Use the images below to identify your general type of pest, and click to identify the specific type.
The following gallery of ants will help you determine what type of ant pest problem you might be encountering. All of the pictures show here are from James Castner from the University of Florida.
Black, 3 mm long, and hold their abdomens over their heads when disturbed. Usually nest outdoors in dead wood, tree holes and firewood, but can nest in wall voids and insulation. They crawl into buildings around windows and electric cables. Colonies have many queens.
Dark-brown 2 mm to 3 mm long. Usually nest in exposed or covered soil under logs, debris, firewood and mulch. The ants forage in trails of many workers along sidewalks and foundations, and into buildings, where they forage for food. Colonies have many queens.
Yellowish-brown 2 mm to 3 mm long. Workers are either major or minor workers; major workers have very large heads. They nest in the soil under logs, mulch, firewood and next to the foundation of buildings. They often trail along sidewalks and the sides of buildings. They often forage indoors for food and water. Colonies have many queens.
Black 3 mm long. It has long legs, and workers move erratically. Colonies are usually found in both moist and dry environments. Outdoors, nests are often in wood, tree holes and in mulch. Indoors, nests are often in wall voids and under stored items. Colonies have many queens.
Large ant, 5 mm to 10 mm long, with a yellowish-red thorax and black abdomen. It nests in mulch, logs and in wall voids of houses. It can hollow out wood in order to make its nest, depositing wood pieces nearby. Colonies have only one queen.
1 mm long with a black head and thorax, and clear abdomen and legs. It usually nests outdoors and forages indoors. The ant has a musty odor when squashed. It has a high need for moisture and is often seen in kitchens and bathrooms. Colonies have many queens.
Reddish-brown and 3 mm to 6 mm long. Fire ants build large mounds in open, sunny areas and can forage indoors. Workers can sting, commonly causing a white pustule to form. Colonies usually have one queen but sometimes have many queens.
Golden-brown 1 mm to 2 mm long. It nests in soil under logs and debris. It can inflict a painful sting. Colonies have many queens.
Reddish-brown to black 3 mm to 6 mm long. It builds irregular, crater-shaped mounds in sunny areas. Workers can sting, but no white pustule forms. They can inflict a painful sting when disturbed. Colonies may have one or more queens.
Rust-colored 2 mm long. Usually nests indoors (in wall voids, refrigerator insulation, books, etc.). Colonies have many queens.
Relatively small (< 3 mm in length), black to brownish ant with yellowish tibia and tarsi (feet) and a one-segmented waist. At first glance, it looks similar to the Argentine ant. However, when the white-footed ant is placed on a sheet of black paper, the tarsi (feet) appear whitish in color.
Material in this section comes from: P.G. Koehler, Professor; J.L. Castner, Scientific Photographer; Department of Entomology and Nematology, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611.
The following gallery of cockroaches will help you determine what type of cockroach pest problem you might be encountering. All of the pictures show here are from James Castner from the University of Florida.
Adult is 1-1/2" long. Reddish-brown with light markings behind the head. It is commonly found in sewers and basements.
Adult is about 1-1/4" to 1-1/2" long. Reddish-brown to dark-brown with a characteristic marking behind the head. On the front edge of the base of the forewing is a light-yellow band. Nymphs have light-yellow spots on top of the abdomen. This cockroach is abundant outdoors and in greenhouses, where it can damage plants. It enters homes and is called a palmetto bug.
Almost identical to the American cockroach in appearance and is about 1-1/4" long as an adult. It is reddish-brown. It is frequently found outdoors. It readily enters houses and is often called a palmetto bug.
Adult is about 5/8" long. It is dark brown, and the wings range from reddish-brown to brown. There are two pale-brown bands on the wings. It prefers to live in bedrooms, furniture and closets, particularly on high shelves.
Adult is about 3/4" long. Males and females are pale-green, whereas the nymphs are dark-brown. It is an outdoors, tropical species that usually is not found north of Florida. Adults are attracted to light and are adept fliers.
Adult is 1-1/2" to 1-3/4" long and is often called the stinking cockroach because it produces a foul-smelling fluid to protect it from predation. It is dark-reddish-brown to black. The nymphs have broad yellow bands on the top of the thorax. This cockroach is commonly found in leaf mulch, wood piles and under rotting logs. It is often called a palmetto bug.
This is the most important species of cockroach in the United States. Adult is about 1/2" to 5/8" long. Nymphs and adults of both sexes have two dark stripes behind the head. It prefers to live in kitchens and bathrooms of homes and apartments, restaurants, supermarkets and hospitals. The Asian cockroach, Blattella asahinai, is identical to the German cockroach in appearance and lives outdoors in lawns and leaf litter.
Adult is about 1" long. It is shiny black and has no distinctive markings. The male has wings that cover only about three-fourths of the abdomen; the female has only wing pads or lobes. This cockroach is not commonly found in Florida. It is usually found in damp basements, sewers and crawl spaces beneath houses.
Adult is about 1-1/4" long. It is mahogany brown to black with no patterns behind the head. This cockroach is abundant outdoors and is found in tree holes, wood piles and attics of houses in Florida. It readily enters homes and is called a palmetto bug.
Adult is about 3/4" to 1" long. It is shiny-brown to black with golden markings on the abdomen. It is a burrowing species that lives outdoors and often infests potted plants. When plants are brought inside, the cockroach infests the premises.
Material in this section comes from: P.G. Koehler, Professor; J.L. Castner, Scientific Photographer; Department of Entomology and Nematology, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611.
Fleas and ticks are the most important external parasites of pets, livestock and humans. Both fleas and ticks are very abundant, have irritating bites and can transmit disease. Fleas can transmit tapeworms. Ticks can transmit Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and relapsing fever. Lyme disease is transmitted in the Northern United States by the deer tick and in the Southern United States by the black legged, Gulf coast, American dog, lone star and relapsing fever tick. Lone star and American dog ticks can cause tick paralysis.
The following gallery of fleas and ticks will help you determine what type of flea or tick pest problem you might be encountering. All of the pictures show here are from James Castner from the University of Florida.
This tick is one of the most prevalent tick pests in the Eastern United States. Adults are about 1/4" long, and the shield has variable white markings. The larvae and nymphs prefer to feed on mice. Adults prefers dogs and other large animals.
This tick is widespread in the Southeastern United States, and often is found along trails, paths and roadways. Adult ticks are dark reddish-brown with dark-brown to black legs.
This tick is one of the most common pests of dogs. Adults are 3/16" long and are uniformly reddish-brown. All stages prefer to feed on dogs. This tick is prevalent in houses and kennels.
The cat flea is the most important flea species in the United States and attacks both cats and dogs. Adults are 1/16" long and are usually found on the host. The flea inserts its mouthparts in the skin, injects saliva and sucks blood. The bite leaves a red spot on the skin. The saliva is irritating to the host, causing dermatitis and hair loss in allergic animals.
Flea larvae pupate within silken cocoons and change into the adult stage. Debris is incorporated into the cocoon, so they are difficult to find. Fleas can remain in the pupal stage for six to 12 months without a host. They are protected from insecticides and resist chemical treatments.
Adult female fleas lay white, shiny eggs on the host. The eggs are not glued to the host, so they fall off immediately into bedding and other areas. Adult flea feces are also found in areas the animals frequent. Female fleas can produce 24 eggs per day, and eggs hatch in 12 to 48 hours.
Larvae of fleas go through three stages in 10 to 14 days. They are about 1/4" long. Larvae prefer to feed on adult flea feces. They are mainly found in pet resting areas, both indoors and outdoors.
This tick is one of the most common ticks on humans and it has prevented the development of some areas. The female has a silvery spot on the dorsal shield. Its long mouthparts allow deep penetration of the skin, often causing pus sores.
The relapsing fever tick is a soft tick, and its mouthparts are not visible from above. The relapsing fever tick mainly attacks rodents, and consequently is associated with rat and mouse habitats. It can transmit tick-borne relapsing fever.
Material in this section comes from: P.G. Koehler, Professor; J.L. Castner, Scientific Photographer; Department of Entomology and Nematology, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611.
The following gallery of wood-destroying insects will help you determine what type of wood-destroying pest problem you might be encountering
The larvae of Lyctid powderpost beetles develop and feed in hardwood. They usually infest furniture, flooring, paneling and molding. The beetles lay their eggs on the surface of wood. The larvae are C-shaped grubs that feed and pupate in the wood. Adults chew out of the wood, leaving circular emergence holes about 1 mm to 2 mm in diameter. Adult beetles are brown and are 3 mm to 5 mm long. The antennae have two-segmented clubs.
The larvae of Bostrichid beetles live and feed in wood. They can attack both hardwood and softwood, including bamboo, wicker and weaving material of baskets. The beetles bore into the wood to lay eggs. The larvae eat and pupate in the wood. Adult beetles are 3 mm to 6 mm long. To emerge, they bore round exit holes greater than 3 mm in diameter.
Anobiid powderpost beetles are 4 mm to 6 mm and develop in softwood or hardwood in structures. They are very common in subflooring of buildings. The beetles lay their eggs in cracks or on the surface of the wood. The larvae bore into the wood and feed on it. Adult beetles emerge from the wood by boring circular emergence holes about 2 mm to 3 mm in diameter.
This beetle is 15 mm to 25 mm long, flattened and grayish-black. The area behind the head has two shiny black spots. The larvae spend two to 10 years feeding on sapwood of pine, fir, spruce and other softwoods. Adults emerging from infested wood bore oval emergence holes that are 6 mm to 15 mm long.
The Formosan termite is a subterranean termite that has several unique characteristics that make it special compared to the Eastern subterranean termite. The reproductives are brown and swarm in the evening during May to July. Colonies of Formosan termites are large, with up to 5 million individuals. Therefore, they destroy wood faster than the Eastern subterranean termite. Formosan termites construct nests that are composed of carton material. These nests may be in the soil or in the structure.
Drywood termite colonies are found entirely within wood in structures. Because they do not require soil contact, they do not make mud tubes. The swarmers are usually light-brown and are most prevalent from September to December. Swarming usually occurs in the evening.
Eastern subterranean termites live in colonies composed of workers, soldiers, reproductives and supplemental reproductives. During the spring, the reproductives swarm and leave the colony. The reproductives are black and have a thick waist. The antennae are straight and both pairs of wings are the same length. Subterranean termites feed on wood, but nest in the soil. They construct mud tubes from their nests to the wood in structures.
Carpenter ants are large ants, about 13 mm to 15 mm, that nest in hollows of wood. The nest is usually associated with wood decay or termite damage in a house. Outdoors, carpenter ants nest in mulch or debris. The Florida carpenter ant is red and black. Carpenter ants do not eat wood; they hollow it out for nests.
Carpenter bees are 20 mm to 35 mm long. They closely resemble bumble bees, except the abdomen of a carpenter bee is a shiny metallic greenish-black, and the abdomen of a bumble bee is very hairy. These insects sometimes build their nests in solid wood such as weather boarding, railings, supports and trim of buildings. Their nests are in the form of tunnels three to six inches deep in the wood. The entrance hole is about 12 mm in diameter. The holes are very clean and appear as though they were made by a drill. Damage to wood is seldom extensive.
Material in this section comes from: P.G. Koehler, Professor; J.L. Castner, Scientific Photographer; Department of Entomology and Nematology, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611.
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