KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The air is rich with spring, and a bunch of bugs.
Nice weather brings annoying pests to our homes and yards, but not all of them warrant a call to the exterminator.
So now we must ask, to kill or not to kill?
That is the question when you see a rogue, unidentified bug run across your kitchen floor.
"Our call volume has been very high," said Bo Seay, general manager of Clear Defense Pest Control.
He said his company is averaging 120 stops a day to tackle these pests.
"Everyone has a little bit of a different tolerance for pests," said Seay. "Some people do not want any kind of bugs in their home, some people don't mind a couple on the inside of their house."
Five bugs top the list for calls for service:
- Spiders
- Ants
- Mosquitoes
- Termites
- Bees
So who can stay, and who should go?
"Some of the pests you don't need to worry about would be like your honey bees," said Seay. "These are your natural pollinators, they're great for the environment."
Many pest control companies will not exterminate honey bees for that reason.
Just leave them 'bee!' But carpenter bees are a different story.
"This is a huge nuisance pest for one large reason and that is that it does a lot of structural damage," said Seay.
So you've got your good bees and your bad bees.
Another pest to get rid of is mosquitoes, which can carry disease. Wasps are fine outside, but you don't want them in your house. Same with ants.
House centipedes are creepy...
"They kind of look like they came right out of a horror film," said Seay.
But they'll eat other bugs crawling around your house.
And definitely get rid of the termites.
"The top three worst bugs to find a house? Number one, termites. Number two, brown recluse spiders. Number three, German cockroaches," said Seay.
He said lady bugs and smaller spiders are friends who won't hurt you if they're crawling around.
If you don't want to deal with any bugs make sure your home is well sealed and consult with your pest control company for any issues.