Scorpion
While they blend in really well with Arizona landscapes, these creepy crawlers can be aggressive and are venomous. The easiest way to spot them is at night with a blacklight. Shine it in the bushes and against warm block walls and they will glow green! They can also be found under dry wood and rocks, so watch out by the woodpile! Their sting can be anything from mild numbing to a trip to the hospital with life threatening reactions. |
American Cockroach
Also know as "Sewer Roaches," they are around 1.5" long and their wings cover their entire back. They are reddish brown and you can find them in dark warm and moist areas in your home. They like the dark so when you flip the light on, they will scatter. They eat any decaying matter and can go months without food. |
Millipede
The name means 1,000 legs but Millipedes really only have between 47-197 pairs of legs. They can spray a foul smelling liquid and coil up in a spiral when they are under attack. They can be found in moist areas like rotting logs and leaf debris. |
Brown Banded Cockroach
They get their names from the brown strips across their back and wings. These roaches like it hot and dry! You'll find them typically where it is 80+ degrees, and they like ceilings, attics, and hot electronics or appliance motors. They like to eat book bindings, wallpaper glue, and stamps. |
Centipede
This fast moving, venomous vertebrate is a carnivore and uses its venom to kill its prey. Though the name denotes 100 legs, most usually have 15 segments. Each with a pair of legs that are longer than the segment in front of it, and the legs regenerate when they are cut off. Their bite to a human can be painful, but not lethal. |
German Cockroach
This indoor roach is well known by it's 2 dark strips coming down the back of it's head. They like it warm and humid, so they can be found in kitchens and bathrooms, but may spread to other areas of the home that match the climate. They usually ride in on bags or boxes and can infest multi-unit dwellings by running along the plumbing lines. They can feed on pretty much anything and multiply incredibly quickly. An infestation will typically cause a "musty" odor. |
Earwig
This little guy likes it dark and moist, like under logs or leaves. It eats plants and other bugs, living or dead. The pinchers are its only line of defense and if you pick him up, you may get a pinch! Though they prefer to live outside, they may end up inside through packaging or crawling through cracks in the foundation of a home. |
Oriental Cockroach
The short wings on this dark roach are the miniskirt of the cockroach world, as they only cover half their back. They will sneak into homes using any means available: thresholds, open doors, piping, siding, etc... They can be found in wet areas and are very dependent on water. They eat any kind of garbage or decaying matter and can be found in large numbers around sewer drains. |
Black Widow
The venom from the Black Widow is 15 times more poisonous than a rattlesnake! They will eat pretty much anything that jumps into their web. They are not aggressive creatures, they prefer to lay in waiting for their prey to come to them. Males are smaller than the females and have red and yellow markings and longer legs. During mating most females will eat the male then lay 300-400 eggs. The most common marking is the red hourglass on the females back. |
Mud Dauber
Known for the mud cocoon nest made on the sides of houses, this wasp gathers hundreds of little balls of mud to make the nest. It then stings a prey to stun or paralyze it and lays an egg on it. The prey and the egg get deposited in the cocoon and the wasp will never return to that cocoon. This particular species is very unlikely to sting, even when provoked. |
Brown Recluse
Commonly confused with other spiders, the best way to identify this venomous arachnid is the violin shaped marking on the middle of its body (not on its butt). The handle of the violin will point towards the rear of the spider. This is a hunter, so despite building a disorganized web low to the ground, it will roam around looking for prey. It is a shy spider and will typically only bite when provoked. Most bites turn red within a few hours and fade away. Occasionally the bite will severely damage the skin tissue and you should seek immediate medical help if you notice puss or deformation. |
Yellow Jacket
This very aggressive wasp is a social insect. Hives will typically be built above ground and have several yellow jackets. They chew wood and plant fibers to make a type of paper for their nests. They lay eggs in the nest and become very territorial to protect their young. Every winter, all wasps die except mated queens who burrow into leaves or soil to survive. |
Tick
Closely related to a spider, ticks can carry diseases such as Lyme Disease, Ehrlichia, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. They are born disease free but acquire them from their meals and pass them to their new meals. Ticks are host specific, meaning they are only interested in eating a certain type of blood (dogs or cats). |
Argentine Ant
These ants travel in trails and have massive nests (often with hundreds of Queens). They make their nests in moist soil, next to or under buildings and along sidewalks. They like to eat sweets, honeydew, and oily human foods. Queens will mate once with a winged male and produce fertile eggs the rest of their life, often laying at least 60 eggs a day! |
Flea
A flea can feel the ground vibrating as an animal (or human) approaches and begins to jump so they can land on their host as it passes by. Running a vacuum before treatment can trick them into coming out of their cocoon so the treatment can take effect. An adult female can lay 50 eggs per day on a cat or dog, so infestations spread quickly. |
Carpenter Ant
These ants don't actually eat wood. They just bore through it to make their nests. Common signs of a carpenter ant nest are wood shavings mixed with ant bodies. They are noted by their red color which gets darker as it gets to their rear. They eat sweets and meat and have a rather block shaped head. |
Winged Ant -vs- Winged Termite