If you are finding ground beetles in your garden, there is only one explanation: those beetles are finding something to eat on your property. Fortunately, we have some good news for you! Ground beetles aren’t vegetarians. Their diet consists of protein, making these beetles beneficial when they get into your garden.
Not only will they feed on plant-damaging pests like aphids, but when they aren’t crawling around in your garden, ground beetles can help your lawn by eating lawn-damaging grubs and assisting with the aeration of your soil.
As beneficial as these pests can be for your lawn and garden, ground beetles can become very frustrating when they find their way into your home. That will be the focus of this article as we are, after all, a pest control company. Keeping pests out of homes is what we do!
How Do Beetles Get Into Your House?
Unlike carpenter ants, termites, and other wood-damaging pests, beetles must rely upon an entry point to get into your home. But they’re not above using entry points created by these other pests. If carpenter ants have tunneled a hole through your sole plate, ground beetles are sure to take advantage of it.
If a rat has chewed a hole in one of your door frames, ground beetles will use that hole, if the rat doesn’t eat it for a snack first. Here are a few other entry points ground beetles are likely to access:
- A damaged door sweep on an exterior door, especially a door that is in a foundation wall. If you’re not familiar with what a door sweep is, it is the rubber strip at the bottom of your door that helps to keep your warm air in during the winter and cold air in during the summer.
- A gap in the rubber weather stripping around doors. These gaps can easily be seen during the day if you’re able to make it dark inside. They are, however, sometimes difficult to get in place so that every inch is properly sealed around your doors.
- Through damaged screens and broken panes in your basement windows. Usually, damage done by other pests works in conjunction with these two vulnerabilities.
- The corners of your garage door. Once inside the garage, it is sometimes easier for insects to find a way inside.
- The seal around a door or window frame. If you have seals applied, they will be around the outside of the frame where it touches your siding, bricks, or other exterior wall materials.
- Cracks in foundation cement.
- Gaps around pipe or wire conduit that pass through your foundation wall.
- Cracks that have formed in the gap between bricks, where mortar has broken and come loose.
- Holes or gaps created by water damage or weather damage.
What To Expect When Beetles Get In
If you have one or two beetles get in, that’s nothing a good, solid shoe can’t fix. But when dozens or hundreds of beetles get into your home, it is best to reach out to a pest control professional. Beetles are able to get into places that you’re going to find very difficult to get into, such as your wall voids. Professionals use field-tested methods and products to track and eliminate beetles, even when they’re hiding in places that can’t be easily accessed.
Homeowners that try to deal with a ground beetle infestation on their own, often turn to insecticides as a solution, but those products can present a far greater threat to you and everyone else living in your home than ground beetles can. It is also not advisable to implement DIY methods with household products. Some of the suggestions on the internet are downright dangerous.
Beetle Control Services
If you live in our Pennsylvania, Delaware, or New Jersey pest control service areas, we’d like you to know that the team here at Moyer can track down those ground beetles for you and eliminate them. Our QualityPro Certified team is one of the best in the industry.
We also have several residential pest control plans that include coverage for beetles, as well as many other serious threats like fleas, termites, rodents, cockroaches, yellow jackets, and more.
Give us a call at 215.799.2010 or fill out the form below and we will contact you.