Ben Downard, Author at Action Pest Services

Is It Time to Call an Exterminator? How to Know When DIY Has Run Its Course

You’ve done what the internet told you to do. Bait stations under the sink, spray along the baseboards. The ants backed off for a week, maybe two, and now they’re marching across the counter like nothing happened. That’s the point where most South Carolina homeowners start wondering when to call an exterminator. If you’re already […]

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Kukulcania Hibernalis: Is This the House Spider in Your South Carolina Home?

Spiders / Ben Downard

You move a stack of boxes in the garage and a dark, flat spider scrambles out from a messy patch of webbing. It’s bigger than you’d like and the legs look thick. Your first thought is brown recluse. Most of the time in South Carolina, it isn’t. What you’re probably looking at is Kukulcania hibernalis,

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Yellow Jacket Stings: What Every SC Homeowner Needs to Know

Categories / Ben Downard

By late June, the calls start coming in. Someone is mowing the lawn, clips a patch of ground near the deck, and gets hit three or four times before they understand what’s happening. A yellow jacket sting is one of the more painful things a South Carolina summer hands out, and the insect behind it

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What Are Ghost Ants and Why Are They in Your House

Ant Control, Ants, Pest Control / Ben Downard

Ghost ants aren’t native to South Carolina, but the heat and humidity suit them fine. Coastal homes and well-heated structures inland can support a population year-round. Ghost Ant Identification: Size, Color, and Behavior Start with the size. Ghost ants measure about 1/16 of an inch, smaller than the sugar ants most people picture. A dark

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Why You Should Never DIY Wasp Nest Removal

May, Pest Control, Wasp / Ben Downard

That nest tucked under your eave looked harmless a few weeks ago. Now it’s the size of a grapefruit, and you’ve had two close calls just walking to the back door. The instinct to grab a can of spray and handle it yourself makes sense; the hardware store aisle makes it look easy, and the

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Natural Cockroach Control: Boric Acid, DIY, and Safe Methods

May, Pest Control, Roach Control / Ben Downard

Natural methods sell well because they’re cheap and feel safer. They also work, but only against light infestations. Once a German cockroach population settles into a wall void or behind a fridge motor, homemade cockroach control stops keeping up. Boric Acid and Diatomaceous Earth for Roaches Does boric acid kill roaches? Yes, and it’s been

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What Are Drain Flies and Where Do They Come From

Fly Control, May, Pest Control / Ben Downard

Drain flies go by a few names. Sewer flies, moth flies, sink flies. Same insect. They’re tiny, gray to tan, and their wings look fuzzy because of fine hairs covering them. Crush one against the wall and it leaves a smudge instead of the clean splat you’d get from a fruit fly. How Drain Flies

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How Wasps Get Inside Your Home

Pest Control, Wasp / Ben Downard

South Carolina’s humid summer keeps wasps active from early spring through October. Several species cause indoor problems here. Paper wasps and red wasps build their open, umbrella-shaped nests under eaves and around porches, where workers sometimes drift inside through open doors. Yellow jackets are the bigger structural concern because they nest inside walls. Mud daubers

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Early Warning Signs of a Termite Infestation

May, Pest Control, Termite Control, Termites / Ben Downard

Most homeowners miss the early termite signs because the giveaway clues sit in places nobody checks. Crawl space walls and the lower inch of a baseboard hide the bulk of it. To tell if you have termites, look at where they actually travel. Termite Mud Tubes, Frass, and Droppings Nothing gives subterranean termites away faster

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Earwig pest control by Action Pest Services

How to Keep Earwigs Out of Your Home

Earwig / Ben Downard

Spring in Upstate South Carolina is when earwigs start showing up in places homeowners don’t expect them. Under the kitchen sink. Along the basement floor. Tucked into a garden bed two feet from the back door. One earwig is easy to brush off. Finding them consistently is a different conversation. There’s a reason they’re there.

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Author name: Ben Downard