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Category: Commercial

Southern Louisiana Wasp Identification Guide

Buzz Off! Know Your Local Wasps

Nothing ruins outdoor activities in Louisiana quite like encountering an aggressive wasp. Southern Louisiana is home to several wasp species, each with distinct characteristics and behaviors. This identification guide will help you recognize the five most common wasps in our region: yellow jackets, paper wasps, mud daubers, cicada killers, and bald-faced hornets.

If you’re seeing wasps or bees around your home or business, it’s time to take action. Learn more about our Residential Pest Control and Commercial Pest Control services to keep your property wasp-free.

Yellow Jackets

Where Are They Found And What Are They Looking For?

Yellow jackets (Vespula species) are highly aggressive social wasps that build underground nests, often in abandoned rodent burrows, or occasionally in wall voids and attics. In Southern Louisiana, they’re particularly active from late spring through fall. Yellow jackets are attracted to sweet foods, proteins, and garbage, making them unwelcome guests at outdoor gatherings.

Identifying Features

Yellow jackets measure about ½ inch long with distinctive bright yellow and black striped patterns. Their bodies are smooth and shiny, with clearly defined waists. Unlike bees, yellow jackets have very little hair and a more streamlined appearance. They typically fly with their legs held close to their bodies. Their nests are papery with a distinctive envelope covering and can house thousands of individuals.

Paper Wasps

Where are they found and what are they looking for?

Paper wasps (Polistes species) build open-comb paper nests that hang from a single stalk, typically under eaves, behind shutters, or in other sheltered locations. In Southern Louisiana’s warm climate, paper wasp colonies can persist longer than in northern regions. They feed primarily on caterpillars and other garden pests, making them beneficial for gardeners.

Identifying Features

Paper wasps are slender, measuring ¾ to 1-inch long, with long legs that dangle when flying. They display various colors, including reddish-brown, black, and yellow patterns. Their bodies are more elongated than yellow jackets with a very thin waist. Paper wasps are less aggressive than yellow jackets but will defend their nests if threatened.

Mud Daubers

Where Are They Found And What Are They Looking For?

Mud daubers (Sceliphron species) are solitary wasps that construct distinctive mud tube nests on walls, under eaves, in attics, and other protected areas. Common throughout Southern Louisiana, mud daubers hunt spiders, which they paralyze and store in their mud nests as food for their larvae.

Identifying Features

Mud daubers are slender wasps, typically ¾ to 1 inch long, with extremely thin, thread-like waists. The most common species in Louisiana is the black and yellow mud dauber, which has a black body with bright yellow markings on the legs and thorax. Blue mud daubers display a metallic blue-black color. Their mud nests are tube-like structures, often clustered together in protected locations.

Cicada Killers

Where Are They Found And What Are They Looking For?

Cicada killers (Sphecius speciosus) are large, solitary wasps that dig burrows in well-drained, light-textured soils in sunny locations. In Southern Louisiana, they’re most active during summer when cicadas emerge. Despite their intimidating size, they’re focused on hunting cicadas to provision their underground nests.

Identifying Features

Cicada killers are Louisiana’s largest wasps, measuring 1.5 to 2 inches in length. They have rusty red to black bodies with bold yellow markings on the abdomen. Their wings have a rusty tinge, and their massive size makes them easy to identify. Despite their fearsome appearance, male cicada killers cannot sting, and females rarely sting humans unless handled.

Do you have a different flying bug in your backyard?

Check out our Bees and other identification blogs.

If you suspect any of these wasps have established nests on your property, the safest and most effective solution is to call The Bug Man. Wasp stings can cause painful reactions and potentially dangerous allergic responses in sensitive individuals. Contact The Bug Man to eliminate wasps and their nests safely–we’ll handle the risky work so you don’t have to.

 

Bed Bug Identification Guide

Sleep Tight!

The last souvenir you want to bring home from your summer travels are bed bugs. These blood-sucking pests are commonly spread by us humans when we’re on-the-move. The two primary bed bugs that affect humans are Cimex lectularius and Cimex hemipterus, also known as the common bed bug and the tropical bed bug, respectively.

If you’re seeing bed bugs in your home or business, it’s time to take action. Learn more about our Residential Pest Control and Commercial Pest Control services to keep your property pest-free. 

Did You Know?

The Bug Man offers bed bug training classes to housing facilities! This hour-long class will teach staff how to identify the insect and strategies for preventing the spread of bed bugs, including proper transport of bedding material throughout the facility. We also develop bed bug protocols for staff to follow in the event of an active issue. The course culminates in a short test showing completion of the training, which is a great tool for management to keep on file for any health inspections. Contact us to learn more.

Bed Bugs

Where Are They Found and What Are They Looking For?

The bed bug is found all over the world, primarily in hotels, hospitals, public transportation, and even planes. The only difference between the common and tropical bed bugs is that tropical bed bugs prefer more tropical climates. However, tropical bed bugs can still be found in temperate areas where the common bed bug is found.

Bed bugs usually hide within 1 to 2 meters of their hosts during the day and come out to feed at night. They prefer hiding in seams of mattresses, crevices in box springs, behind headboards, under loose wallpaper or baseboards, and even behind pictures. 

Identifying Features

Bed bugs are oval-shaped, flat, and approximately 5 mm long. They resemble unfed ticks or small roaches and are easily visible to the naked eye. Adults have a chestnut, reddish-brown color, while juvenile bed bugs are more of a light yellow color. The bugs possess a pyramid-shaped head and slender antennae. After feeding, they may increase in length by 30 to 50%. Adult bed bugs can live for 6 to 12 months and can survive without feeding for up to a year.

Bat Bugs

Did you know that bats also have a blood-sucking pest? It’s called a bat bug. While usually unknown to humans, if there is a bat infestation in your home, it’s worth the time to see if these pests are there too!

Identifying Features

Bat bugs are typically lighter and tend to be more of a light brown-beige color than their common bed bug cousins. When put under a microscope, they display hairs longer than the width of their eyes, and they have shallower curve in the pronotum, giving them the appearance of a rounder head. 

Where Are They Found and What Are They Looking For?

Attics, crawlspace under your house, or other places you might find bats. They feed on bats, mice, birds, and rodents. When bats leave their space, the bat bugs go for their next target: you! They will migrate from their previous bat-infested homes into your living space–occupying the same spaces as common bed bug or tropical bed bug.

Let us do the dirty work!

If you suspect any of the above bed bugs to be present in your home, the easiest, most effective way to get rid of them is with the help of a professional pest control company. Bed bugs cause painful bites, severe itching, significant sleep disruption, and reduced quality of life, so they should not be taken lightly. Contact us—we’ll do the dirty work so you don’t have to. 

Don’t let bed bugs take over your home. Our expert Residential Pest Control and Commercial Pest Control services are designed to eliminate infestations and keep them from coming back. Schedule your appointment today!

Bell Sensing Technologies: Keeping Your Premises Rodent-Free with Automation

In recent years, there has been an influx of rodents in residential and commercial buildings. Unfortunately, these infestations can cause significant damage to property as well as pose health risks. In order to protect their premises from these creatures, many people have turned to the Bell Sensing Technologies for trapping rodents.

Bell Sensing is a revolutionary technology developed by researchers at MIT that utilizes sensor-based analysis and real-time data to keep your premises rodent-free. Sensors are placed throughout your property, alerting The Bug Man via an app when a rodent has been caught. A Bug Man technician is sent out immediately to track where and how the rodent has been moving around. 

Suppose a building’s traps on the right side are triggered often; in that case, we can infer that rodents enter through that side. The app also enables technicians to record the gender and species of the captured rodent. This information is useful because capturing a male rodent means capturing a potential reproducer. Additionally, identifying whether the trapped rodents are mice or rats can help us improve our baiting strategies in the future.

Since the sensors are connected directly to your phone or computer, you can monitor your premises remotely at any time in case something needs attention immediately. Automating this process with Bell Sensing Technology can save precious time and resources while ensuring better safety for everyone on site. Bell Sensing is also a cost-saving to the customer because instead of us coming weekly or monthly, we only come when we receive a notification

Bell Sensing has made it much easier for businesses and homeowners alike to avoid potential problems related to rodents and maintain healthy premises using manual intervention by placing snap traps for rodent control on the sensors. With this amazing technology, people can now improve the condition of their homes or workplaces worry-free. So, if you’re interested in the Bell Sensing Technologies, call The Bug Man today. After all, we get them when you can’t. 

Commercial Pest Control: Why Your Business Needs It

Commercial pest control louisiana

When it comes to pest control, protecting your business is just as important as protecting your home. However, the risks associated with not properly protecting your business can be vastly different from those involved with at-home pest control. We treat our customers like family, and we know that you do the same for yours. From apartment complexes to government and educational institutions, here are just a few reasons why you shouldn’t leave pest control for your organization to anyone but the best.

 

Reason 1: Reputation

The internet spreading information faster than ever can result in several positive outcomes. However, this can spell trouble for any business. That one bug you or your employees might have missed can turn an easily-fixed issue into a permanent mark on your company’s reputation. It only takes a few seconds and a smartphone for somebody to wreak havoc on your company’s reputation with a bad review. 

The Bug Man knows how important a thorough inspection is in order to prevent even the smallest pests from slipping through and turning into low-star reviews online.

Reason 2: Government Health Standards

Health clinics and childcare centers are required by the Louisiana Department of Health and Human Services to have pest control services. This is not only important to the legal future of your business but it also provides that extra peace-of-mind to your employees and clients.

Because of this, it’s key to have pest control professionals that can provide top-of-the-line service and make sure to leave you with proper documentation for when audits are done.

Reason 3: Timeliness

Without a certified pest control expert, even the most aggressive DIY extermination attempt is very likely to fail. What’s more, each failed attempt means both you and your employees waste even more time trying to rectify the situation. 

With a professional team to watch your back, your pest issues are taken care of the first time, and preventative measures and check-ups keep it that way. This leaves you with more time to focus on what’s important – the future of your business.

Reason 4: Prevention

In every aspect of a business, there is always a need to prevent something before something bad happens. If a rodent enters your building and chews wires, they could easily shut down the office computer system. If rodents chew on water lines, they can cause a water leak. Additionally, if these pesky creatures find their way in a drop ceiling, they can find nesting to live, reproduce and in cave it in. Exclusion can keep them out and an exterior rodent service can keep them away.

 


 

After 40 years of growth and service to our community, we at The Bug Man know how important your business is to you. Our team of pest control experts wants nothing more than to take a bit of weight off of your shoulders by keeping your workplace free of bugs and other vermin. 

Call us to schedule an on-site inspection at 225-923-2847 or find us online to get an on-location estimate.