← Pest Organisms

Nationwide / region

38 entr(ies)

Acrobat Ant
A small, shiny ant named for the heart-shaped rear segment it flips up over its back when alarmed; it nests in damp or rotting wood and tends aphids for their honeydew, sometimes wandering indoors to forage.
American Cockroach
A large, reddish-brown cockroach that lives mostly in warm, damp places like sewers, drains, and basements, wandering indoors in search of food, water, or shelter from harsh weather.
Bald-faced Hornet
A large black-and-white social wasp, despite its name a kind of yellowjacket, that builds a gray, pear-shaped paper nest hung in trees or under eaves and defends it aggressively when disturbed.
Bed Bug
A small, flat, reddish-brown blood-feeding insect that hides in beds, furniture, and cracks near where people sleep and feeds on human blood at night.
Black Carpenter Ant
A large, dull-black ant that nests in moist or decaying wood, tunneling galleries to build its colony rather than eating the wood like a termite.
Black-and-yellow Mud Dauber
A slender, black-and-yellow solitary wasp that builds small mud nests under eaves and in sheltered corners, hunting spiders to feed its young; docile and rarely stings.
Boxelder Bug
A black-and-red true bug that feeds on female boxelder trees in summer and gathers on and inside warm buildings in fall, making it a harmless cool-season nuisance pest.
Brown Dog Tick
A reddish-brown three-host tick that strongly prefers dogs as its host and is unusual in being able to complete its entire life cycle indoors, infesting homes and kennels.
Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
A shield-shaped, mottled-brown invasive stink bug from East Asia that crowds into homes in fall to overwinter and releases a foul odor when disturbed, but does not bite, breed indoors, or damage the structure.
Brown-banded Cockroach
A small indoor cockroach that favors warm, dry, elevated spots throughout a building, named for the pale bands across its wings and abdomen.
Camel Cricket
A wingless, humpbacked cricket with long legs and antennae that lives in cool, damp, dark places like caves and crawl spaces, wandering into basements and garages when it seeks shelter and moisture.
Cat Flea
A tiny, wingless, blood-feeding insect that is the flea most often found on pet cats and dogs in U.S. homes, biting both animals and people and breeding in carpets, bedding, and pet resting areas.
Chigger
The tiny, biting larval stage of a mite that lives in tall grass and weedy fields, latching onto people who pass through and leaving a cluster of intensely itchy welts where clothing fits tight.
Cigarette Beetle
A tiny, humpbacked, reddish-brown beetle that infests a wide range of dried stored goods, from spices and pet food to tobacco, tunneling through the product as a larva and flying toward light as an adult.
Clover Mite
A tiny reddish-brown plant-feeding mite, recognized by an extra-long front pair of legs, that lives on lawns and ornamentals and pours into buildings in large numbers during spring and cool spells, harmless but prone to leaving red stains when crushed.
Common Pillbug
A small, gray, land-dwelling crustacean that rolls into a tight ball when disturbed, lives in damp soil and leaf litter, and feeds harmlessly on decaying plant material.
Drain Fly
A small, fuzzy moth-like fly whose larvae develop in the organic film inside drains, sewers, and standing water; the adult is a harmless nuisance and the larva is a beneficial decomposer.
Drugstore Beetle
A tiny, humpbacked reddish-brown beetle that infests stored dry foods, spices, and even non-food goods, with larvae tunneling through the substrate to feed on almost anything dry in a pantry, kitchen, or warehouse.
European Earwig
A reddish-brown, nocturnal insect best known for the pincer-like forceps at the tip of its abdomen; it shelters in damp, dark spots by day and sometimes wanders into homes in large numbers.
Fruit Fly
A tiny tan-to-brown fly with red eyes that breeds in overripe, fermenting, or damaged fruit and the moist residue in drains, found around kitchen counters and trash.
German Cockroach
A small indoor cockroach found worldwide in association with humans, living near food, water, and warmth in kitchens, bathrooms, restaurants, and food-storage areas.
Honey Bee
A fuzzy, golden-brown social bee that lives year-round in large colonies and is one of the most important pollinators of food crops — a beneficial insect, not a pest, that should be relocated by a beekeeper rather than exterminated.
House Centipede
A fast, long-legged centipede with a dirty-yellow striped body that lives in damp, dark corners of homes and hunts insects and spiders at night; alarming to look at but harmless, and actually a beneficial predator.
House Fly
A gray, four-striped filth fly that breeds in manure, garbage, and decaying matter and contaminates food and surfaces by carrying germs on its body and in its saliva and droppings.
House Mouse
A small, gray-brown commensal rodent that lives in close association with people, nesting in walls, appliances, and stored goods, and known for droppings, gnaw marks, and a musky odor.
Little Black Ant
A tiny, shiny jet-black ant native to North America that nests in soil and inside structures, follows visible foraging trails indoors, and turns up in kitchens and pantries hunting for food and a little moisture.
Millipede
A slow, worm-like, many-legged arthropod that lives in damp soil and leaf litter eating decaying plant matter, and wanders indoors by mistake when the ground outside turns too wet or too dry.
Norway Rat
A large, stocky burrowing rodent that nests at ground level in and around buildings, contaminates food, gnaws structures, and can carry diseases that affect people.
Odorous House Ant
A tiny brown-to-black household ant that gives off a sharp, rotten-coconut smell when crushed and trails indoors after sweets, especially in damp weather.
Oriental Cockroach
A large, dark, slow-moving cockroach that favors cool, damp places like basements, drains, crawl spaces, and outdoor foundation areas, and is often called a "waterbug."
Paper Wasp
A slender, long-legged wasp that builds an open, umbrella-shaped paper nest under eaves and overhangs. A useful caterpillar predator outdoors, but it will sting in defense of a nest placed too close to people.
Pavement Ant
A small dark-brown to black ant that nests in soil along cracks in sidewalks, driveways, and foundations and wanders indoors after crumbs, sweets, and grease.
Powderpost Beetle
A small reddish-brown wood-boring beetle whose larvae feed on the starch in hardwood sapwood, leaving round pinhole exits and a fine, flour-like powder that gives the group its name.
Rice Weevil
A tiny reddish-brown snout beetle whose grubs develop hidden inside whole grain kernels, making it one of the most damaging pests of stored grain, flour, birdseed, and pantry staples worldwide.
Sawtoothed Grain Beetle
A tiny, very flat brown beetle with saw-like teeth along the sides of its thorax that infests stored cereals, pasta, dried fruit, and other pantry foods in homes, groceries, and grain stores worldwide.
Silverfish
A small, wingless, silver-gray insect with a teardrop shape and three tail-like bristles that lives in cool or damp indoor spaces and feeds on paper, starch, and other carbohydrate-rich materials.
Springtail
A tiny, wingless soil arthropod, smaller than a grain of rice, that jumps with a spring-loaded fork under its body and shows up indoors in damp spots like bathrooms, basements, and overwatered houseplants.
Wolf Spider
A large, hairy, ground-dwelling hunting spider that chases down prey on foot instead of spinning a web, sheltering under boards, stones, and siding and sometimes wandering indoors near ground level.