It is always a serious blow to a person’s sense of well-being when he/she learns that a pest infestation has taken shape within his/her home. There is no benefit to having a pest infestation within a home, unless of course, the pests happen to be spiders or house centipedes, in which case these two predatory arthropods will rapidly eat every insect pest located within every nook and cranny of a person’s home.

Despite all the talk from entomologists about venomous spiders providing a free form of indoor pest control on account of their remarkably efficient insect hunting abilities, every sane person on earth would just assume pay for the services of a human pest control professional as opposed to living amongst wolf spiders in order to keep the roaches in an apartment at bay. However, many gardeners and landscapers have learned to appreciate large spider, scorpion and centipede species, as these arthropods keep gardens and lawns free of plant-damaging insect pests.

Since people obviously do not sleep, eat and live in their backyard, why not be happy about having a high spider population within a well-cultivated garden? Well, for one thing, many people choose to bring their potted plants indoors before the winter season arrives, and in some cases, unwanted spider and insect pests can hitch rides indoors along with people’s beloved plants.

The most common arthropod pests found in potted plants include ants, aphids, spiders, caterpillars, centipedes, beetles and pill bugs, just to name a few. If you choose to bring your garden or potted plants indoors for the winter, be sure to check the underside of leaves, the bottom of pots, and an inch or so below the soil’s surface.

Another way in which homeowners can prevent arthropod nuisance issues around their home is by choosing a new outside light bulb that does not attract bugs by mimicking moonlight, as many insect pests naturally rely on the light emitted by the moon in order to maintain a sense of direction at night. Insect pests that are too dumb to tell the difference between the shine of a light bulb and the awesome gleeming light emanated by the moon include moths, crane flies, beetles and even swarming termites. Replacing a traditional white light bulb with a yellow light bulb will no longer mimic moonshine, and therefore, your tragic days of sweeping the corpses of navigationally-challenged moths, flies and other bugs off of your porch can finally come to an end.

Do insect pests bother you while you spend time on your outside porch?