The changing weather patterns are beginning to harm food resources and are leading to more insect invasions throughout the world. At first, pest pressures could be predicted more easily, but climate change makes it even more challenging to keep track of these damaging creatures.
Are you wondering how the weather affects insect problems? Changing weather patterns lead to changes in temperature, moisture levels, wind direction and speed, and rainfall. All these individually affect insects. These weather components can either increase or decrease insects populations, and whether they become a burden to you.
Effects of Cold Weather on Insects
Most insects perish during the cold. However, in their final days, they complete their one true mission: reproduction. They do this by laying eggs in isolated places and providing their larvae with food to survive the cold. A good example includes the field cricket.
Other insects, such as monarch butterflies, migrate to a warmer place when winter approaches. They reproduce in warmer temperatures towards the south and then send their offspring back to continue the cycle.
If it doesn’t appear that your house is infested by insects during the winter, it still could be. Most of them are huddled together, trying to keep warm. Even though termites limit their activity significantly and bury themselves in the wood in your home, they continue to work bit by bit to keep the queen happy.
Effects of Hot Weather on Insects
Many insects start to multiply as soon as it starts getting warm. You’ll find that flies multiply quickly in hot weather. Their eggs, which normally take twenty hours to hatch, start to hatch within eight hours. No one wants the annoyance of flies buzzing around their heads.
Wasps and hornets tend to get aggressive in extreme heat as they search for moisture. Yellowjackets thrive and multiply quicker in dry, hot conditions. It only takes them a week to double in size. Hence, this makes them more likely to sting.
While mosquitoes are more active in summer, they dry out and die if it gets too hot. They also become lazy and less active in hot weather. This means that even if you catch them feeding, they will be slow to fly away so you can quickly dispatch them. However, be careful as mosquitoes can be infected with germs and diseases. Wash your hands after swatting them.
Effects of Hot Weather on Insects
Insects love moisture. Whenever there are leaks from pipes and toilets, excessive water damage in cellars, or poor ventilation in bathrooms, bugs tend to appear out of nowhere and thrive. Termites, for example, live and work in moist places. This is even worse when the wood in your house has moisture trapped in it. Carpenter ants, too, thrive in moisture. They lay their eggs in wet, rotten wood.
If your walls and floors have dampness, water stains, peeling paint, or rust on exposed metal parts, you may have a potential water issue. You also need to look out for rotten wood paneling and doors, loose floor tiles, and mildew stains as these things that attract insects.
Effects of Rain on Insects
Rain also impacts pest activity. Many insects that live underground get flooded out of their homes in heavy rain. They start to evacuate to higher ground to take shelter. Ants, for example, are known to build complicated tunnels underground. The rain drives them out of their homes and they seek shelter elsewhere. This means you may find lines of ants crawling into your warm home or dry spaces.