Ask
Dr. Joe Bugs
By Joseph D. Henry, N.D., J.G.
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Flying Bugs | Fire
Ants | Ticks (Animals) | Ticks
(House) | White Footed Ants
Weeds | Chinch Bugs |
Chemicals | Indian Meal
Moth | Rabies | Roaches
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Dear
Dr. Joe: We have little flying bugs in the kitchen.
They are not flies, nor are they ants. My husband put one under
a magnifying glass, and it appears to be round and seems to
have a hard body. Can u help us?
S. Silver Davie, Fl
Dear S. Silver:
Without seeing the insect, it is difficult to give you sound
advice. If I had to take a guess, from the location where you
see them and your description of the insect, I’d say that
your home has been invaded by pantry pests. It could be anything
from Rice Weevils, to flour beetles, to the infamous Drugstore
Beetles, or any one of a half dozen others in the same family.
The treatment is pretty much
the same. If the insect has been around less than a month, find
the source of the infestation, destroy it, and your problem
is pretty well solved. To find the little rascals, look in your
dry dog food first, then in anything at all that is grain based;
flour, cereal, cookies etc. Don’t forget those boxes of
rice and pasta that come from the store in boxes rather than
in sealed plastic wrappers.
If they have been in your house
for longer than a month, I would suggest that after you find
the source, take everything out of the pantry or where you have
stored food and have your pest control technician treat those
areas with a residual spray. He’ll know what to use.
Those uninvited guests came courtesy
of your local super market at no extra charge. They were simply
in some of the grain product, and after a period of time they
matured and made their presence known.
And you thought only your relatives
from New York came to visit uninvited.
The only good thing about these
little guys is that they are probably easier to get rid of than
your relatives. Next time try to send me a sample so that we
can identify your guests.
Good day, God bless, and may all
your bad bugs go away.
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Dear
Dr. Joe: My neighbor won’t
let her dogs out because she heard that there are a lot of rabid
animals in the area. Should we be concerned about our animals
going outside and how can we tell if an animal is rabid?
Natasha S. Davie, Fl
Dear Natasha:
I would not be too concerned. While there is more rabies activity
in the area, it’s mostly in Palm Beach County and north.
Yes, we need to be aware of the situation but I would not keep
my animals inside. You should be able to recognize the signs
of a rabid animal. Animals with rabies may show strange behavior:
they can be aggressive, attacking for no apparent reason. Wild
animals may sometimes act very tame. They may not be able to
eat, drink or swallow. They may drool and they may stagger before
becoming paralyzed.
There are 5 things you
should be aware of if you or a child should get bitten by
an animal that appears to be rabid.
1. Immediately scrub the wound with plenty of soap and running
water for five to ten minutes.
2. Try to get a complete description of the animal and determine
where it is so it can be picked up for quarantine or testing.
3. Go to your family doctor or the nearest emergency room.
4. Call your county health department or animal control agency
with the animal’s description and location of the animal.
5. If you kill the animal, be careful not to damage the head
and avoid further contact with the animal even when dead.
Having said all this, there are relatively few instances of
rabies and most animals affected seem to be raccoons. So leave
the little furry bandits alone and use common sense and you
will be fine.
Good day, God bless and may all
your bad bugs go away.
Joe “bugs” Henry
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Dear Dr. Joe: Can
you please help me get rid of fire ants? The people who service
our lawn tell me that it's impossible to be free of fire ants.
My baby got bit severely and I am afraid to let her play in
the yard. What can I do?
Louise W., Parkland.
Dear Louise. Your
lawn technician was mostly right. Until a few months ago, one
good rain storm could bring back mounds of imported fire ants.
Then a brand new product came on the market for fire ants. It
is produced by the Aventis Company and it contains Fipronil.
It's a pretty potent product. It can only be used once a year
and cannot be applied within 15 feet of bo dies
of fresh water, but it works. It is rated to last for one year
for imported fire ants. I applied it on a mound of ants in my
back yard. It took about two weeks to take effect, but the ants
are all gone.
The company claims it may take up to two months
for this product to take full effect. It's not a "do-it-yourself"
product. It can only be purchased and applied thru licensed
professional technicians. The name of the product is TOP CHOICE
TM, it's a little pricey but well worth the money. This is the
best thing that I have seen on the market to help get rid of
those nasty critters. Ask your pest control company about it.
I'm sure they will have heard of it by now.
Good day, God bless and may all
your bad bugs go away.
Joe Bugs |
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Dear Dr. Joe: Two
months ago our dog got loose and ended up in the city pound.
We are now seeing a few small ticks around her sleeping area.
I think that we got all of them but do we need professional
pest treatment?
Lisa C. Coral Springs, Fl
Dear Lisa: Yes,
you do. These baby ticks are the result of one or more eggs hatching.
I would suggest that you have your home and your yard treated.
Ticks do not stay on an animal, so believe me, you did not get
them all. They only attach to the dog to get a blood meal which
allows them to become fertile. They then drop to the ground,
lay their eggs in cracks or crevices and look for another meal.
Look towards the ceiling and behind picture frames. Ticks have
a tendency to move to higher places. You may see small black
dots about the size of a pinhead up where the ceiling meets the
walls. When you scrape those off, you will see that they are
small ticks. They can be many places. If the dog hangs around
the kid's beds, be sure to check all around those rooms.
This is one case where I strongly recommend that you get a pest
control company. Be sure that they treat your entire yard, especially
the trees and shrubs. Ticks will usually climb up so that they
can jump and attach themselves to a host as it walks by. Ticks
can live almost one year without feeding, but as soon as they
feed, usually on an animal, they get off and lay their eggs bringing
thousands of baby ticks ready to grow and start the process all
over again. Inside the house, be sure that the technician treats
all areas of the house but also behind the picture frames and
cracks around the windows and doors. I seriously doubt that the
bombs that you buy at the supermarket or Do-It Yourself centers
will do the job for you.
Be sure that you get your dog dipped on the same day you have
your house exterminated.
I would suggest that you put your dog on Frontline. That will
save you a lot of aggravation and your pet will live a longer
and healthier life.
Good day, God bless, and may all your bad bugs swarm
to your enemies.
Joe Bugs
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Dear
Dr. Joe: My neighbor had a serious infestation of ticks.
I found three on our German Shepherd. I have two questions:
Should I have my house treated as I do not see any in the house,
and how should I remove them from the dog?
Michael W. Coral Springs, Fl
Dear Michael: If your neighbor
had an infestation of ticks and you found a
few on your dog, you can probably assume that you also have
a lot of them either in the house or in the yard or both places.
 The
area where you live has had a lot of tick activity. First, let’s
cover how to get them off your dog. It’s important to
remove ticks as soon as possible. This needs to be done properly
so that no tick mouth parts break off and remain in the skin.
The right way is to use a blunt pair of tweezers, grasping the
tick as close to the skin as possible, and remove it with a
steady pull. Do not crush or squeeze the tick as you pull because
it may regurgitate, increasing the chance of infection. After
you have removed the tick, disinfect the skin with alcohol and
wash your hands with soap and water.
As for them being in your house, chances are
that yes, they are. Look towards the ceiling and behind picture
frames. Ticks have a tendency to move to higher places after
laying their eggs in the rug or cracks in the floor or crevices.
You probably will see small black dots about the size of a pinhead
up where the ceiling meets the walls. When you scrape those
off, you will see that they are small ticks. They can be many
places. If the dogs hangs around the kid’s beds, be sure
to check all around their rooms.
This is one case where I strongly recommend that you get a pest
control company. Be sure that they treat all your yard, especially
the trees and shrubs. Ticks will usually climb up so that they
can jump and attach themselves to a host as it walks by. Ticks
can live almost one year without feeding, but as soon as they
feed, usually on an animal, they get off and lay their eggs
bringing thousands of baby ticks ready to grow and start the
process all over again. Inside the house, be sure that the technician
treats all areas of the house but also behind the picture frames
and cracks around the windows and doors.
Be sure that you get your dog dipped on the same day as you
have your house exterminated.
I strongly recommend that you speak with
your veterinarian and, please, get your animal on some sort
of flea and tick prevention program. That will save you a lot
of aggravation and your pet will live a longer and healthier
life.
Good day, God bless and may all your bad bugs go away.
Joe “bugs” Henry
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Dear
Dr. Joe: We have
lines of small black ants on the outside of our home. Our pest
control company sprays them and they are back the next week.
Why can't they get rid of them?
Sharon V., Parkland.
Dear Sharon: I
am surprised that your technician has not made you aware that
you probably have an invasion of white footed ants. Spraying them
 only makes them bud off
and start new colonies. They require special treatments including
the use of a fogger occasionally. They are very difficult to
control and no one will be able to eliminate them completely.
Read the information attached.
The w.f. is a native to tropical Asia but has
been inadvertently introduced into Florida. They are relatively
small ants with a black body and whitish feet. Several attributes
of their biology help make w.f. ants a very difficult pest to
control. Established colonies may contain well over a million
individuals. About half of a w.f. colony is made up of "intercastes"
which are wingless males and females, that mate and lay fertile
eggs. Thus the reproductive potential of the w.f. is much greater
than most other ant species.
Unlike many other species, they do not carry
baited food back to the colony, so they must be destroyed one
entire colony at a time by a combination of dusting and power
spraying shrubs, trees, and the sides of the building and the
attic of the home that they are invading.
On the positive side, they do not bite or sting
and apparently cause no structural damage. That, and the fact
that they are constantly budding, (budding is a process where
many males and females leave the mother nest and go some distance
to start a new colony) makes it almost impossible to be controlled
by the homeowner. One almost needs to have access to a power-spray
unit and hi-powered duster to do the job properly. And the technician
must be willing to come back, usually at least once or twice,
to eliminate the entire colonies.
If you see thousands of little black ants converging
on the side of your home and don't want to be the site of their
next convention, I would suggest that you contact a pest control
company that is equipped and has the experience to deal with
this particular problem. Be sure that they give you a guarantee
that they will come back if the ants decide to do a repeat performance.
Please click
here for more detailed literature on the White
Footed Ant.
Joe Bugs
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Dear
Dr. Joe: Weeds,
weeds everywhere. My lawn is covered with weeds. I used Scott’s
Weed & Feed, followed directions, did not water my lawn
for the two following days and I can’t tell the difference.
I even have runners on top of the grass. What should I do?
Paul S. Parkland.
Dear Paul:
Don’t despair, your problem is quite common to S. Florida.
Two things need to be addressed; the weeds
and the runners on top of the grass. Both are probably caused
by the same culprit. Too much water.
 Our
experience in treating for weeds either broad leaf weeds like
dollar weeds or hardy weeds has been that most lawns are over
watered. You state that you did not turn on the water for the
next two days. I have to assume that you water every day for
about 12 to 15 minutes per zone as most people do in this area.
The department of Agriculture strongly recommends that lawn
be watered once or twice a week with the timer set at 45 minutes
or ¾ of an inch of water per zone.
Yes, that is the winter schedule when it does not rain much.
If you have a heavy rainfall there is nothing wrong with shutting
off the water for a week or so. Watering the grass for 45 minutes
instead of 15 minutes per zone forces the grass to grow deeper
in the ground and becoming stronger. The fact that you have
runners on top of the grass instead of under where they belong
is a clear indication of too much water. Watering too often
also leads to fungus problems.
We have never been successful
with any kind of “weed & feed” products. We
only use Atrazine or Lontrel and we apply them directly to the
grass. Keep in mind that to be effective these products need
to be applied twice within a 30 to 40 day period.
In summation, water less, feed
regularly, don’t cut your grass too short and your lawn
will love it and be the envy of your neighbors.
Good day, God bless and may
all your bad bugs go away.
Joe “bugs”
Henry
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Dear
Dr. Joe: There are brown patches all over our lawn
and near the driveway. Our sprinkler system seems to be working
properly. What could it be?
Natasha B., Parkland Fl.
Dear Natasha: What you are
describing is a classic example of what a “chinch
bug” infestation looks like. You can usually
find chinch bug activity by parting the grass next to the brown
patches. Look in the ground, in the top layer of the dirt. You
will probably see tiny bugs scurrying around trying to hide.
 Chinch
bugs burrow in the ground and attack the roots of the grass.
They are very active this time of the year.
I am not sure how effective the home treatments
are. We get various feed back mostly negative from people who
have bought “Home Depot” type treatments.
Chinch bugs are not that difficult to treat. The Talstar granulars
which can be bough at a Lesco or similar pest control supply
house have a good reputation. Most pest control companies will
use a liquid that is mixed with water and applied to your grass.
A product like Permethrin would be used. This is a case where
they have to use quite a bit of liquid to be sure it penetrates
the ground and find those little buggers where they are hiding.
If you should attempt to treat that problem
yourself, be sure to treat the areas outside of the brown patches.
The chinch bugs are no longer residing in the brown areas. They
are out looking for greener pastures where the grass is nice
and healthy. Be sure to treat the entire lawn area.
Good day, God bless and may all your bad bugs
go away.
Joe “bugs” Henry
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Dear
Dr. Joe: We have a young child and two dogs. How safe
are the chemicals that are used inside our
home and in the yard?
Lisa W. Plantation, Fl.
Dear Lisa: Very safe if used
properly. Most products that are used by pest control professionals
are called children and pet safe. What that means is that when
USED PROPERLY, the products will not harm children or pets.
All technicians serve under the supervision of a certified pest
control operator who had to complete a minimum of three year
apprenticeship before being certified.
Most of the “accidents” involving pest control are
caused by do it yourself homeowners who failed to correctly
diagnose the problem and ended up overusing the product or using
the wrong product for the problem. I read in one of the industry
magazines that the previous year “do it yourselfers”
had been responsible for seven out of eight fatalities related
to pesticide.
The bottom line is that if you have a responsible professional
servicing your home and yard you are quite safe. There are two
things you need to remember: The products are designed to kill
insects but insects are at least one thousand times smaller
than a dog or a child, so theoretically, one would need to use
an enormous amount of chemical to harm the child or pet.
I pray this little bit of information will put your mind at
ease. Yes, I do use the products in my home and the home of
my grandchildren.
Good day, God bless and may all your bad bugs
go away.
Joe “bugs” Henry
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Dear
Dr. Joe: These pretty moths are flying all over my
kitchen. They are about ½ inch long, the wings are bronzy
looking and have a grey band towards the front of the wings.
I even find a few in my bedroom. Will they hurt my clothes and
how can I get rid of them? June C. Davie, Fl
Dear June: What you are describing
are Indian Meal Moths and no, they will not
hurt your clothes.  That
cute little guy is classified as a “pantry pest”
and probably comes from some food item in your pantry. They
love dried fruits, all kinds of grain or grain products. They
usually come with the food compliments of your local supermarket
(no extra charge) in the form of a larva which hatches and becomes
a very pretty moth.
The control of your guests is done by
first removing the source. That means you have to check every
grain and candy product in your pantry. Don’t neglect
powered milk, chocolate, candies dog food etc. Spraying of the
non-food surface and crevices where infestation was discovered
can be useful. It might make sense in this case to let your
pest control technician handle this after you have found and
eliminated the source.
Good day, God bless and may all your bad bugs
go away.
Joe “bugs” Henry
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Dear
Dr. Joe: We found this humongous brown roach in our Florida
room. It was alive. Does that mean that we have a nest somewhere
and how do we get rid of them?
Z. W. Weston, Fl
 Dear
Z. W. The insect that you sent
me is an American Roach, (legal name Periplaneta
Americana) most often called the Palmetto in the south, or water
bug up north. This is one instance where you probably won’t
need the services of a pest control company to get rid of it.
The Palmetto is a water roach that normally
feeds on decaying organic matter like dead leaves, but will
eat almost anything except people, they won’t hurt you.
They like moist areas. Three of their favorite hangouts are
leaking sewer pipes (they have been known to swim up your toilet),
behind the base of the branches of Palm trees, and around the
house under dead leaves or debris. All areas retain a high volume
of moisture.
Keep in mind that when the temperature gets
over 80 degrees the Palmetto will fly. That big guy will not
start a family in your home. He probably walked in when you
left your doors open. I would check for tears in my screen or
any opening where they can squeeze through. It might also help
to put some bait by the doors. I would use bait that contains
Hydramethylnon. That should take care of your problem.
Good day, God bless and may all your bad bugs
go away.
Joe “bugs” Henry
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Mr. Henry is the general manager of Dr. Joe Bugs Home
Services, Inc.
a S. Florida Pest Control Company and welcomes pest inquiries by
calling (954) 917-1073 or e-mail at joe@drjoebugs.com
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