Insects are generally outdoor creatures. Their natural habitat is not inside your kitchen cabinets, basement or garage – it's outdoors in your backyard.

Insects are generally outdoor creatures. Their natural habitat is not inside your kitchen cabinets, basement or garage – it's outdoors in your backyard. Many insects are beneficial to our environment, but others cannot be tolerated.

Mosquitoes, ticks and stinging insects are a few of the culprits and can quickly ruin any outdoor fun. Rottler Pest Solutions reminds homeowners that if not properly addressed and controlled, these backyard bugs can take the party indoors and become an issue in your family’s living space.

What Attracts Bugs To Your Backyard?

Full of grass, bushes and tall weeds, yards provide blood-sucking pests like ticks and fleas easy access to hosts such as pets and people. Fleas can also hitch a ride on rodents and other wildlife into your backyard and transfer themselves to picnic blankets, clothing or pets.

Eaves and overhangs, as well as the underside of decks and porches, provide sheltered locations for stinging insects like yellow jackets, wasps and hornets to build their nests. Stinging insects are also attracted to food and open garbage cans, along with sweet-smelling fragrances including drinks like soda or juices, perfume, cologne, and even some lotions and sunscreens.

Types Of Bugs In Your Backyard:

• Mosquitoes – Mosquitoes breed in areas of standing water, only needing a half an inch of stagnant water to reproduce. There are many items in a backyard that provide ideal breeding grounds, such as bird baths, play equipment, baby pools and potted plants. Capable of spreading debilitating diseases such as West Nile virus and Lyme disease, mosquitoes and ticks pose a far greater threat than just their bites.
• Stinging Insects – According to the National Pest Management Association, stinging insects send more than 500,000 people to the emergency room every year. Stinging insects build nests in a variety of places such as overhangs, eaves, the underside of porches and decks, in trees and along fence lines, and in ground nests around the yard.
• Ants – There are more than 700 ant species found in the U.S., so it is not surprising that homeowners may stumble upon an ant hill or two in the backyard. In St. Louis and Kansas City, the odorous house ant is the biggest nuisance to backyard patios and picnics.
• Fleas – Attracted to warm-blooded hosts, fleas typically make their way to yards in search of people and pets. They can also transport themselves on rodents and other wild animals, quickly making their presence known upon arrival. Although they have a short lifespan of about 100 days, females can produce up to 400 to 500 eggs during that time.

Backyard Pest Prevention Tips

• When spending time outdoors, apply an insect repellent containing an EPA-registered ingredient, such as DEET, picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus.
• Consider wearing long clothing and tucking pants into socks, especially if spending time in higher grass.
• Prevent mosquitoes from breeding in your yard by eliminating standing water and routinely changing the water in birdbaths, play equipment and kiddie pools.
• Seal and cover any trash with tight lids, making sure to place cans far from primary entertaining spots. If you are cooking out in the yard, keep yellow jackets, flies, wasps and hornets away by covering all food when outside.
• Overgrown brush and weeds can house and hide bugs like ticks and mosquitoes. Keep shrubbery trimmed and mow the lawn on a regular basis.
• Seal exterior housing cracks, install screens on windows and doors, and inspect both pets and people before coming inside to keep these pests outside where they belong.
• Use a fan in picnic areas to deter weak flying insects from invading your space.