What Do You Know about Springtails? Pest Control Kennedale, TX Specialists Share their Tips

As we all know, there are plenty of insects and pests in Texas and some are quite annoying. Today we will take a look at springtails, an insect our pest control Kennedale, TX pros find interesting. While it is not harmful to crops, pets or humans, it finds comfort and power in large numbers – and once you find yourself surrounded by a swarm of tiny insects you won’t have the best day ever. The reason why we focus today on this particular pest is that springtails love wet and damp properties, pools, basements and humid environments, so if you own an uncovered pool or a pond in the backyard, you should keep an eye on these insects.

How to Recognize Springtails

• These insects are usually less than 1/8 inch long.
• Their color ranges from black to silvery, depending on their varieties.
• As a fundamental characteristic, springtails present a tail-like mechanism on their abdomens (called a furcula) which helps them spring high in the air in order to cover distances.

How Do Springtails Behave and Where to Find Them?

They live in damp and humid environments outdoors, hiding under the soil, under bark or logs, deep down in leaves piles, leaf molds, decaying vegetation piles and on the surface of freshwater pools or ponds. You can also find them in flower beds and under paving stones and landscape timbers.

One good thing about this pest in comparison to others we have discussed before is that springtails are more or less beneficial to your garden, since they eat mold and fungi. Some of them also feed on decaying vegetation and bacteria. Some Springtail varieties also feed on unusual things like pollen and other insects’ feces. However, while not being a threat to your lawn and vegetation, pest control Kennedale, TX specialists are still concerned with the insect, as it can become a nasty unwanted guest inside your house as well.

They can get inside the house as well (under the door’s threshold) and set camp in humid basements or attics or around naturally damp areas like the kitchen, bathroom or garage pipes and sources of water.

Why Is Control Necessary?

Pest control Kennedale, TX specialists warn us about the surreally fast reproductive cycle of these insects. They are tiny and you will not notice them until it is probably too late. To give you a dimension of the potential disaster, imagine that springtails can reach a population density of up to 100,000 per cubic yard of surface soil. This is an ecological outbreak in and out of itself and if you ever saw the surface of a swimming pool covered with a fine scum, that thin and strange layer was in fact millions upon millions of springtails resting on the water’s surface.

From this reason, springtail control is quite hard to achieve, not because the insects are resilient to chemicals, but because they are too many. However, your pest control Kennedale, TX pros can help you contain and eliminate the insects by controlling the humidity on your property and spraying outdoors and indoors with tailored pesticides.