Crop Damaging Pests

These pests and animals are known to damage or destroy crops and gardens common to Southeast Texas, Southwest Louisiana and along the Gulf Coast region.

Field Cricket

Size: 1/2 to 1 1/8” Shape: Color: Typically black Field Crickets can damage or destroy vegetation, such as vegetable gardens or fields with crops. They sometimes enter homes and may cause damage to soiled fabrics, leather and fur garments that have food deposits or juices, even perspiration on them. This species of Crickets prefer to live outdoors and will not survive very long indoors. Field Crickets lay their eggs in warm, damp soil. They feed on plants, seeds, insects (dead or alive) such as moths, butterflies, flies even grasshopper eggs and on their own kind. Prevention: Mowing … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Crickets, Crop Damaging Pests

Leaf Cutter Ant

Leafcutter Ant Size: 1/16 – 1/2” Color: Rust Brown to Dark Brown Leafcutter Ants get their name from their habit of cutting leaves into small pieces. They build their nests in well drained sandy soil. These nests can be quite large and can cover 4,500 square feet in area and up to 20 feet in depth. Leafcutter Ants can strip a tree over night, and can forage up to 600 feet away from the nest. They often will leave a trail of leaf pieces. These ants stay in the nest during the hottest parts of the day and come out in temperatures between 45° and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Ants, Crop Damaging Pests

Norway Rat

The Norway rat is also called the brown rat, gray rat, sewer rat, water rat, wharf rat and barn rat. This rat will grow up to 16 inches from nose to tail. The tail is shorter in length than the body. These rats are typically a grayish-brown color, but can be a blackish or reddish-brown. Norway rats will nest in burrows in the ground. Burrows that have a smooth appearance at entrances are usually active burrows. These rats often feed on grains, seeds and vegetation, but will feed on anything provided in urban settings. These rats will also separate undigested food particles from animal … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Crop Damaging Pests, Disease Carriers, Fabric & Paper Pests, Fall and Winter Pests, Farm Pests, Nuisance Animals, Property Damaging Pests, Rodents

Skunk

Size: 15-37” Color: Black and white to brown and cream colored Shape: Elongated body relatively short, well-muscled legs, long front claws Skunks are members of the weasel family. Skunks are pests because they dig under foundations and take up residence under homes or in other buildings. They sometimes eat poultry and eggs, garden vegetables, and fruit. They can also damage beehives as they feed on adult and larval bees. Skunks commonly damage lawns when they dig in search of insect larvae, rolling back the sod. Of course skunks are disliked primarily because of their ability to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Crop Damaging Pests, Farm Pests, Nuisance Animals, Skunks

Formosan Termites

(Coptotermes formosanus) Swarming usually follows a warm rainy day in late spring/summer and occurs in the evening hours, starting at sundown and ending before midnight. The swarmers are attracted to lights. Formosans do have the capability of establishing secondary nests above ground if a constant moisture supply is available. An above ground nest is made of material called carton. It consists of soil and wood cemented together with saliva and feces. Suspended colonies of Formosan termites are more often encountered than the Native Eastern Subterranean termites.
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