Archive for the ‘Pest Questions’ Category

Nov 19, 2012 – Bugs In The Fireplace

QUESTION:

I just found hundreds of little holes and really soft sawdust/frass in the firewood of my client. It’s not carpenter ants. I took some pictures to show you. Can you help me
identify this insect?

ANSWER:

This time of year people bring firewood in from the outside and pile it next to the fireplace in anticipation of that first really cold night when a fire would be wonderful to warm the house. Or, perhaps they even store a large supply of firewood indoors for the winter so they are not having to go in and out every night, particularly in a northern region like yours in Ontario. Quite often that firewood was from a tree that was cut down or that died within the last year, perhaps early in the spring. Almost immediately after it dies beetles are going to discover this new food resource, since the role of most wood infesting beetles is that of recycling that dead wood back to sawdust. Or, option 2, the tree may have been infested with small bark beetles such as shot-hole borers. 

But, typically the beetles that feed within dead trees or logs will spend the winter in the pupa stage or late stage larva, and do not move to the adult stage until the warm days of spring. If that firewood were left outside the beetles would just remain in it until spring, but by bringing the wood indoors it warms up and triggers the dormant beetles to believe it is spring, and out they come, often leaving little piles of sawdust around the hole made by the adult beetle. 
You need to find some of the beetles, and window sills are a good first place to look. You also need to have this customer move that wood back outside until it is needed for the fireplace. If this is a hardwood of some kind these could be powderpost beetles, and these beetles do have the ability to move into structural wood materials such as hardwood floors or furniture or cabinets. Perhaps they are deathwatch beetles, which could be in either hardwoods or softwoods, and they too could infest other wood in the home. If they are bark beetles, most common in pines, then they will not infest wood in the home. A very close look at that frass might be helpful, as powderpost beetle frass is like fine powder, deathwatch beetle frass powder-like but more gritty, and bark beetles less likely to leave piles of frass lying around. 
But, very important right now is to move the firewood back outside and bring in only as much as is needed for immediate use. That will keep the beetles in the wood dormant, and when it finally is burned there could be a pleasant aroma of little tiny beetles cooking over the fire. 

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Pest QuestionsNovember 21, 2012

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Nov 15, 2012 – Roaches In Schools

QUESTION:

I need some help. I do several school systems where all of the schools are old. All of them have issues with American roaches. Door sweeps have been repaired, I have identified entry points, but I still am having problems. What products do you recommend and where should I put them?

ANSWER:

A big part of this response has to address the use of pesticides on school properties. Most states have very strict laws regarding which insecticides can be used or which are restricted, on notification of parents regarding the pesticides that will be used, on posting treated sites on the school property prior to and following any pesticide use, and (very important) the establishment of a complete IPM Program for pest management on school sites. I am not certain from my search of the internet that North Carolina currently has laws in place on this subject, but several years ago statutes were passed that required the state Board of Education to adopt the steps above. I suggest you contact your local NC Dept. of Agriculture office to verify whether or not NC now has School IPM laws in effect. 

However, I am going to work on the assumption that IPM is now a requirement in the schools in your state, and if I follow the guidelines from several other states that I am familiar with here is what it might mean to you. First  of all, IPM is a very, very good idea. It simply means that you identify all those reasons that the pest is present in the first place, how it is managing to enter the structures, what conditions on the inside of the buildings may be providing it with food and water and harborage, and then continue to work to eliminate all of those conducive conditions. The goal of all of this is a good one, and that is to reduce or even eliminate the use of toxic materials if non-toxic, physical steps can be taken that do the job just as well. 
So, you indicate that you have inspected doorways and that the brush strips or other strips that should be on them are indeed in place and in good condition, so that roaches and other pests are now physically unable to enter by squeezing under doors. You have identified other entry points too, but you don’t indicate whether or not they have been permanently filled. This, of course, is needed and while it is really going to seem overwhelming with older buildings, by taking it one bite at a time and slowly but surely filling the gaps and holes you make the progress toward total exclusion of pests from the inside. Hopefully you are either getting the cooperation of the maintenance staff at these schools or they are paying you properly to do this exclusion work. Our industry long ago recognized that our role as professionals is NOT just to apply pesticides, but it is to do all of those steps in IPM that ultimately provide the best long term relief from pests. 
Exclusion is extremely important, and that is why it is emphasized so much in IPM and with the IPM programs that the NC state schools should, by now, have in place. It is particularly important this time of year when outdoor pests are trying hard to get indoors where the conditions are more pleasant for them. Outside you need to identify where the roaches are coming from and where they are hiding on the school property. These big roaches like low, damp places, so storm drains and sewers are common places for them to be. It may require the help of the local public works folks to assist your inspection, but if you do find the roaches in numbers under man-hole covers or sewer openings then these places can be treated directly with labeled products. 
If you have a lot of dense groundcover plantings, thick shrubbery, and other plants covering the ground, they should be removed or trimmed up to expose the soil. Anything resting on the soil provides dark, damp harborage for the roaches, and it should be removed or re-positioned off the soil. 
Generally speaking School IPM programs allow you to use certain things without having to deal with parental notification, and the list is very short. It includes “baits in self contained stations”, and this may be for rodents or insects. So, for American Roaches you may select some of the granular insect baits that are generally very attractive to them, but must place them within an insect bait station that can then be secured so that children cannot tamper with it. The baits also may be applied directly into wall voids where these roaches may be hiding if that application is possible. As far as liquid spray applications, a lot of the plant-derived active ingredients are acceptable on school properties, but may require the parental notification first and the posting of the treated areas. Some products, like EcoPCO WP-X have given very good control of cockroaches. 
So, find out first what limitations you have on school sites in your state, as this is a very important part of doing things legally. Then I suggest you get the new Inspection Report form for School Sites that is now available on PestWeb and do a thorough inspection of the school property, noting IN WRITING everything you find that is a “conducive” condition that invites the roaches there and supports their presence. Then, work with school management and maintenance to continue to make the buildings completely closed to the insects. 

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Pest QuestionsNovember 17, 2012

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Nov 16, 2012 – Alternative Fumigants

QUESTION:

What can you tell me about the use of gases, such as nitrogen and hydrogen in pest control? Are they mainly used for bed bugs and drywood termites, or is there any other way to utilize them? Thank you.

ANSWER:

I think that we can begin by crossing hydrogen off the list for now. If I am correct this gas is not one used in pest management and it probably is too explosive ever to be tried. However, let’s substitute the gas carbon dioxide in there and off we go. 

Carbon dioxide has been used successfully for fumigation of stored products pests for decades. A recent study was done testing CO2 for bed bugs, and my take on it is that this may not be a reliable material for these insects. The researchers found that to kill 100% of the eggs of bed bugs required a concentration of nearly 100% carbon dioxide gas held for 24 hours. I just wonder how realistic it would be within an infested structure to hold that gas at that high of a level for that length of time. Using CO2 as the fumigant within a sealed chamber that holds household items would be a more realistic and reliable method though, as the interior gases could be held more effectively. 
Carbon dioxide is well known to be able to suffocate arthropods. Since bugs do rely on oxygen for their survival, removing that oxygen for certain lengths of time can kill them. The problem tends to be the eggs, which respire very little, and it takes longer to kill eggs of insects by oxygen deprivation than it does to kill adult or nymph stages that are more active and using oxygen more rapidly. 
Nitrogen gas would probably work in a similar manner. Our normal atmosphere contains about 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen, so nitrogen is not a “toxic” gas. But, if we increase the level of the nitrogen it reaches a point at which too little oxygen is available and the animal dies by suffocation. For humans, increasing that nitrogen level just a few percent would be lethal. However, LIQUID nitrogen (which rapidly converts to the gaseous state) has been used in pest management, as has liquid carbon dioxide. As a liquid these are extremely cold materials. Liquid nitrogen has a temperature of MINUS 320 degrees Fahrenheit, making it a bit more dangerous to work with. A spill of that liquid on your hand would instantly freeze all tissues. 
Carbon dioxide, as a liquid under pressure in a cylinder, is more user friendly. The liquid is at a much higher temperature than nitrogen liquid and as it is ejected from a nozzle the CO2 converts to a freezing “snow” that is capable of instantly freezing any bugs that it is applied to. This is the basis of the Cryonite product for bed bug control. However, it is cautioned for both N and CO2 that high levels of these gases in an area are dangerous for the applicator, who needs to be certain the oxygen level in the air remains high enough to be safe. 
So, carbon dioxide may have a stronger future for our industry for chamber fumigation or as this freeezing snow applied to bed bugs and other pest insects. Conversely, we use steamers for bed bugs and roaches too, and even slight elevations of the temperature are sufficient to kill bed bugs and their eggs. Just 115 degrees held for 24 hours will kill all stages, so imagine how lethal it is to have 180 degree steam slam into the bed bug or its eggs. This is essentially instant death to the bugs. 

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Pest QuestionsNovember 16, 2012

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Nov 13, 2012 – Is A Little Still Too Much?

QUESTION:

I have been a PPO for a few years now. I always wear the proper clothing and PPE, but there are still times when I have come in contact with sprayed product, either from a gust of wind or what not. Should I be concerned about this? Should I be getting periodic check ups? Or, am I perhaps just a little paranoid?
Thanks,


ANSWER:

I would prefer to avoid the word “paranoid” and instead use the words “extra cautious”, but yeah, you may be a little paranoid. However, that’s okay, because it still is better to be overly cautious with pesticides than to be so casual as to ignore some common sense ways to avoid exposure. Let’s look at this from a few angles. 

The first is with reference to how some regulatory agencies look at it, and for California, for example, the law states that when using Category 1 or 2 pesticides (Label states either Danger or Warning) the clothing worn as your outer clothing MUST be laundered daily. It must be assumed that the outer clothing is “potentially” contaminated with these more toxic active ingredients and cannot be worn a second day without washing them first. However, the regulations don’t say how often clothing must be laundered if only Cat. 3 (Caution) pesticides are used. This may attest to the recognition that the hazard from slight exposure to these less toxic materials is not a health risk as long as normal personal hygiene if followed. Even though you may not be REQUIRED to put on freshly washed work clothing each day it still would be a good idea. Wearing the same shirt and pants all week long is not going to make you a role model for anyone. 
So, yes, slight amounts of airborne droplets are bound to land on your skin or clothing as you work. Of course, we take steps to keep this from happening any more than necessary, and if we know that a substantial amount of the mist ended up on our shirt or hat then we would have the good sense to remove that clothing at the end of the day and make sure it is laundered before wearing it again. If we spill concentrate liquid on our outer clothing we should probably just dispose of it and never wear it again, since concentrates are harder to completely remove. Regulatory agencies also generally have a policy on working outside during windy days, and this may be a prohibition against working when the wind speed is above some minimum mph, or it may simply be a policy that you cannot spray outside when air movement might blow the pesticide up into your breathing zone, and if it can or does you must wear respiratory protection. 
I think a good policy would be that if you actually feel the mist hitting your skin you should wash that skin with soap and water once you complete that job. I wouldn’t recommend dropping everything and running in a panic to the nearest source of water, but just when you have the chance in the next half hour or so. This also says that we should be carrying SOAP and TOWELS on the vehicle and have a source of clean water within easy reach. It also suggests that everyone ought to be carrying a change of clothing on the vehicle just in case you spill the concentrate on your shirt or pants. These need to come off immediately and the skin beneath it washed and clean clothing put on. And, definitely at the end of each work day it would be good policy to take a shower before any close interactions with your family. Even though the level of active ingredient you might have on your shirt should be very low, it still is a poison, and there is no reason to expose your family to it if showering and changing clothes first can be done. 
As far as medical checkups, at this time there is no standard testing that is done to monitor for pesticide exposure. It WAS the case back when the most common insecticides used were organophosphates and carbamates, as these could cause cholinesterase inhibition and this could be monitored with a blood test. Today’s common products do not affect us in this manner and testing for your exposure would be much more difficult. However, it still is good policy to have at least an annual checkup to monitor all those other things that may even be tied in with a properly working nervous system – heart, blood, etc. But, with proper use of pesticides and the proper wearing of the appropriate PPE your exposure to the active ingredients should be so low that your long term health is not going to be compromised. 

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Pest QuestionsNovember 15, 2012

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Nov 14, 2012 – Little Flies, Big Annoyance

QUESTION:

I have a restaurant that recently called about a small fly infestation. When I arrived I noticed a lot of tiny black flying insects that seem to stay up towards the ceiling and stored items on their shelves. I believe they are fruit flies. The room is 5 feet wide by 10 feet long and 8 feet high with the dish washing sink, water heater, two fridges and cleaning supplies. I placed vinegar traps and Gold Sticks and also placed Bio-Gel down the drain. It helped a little, but we still have some flying around. Any suggestions.

ANSWER:

It is very important for any kind of pest problem to identify exactly what pest you are facing, and in fly management this often becomes even more critical. Knowing only that it is some small flying gnat is not sufficient to tell you what its likely breeding sources and food attractions are, and until you can find the source of the problem – the place these flies are coming from – you will be likely to have a continuing problem. And, in a restaurant the presence of small flies usually indicates that a sanitation problem exists that needs to be addressed. It is the presence of filth such as spills, plumbing leaks, food buildup on equipment, or dirty drains and floors that small flies often breed in and which should not continue to exist in a food service account. 

So, in a sense we ought to thank these little flies for pointing out that a more important problem may be present. That is my first suggestion, and if you have already captured some of the flies on a sticky trap you could examine them under high magnification to determine just what kind they are. The choices most often are fungus gnats, phorid flies, drain flies, vinegar flies, and dark-eyed fruit flies, but of course other small flies might also be present, so don’t close the door to something else. Even the use of a small hand lens magnifier should be sufficient to show you the details needed for proper ID, and I strongly suggest that one of these ALWAYS be with you in the field. One supplier of a variety of low cost models is BioQuip, and you can find them online. 
All of these small flies are going to be associated with moist situations, but if it turns out to be fungus gnats, for example, you might be looking for wet soils in potted plants, water leaks under sinks where mold may be growing, or even an exterior source that is feeding the gnats to the inside when doors are opened. But, since you feel you are seeing them primarily in upper areas around the shelving these gnats don’t seem as likely. Phorid flies are easily ID’d by their annoying habit of landing and then running a short distance on the surface, which may be your face or arm. These breed where there is a buildup of organic crud, so dirty drains, buildup of food debris around floor edges or within equipment, and broken plumbing under slabs are some of the sources for them. 
Also commonly breeding in drains and wherever food debris accumulates in very wet settings could be drain flies, and if your treatment of the drains seems to have helped a bit you might take your inspection further to see what else exists. Dark eyed fruit flies are drawn to the same kinds of fermenting food materials as are vinegar flies, but also to the same kinds of wet filth as the phorid flies, making them a double whammy. Another common problem within food accounts is the grease trap, which may not be properly maintained or emptied, allowing large numbers of flies to find it and breed in it. 
But, bottom line is that you need to find the SOURCE, and finding it will be easier if you know what kind of fly you are dealing with. ID first, inspect to find the source second, clean up that sanitation problem third, and then if necessary do a mop up operation to eliminate the final adult flies that are lingering in the area. Univar now carries many biological cleaners that can be used by our industry to clean surfaces, drains, grease traps, and most other places within a restaurant that might accumulate filth. I would take my focus away from the adult flies and spend my next visit there with a flashlight and the cooperation of the customer, working to find out where the problem is originating. 

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Pest QuestionsNovember 14, 2012

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Nov 11, 2012 – Avoid The Spray

QUESTION:

What is recommended for Skunk removal?

ANSWER:

It is always importantfor control of any non-rodent mammal, and even some kinds of rodents, todetermine just how that animal is classified in your state with respect towildlife laws. For example, in California the wildlife laws classify raccoonsas “fur-bearing mammals” and have specific requirements in place forkilling them, if necessary, while skunks are classified as “non-game”animals with much looser regulations regarding killing them. In many cases itmay be necessary to kill a skunk that is causing problems around an urbanarea. 

It is equally importantto be familiar with what your state requires with respect to trapping andreleasing. Most states prohibit releasing trapped mammals “off site”,meaning it is illegal to take them a few miles away and release them unharmed.To do this would require a permit from your state wildlife agency, andacquiring this would require a really good reason why simply releasing them onsite is not feasible. Releasing “on site” may also be defined in yourstate’s wildlife laws, and one that I read stated that trapped animals must bereleased within 100 yards of where they were trapped. This makes it verydifficult to trap a skunk that is simply causing problems in a neighborhood andto do anything with it other than euthanize it in an acceptable manner. So manythings are tied into this, including whether or not you could legally shoot agun in an urban environment if dispatching it in that manner was yourchoice. 

It boils down toexclusion as the most acceptable and, in the long run, most effective means forcontrolling skunks. This is not going to stop the local skunks from roamingthrough open, unfenced neighborhoods, but even this can be minimized byeliminating the attractions that the skunks are after, such as available petfoods at night, fruits and vegetables on the ground, and of course grubs andother insects in turf. Spotted skunks are excellent climbers while stripedskunks are not, so maintaining good fences with no openings for the skunks canhelp to keep them out of backyards. If it is at least made inconvenient for theskunk to just wander into a yard through an available hole in the fence it willhelp to move them along to some other place. 

One of the biggestproblems with skunks is when they den under structures, bringing with themtheir fleas and other parasites and their awful smell. In some regions skunksalso have a high percentage of individuals infected with rabies. This is whenyou need the expertise to remove them or get them to leave on their own, andthen to permanently close the openings they were using. A trap can be set in acrawl space, for example, and baited with something very attractive to them. Canned cat food works well as long as you don’t end up catching local cats. Marshmallows are also suggested, as is bacon, peanut butter, or other kinds of meat. There also are live traps designed for skunks that have solid sides, preventing the skunk from seeing you approach once you have it in the trap. For wire cage traps it often works well to approach the trap slowly with a large tarp or cloth in front of you, keeping yourself somewhat hidden, and drape it over the trap gently. This can keep the skunk from getting agitated enough to spray. But, if you see it raise its tail and fan it out or if the skunk faces you and starts stomping its feet, it is agitated and it’s best to back off awhile. 

Work with your local animal control office on this, as they may be able to help you with the disposal or dispatch of a trapped skunk. 

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Pest QuestionsNovember 13, 2012

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Nov 12, 2012 – Roaches Are Agoraphobic

QUESTION:

I am seeing roaches (normally Australian) climbing walls in the wide open. They are not near a bathroom or kitchen, but on a plain wall with no furniture even against it. My question is this: If we are limited now to crack and crevice treatments and cannot broadcast treat around the base boards how are we meant to treat for these roaches that seem to appear as if by magic. I don’t even see them crawling along the floor to the wall. This is in my own house and I have only seen a couple, but a client doesn’t want to see any. If you ask them where they see the roaches and they point to the wall, what good does it do us treating the kitchen and bathrooms? The baseboards are well sealed due to it being a new house.


ANSWER:

I am a great fan of good magic, but even as I am stymied by the illusion performed right in front of my eyes I still recognize that it is not truly magic – it is an illusion. The roaches that just seem to appear crawling up these walls are in truth coming from some hidden place, probably below that wall, and this is what you need to determine. Where are the roaches actually hiding in this house? And, for Australian roaches that are great fans of high moisture, could there be an excessive moisture problem that is bringing them to that particular hiding place?

There are good reasons to avoid doing what we refer to as “baseboard treats”, which has meant spraying a swath of insecticide along an exposed section of wall near the floor. The theory is that insects would then have to cross that treated surface and be killed by doing it. In fact, the amount of time a large roach actually spends on the treated surface is going to be very short, and the amount of active ingredient it is able to absorb in that short exposure will likely be far less than is needed to kill it. I remember many years ago when a lacquer-based chlorpyrifos formulation came out (Killmaster, for those who like to reminisce) and the manufacturer’s rep described its use as “painting a barrier around openings that the roach has to cross”. I pressed for an answer to the question “how long must the roach sit on a dry sprayed surface to absorb enough chlorpyrifos to kill it?”, and the answer, somewhat begrudgingly, came back as 30 MINUTES! Well, no roach crossing a “barrier” was going to spend 30 minutes sitting on that narrow treated band. 
The better place to put the insecticide was directly into the crevices and gaps and holes and voids where the roaches spend most of the daylight hours. This dramatically increases the Contact Time with the active ingredient. So, in your case it is going to be necessary, for your own house as well as with customers, to spend awhile with a flashlight and knee pads figuring out a couple of things. One is how these large roaches are entering the structure from the outside, so that you can work on excluding them for the future. The second is to determine just where the roaches are spending the daylight hours when they are not visible. This is probably within wall voids, but if you rule that out then perhaps they have made their way along the floor-wall junction from somewhere else without being seen, and then make themselves known by crawling up a wall. 
These are big roaches and they can walk or run quickly and for long distances. Perhaps they are coming from the garage, perhaps from a bathroom where a pipe running through the wall has a large opening around it, perhaps from the laundry room or someplace else where they are able to find hiding places and a micro-habitat conducive to their needs of darkness, close quarters, and dampness. And, even though they are big roaches, they can still squeeze through some very narrow gaps, so there may be access points that are easily overlooked. Bottom line in my mind is that treating for roaches by placing the active ingredient onto exposed surfaces will have a far lower chance of killing the roaches than putting that material right into their harborage points. Doing so also greatly minimizes the chance that people or pets will contact that treated surface and will probably extend the residual life of the active ingredient. 

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Pest QuestionsNovember 12, 2012

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Nov 9, 2012 – Heat is Heat is Heat

QUESTION:

Is a microwave an option to kill bed bugs & eggs for shoes & clothing?

ANSWER:

A microwave definitely would kill the bugs and their eggs, but putting these things in a microwave to provide the level of heat needed to kill the eggs and bugs would seem less efficient than just putting all those same things into a clothes dryer. And, with a clothes dryer you probably can be more certain that the temperature reaches the lethal level, which according to our experts is just around 120 degrees for 30 minutes or less. Since a clothes dryer gets the inside temperature much higher than that, the extra time and heat are added insurance of the complete kill. 

With the relatively small cavity in a microwave you could put less items in, but definitely heat them for a much shorter period of time if there is some reason that a faster kill is needed. A dryer could hold a lot more articles of clothing, several pairs of shoes, a backpack or computer bag, and anything else that could be tumbled and subjected to heat for a half hour. And, I’m just not certain what off-taste that pair of gym shoes might impart to the next bowl of soup you heat in the microwave. 
In the past the recommendation for clothing, shoes, drapes, bedding, etc., was hot WASH followed by hot dryer cycle, but it has since been recognized that the hot wash is not needed, unless of course things need washing anyhow due to filth left on them by the bugs. Bed bugs are extremely susceptible to high temperatures and some numbers provided years ago showed that you could kill all bugs and their eggs within 24 hours at 108 degrees Fahrenheit, in just 60 minutes at 113 degrees, and in just 5 minutes in a dryer at 175 degrees, although leaving it for 30 minutes was better insurance. The suggestion that we could put everything into black plastic bags and leave them in the hot sun has a problem. The bugs move rapidly and may be able to tuck under things at the bottom where the temperature does not get high enough to kill them. The same goes for storing everything in a close truck or storage container in the hot summer sun. 
It also has been found that the use of the dichlorvos (vapona) strips called Nuvan ProStrips is enhanced if the sealed chamber can be heated. The higher temperature may help to volatilize the vapona more rapidly or it may make the bugs take it into their system more rapidly. But, while the Nuvan label calls for treating items like electronic equipment for 1 week, some experts suggest that 2 weeks is more certain, but raising the temperature to over 80 degrees can shorten it more to that 7 days of exposure. 

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Pest QuestionsNovember 11, 2012

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Nov 10, 2012 – Fogging Pyrethroids?

QUESTION:

Good morning. Can you use these chemicals to fog for mosquitoes? Demand CS, Demon EC.
Thanks


ANSWER:

No, neither one can be used as a ULV or any other fogging application outdoors, and that is where the mosquito control is labeled for on these two products’ labels. Both are labeled for mosquito control, but they are labeled only for direct application to surfaces where the mosquitoes may rest. In addition, Demand is more specifically labeled for use as “barrier treatment” for applications to foliage where the adult mosquitoes may rest during the day. With the new label restrictions on the use of pyrethroids outdoors on surfaces of structures it is unlikely that we would soon see fogging added to their uses. The big concern is the off-site movement of these active ingredients that may then end up in nearby aquatic sites with a big potential to cause harm to organisms in those ponds and creeks. We should be very pleased that our uses on trees, shrubs, and turf are still intact. 

For indoor use Demand CS is labeled for fogging within voids for cluster flies, such as into attics where the flies may be hiding or getting active in the spring. Demand is also labeled for use in a “fogger” such as the Actisol or other “deep void” foggers that can deliver the ULV mist directly into a void such as a wall void. This is not for fogging the living spaces of a structure, but only into hidden voids where insects may be hiding. 

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Pest QuestionsNovember 10, 2012

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Nov 7, 2012 – Zounds, The Sounds!

QUESTION:

Is there a bug that sounds like a tiny jackhammer inside a wall? I’ve checked for vibrations from plumbing and electrical wiring. HELP PLEASE!

ANSWER:

Well, that description doesn’t bring anything to mind I’m afraid. My impression of the sound of a jackhammer would be a very rapid staccato of tapping sounds, and no bug comes to me that would make this sound, although I probably am overlooking something. One group of insects that we COULD hear within wood itself is the round headed borers, the larvae of large wood boring beetles. If you have some freshly cut firewood it often will be infested with the larvae that are just doing their job of feeding on dead wood, and for some of the larger species you may actually hear the larva inside the wood gnawing on it. But, that would not be what I would describe as a jackhammer sound, but rather a scratching, rasping sound. 

Click beetles are fun things too, and sometimes one of the adult beetles will find its way indoors and end up on a hard floor surface. Then, as it gets pestered by the cat or a child it may rapidly flip into the air to escape, causing a “click” sound on the surface as it snaps down on it. But, again, not enough of a rapid series of clicks to fit your description. 
It may be a little late in the year, but is there any chance you are hearing something from the outside instead, such as a woodpecker? These birds are well known for the “drumming” that some species do as a form of communication. This is most often during mating season when males are either trying to attract a mate or establishing their territories, but they often pick on exterior surfaces of structures for the convenient things we have there that make a lot of noise, such as chimney caps, siding, rain gutters, etc. Their rapid pounding definitely could be a jackhammer sound and could transfer throughout the entire house inside. 
But, if you’ve isolated this as within a single place in a wall then perhaps something is in there, and once again it might not be an insect. Perhaps it is a rodent gnawing on things, or a trapped bird. If you feel you know where in a wall this sound is coming from you might purchase a low-cost fiber optics camera with a tube that can be slipped into the wall through an outlet or a small hole you might poke through the sheetrock. I have seen these cameras, with a digital screen that you view in your hand, for just over $100 at a big box store, and for pest control people this would be a low cost and highly useful tool to have on the vehicle. It would allow you to peek inside voids like wall voids to see what is going on in that hidden place. 

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Pest QuestionsNovember 09, 2012

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