How Rain Affects Insect Activity

Changes in temperature and the shifting seasons have a clear effect on the active pests in and around your home. There are other factors that occur mid-season though, and pests will react not only to changes in heat or daylight, but insects in the rain will behave a bit differently.

Insects are cold-blooded, so when the weather gets colder they can become more sluggish. Because they cannot produce their own body heat, insects will adapt by migrating to warmer weather or seeking shelter. They may hibernate by burying themselves underground, or they might make their way into your home to find warmth.

Warmer weather usually means that insects will reproduce. Increased temperatures also mean increased activity, which increases metabolic rates. Insects will then look for food, food they might find in your garden and in your kitchen.

Behavior changes when dry weather becomes wet weather. Pests that love moisture, such as mosquitoes, cockroaches, stink bugs, and termites, will increase their activity with the increase of moisture. After steady rains, those mosquitoes will search for standing water to lay their eggs, hoping to increase their population.

For those insects that do not care too much for the rain, they will instead try to avoid the moisture and look for a dry place elsewhere. That means that excessive rains can drive spiders, ants or roaches into your home. Some rainy conditions can even drive some pests out of their nests in the ground. When that happens, they can quickly make their way inside your house looking for food and shelter.

Conversely, dry weather can influence those same pests. If rains drove insects inside in search of warmth, a drought could send those insects inside in search of water. Other insects multiply and thrive in the dry weather, such as grasshoppers. 

It is difficult to predict the weather, and you may try harder than necessary to find a couple of dry days to call for a pest control treatment. You might fear that if it rains, that your treatment, and your money, has gone to waste. Fortunately, that is not the case. 

Van Den Berge Pest Control can still treat your house if it is raining outside. Most of the areas we treat outside under eaves, decks and siding where rain will not affect our treatment. Plus, we guarantee all of our work, so if you are seeing more insects than normal, call us and we would be happy to retreat at no additional cost.

Rain influences many things around your house, and that includes the creatures that are active in the area. For more information on how pest behavior changes with the weather, call Van Den Berge Pest Control today at 616-392-7367. 

Trust the locally owned, widely renowned experts at Van Den Berge Pest Control for all of your pest needs. With over 100 years of combined experience throughout the Holland, MI-based pest control team, you know you’re in excellent hands with our state-certified experts.