7 Signs Your Home Has an Insect Problem

A single insect is a visitor. A population leaves evidence: droppings, shed skins, wing piles, grease trails, sounds in the wall, damaged food packaging and a persistent musty smell. Learning to read those signs tells you whether to act or ignore it.

The seven signs

• Droppings. Roach droppings look like coarse pepper or coffee grounds, usually in cabinets and under sinks. Mouse droppings are rice-grain sized and dark.
• Shed skins. Roaches and some other insects leave exoskeletons behind as they grow. Finding several means breeding, not wandering.
• Wing piles. Discarded wings on a windowsill are a strong sign of a swarm, which for some species is serious.
• Grease or rub marks. Dark smudges along baseboards and pipe runs where rodents travel repeatedly.
• Sounds in the wall at night. Scratching or scurrying after dark, usually rodents.
• Damaged packaging. Gnawed corners on boxes and bags in the pantry.
• A persistent musty or oily smell. Heavy roach populations produce a distinctive odour that people describe as musty.

Where to look

Under sinks, behind and under appliances, inside the pantry, in the garage along the wall base, and in the water heater closet. Those are the warm, dark, moist places that populations favour and that homeowners rarely inspect.

What one insect means

Genuinely nothing much, most of the time. A single ant in February or one spider in the garage is normal. It is the combination of evidence and repetition that separates a visitor from a problem worth spending money on, and we would rather tell you it is the former.

When to call

Any of the seven signs appearing repeatedly, or two or more together, is worth an inspection. So is anything involving rodent droppings, because that is a hygiene issue as well as a pest one.

See our perimeter pest control program