ST. GEORGE — Unusually hot weather could be bringing some creepy crawlies indoors as they search for ways to escape Southern Utah’s scorching summer heat.

Last month was the planet’s hottest July on record in the last 175 years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The surface temperature was a little more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th century average and .05 degrees Fahrenheit higher than last July – making it the 14th year in a row with record-high global temperatures.

The same holds true for Southwest Utah, National Weather Service meteorologist Hayden Mahan told St. George News. High temperatures for July were about 6 degrees above normal. And while January through March of this year were wetter months, April through June had “almost no precipitation.” But, so far, July and August have seen a return to normal in terms of rain.

Zachary Smith, a pest control professional and owner of The Pest Dude, predicted Utah would experience increased pest activity due to a hotter summer with less rainfall. He said heat is a key factor as many insects’ life cycles are determined by temperature.

“Indoors, we have maybe air conditioning, food, water,” he said. “And then, there are just bugs and rodents that are ramped up by environmental conditions like excessive heat, perhaps summer rainfall and thunderstorms, which really speed up the metabolism and reproductive rate of many insects and rodents.

“And then, of course, many of the environments we’ve moved into and built homes in are right in the bug or rodents’ habitat,” he said. “And our houses are just better, so they’re going to work day and night to find their way in – any vents, any cracks, any crevices that are not perfectly sealed up. Homes are built to be weather-tight from rain falling downward, but anything kind of coming up under eaves or vents – they’re often quite wide-open.”

Smith predicted Utahns could see increased activity from ants, rodents, scorpions, cockroaches, centipedes, chinchbugs, cutworms and spider mites, among others. When dealing with pests, he said Southern Utahns should ensure they wear protective equipment and read the labels of any pesticides used.

“Just because you can get your hands on it doesn’t mean it’s mostly safe,” he said. “Arm yourself with that knowledge about safe use of pesticides because I’d hate to have anybody go out there and make themselves sick.”

This year, he’s received reports concerning ants and house flies, which he described as “tricky.” There are various species that can be called “house fly,” reproducing on decaying vegetative matter, dead animals or pet feces. Where the insects reproduce is “very hard to control.”

“(People) say, ‘But I just have more flies than ever and they’re driving me crazy,’ and our hands are often tied with things that fly because they come and they go,” he said. “What people don’t realize is just leaving the door open to their house for five minutes to move groceries from the car, so to speak, is enough to let 10 flies in, and then those 10 flies are buzzing around the house for the rest of the evening – maybe the next few days.”

And while people may feel they have a fly problem, “there’s just hundreds or thousands of flies looking to get in at any given moment,” Smith said. He recommends homeowners keep screen doors closed and ensure windows also have screens.

Many Southern Utahns may be dealing with ants, and Smith said they’re “not that predictable.” They could head indoors to escape the heat or rain, or they could be looking for food. And while it’s common for ants to seek out sugary treats, they’re also attracted to fats and proteins.

In one case, a family had a continuous issue with ants and the pest control methods they used weren’t working. Smith said they eventually found an old sugar shaker behind the stove.

“We were never going to get control if we didn’t find that food source,” he said, adding that homeowners should look for an ant trail and follow it to eliminate the food source and block their route in.

“A little bit of caulking goes a long way,” he said.

To reduce the chance of ants moving indoors, Smith said people should store their pet food in airtight containers or place pet food bowls on a water-filled plate, forcing ants to cross a makeshift “moat” to reach the kibble.

“It’s a little messy, but it’s super low-tech,” he said.

A relative of the ant, wasps can also cause quite a stir, often seeking small bugs, meat or sweets to eat. Smith said while many wasps are docile, they “make people nervous” and sting when disturbed. Their nests can be found in various locations, including underground and under the eaves of a home.

Wasps can be managed with wasp spray, but Smith said he doesn’t recommend traps as they are “unsightly – sometimes they smell and they attract more wasps to them, and you’re not actually going to eliminate the problem.” Similar to ants, where a person may see about 100 wasps, there could be thousands in the area.

“You’re going to spend money and time chasing your tail, so to speak,” he said, adding that wasps are a natural part of the environment and “you kind of have to live with them.”

The best way to avoid wasps is to avoid being outdoors when they’re most active on late summer evenings, Smith said.

Additionally, Smith said pest issues are often emotional rather than economical or health-related.

“We’re inherently afraid of bugs and rodents and things like this, and so we’re ‘bugged,'” he said. “We’re bothered. Learning about the pest that you’re dealing with can actually help you tolerate it better and come up with better solutions, which may be modifying the way we live – not trying to just kill them all.”

Many so-called pests are actually “quite beneficial and necessary,” Smith said.

“If we actually got rid of them all, the system that we live in would break down,” he said. “We are also part of the natural system and we move our homes into environments where these things occur, and then we go to battle against them. But ‘live and let live’ isn’t a terrible way to deal with pests.”

Still, some pests, such as cockroaches, can become a public health issue.

“You have to get rid of cockroaches … Arm yourself with knowledge, understand your pest and learn,” he said. “There are some things I cannot change like house flies and wasps, and there are things I can change, which can be ants, definitely cockroaches and fleas … You shouldn’t have fleas. Fleas are fixable.”

Increased pest activity generally continues until the first frost, Smith said. Once the area experiences cold nights, many insects and arachnids “hunker down” to escape the chill.

“Frost really knocks things back,” he said. “On the other hand, if you have exterior rodent issues, the colder it gets, the more motivated they are to get inside.”

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