Christmas trees make a beautiful centerpiece for the holiday season. Nothing can light up a home in the holidays quite like a beautiful tree trimmed with everything from ornaments to lights.
You may be considering buying a natural tree this year instead of an artificial tree. While a natural tree can look pretty, some maintenance goes along with setting up your tree. With any plant you bring into your home, some pests may burrow their way in with it.
Here are some of the common pests you may find trying to make your Christmas tree their home.
Aphids
Aphids are tiny and travel in large groups, so spotting them is not too difficult. Although aphids may look like a tick, they are thankfully harmless to your health. Aphids want to suck the sap out of trees, not your blood, so they are harmless. Having aphids around can be unpleasant to have laying eggs in your Christmas tree.
Spiders
Love them or hate them, spiders love to build webs on your Christmas tree. While some spiders are harmless, it can be hard to track which spiders can be detrimental to your health. Sure, spiders can kill nasty bugs like mosquitoes, but who wants to run the risk of a spider hatching eggs in your home?
Bark Beetles
No, these beetles don't bark like dogs; they love tree bark. Bark beetles are tiny bugs that you can find crawling along your tree, which signifies that your tree may have had some damage before your purchase. Moist tree bark and stressed wood make perfect homes for bark beetles. If you are worried about these beetles eating your structures similar to termites, don't worry. Unless the wood furniture or structures are soaked in water, these beetles couldn't care less.
Praying Mantis
Sometimes the bugs on your tree are not so tiny, and you may notice a small head poking out of the leaves only to find a praying mantis. While praying mantises are harmless to your health, they may be a little scary for some.
Sawfly
If you bought a lovely pine tree only to notice small brown cocoons hanging around some needles and a day later find them hatched, you might have a sawfly problem. A sawfly is a nuisance for most pine trees as they will eat away at the pine needles and leave the tree looking a lot more brown and withered. Depending on where you purchased your tree, you can have a colony or just a few sawflies, so keep an eye out.
How To Deal With Pests
For most of these annoying critters, you can avoid bringing them into your home by giving your tree a nice shake before getting it into your home. Usually, some of these pests will fall out of the tree, and you can decide if it's worth taking the risk of buying that tree.
You can grab a spray bottle with cold water and some soap mixed into the water and give your tree a small spray. The cold water can shake pests loose and stop them from climbing up your tree. You can even suck up the little critters with a handheld vacuum. Avoid the temptation to use insecticide as you are doing more damage to your tree and possibly your health by having those harmful chemicals in your home.
Pests like Praying mantises can be dealt with by pushing them outside with a broom or trapping them in a container and releasing them outside.
So at Arizona's Best Choice Pest & Termite Services our team of pest removing pros are ready to make your holiday season bug-free! So give us a call at (480) 418-3068, and we can make sure that the tree and the rest of your home are free of any pests.