The best part of a long December day is lounging in your backyard on a hot summer evening in Melbourne’s South East suburbs, waiting to light up the barbecue or just kicking back. Before you’ve even had time to relax, a swarm of mosquitoes takes flight around you, ants crawl across the picnic table, and a buzz from a nearby bush warns you of the presence of wasps. Instead of relaxing in the sun, summer has suddenly become an intense fight with unwanted intruders.
Inside your home, the summer pests aren’t taking a break either. Spiders are lurking in corners, flies buzz around the kitchen, and small ants invade your pantry. While these may seem like minor nuisances, they can quickly escalate into a source of stress and wasted time in your life and in some cases, an actual health hazard to your family.
But don’t worry, we’re here to help. We’ll tell you about the most common Casey Cardinia summer pests, signs of an early infestation, and prevention steps to keep your home pest-free this summer. You’ll walk away with practical tips to ensure you can enjoy your summer safely and comfortably, without unwanted critters.
Why Summer Brings More Pests
Summertime not only means longer days and three-day weekends, it also means it’s prime pest season. That’s why getting pest control in Melbourne before the pests settle in can really make all the difference. Pest professionals not only know how to treat the pests you can see, they know how to identify hot spots, prevent infestations from setting in and provide long-term solutions to protect your home throughout the summer.
With insects reproducing at a much quicker rate in the warmer weather and the humidity rising, the warm summer weather offers the ideal conditions for the spider, the silverfish and other household pests to enter your home and cause havoc. And even small backyard nuisances or home conditions like uncovered compost bins, overgrown gardens and damp corners provide the perfect food and shelter to attract these seasonal pests.
It’s also important to be mindful of the effects that spending so much more time outdoors has. Whether you’re cooking a barbecue, kids are playing in the backyard or you’ve all been out late enjoying the warm evening air, these activities all open the doors to wasps nesting, mosquitoes biting or ants marching across your picnic basket.
Armed with the knowledge of seasonal pest behaviour and patterns and getting professional advice early, it’s the best way to start this summer with the least amount of swatting, spraying or worrying.
The Top Summer Pests in Casey Cardinia
From little ants that sneak into your pantry and raid your sweet stash, to buzzing mosquitoes and brazen wasps, summer pests can spoil your backyard and invade your home. They’re more than just a nuisance though, with some posing a risk to your family’s health and your home’s safety. Spotting common summer pests early can help you nip a potential infestation in the bud. So, it’s a good idea to know what pests are common this time of year.
Here’s a look at the top five pests you’re most likely to encounter:
Ants: The Unwelcome Picnic Guests
Ants are a fact of life in Casey Cardinia gardens in summer, and while there are many species about, a few are particularly prone to appearing everywhere at once. Coastal brown ants (aka big-headed ants) are often the most common. Warm soil and gaps beneath paving stones are their favourite hangouts, and established colonies can have multiple nests, which is why you sometimes notice them everywhere at once.
Argentine ants are another likely suspect. They’re small but extremely tenacious, and their massive super-colonies are especially well-adapted to life in moist garden beds, compost and pot plants. As it heats up, their foraging trails fan out, especially in the direction of anything sugary left out on a barbecue or picnic.
You’re also likely to see black house ants and white-footed house ants commuting between the garden and your home. Quick, tiny and perpetually scouting for sugar, this makes kitchens, pet bowls and outdoor dining areas easy pickings. Since they nest in wall cavities, under rocks or in pot plants, it’s common to spot them in the hundreds after hot days or after rain.
Out in more natural areas of your yard, you might also see larger species like bull ants making an appearance. Easy to identify from their size and more brazen behaviour, bull ants don’t invade homes like some smaller species, but they do have a nasty sting which can really hurt, especially for children or pets playing outside.
Why is this important to know? Because different ant species do different things — some are harmless but annoying, some bite, and some form colonies so large that a DIY spray will be completely ineffective.
Spiders: From Backyard Webs to Indoor Surprises
Spider activity really increases in Casey Cardinia over summer and it’s not unusual to see all sorts from the familiar garden orb-weavers spinning enormous webs each evening to huntsmen discreetly finding sanctuary indoors. Most of this activity is to do with the warmth of the season, as spiders are much more active as they hunt for food, mates and better places to hide from the heat.
That’s why spiders in a Pakenham home suddenly seem to appear after a hot day or warm night sneaking in through a small space under the door or a crack in a window frame. Huntsmen particularly enjoy the security of indoor walls and ceilings and daddy long-legs like to nestle in corners where they’re undisturbed.
Outdoors you’ll find redbacks under outdoor furniture, barbecue units, play equipment and around garden edgings, particularly where it’s warm and dry. Orb-weavers are most often found in gardens, on front porches and along paths where they construct enormous symmetrical webs which can seem to spring up overnight. Wolf spiders which shelter in burrows in lawns and garden beds may venture into garages or sheds during summer rain showers.
Fortunately, the vast majority of these species have more interest in insects than in people, but they can still be a little disconcerting to find lurking about. Knowing which species are commonly around you and when, and why they may come indoors at particular times, is a good way to manage any encounters safely and reduce the risk of surprise finds indoors during summer.
Mosquitoes: Protecting Your Family from Bites and Disease
Several species are active during the summer months and each has a very different approach to ambushing an evening in the backyard. Aedes are the annoying daytime biters that seem to magically know when you’re outside, but are also on hand to buzz around as soon as you sit down. Culex mosquitoes are the ones that become a problem at dusk, buzzing around on the patio, in the garden, around the pool and outdoor lights.
During particularly wet periods of the year, Anopheles mosquitoes also become a nuisance in the wetter microclimates of the region. They breed in and around ponds, marshy ground and poorly draining gutters. In addition to the irritating buzzing and biting, these three species are capable of transmitting disease, so mosquito-borne disease prevention becomes a very real concern with the first hot nights of the summer.
Summer is also a challenge because mosquito breeding is rapid. A small amount of standing water in a pot tray, birdbath, bucket, rainwater tank or even an abandoned toy filled with rainwater can become a hatching ground for thousands of mosquitoes. Once they are hatching in your yard, they quickly multiply, which is exactly the time when everyone is out and about in the warm, humid evening air. Minimising breeding grounds and protecting your outdoor areas early in the summer can help to keep your family bite-free and your backyard usable throughout the summer months.
Flies: Summer Irritants and Health Risks
Summers in Casey Cardinia are no fun without the flies buzzing around at the back of your head, but not all flies are the same. The common house fly (Musca domestica) is the classic: a small grey, speedy and pesky fly always on the lookout for scraps, rubbish and food waste. Flies are more than just annoying: they can spread a broad spectrum of pathogens and viruses including Salmonella and E. coli, so they are a real hygiene risk.
Bush flies (Musca vetustissima) are the Aussie classic. Slightly smaller than the house fly, they’re attracted to sweat, tears and other secretions around people’s heads, and are also known to carry enteric diseases and even eye infections.
Blowflies (family Calliphoridae) are also common, especially the species Calliphora augur, with its shiny, metallic body. These scavengers are attracted to rotting or decomposing matter, such as organic waste or decaying food, and are prolific at locating breeding sites.
Finally, there are flesh flies (Sarcophagidae), which are a bit bigger and will often drop their larvae directly onto a carcass or other decaying matter, rather than lay eggs. You may not always spot maggots, but if you’ve got organic waste or spillages indoors, these flies are a real contamination risk.
Wasps: Nests and How to Avoid Stings
Summer’s not just for beaches and barbecues in our region. The hot months also bring more wasp activity around our gardens, homes and outdoor eating areas. Two species in particular warrant some extra knowledge and awareness: the introduced European wasp (Vespula germanica) and our native paper wasps (including the Australian paper wasp Polistes humilis).
The European wasp is a real nuisance, making large nests of chewed wood-pulp material (think a big bowl covered with papier mache) hidden in the ground, in wall cavities or under garden ornaments. A European wasp nest can support thousands of workers by the end of summer and the wasps are likely to be very aggressive if the nest is disturbed. Paper wasps, on the other hand, create distinctive umbrella-shaped nests under eaves, pergolas or even in garden sheds or other enclosed areas. These are less aggressive, but will still defend the nest if provoked or if the wasps are caught in a human hand.
These insects can be a real problem because they forage for food in and around barbecues, outdoor bins or over fruit on trees, spoiling picnics and, much worse, causing painful stings or allergic reactions. Prevention is the key to reducing problems, so early detection of nests and removal/safe treatment well ahead of late summer when colonies are at their biggest, is the solution.
How to Spot Early Signs of Infestation
Seasonal pests never really arrive unexpectedly. Often there will be hints along the way that something is on the way, such as a sudden line of ants crawling along skirting boards, spiderwebs appearing in previously unused corners or a sudden increase in flies in the kitchen despite the countertops being clean.
Similarly, outside there may be signs of disturbed soil around the perimeter fence, wasps being particularly active in one part of the yard or large clusters of mosquitoes around a moist area. Spotting these indicators early can be key to nipping a pest problem in the bud before it becomes a major headache.
Some other common early indicators of pests inside the home include small droppings, damaged food packets or unusual odours, or sightings of insects near windowsills, vents and other warm hidden areas. Outside, you may notice things like mud tubes, chewed timber, buzzing sounds around eaves, nests under furniture, or insects/pets clustering in moist areas such as pot trays and gutters.
Even changes in your pet’s behaviour can be early signs of a problem. If they’re scratching at a certain wall, sniffing around a particular corner or starting to avoid a certain area of the yard, these are potential indicators that something is amiss.
Preventing Pests This Summer
Summer pest control begins outdoors. Regular outdoor maintenance can make a big difference in reducing the number of insects, spiders and other critters that find their way into your home over summer. Trimming overgrown vegetation, garden waste, keeping gutters and drains clean and free-flowing all reduce the number of shady, damp areas that insects love to hide in and breed.
Quick-grow lawn or instant turf is a great way to have a ready-to-roll lawn, but if over-watered they can create moist pockets underneath, and these can become breeding areas for ants and mosquitoes. Attending to these small details can prevent many infestations from ever getting started.
Indoors it is the same, good habits, along with regular maintenance outdoors, are the best way to reduce the number of summer pests entering your home. Sealed food storage, regular rubbish removal, moisture control and clutter reduction all make your home much less attractive to summer pests. Regular simple tasks such as cleaning benches, storing pet food, and looking for leaks can also help prevent insects and rodents from gaining a foothold.
There are some safe DIY treatment options, like bait stations or insect spray for small infestations, or simply removing spider webs. However, if the problem is persistent or there are large colonies present, or if the pest itself is a health or structural pest then professional pest control is generally the safest and most effective option.
All up, a good combination of smart care outdoors, simple good habits indoors and effective treatments where required, offer the best chance of having a really pest-free summer.
Staying Pest-Free in Casey Cardinia
Seasonal pests also generally have fairly predictable habits. Dry, hot days, for example, will see spiders and ants seeking shelter indoors, while humid weather and a sudden downpour are likely to be followed by increased mosquito hatching. Late-summer heatwaves can also make wasps more aggressive in their search for food, while flies breed faster in warm weather. Plus, the more organic waste you leave outdoors, the quicker fly numbers can explode in summer months.
Spotting these patterns and anticipating what’s likely to happen next can help you to act before small problems become major infestations.
