Why Are Pests Active In Summer
Reasons Pests Thrive in The Summer Months
Because of more hours of sunlight in a day, it gives pests more time to feed. The warm summer combined with the availability of food sources create the perfect environment for pests to thrive. From increased reproduction cycles to changes in their normal behaviors, understanding what drives the increase in pest activity can help you prevent infestations.
1. Warm Temperatures Boost Pest Metabolisms
Higher temp allow cold-blooded pests like spiders, and rodents to speed up their metabolism and activity levels. Their bodies operate more efficiently in warmer conditions. With extra energy, these pests spend more hours mating, giving birth, seeking food, and invading homes.
For example, rats are active all year round, but they breed more often in summer season. It allows them to save energy they’d normally spend keeping warm and instead put it towards reproduction.
2. Sources Of Food Are Abundant
Pests need food and water to survive. When their natural food supplies increase during summer, pest populations grow and infestations occur.
Outdoors, flowering plants provide nectar and pollen that attracts sugary treats. Fruits, seeds, and vegetation also ripen providing nourishment. Indoors, we often leave more sustenance out like pet food or miss crumbs and spills that become meals for invaders.
Stagnant water from summer storms, rain, irrigation, pet dishes, and leaks also allow pests like mosquitoes to breed rapidly.
Having ample access to food from natural and man-made sources allows pest species to expand into territories like your home seeking nutrition.
3. Reproduction Is Faster In Hot Weather
Warmer temperatures accelerate the reproductive cycle of many pests. Some can develop from eggs to adults in just a week in peak summer heat.
Shortened cycles allow them to produce multiple generations over a single season. Large numbers concentrate in areas like your property causing problems.
Sustained heat also lengthens the breeding period for pests. For example, cockroaches normally reproduce only in the spring and summer. But hot years allow them to continue mating into fall. Meaning, their body temperature is dependent on the climate.
Pests With Fast Reproduction In Heat
- Flies – upto 1000 eggs at once
- Mosquito – every week to 10 days
- Termites – 1000s per mature colony
- Bed bugs – 200-500 lifetime eggs per female
- Rodents – 5-10 litters per year with 6-12 babies each
Prevent fast-breeding pests by identifying and removing fertilized females before they reproduce again.
4. Daylight Hours Fuel Insect Activity
Have you noticed bugs come out right around sunrise and sunset? That’s because many of them depend on daylight cues to regulate behavior.
Long summer days with earlier dawns and later sunsets give pests more hours of prime feeding period. Light sends signals regulating when they search for food, migrate, mate, and lay eggs.
Insect populations concentrate during periods of peak activity. That’s why rooms with outdoor lighting attract more bugs overnight.
Day Active Stinging Insects
- Flies
- Wasps
- Bees
- Ants
These pests invade homes and structures when the sun is up. Ensure doors and windows have tight seals to keep them out.
Dusk & Dawn Insect Species
- Mosquito
- Moths
- Cockroaches
- Termites
Manage these low light pests by removing exterior lighting that confuses them and clears paths for entry points like doorways and attic vents.
5. Moist Conditions Boost Populations
Summer rainfall and irrigation create the wet conditions many pests need to thrive. Mosquitos are the most notorious example, as they require standing water for their larvae to mature.
Warm weather accelerates evaporation that concentrates nutrients. Algae and mold grow quickly providing additional meal sources.
Areas of moisture allow other organisms like termites and ants to cultivate nutritious fungus gardens. Drain flies and fungus gnats reproduce rapidly in the damp rotting vegetation, mulch and soil.
Fix leaky plumbing, clean roof and gutter debris, empty potted plant trays, refresh birdbaths and pet dishes frequently to disrupt ideal humidity habitats.
6. Life Cycles Sync With Summer
Some pests specifically target warmer months to match their life stages with perfect breeding conditions. Cicadas are a great example, timing their emergence above ground to breed and lay eggs during this season.
The periodical cicada spends 13-17 years underground, surviving by feeding on tree roots. In the final weeks, mature nymphs tunnel to the surface synchronized by temp cues.
Adults live just 2-6 weeks focused entirely on reproducing before dying. The next generation returns to repeat the cycle years later.
Because so many reach maturity at once, cicada numbers rapidly multiply causing significant plant damage. Be prepared to take preventative measures when your location approaches a cyclic emergence date.
7. People Spend More Time Outdoors
Finally, don’t underestimate how increased human activity outdoors in summer also contributes to potential pest interactions and home invasions.
We leave doors and windows open for fresh air exposing entry points. Outdoor cooking and dining gives rodents, and wildlife tempting meal options if spills and leftovers remain uncleaned.
Long hours working in the yard give creepy crawlies more opportunity to encounter us. Moving storage containers, landscaping materials, and debris creates convenient shelters for unwelcome squatters.
Be diligent about sealing access when not actively ventilating, properly containing and disposing waste, and tidying clutter where they hide.
Tips To Discourage Summer Pests
Follow these best practices to make your home and property less inviting environments for seasonal pest problems:
- Install weather sealing around doors and window frames to close gaps
- Choose pest-resistant plants in landscaping beds
- Remove old logs, mulch and leaf litter providing pest nesting sites
- Fix plumbing leaks and drips
- Empty water that collects in structures and yard debris
- Clean up spills immediately including pet dishes
- Keep grass cut short and bushes trimmed away from the home’s exterior
- Use thick garbage bags tied securely to prevent leaks
- Take the trash out frequently
- Schedule annual professional pest control service
Pest Prevention By Season
Follow these seasonal tips to keep pests at bay.
- Winter: Seal cracks and crevices so unwanted guests don’t enter seeking warmth
- Spring: Inspect the property for signs of breeding pests after winter dormancy ends
- Summer: Clean up debris & standing water source denying habitat plus attractants
- Fall: Install door sweeps and draft guards before cold temperatures arrive
Being proactive with maintenance checks and taking basic precautions interrupts the ideal conditions they need to exploit during summer. Contact pest control experts if you spot signs of pest infestation before populations grow out of control when the climate is still in their favor.
Article written by Stewart Bailey From Eco Pest Control in Adelaide.
