I believe we have springtails outside around our house. We live in Iowa, I noticed them last fall and then they went away when the weather was cold but I noticed them again last night and the weather has been warmer here. We have a big tree outside our house and its above our driveway and I notice them more on my car then anything. Last fall they use to be all over our front and back porches and my car, but I had an exterminator come spray last week and since then I haven’t noticed them much on our porch, a few here and there, but not like they were before. We have a gravel driveway and we have mulch around the front of our house. I am not for sure where they are nesting from. Any suggestions would be great and any advice on what to do to get rid of them would be great too. we don’t have any flower beds and I didn’t know if they could come from the tree? I just know I don’t like having to worry about them, especially with summer coming and wanting to be outside. I notice them more in the afternoon and late afternoon. they start to go away as the sun is going down. Let me know if you believe these are springtails and what I can do about them. Thanks.
If you read through our SPRINGTAIL CONTROL ARTICLE, you’ll learn this pest lives down in the soil. There isn’t a specific nest location but rather a range of soil which can many times be an entire mulch bed or lawn itself which is harboring the bulk of the population. We notice yards that recycle grass clippings or have wet, irrigated soil tend to harbor springtails. So too do yards with mulch like pine straw and wood chips. But think of the entire yard as the problem when dealing with them and not just one source or location. This broad conceptualization will allow you to take a pro active stance which will work. In other words, limiting your treatment to the tree alone would be a mistake. My guess is they are around the tree, under the mulch and most definitely under a porch or two. They’re quite possibly in the turf too so if you wish to reduce their population, you’ll need to treat all these locations.
To start, you should apply BIFEN GRANULES all around the property followed by a liquid treatment with the CYONARA RTS once you start seeing any. The Bifen will soak down into the soil and reduce them as they develop. With any luck, you’ll kill off enough to minimize their activity this year. But if you start seeing them as summer sets in, be sure to liquid treat with the Cyonara as needed for quick results. And continue to apply the Bifen over the entire lawn every 2-3 months. If you follow this program, you should be in great shape this time next year with little to no chance of them being active.
Here are direct links to the information and products mentioned above:
http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page719.html
http://www.bugspray.com/item/cyonara_rts.html
jonathan
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