Ant-Ser.com the Pest control expert says unseasonable weather is drawing infestations of millipedes into homes
Friday, June 18, 2010
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By TONY NAUROTH
The Express-Times
Ron Mahorsky knows what it’s like to deal with customers who have come face to face with the “eewwww” factor crawling all over their floors and walls.
“I just had a customer who was up in arms,” said the employee from Nazareth-based Rid-Et Pest Control, recalling an Upper Nazareth Township client.
Mahorsky described the recent atypical weather as “the perfect storm” for infestations of Narceus americanus, just one species of a large group of bugs more commonly known as millipedes.
Mahorsky and others in his profession predict an increasing number of infestations of the North American millipede and others of its thousand-legged ilk, particularly in homes surrounded by woods.
“Too much moisture or the hot sun will push them to higher ground,” said Mahorsky, who said he’s been in the pest control business for 40 years. “They’re pushed into the homes.”
Wooded areas are notorious for millipedes because the bugs eat decaying organic material on the ground.
Bonnie Brzozowski, who works with Mahorsky, added, “We have seen an increase. It’s in spots here and there. The last week or so it’s starting to get out of hand.”
Those spots, at least those treated by Rid-Et, are in Moore Township, Upper Nazareth Township and the Bath area, Mahorsky said.
“Over in the Bath area, it was really heavy. I did four or five of them in a row of town houses. There were literally hundreds of them. It was hard to even get in the front doors,” he said.
According to an Ohio State University Extension fact sheet, which Mahorsky relies on for millipede information, “Due to excessive rainfall or even drought, a few or hundreds or more leave the soil and crawl into houses, basements, first-floor rooms, up foundation walls, into living rooms, up side walls and drop from ceilings.”
Ron Mahorsky knows what it’s like to deal with customers who have come face to face with the “eewwww” factor crawling all over their floors and walls.
“I just had a customer who was up in arms,” said the employee from Nazareth-based Rid-Et Pest Control, recalling an Upper Nazareth Township client.
Mahorsky described the recent atypical weather as “the perfect storm” for infestations of Narceus americanus, just one species of a large group of bugs more commonly known as millipedes.
Mahorsky and others in his profession predict an increasing number of infestations of the North American millipede and others of its thousand-legged ilk, particularly in homes surrounded by woods.
“Too much moisture or the hot sun will push them to higher ground,” said Mahorsky, who said he’s been in the pest control business for 40 years. “They’re pushed into the homes.”
Wooded areas are notorious for millipedes because the bugs eat decaying organic material on the ground.
Bonnie Brzozowski, who works with Mahorsky, added, “We have seen an increase. It’s in spots here and there. The last week or so it’s starting to get out of hand.”
Those spots, at least those treated by Rid-Et, are in Moore Township, Upper Nazareth Township and the Bath area, Mahorsky said.
“Over in the Bath area, it was really heavy. I did four or five of them in a row of town houses. There were literally hundreds of them. It was hard to even get in the front doors,” he said.
According to an Ohio State University Extension fact sheet, which Mahorsky relies on for millipede information, “Due to excessive rainfall or even drought, a few or hundreds or more leave the soil and crawl into houses, basements, first-floor rooms, up foundation walls, into living rooms, up side walls and drop from ceilings.”
One Moore Township woman, who did not want her name or address used, was hysterical when she found them in her home.
“There isn’t any real danger to them, but people don’t like them,” said Greg Baumann, vice president and senior scientist with the National Pest Management Association, based in Fairfax, Va.
He said about 1,000 species of millipedes live across the United States. They grow to about an inch long in Pennsylvania. Some grow as long as 6 inches in North Carolina, where Baumann lives.
Baumann said Thursday the rain the Valley has seen in recent weeks will drive millipedes from the ground to the surface
“You’ll see them come out of their hiding places,” Baumann said. They like to hide in cracks and crevices.”
They gravitate toward wood decks and patios. When the sun starts beating down on the decks, they find their way into the cool refuge of homeowners’ basements.
The Ohio State University fact sheet notes that millipedes are not poisonous. They crawl slowly and protect themselves by means of glands that secrete an unpleasant odor.
A tip from Baumann: If you vacuum up a pile of millipedes, empty the vacuum immediately. They can decay and stink up the area near the vacuum. Or, millipedes that appear dead can come to life and multiply in there.
“It’s an unhappy situation the next time you go to get the vacuum cleaner,” Baumann said.
Mahorsky added, “These guys can live five to seven years.”
The best way to eliminate them is to call an exterminator, Baumann said.
Lehigh Valley editor Rudy Miller contributed to this report.
