Insects have an easier time when it is hot and humid. Longer days also let them be active for more time. This is why you are more likely to see mosquitoes, ticks, ants, wasps, and all kinds of other pests in the summer.
If it seems like every pest shows up all at once in July, it’s not your imagination. The conditions that drive pest activity have been at work for months, but that work bears fruit all at once, often in July.
Insects need warmth to do normal tasks like developing eggs and larvae, and flying around. Heat allows them to do a lot more in less time, and there is no clearer example of this than the mosquito, which takes 14 days to develop from egg to adult in the low 70s but can do the same in 7 days at 85°F .
As the old saying goes, “it’s not the heat that’ll get you, it’s the humidity.” And that’s because humidity keeps leaf litter damp, maintains moisture in soil and ground cover, and slows evaporation from small water sources. The pests can be active longer, and at less risk of drying out.
The longer days also give pests more time to act, whether they work by day or dusk. Mosquitoes that feed at dawn and dusk enjoy longer windows of time in the summer. Ants forage for longer. Wasps can build nests faster. The additional daylight hours give pest populations more time to eat, reproduce, and expand.
Food is also most available in the summer. Flowers are in bloom, as are fruits and vegetables. Outdoor dining is the norm. And all those food scraps and spills go to the insects, which happily receive them.
The result is that by midsummer, pest populations have had months of favorable conditions to build. Without intervention, the numbers continue to climb until cooler fall temperatures slow reproduction and push activity levels back down.
If summer pests are overwhelming your Bergen-Passaic property, Mosquito Squad of Bergen-Passaic can help. Mosquito Squad provides barrier treatments every 21 days, keeping mosquito and tick populations suppressed through the peak season.
