Not only are many capable of producing hordes of offspring from just one set of parents, many also have short life cycles accounting for multiple generations per year. A number of arthropod pests enter homes in the late summer and fall in search of a protected location for the winter months. Even if these invaders pose no threat to people, food or fabric in a home, their presence alone makes them a nuisance. The purpose of this publication is to help identify many pests that are found in homes and to provide information on the pest's life cycle and behavior. The first step in solving a pest problem is to identify what the pest is.
Correct identification allows the correct control measures for the specific insect.
You can identify many of these household pests yourself. You do, however, need to capture a specimen. The diagrams provided are an identification chart beginning at the top of each page. Two characteristics are described. Choose the one which best describes your specimen and proceed to the next pairs of descriptions until you arrive at an identification.