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Pest Library
Find out what’s bugging you.
Finding unidentified insects in your home is stressful. Before you can begin to solve your problem, you need to know what kind of pest you’re dealing with. Use this guide to identify and learn about common types of pests in New York City and the surrounding areas.
- Common Household Pests – Ants, Cockroaches, Flies, Mice, Rats
- Biting Pests – Bed Bugs, Fleas, Midges, Mosquitoes, Ticks
- Stinging Pests – Bees, Wasps
- Fabric Pests – Carpet Beetles, Clothes Moths, Silverfish
- Pantry Pests – Beetles, Booklice, Fruit Flies, Pantry Moths
- Wood Destroying Pests – Carpenter Ants, Carpenter Bees, Powderpost Beetles, Termites
- Houseplant Pests – Aphids, Fungus Gnats, Vine Weevils
- Occasional Invaders – Asian Lady Beetles, Centipedes, Crickets, Millipedes, Spiders, Spotted Lanternflies, Soldier Beetles, Boxelder Bugs, Western Conifer Seed Bugs, Pill Bugs, Sow Bugs
Common Household Pests
Ants are easily recognized by their three distinct body segments, elbowed antennae, and narrow waists.
Cockroaches are reddish-brown with flattened, oval bodies, long antennae, and six legs.
Flies have large compound eyes, six legs, and a single pair of wings.
Mice have small, rounded bodies with a thin, scaly tail.
Rats have large, stout bodies with a thick, scaly tail.
Biting Pests
Bed bugs are reddish-brown, wingless insects with flat, oval bodies that enlarge after feeding.
Fleas are wingless and reddish-brown with laterally flattened bodies and powerful legs for jumping.
Biting midges, also known as no-see-ums, are tiny gray or black flies that leave irritating bites.
Mosquitoes are slender, flying insects with long, needle-like mouthparts for sucking blood.
Ticks are parasitic arachnids with eight legs and flat, oval-shaped bodies that swell with blood after feeding.
Stinging Pests
Known for their role as pollinators, bees have fuzzy bodies with black and yellow or brown and yellow stripes.
Wasps are aggressive stinging insects with narrow waists and smooth bodies.
Fabric Pests
Carpet beetle larvae feed on natural fibers, often causing damage to carpets, furniture, and clothing.
Clothes moths are typically found in closets and attics, where they lay eggs that hatch into fabric-eating larvae.
Silverfish are silvery-gray, carrot-shaped insects known for their wiggling, fish-like movements.
Pantry Pests
Beetles have hardened forewings called elytra, and they vary in size, shape, and color.
Booklice feed on mold and mildew, and their presence is often a symptom of moisture problems in the home.
Fruit flies are attracted to ripening fruits and vegetables, and while they’re a nuisance, they rarely pose a health threat.
Pantry moths are small, brown flying insects that lay eggs in dry food like grains and cereals.
Wood Destroying Pests
Carpenter ants are a large species of ants with powerful jaws for burrowing into wood.
Carpenter bees are solitary bees that bore holes in wood for nesting.
Powderpost beetles are wood-boring beetles that can cause extensive damage to furniture and structures.
Known as the “silent destroyer,” termites are pale, soft-bodied insects that live in large colonies and feed on wood.
Houseplant Pests
Aphids are tiny, pear-shaped, soft-bodied insects that suck sap from plants.
Resembling tiny mosquitoes, fungus gnats lay eggs in the soil of houseplants and their larvae can damage roots.
Vine weevils are beetles with long snouts, known for causing damage to ornamental plants.
Occasional Invaders
Multicolored Asian lady beetles come in a wide range of colors and occasionally invade homes in fall.
Centipedes, with their many legs and venomous fangs, are harmless to humans and help control other pests.
Crickets have powerful hind legs for jumping and are known to feed on fabrics inside homes.
Millipedes have long, cylindrical bodies with many legs and feed on decaying plant matter.
While some may cause itchy bites, the majority of house spiders are beneficial pest controllers that keep other insect populations in check.
Spotted lanternflies are invasive planthoppers with brightly colored wings that feed on a variety of trees and crops.
- Soldier Beetles
- Boxelder Bugs
- Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs
- Western Conifer Seed Bugs
- Pill Bugs / Roly-Polies
- Sow Bugs
