house Bed bugs can be found hiding in Oriental cockroaches prefer dark, The black carpet beetle is ¼ to ½ cracks and crevices in walls and damp areas, such as beneath sinks inch long and can be found in lint floors, as well as in furniture and and washing machines and in base- around baseboards and other areas. beds in bedrooms. They are oval, ments. They are about 1¼ inches The larvae eat almost any animal chestnut-brown insects that are flat- long, dark brown, and found with product, including leather, wool, tened from top to bottom, measur- decaying organic matter indoors silk, feathers, and hair. ing less than ¼ inch long. and out.

Human Louse (adult, nymph, and Tick (engorged adult) Flea (adult) egg attached to hair shaft) Commonly found: forests, mead- Commonly found: pets, carpeting, Commonly found: people and ows, fields animal bedding, lawns clothing Ticks feed on the blood of verte- Fleas are small insects less than Head and body lice are very small, brate animals and can transmit ¼ inch long and are dark brown 1 1 measuring ⁄16 to ⁄12 inch. Sharing diseases, such as Lyme disease. Ticks (photo lightened to show detail). 1 1 hairbrushes, combs, hats, clothes, are very small, from ⁄50 to ⁄8 inch Fleas are usually found on cats and toilet seats, and bedding can spread long, and can be found in long dogs, but some types will attack these blood-sucking insects. grasses and shrubs. other animals and humans. Mosquito (engorged adult) House Fly (adult) Paper Wasp (adult) Commonly found: inside and out- Commonly found: in and outside of Commonly found: under soffets side of homes homes and eaves Mosquitoes are small flies that breed House flies can transmit diseases to Paper wasps can be found nesting in standing water. Females must humans and can be identified by around homes or other structures. have a blood meal before laying four dark stripes on their thorax. Adults are about ¾ to 1 inch long, eggs, which brings them into house- The larvae (maggots) feed on decay- slender, and reddish orange to dark holds and yards. ing matter and are about ½ inch brown or black in color. long.

Asian Lady Beetle (adults) Booklice (adult) Western Conifer Seed Bug (adult) Commonly found: nuisance pest Commonly found: throughout Commonly found: nuisance pest house Lady beetles can be found in homes, This insect becomes a nuisance seeking warmth during the months Booklice resemble lice in size and when it enters homes in search of from September to April. These shape but only feed on fungi, molds, overwintering sites in the fall. Adults harmless insects are broadly oval, or materials that support mold are ¾ inch long and brownish on yellow to red, and may have black growth, as well as the starchy paste top. spots. of wallpaper and books. Vinegar Fly (adult) European Earwig (adult) House Centipede (adult) Commonly found: pantry and Commonly found: nuisance pest Commonly found: nuisance pest

kitchen 5 Earwigs are ⁄8-inch long and dark House centipedes are long and flat Vinegar flies—sometimes mistak- reddish brown. They become a pest and have fifteen pairs of legs with enly called fruit flies—are usually when they seek shelter in homes. the last pair (on adult females) found around overripened fruit and nearly twice the length of the body. vegetables. Adults are tiny, measur- These harmless pests are about 1½ 1 1 ing ⁄16 to ⁄12 of an inch long, and are inches in length. light yellowish brown to dark brown in color.

Silverfish (adult) Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs Carpenter Ant (worker) (adult) Commonly found: nuisance pest Commonly found: structural wood Commonly found: nuisance and Silverfish are either gray or silver Large, dark-colored carpenter ant garden pest with long antennae and three long workers often invade homes in filaments extending from the abdo- Stink bugs are so named because search of food and may excavate men. They feed on any substance their natural defense is releasing a moist, rotting wood and other soft containing starch, including books, smell that “stinks.” Stink bugs have a materials to make satellite nests. The linens, and cereals. wide, shield-shaped body, and mea- workers are wingless and ¼ to ½ sure about ½ inch long. inch in length. IPM is a safe, economical, and Establishing and Operating Green- scientific approach to managing house Crop Management Associa- pests that integrates knowledge tions in Pennsylvania of pest identity and biology with This publication will guide green- pest monitoring so that action, house owners in organizing if needed, can be taken at just producer-owned crop management the right time. In addition, IPM associations (CMA). It lists the uses a combination of manage- general services offered by crop ment tactics that are more likely management personnel, benefits to be safe and effective. The cited by producers, steps in es- Pennsylvania IPM Program is tablishing a crop association, and a collaboration between The responsibilities of CMA directors. It Pennsylvania State University also describes an operating associa- and the Pennsylvania Depart- tion, including its structure, size, ment of Agriculture aimed at and employee profile. promoting IPM in both agricul- tural and urban situations. Greenhouse IPM with an Emphasis Termite (workers and soldiers) on Biocontrols The following publications Commonly found: structural wood about IPM are available from Greenhouse IPM with an Emphasis Penn State: on Biocontrols was developed in Termites are social insects that live response to the need for practical in colonies and excavate wood. Mushroom IPM Handbook information on greenhouse IPM While an ant has a narrow, wasp-like and biocontrol. It is intended to The Mushroom IPM Handbook waist, a termite has a broad waist. help educate commercial green- explains the theory of IPM and Workers are creamy white, wingless, house operators, crop consultants, 1 how mushroom growers can and ⁄8 to ¼ inch in length. and IPM scouts to develop biocon- develop an effective IPM plan to trol systems for greenhouses that manage pests. The manual ex- will maximize yields while reducing plains the concepts of pest man- pesticide usage. agement, types of control, and the importance of understand- These publications are available by ing pest life cycles and biology. contacting Penn State’s Publications It also describes how the unique Distribution Center at 1-877-345- features of mushrooms can be 0691. used effectively in IPM.

IPM for Pennsylvania Schools: A How-to Manual This user-friendly manual encourages schools to adopt an IPM program and provides suggestions so that each school Carpenter Bee (adult) can decrease and manage pest problems. The manual includes Commonly found: structural wood chapters on setting up an IPM Carpenter bees resemble bumble program in schools and de- bees in both size and appearance veloping an IPM policy. It also but have shiny, black, hairless abdo- includes a sample policy from mens. They are ½ to 1 inch long and the Pennsylvania School Boards can be found nesting in soft wood, Association. Additionally, the usually under the eaves in homes. manual contains a partial listing Males have no stinger; females do of commonly encountered pests not sting unless provoked. in and around schools such as ants, cockroaches, flies, fleas, head lice, silverfish, termites, and yellowjackets. Prepared by Steve Jacobs, extension entomologist, Penn State; and Kristie Auman-Bauer, public relations and outreach coordinator, Pennsylvania IPM program Kristie Auman-Bauer: Editor Pennsylvania IPM Coordinators: Ed Rajotte and Cathy Thomas

Photo Credits: Steve Jacobs, Maryann Frazier, and Scott Camazine; Department of Entomology, Penn State Howard Nuernberger, College of Agricultural Sciences, Penn State Department of Entomology, University of Nebraska- Lincoln Van Walters & Rogers, Inc., subsidiary of Univar

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