Alexander Architectural Archive, University of Texas at Austin. Bug Chart developed by Julie Mosbo, 2006.

Pest Egg Image of Egg StageInstars/Nymph/Ad

olescentImage of Instars/Nymph/Adolescent

Stage(s) Adult Image of Adult Stage Sexual Maturity Ideal Food and Potential DamageStage of

Overwintering* Ideal EnvironmentLimiting breeding & development Temp. Low Lethal Temp.†

High Lethal Temp.

Book Lice or Psocids 1 to 2 weeks Example of a nit (Psocids include head lice -- similar characteristics)

24 days up to 6 months Nymph at 24 to 65 days

Psocopterans feed on molds, fungi, cereals, pollen, fragments of dead insects or other similar materials. Booklice are frequently found around old books and papers.

Eggs below 32oF 115oF

Carpenter Ants 24 days 65 days 6 weeks to 15 years Adults damage wood by hollowing it out for nesting; capable of causing structural damage.

Adult 70-90oF; high continuous humidity

32oF minus 20oF

Bark Beetle 3 to 34 days Spruce Beetle Eggs 15 to 40 days Large Larval Stage

Carpet Beetles 10 to 20 days 230 to 643 days 2 to 6 weeks Adults lay eggs on the larval food source, such as furs and woolen fabric or carpets; adults do not feed on fabrics but seek out pollen and nectar.

Larval Most live more than one year

50oF minus 11.2oF 105.8oF

Cigarette Beetles 6 to 10 days 5 to 10 weeks 1 to 4 weeks Major pest of many stored food products including flours, dry mixes, dried fruits such as dates and raisins, cereals, cocoa, coffee beans, herbs, spices, nuts, rice, dry dog food and other products kept in kitchen cabinets, pantries, hurricane food supply storage containers, and other areas in the home. Non-food products that it infests include dried plants and herbarium specimens, dried floral arrangements, potpourri, decorative grapevine wreaths, prescription drugs and pills, medicinal herbs, pinned insects, furniture stuffing, papier-mâché‚ and bookbinding paste.

Larval 39oF

Confused Flour Beetle

5 to 12 days 1 to 4 months up to 2 years Larval

Drugstore Beetles 6 to 10 days 5 to 10 weeks 1 to 4 weeks Larval

Centipedes & Millipedes

Several weeks 21 to 25 weeks Up to 6 years Some mature by second year

Eat insects and spiders. Millipedes feed on decomposing organic matter but will occasionally damage seedling plants by feeding on leaves, stems and roots.

Adult Usually 1 to 2 years

Crickets 15 to 25 days 12 weeks First instar; older instars resemble adults Up to a year Feed on plant material can eat paper. Egg or nymph 70-80oF; 75% RH; Do not survive winter

Become dormant at 45oF Freezing temperatures 32oF and below

American Cockroaches

38 to 49 days 470 to 600 days 1 year 7 months Eat almost anything including meats and grease, starchy foods, sweets, baked goods, leather, wallpaper paste, book bindings and sizing.

Nymph or adult Up to 2 years 35.6oF 5oF 113oF

Earwigs 2 weeks 45 to 178 days Female, instar, European Male They feed mainly on both dead and living insects and mosses, lichens, algae and fungi. Indoors, their food consists of sweet, oily and greasy foods.

Adult

Firebrats 12 to 13 days Example of the silverfish life stages (silverfish and firebrats are the same

genus)

3 to four months Example of the silverfish life stages (silverfish and firebrats are the same genus)

2 to 6 years Eat material high in protein, sugar, or starch, including cereals, moist wheat flour, starch in book bindings, sizing in paper, and paper on which there is glue or paste.; feed extensively on rayon, whereas silverfish usually damage it only slightly.

Egg 90-106oF 71.6oF 32oF 131oF

Flies 1-3 days 4 to 6 days 25 days Eat decomposing organic materials. Larvae or puparia 75-80oF; 70 to 80% RH

Geckos (Mediterranean or House)

45 days 9 months 3 years or longer Eat small insects. 78-90oF; 75-80% RH; Eggs hatch May-Sept.

Incubation temperature below 75oF and above 95oF

Gnats 4 days Example of a sand gnat 3 weeks Example of a sand gnat 1 week Eat fungus and other plant materials. Larvae 1 week

Mosquitoes 16 to 24 hours 1 week 2 or more weeks 1 week; end of instar stages

Feed on blood in order to develop eggs; males, as well as females, sip nectar, honeydew and fruit juices. Larvae are filter feeders, consuming aquatic bacteria and other microorganisms.

egg 50-95oF; 80% RH 32oF

Moths Aug. to Apr. Apr. to July July to Aug.; Die after mating and laying eggs

35 days Larvae eat mainly wool, feathers, fur, hair, upholstered furniture, leather, fish meals, milk powders, lint, dust or paper. Sometimes they will damage fabrics of plant origin and synthetic materials soiled with oils or blended with animal fibers. The casemaking clothes moth will also feed on stored plant materials (e.g., spices, tobacco, hemp).

Adult 79°F and 72-92% RH; Eggs hatch at beginning of humid weather

48.2oF minus 1oF 120oF

Pillbugs & Sowbugs Carried mother’s pouch for 2 months

1 year 3 years 1 year old; end of instar stages

Eat decomposed organic material, including mulch and grass clippings; also feed on foliage, stems and roots of young garden vegetable transplants, seedlings and bedding plants.68-77 o F;

Adult 68-77o F; 50-70% RH

Silverfish 19-43 days 4 to 6 weeks 2 to 8 years 3 to 4 months Eat material high in protein, sugar, or starch, including cereals, moist wheat flour, starch in book bindings, sizing in paper, and paper on which there is glue or paste; may bite very small holes in various fabrics, including cotton, linen, and silk, even though they cannot digest either linen or cotton.

Egg 70-80o F; 75-97% 39.2oF 98.6oF

Spiders Winter to Spring Several months 1 year to several Eat other insects. Egg or adult 100oF

Springtails 10 days 6 days up to a year

Stink Bugs 5 days to 2 or 3 weeks

1 year or less Eat developing fruit & seeds – cotton, peaches, tomatoes, pecan, sorghum and soybeans; also feed on the many ornamental and wild plants.

Large Nymphs or Adults

Hatch at 70oF 50oF eggs will not hatch

*Overwintering is the ability to survive winter temperatures. †Will not kill overwintering eggs