East Sacramento Pest Control

Most Common Pests in Sacramento, CA

Sacramento is home for many insects, rodents, and wildlife. Learn more about the most common pests in the area by reading below.

Termites

Sacramento homeowners often suffer from termite infestations and damage. Unfortunately for the City of Trees, termites can't distinguish between the wood that makes up your house and the stump in your yard. Improper moisture control, leaf litter, and direct wood-to-soil contact are all prime conditions that can promote termite activity on your property, often close to your home. While foraging, worker termites can enter cracks in the foundation of your home, potentially leading them to the wood within the structure. Bubbles in wallpaper or wood flooring and small piles of wings are good indicators that drywood termites are infesting.

The Sacramento area is home to two primary termite species: subterranean and drywood. Drywood termites are commonly found in Northern California and can cause significant damage to homes. Hidden deep within wood, drywood termites chew and grow their colonies, destroying wood from the inside out. Because wood contains certain moisture levels, drywood termites can survive on wood alone as both a water and food source.

Cockroaches

Brown-banded, German, American, and Oriental cockroaches are the most common cockroaches in Sacramento homes. Cockroach infestations most often begin when someone unknowingly brings an infested item into a home or building. Poor sanitation, such as leaving out food or dirty dishes, can encourage an infestation since this type of clutter provides an excellent food source for the roaches. Cockroaches are also drawn to less frequented areas near sewers and drainage, where they can live among the moisture and clutter made by boxes and papers left in storage spaces, electrical rooms, or garages. Without addressing a cockroach infestation, this pest can multiply fast.

Mice

Mice can squeeze through openings much smaller than their body size, making it possible for them to get into your home through even the smallest of holes in the exterior of your house. Once indoors, they quickly cause unsanitary conditions, scattering droppings throughout your home as they scavenge for food at night. Mice can also contaminate food in easily penetrable or unsealed food containers. Their coats contain natural oils that transfer as they scale walls or enter and exit through small spaces. These oily spots called “rub marks" can stain walls where openings exist.

Rats

Dealing with a rat infestation, no matter what species, can be a frustrating experience. Rats are resilient rodents that can travel hundreds of feet, which could mean that you are suffering from your neighbor's rat issue or from poor garbage storage from nearby businesses.

Norway rats and roof rats are the most common rat species that infest homes throughout Sacramento. Norway rats are large rodents that live in burrows they create underground. They are nocturnal pests that can infest homes as they search for food at night, returning to their burrows after gathering their bounty. As their name suggests, roof rats are skilled climbers, making their nests in higher areas like attics, drop ceilings, and even cabinets when living indoors.

Silverfish

Silverfish frequently infest homes throughout the Sacramento area in search of food and shelter. They can be easily identified by their carrot shape and gray coloring. You'll most likely find them in cooler places with high moisture levels and where they can be undisturbed, like bathrooms, crawlspaces, attics, and garages.

Silverfish can cause damage to books, wallpaper, paper goods, and even clothing. Once this pest has established a new home inside yours, they can live up to three years, even surviving weeks without food and water.

House Ants

No matter where you live in the Sacramento area, house ants are an incredibly common household pest. House ants can enter your home through tiny spaces that you may not even think of. Small tears in window screening, exterior cracks, and gaps around windows and doors are some of the most common access points for ants. They can also be brought into the home by hitching a ride with potted plants or hanging baskets from garden centers.

Ants can be found in any part of your home, but the kitchen and bathroom are the most common as these spaces provide easy access to water and food sources. Your home can easily suffer from ant infestations if food isn't stored properly, entry points aren't repaired or sealed, and weak wood or damp insulation exists.

Stink Bugs

Stink bugs, also called “brown shield bugs," are small, brown insects that invade homes in the spring and fall in Northern California. They are about ½ inch long and come in various shades of brown with six legs and a set of antennae.

Stink bugs migrate indoors to overwinter in homes when the fall begins. Once they enter a structure, they will stay active all winter long. Once spring arrives, stink bugs will emerge throughout your home as they try to make their way outdoors once again. Although they do not harm humans, they can be troublesome for residents if they invade a home in large numbers, which can be frustrating when they become active.

Clothes Moths

There are many species of clothes moths throughout the US, but webbing clothes moths are the most populous in Sacramento and Northern California. Adult webbing clothes moths typically stay out of sight because, unlike other flying pests, they avoid light. Clothes moths are not an immediate health threat to humans, but they still are bothersome because of how destructive they can be to your garments and rugs.

Most people don't even know a clothes moth infestation is active in their home until damage is found. Holes that suddenly appear in clothing, rugs, carpets, felt, upholstered furniture, and stored wool can indicate a clothes moth infestation. DIY products and methods can be costly, time-consuming, and ineffective against these challenging pests. Call Terminix for a moth inspection in the Sacramento area.

Spiders

Sacramento is home to a wide variety of spiders, including tarantulas, cellar spiders, black widow spiders, American house spiders, orb weavers, wolf spiders, and more. Although you could encounter many or all of these as a resident of Sacramento, the most common species of spider that infests homes is the American house spider. Secluded corners, cabinets, closets, and attics are ideal hiding places for American house spiders due to the small amount of foot traffic and human activity. American house spiders are typically harmless and feed on other small pests that could be lurking around your home.

Centipedes

House centipedes are a common household pest in Sacramento. They can grow up to two inches long with an abundance of legs that propel them quickly when they dart across a room. Although they are relatively harmless, centipedes can be alarming when you aren't expecting to encounter them in your home. You're most likely to find centipedes living in your garage, attic, crawlspace, basement, storage spaces, and areas with higher moisture levels, such as bathrooms and under dishwashers and sinks. Their diet includes tiny insects and house spiders, so if there is an infestation of another pest, centipedes can probably survive.

Earwigs

Earwigs are nocturnal pests that can invade your home year-round. They have a need for moisture so they are commonly found under boards and rocks, within soil and mulch, and around garden beds. This is why you'll most likely find earwigs on the ground floor or basement of your home. Earwigs can make their way indoors when they wander in through an open or improperly sealed exterior door or when hitching a ride in soil from potted plants in garden centers. You've probably heard about earwigs because of the common myth that they can crawl into your ears and lay eggs. Fortunately, this is untrue and highly unlikely. They are nothing more than a nuisance when they enter your home.

House Crickets

House crickets are a common pest in Sacramento homes. These noisy pests can be found in laundry rooms, storage spaces, behind baseboards, basements, crawlspaces, under appliances, attics, and other spaces with less foot traffic in your home. They can eat paper, silk, woolen items, fruits and vegetables, all kinds of foods, and even rubber. However, unless large numbers occur, this damage is typically minor. Though they can be irritating and loud, house crickets are harmless to humans.

Paper Wasps

Paper wasps are small stinging insects that frequently nest on properties throughout the Sacramento area. These wasps can scrape wood shavings off decks, wooden railings, wooden patio tables and chairs, and other wood around your property, turning it into a paste when mixed with their saliva. This mixture is used to construct their nest which they can build anywhere– inside window frames, on overhangs, in attic vents, under outdoor furniture, under soffits, or on play equipment. Their nests resemble an upside-down umbrella with a honeycomb pattern. Most nests are light gray, but they can be different hues based on the color of the wood found in the area. Paper wasps are mildly aggressive and can sting if they feel threatened or if you get too close to the nest.

Bed Bugs

Bed bug infestations occur when a person comes into contact with bed bugs and unknowingly brings them somewhere else. They are transported as stowaways, hiding in luggage, couches, beds, pillows, backpacks, and more. Bed bugs cling to moving items like briefcases and can easily fall off, allowing them to relocate and spread.

It's also a common occurrence that bed bugs lay eggs on these items. As the host moves, they can hatch far away from where they originally came from. Bed bugs prefer to hide in tight spaces like around mattress piping, in the corners of bed frames, within upholstered furniture, inside dresser drawers, and even behind light socket covers and artwork. If you find what looks like small marks made with a permanent marker on your bed sheets, bed bugs could be the problem.

Fleas

Fleas are small biting insects that are most often associated with cats and dogs. However, humans can also be bitten by fleas when a household infestation exists. Fleas are only 1/8 of an inch long, but they can jump up to eight inches vertically. They are flat on the sides and have backward-facing spines on their bodies.

Fleas become a larger issue when they breed in your home. They can spread through the house as their eggs fall off pets when they move through your home and yard. However, fleas do spend most of their time on the host animal. These tiny jumping pests are a true nuisance and plague Sacramento residents that experience their activity.

Mosquitoes

Mosquitoes are most active in the Sacramento area May-November due to the increase in heat and humidity. They lay eggs on outdoor surfaces where even a small amount of water has gathered. This could be flowerpots and the trays beneath them, play equipment, trash can lids, clogged gutters, bird baths, and more.

Only female mosquitoes can bite. And when they do, they'll leave behind an itchy red welt on your skin.

Ticks

The most common tick species in Sacramento are the black-legged tick, American dog tick, and Pacific coast tick. Tick season begins in the spring, but is a year-round problem in Northern California, which means the threat of tick-borne disease-causing pathogens and illnesses always exists in Sacramento. Hiding in tall grasses and vegetation, ticks are increasingly problematic for humans and pets alike. No tick species cause indoor infestations.