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Appearance: The largest structure-infesting species—about 1/2-inch long. Reddish-brown wings with light markings on thorax.

Habitat: Very aggressive. Prefers warm, damp areas. More likely to be seen in daytime and outdoors than other species. Commonly found in food preparation areas. 

Diet Scavenger; eats almost anything. 

Reproduction: Female needs to mate only once to produce many egg capsules. Each capsule contains an average of 13 eggs. Nymphs molt 13 times in about 600 days before reaching maturity. Adult can live up to 15 months.

Other: Has shown a marked attraction to alcoholic beverages, especially beer. Also known as the "water bug."

About: 5/8-inch long. Light to medium brown with two dark longitudinal streaks on the thorax.

Habitat: Nocturnal; primarily infests areas close to food, moisture and warmth. Most common cockroach found in and around apartments, homes, supermarkets and restaurants. 

Diet Scavenger; eats almost anything. 

Reproduction: Females can produce one egg capsule every 20 to 25 days. Each capsule contains from 18 to 48 eggs. Newborns become adults in as little as 36 days. Adults can live up to one year.

Other: Extremely heavy infestations are not uncommon. Often found aboard ships. The most widely dispersed of all cockroaches in the United States.

Brown Banded Cockroach

About: 5/8-inch long. Wings have two brownish-yellow bands.

Habitat: Nocturnal; can fly. They may be found throughout any structure, but prefer dry, warm areas, high locations and inside furniture. 

Diet: Scavenger; eats almost anything. 

Reproduction: Female carries egg capsule for 24 to 36 hours, then attaches it underneath or on the side of a protected surface. Capsules contain an average of 18 eggs. Nymphs reach maturity in an average of 161 days. Adults live up to 10 months.

Other: Sometimes confused with the German cockroach. Often hides egg capsules in furniture. Not as dependent on moisture as other species.

Appearance: Dark brown and about 1-inch long. 

Habitat: Common outdoors; often enters buildings through sewer pipes. Tends to live near the ground and in warm, damp areas. 

Diet: Eats anything, but often found feeding on garbage, sewage and decaying organic matter. Seems to prefer starches, if available.

Reproduction: Egg capsules contain 16 eggs. Females will produce an average of eight capsules. Nymphs go through seven molts before becoming adults in about a year. Adults can live up to six months.

Other: Also known as "water bugs" or "black beetles." More sluggish than other species, gives off a distinctly unpleasant odor.

Appearance: Dark brown and up to 1/2-inch long. 

Habitat: Prefers to live outdoors. Populations are relatively immobile compared with other species. 

Diet: Scavenger; eats almost anything, but normally feeds on plant material.

Reproduction: Egg capsules hatch in 24 to 70 days. Each contains an average of 20 eggs. Females reach maturity in 320 days and produce an average of seven capsules. Adults can live up to 200 days.

Other: Particularly numerous in southeastern United States, they fly toward lights at night.

This cricket is also known as a hump-back cricket due to it's hump-back appearance. They are light to dark brown, about 1/2 -1 1/2 inch long. There diet is almost anything but will feed on clothes.

Most often are found in crawl spaces and basements, but also like any cool and damp area like under logs or stones. Treat as you would the House Cricket, but pay particular attention to crawl spaces and basements.

Size: 1/2 to 1 inch (12.7-25.4mm) 

Color: Brown or silver-gray 

Description: Silverfish are small, soft insects without wings. The abdomen has three filaments extending from it. Silverfish are not often seen by homeowners because they are nocturnal and can run very swiftly.

Occasionally, they are found in bathtubs. They crawl in seeking food or moisture and can't climb out. These insects prefer vegetable matter with a high carbohydrate and protein content. However, indoors they will feed on almost anything.

A partial list includes dried beef, flour, starch, paper, gum, glue, cotton, linen, rayon, silk, sugar, molds, and breakfast cereals.

Habitat: Silverfish normally live outdoors under rocks, bark, and leaf mold, in the nests of birds and mammals, and ant and termite nests. However, many are found in houses and are considered a pest, or at least a nuisance, by homeowners. Usually, they are found trapped in a bathtub, sink, or washbasin.

Life cycle: Adults lay eggs in small groups containing a few to 50 eggs. The eggs are very small and deposited in cracks and crevices. A female normally lays less than 100 eggs during her lifespan of two to eight years. Under ideal conditions, the eggs hatch in two weeks but may take up to two months to hatch.

The young nymphs are very much like the adults except for size. Several years are required before they are sexually mature, and they must mate after each molt if viable eggs are to be produced. Populations do not build up rapidly because of their slow development rate and the small number of eggs laid.

Type of Damage: A household pest, they feed on cereals and non-food items such as paste, paper, starch in clothes, rayon fabrics, and dried meats.

Control: Sanitation alone will not eliminate an infestation, although it may prevent new ones from starting. A large infestation usually means the house has been infested for some time.

Residual insecticides (use an aerosol) will help to control these pests. Removing old papers, boxes, books, and clothes from the attic to the basement will help remove food and hiding places. Moth crystals placed in boxes in the attic will also help.

Interesting Facts: They can go for up to one year without food.

Photo by Dexter Sear, IO Vision, http://www.insects.org

Appearance:

Adults: four wings. The posterior part of the top wings is membranous and the anterior part is leathery.

Oval to elliptical, recognized most readily by the large triangular scutellum ( plate that fits behind pronotum and between the forewings)

Generally green to brown 

Long, thick beak (piercing, sucking mouth part) held between the legs. 

Incomplete or simple metamorphosis (hemimetabolous) 

Many are brightly colored or have conspicuous marks. 

Food

Most are plant feeders (a few are predators). Farming areas can yield good numbers in crops like cabbage, cotton, etc. or in nearby roadside vegetation. Many species come to lights at night. Adult stink bugs of various species are active from spring through late fall. To keep them alive in the classroom, give the bugs well washed fresh green beans.

Habitat

The eggs are laid in masses of 20-30 and are barrel-shaped. The harlequin bug, Murgantia histrionica (see illustration), a beautiful orange and black variegated bug, lays equally bright eggs. This southern United States stink bug is quite common and sometimes spreads north to New England states in years of abundance. It is readily found in cabbage crops.

External parasites are generally found on or in the skin and are important pests because they bite or annoy both humans and their pets. Fleas, mange mites, and ticks are the most frequently encountered and most troublesome pests that attack humans and their pets.

Fleas are small (1/16"), dark, reddish-brown, wingless, blood-sucking insects. Their bodies are laterally compressed, (i.e., flattened side to side) permitting easy movement through the hairs on the host's body. 

Their legs are long and well adapted for jumping. The flea body is hard, polished, and covered with many hairs and short spines directed backward. The mouthparts of an adult flea are adapted for sucking blood from a host.

Several species of fleas may be pests in Florida, and five kinds have been found on a single animal. The cat flea ( above ) is the most frequently found flea, although the dog, human, and sticktight fleas are also common. Fleas may attack a wide variety of warm-blooded animals including dogs, humans, chickens, rabbits, squirrels, rats, and mice.

Fleas often breed in large numbers where pets and other animals live. Pets infested with fleas bite and scratch themselves constantly. Their coats become roughened and the skin can become infected. Symptoms of sensitized hosts are often mistaken for mange. Cat fleas and dog fleas may be intermediate hosts for the dog tapeworm.

Some people suffer more than others from flea bites. The bites can cause intense itching often resulting in secondary infection. The usual flea bite has a small red spot where the flea has inserted its mouthparts.

Around the spot there is a red halo with very little swelling. Many people do not react to flea bites at all while others are sensitive and suffer severe allergic reactions. Fleas may also vector such human diseases as plague, typhus, and tularemia.

(Flea Bite)