They're back! Watch out for these three insects this spring
Spring may be beckoning you outside after a long, cold winter - and you aren't alone.
Like many winter-weary Canadians, insects have been waiting for warmer weather. As Canada's bug season officially gets underway, here are three insects homeowners might want to be on the lookout for.
WASPS
Once the temperature reaches about 10°C, last year's paper wasp queens are on the hunt for a new place to build their summer homes.
Prevention
She's looking for gaps in your brick, corners of your soffit, or small enclosed spaces like mailboxes.
Do a regular walk around your home in the spring and look for early nests and fill any gaps in your brickwork that aren't supposed to be there. Through summer, look for wasp traffic coming and going in large numbers to identify potential trouble spots.
Here's what to do if you find a nest on your property
If a nest is established in your walls, store-bought poisons won't go very far and you might have to call in an exterminator.
For nests on the exterior of your home, your best time to attack is at night when the wasps are less active.
WATCH: How to properly remove bee hives and wasp nests
Visit our Complete Guide to Spring 2023 for an in-depth look at the Spring Forecast, tips to plan for it and much more!
LDD MOTHS
LDD moths are a plague on trees and can eventually kill them. If you spot the early beginnings of an infestation, it's best to act quickly. You don't want to foot the bill for taking down a dead tree on your property, and the caterpillars will leave hard black droppings in late spring underneath infested trees.
Why Spring?
Spring is when this pest inflicts most of the damage to foliage, but luckily you can reduce their numbers before they even hatch.
Prevention
The beige, LDD moth egg sac stands out on trees and it can be scraped off into soapy water.
Once they hatch, caterpillars can also be rounded up into soapy water, along with the adult moths who emerge from their cocoons in summer.
Elimination
If the caterpillars are heading up one of your favourite trees, you can try wrapping it with burlap to trap them and round them up.
Custom graphic by Cheryl Santa Maria. From left to right: Wasp: Layer-lab/Canva Pro, LDD Moth: Wikipedia/ Didier Descouens CC BY-SA 4.0, Ant: Pixel_Squid/Canva Pro.
SEE ALSO: Here are Canada's top cities for bed bugs
ANTS
Spring is when it's time for the next generation of ants to emerge. Warm temperatures mean new freedom to wander, and new food sources to discover.
Prevention
Keeping ants away involves making sure there's nothing tasty that they can access inside your home, which includes crumbs in the dining room and pet food dishes placed on the floor.
Elimination
The best at-home remedy to get rid of ants involves mixing Borax with sugar and water and letting them take the toxic substance back to their nest. With any luck, they'll disappear in a few days. Just be careful with Borax solutions around pets as it's toxic to them as well.
General maintenance in your yard and on your home is key to preventing these pests from ruining your summer to come.
WATCH: Have an ant problem? Here are FIVE natural ways to repel them
Video production and reporting by Kevin Clarke.
