Occasional Invaders
Seal them out.
Millipedes, crickets, silverfish, stink bugs and the rest.
NC licensed • Family owned
Serving Gaston, Mecklenburg and York counties
Occasional Invaders
Envirosafe Pest Control has great one-time service plans to strategically treat occasional invaders, or you can choose an ongoing pest protection plan. We target exposed surfaces on the exterior as well as entry points and other harborage areas. Some Occasional Invaders may require attic, crawl space and or lawn and yard treatments. We provide environmentally friendly services for occasional invaders that are safe for your family and pets to keep your home pest free year-round.
*Price is based on up to 2,500 square feet
*Regularly scheduled Perimeter Service visits performed quarterly (every 3 months)
Common occasional invaders
*Pillbugs
*Stink Bugs
*Millipedes
*Silverfish
*Sow Bugs
*Kissing Bugs/Assassin Bugs
*Kudzu Bugs
*Beetles
*Crickets
*Earwigs
*Boxelder Bugs
*Clover Mites
*Centipeds
*Camel Crickets
What Counts as an Occasional Invader
These are the pests that live outside and do not want to be in your house. They come in when the weather pushes them: too wet, too dry, too cold, or too hot. They do not breed indoors in any real numbers and most of them die inside within days. That does not make it pleasant when you are sweeping them up every morning.
- Millipedes. Curl into a spiral when disturbed. Arrive by the dozens after heavy rain saturates the soil.
- Centipedes. Fast, many legged, hunt other insects. Their presence usually means there is something else to hunt.
- Silverfish. Teardrop shaped, silver, in bathrooms, basements and boxes of stored paper. Moisture driven.
- Camel and field crickets. Crawl spaces, garages and basements, particularly in fall.
- Asian lady beetles. The orange “ladybugs” that pile into attics and south facing walls in October and reappear on warm winter days.
- Brown marmorated stink bugs. Same fall pattern, same overwintering behavior, worse smell.
- Boxelder bugs. Black and red, cluster on sunny walls in the fall.
- Earwigs, pillbugs and sowbugs. Damp mulch, leaf litter and pine straw against the foundation.
- Springtails. Tiny and jumping, in bathrooms, around sinks and in damp crawl spaces.
Why They Come In When They Do
There are two big waves in this county and they are predictable.
Heavy rain. Saturated soil drives millipedes, pillbugs, earwigs and centipedes out of the ground and mulch and up against the foundation, where they find the gap under the garage door or the crawl space vent.
First cold snap in fall. Asian lady beetles, stink bugs, boxelder bugs and crickets look for a place to overwinter. They orient to warm, sunny walls, usually the south and west sides, and work into the attic, soffit and wall voids. Then they show up inside on the first warm day in February, which is why people think they hatched in the house.
Sealing Beats Spraying on These
Since these pests are not breeding indoors, killing the ones inside does nothing about the thousand more outside the wall. The lasting fix is closing the way in. The usual entry points are boring and consistent: the gap under a garage door, torn crawl space vent screen, missing door sweeps, gaps where the soffit meets the fascia, unsealed utility penetrations, and weep holes without guards.
Our pest proofing service is built for exactly this. It is a one time cost that removes the annual problem instead of treating it every fall.
What We Do on a Service Visit
An exterior perimeter band and treatment of the harborage zone against the foundation: mulch, pine straw, leaf litter, landscape timbers, stacked wood, and the ground cover where these pests spend their lives. Timed treatment ahead of the fall movement for the overwintering species. Interior crack and crevice work where they are already getting in. And a moisture assessment, because silverfish, springtails, millipedes and pillbugs are all telling you something is damp. Where the crawl space is the source, our moisture control work is the real fix.
Occasional Invader FAQ
Why do I get hundreds of millipedes at once?
Heavy rain. The soil floods and they move as a group. It stops as the ground dries, and treating the perimeter and the mulch line before the next rain prevents the next wave.
Are these bugs dangerous?
Mostly no. They do not bite meaningfully, do not carry disease, and do not damage the structure. Centipedes can pinch. Stink bugs and lady beetles stain and smell when crushed, so vacuum rather than squash.
Should I bomb the attic for lady beetles?
No. Foggers do not reach where they overwinter and you end up with dead insects in the wall voids, which brings in carpet beetles. Sealing and a timed exterior treatment work far better.
Why do they come back every year at the same time?
Because the conditions repeat and the entry points are still open. Fixing the entry points is what breaks the cycle.
Do I need year round service for these?
Not always. Some properties just need exclusion plus a fall treatment. We will tell you which one you are.
Stop the Annual Invasion
Call Envirosafe at 704-860-2041 or request service online. We are at 1001 E. Catawba St., Belmont, NC 28012, serving Gaston, Mecklenburg and York counties. See our full service area.
Our technicians are trained in eco-friendly, low-impact methods, treating the harborage and entry points rather than fogging the whole property.