What is a BCE Designation and Why Does It Matters?

An opossum in Florida is usually a Virginia opossum, the state’s only marsupial. These animals are common around wooded areas, water sources, neighborhoods, gardens, sheds, crawl spaces, and yards where food or shelter is easy to find.  Opossums are mostly nocturnal and often avoid people, but they can become a nuisance when they get into…

In Florida, homeowners often encounter ticks around yards, trails, pets, and wooded perimeters. These animals thrive in shaded, grassy, brushy, or wooded outdoor environments, particularly where moisture, leaf litter, pets, and wildlife create ideal conditions.  Because certain ticks can transmit diseases, effective prevention is vital. Frequent sightings of ticks on clothing, pets, or outdoor recreation…

In Florida, carpenter ants are large insects that can be found both indoors and outdoors, particularly near moisture sources, trees, decaying wood, window frames, crawl spaces, attics, and plumbing leaks.  Unlike termites, they do not consume wood; instead, they often establish nests inside structural voids, soft or decayed wood, and pre-existing cavities. Spotting an occasional…

Biting midges, sand gnats, or sand flies, commonly known as Florida no-see-ums, are minuscule biting flies that often cause discomfort in coastal yards, patios, beaches, and marsh edges. Because of their tiny size, you might experience their small, itchy bites without ever spotting the insect itself.  These animals are particularly troublesome across coastal Florida, thriving…

Florida fire ants are one of the most frustrating ant problems homeowners face because they can build mounds in lawns, sting when disturbed, and return after rain or yard work.  The red imported fire ant is the species most people mean when they talk about fire ants in Florida. These ants are reddish brown to…

A Florida millipede is usually a nuisance pest, not a sign of structural damage. Millipedes live outdoors in damp places where they feed on decaying plant material, mulch, leaf litter, and rotting vegetation.  They often become noticeable after rain, heavy irrigation, or sudden moisture changes because saturated soil can push them toward patios, garages, crawl…

Florida mosquitoes are more than a backyard annoyance. They can make patios, pools, porches, and coastal yards difficult to enjoy, and some species can spread disease.  Florida has many mosquito species, but homeowners usually need to focus on a few practical questions: where they are breeding, when they are most active, and why they keep…

Sand fleas in Florida can mean two different things, and that is where most of the confusion starts. At the beach, “sand fleas” often refers to mole crabs, small crustaceans that live in the surf zone and are not household fleas.  When people talk about itchy bites near beaches, marshes, patios, or coastal yards, they…

A Florida insect problem can look different from house to house. One home may deal with ants in the kitchen, another may see roaches in the garage, and another may notice termites, mosquitoes, fleas, or bed bugs.  Florida’s warm, humid climate can keep many pests active for long stretches of the year, so identification matters….