Spring in Texas is a season of renewal—longer days, warmer temperatures, and blooming landscapes. But as nature wakes up, so do the pests. As temperatures rise, infestations that remained dormant over winter surge back to life. Some bring painful stings, others destroy property, and a few can trigger serious health concerns.
If you don’t want an invasion on your hands, now’s the time to get ahead of the problem. Here are five springtime pests in Texas that homeowners should be watching closely.
1. Ants: Small, but Relentless
Ants may seem like a minor annoyance, but in Texas, they come in varieties that do far more than steal crumbs from your kitchen counter. Fire ants swarm in aggressive attacks, delivering painful, venomous stings that can trigger severe allergic reactions. Carpenter ants hollow out wood to make nests, causing structural damage that rivals termites.And then there are sugar ants, tiny but persistent, infiltrating homes in massive numbers to scavenge for food.
As spring arrives, ant colonies expand, sending out thousands of foragers in search of sustenance. If you see a few ants inside, chances are their nest is nearby—growing, spreading, and preparing for an all-out invasion.
Pro-Tip: Keep vegetation trimmed away from your home’s foundation—overhanging branches and shrubs create highways for ants to enter.
2. Scorpions: Silent, Venomous, and Hard to Kill
Texas is home to over a dozen species of scorpions, but the striped bark scorpion is the one most likely to invade homes. Nocturnal by nature, these predatory arachnids spend the daylight hours hiding under rocks, inside shoes, or tucked away in the dark corners of your home. Their sting delivers intense pain, numbness, and swelling, and for sensitive individuals—especially children and pets—the venom can cause more severe reactions.
Unlike many pests, scorpions don’t respond to basic pest control sprays. They have thick exoskeletons that make them highly resistant to common treatments, which is why homeowners often find the same scorpions returning after being sprayed.
Pro-Tip: Scorpions hunt other pests like crickets and cockroaches, so if you see them, it’s a sign you may already have another infestation lurking nearby.
3. Cockroaches: Fast, Filthy, and Hard to Ignore
If there’s one pest that can spread quickly and thrive in almost any condition, it’s the cockroach. They can live for a week without their heads, hold their breath for 40 minutes, and withstand radiation levels that would kill humans instantly. But their resilience isn’t what makes them dangerous—it’s what they bring with them. Cockroaches spread bacteria like salmonella and E. coli, contaminate food, and trigger allergies and asthma with their shed skin and droppings.
In Texas, three main species invade homes. American cockroaches—the largest and most terrifying—prefer warm, damp areas like kitchens and bathrooms. Smoky brown cockroaches are strong fliers that thrive in attics and crawl spaces. German cockroaches, the most difficult to eliminate, can turn a minor infestation into a full-blown crisis in weeks. A single female German roach can produce 30,000 offspring in a year.
Pro-Tip: Roaches are drawn to moisture. Fix leaky faucets, eliminate standing water, and use dehumidifiers in problem areas to make your home less inviting.
4. Wasps: Stinging, Swarming, and Ready to Defend
Spring is nesting season for wasps, and if you don’t catch them early, you may find yourself with an aggressive colony taking over your yard. Unlike bees, wasps can sting repeatedly, injecting venom that causes searing pain, swelling, and in some cases, life-threatening allergic reactions.
Paper wasps build umbrella-shaped nests under eaves, patios, and play structures—places you don’t want to stumble into them. Yellow jackets, even more aggressive, build hidden underground nests that can house thousands. Disturb one by accident, and they’ll chase you down. One colony can deliver hundreds of stings in a single attack.
Pro-Tip: Wasps return to the same locations year after year. If you’ve had a nest before, check in early spring and remove small nests before they become a problem.
5. Spiders: Lurking in the Shadows
While most spiders are harmless, Texas is home to two of the most venomous in North America—the black widow and the brown recluse. Black widow venom is 15 times stronger than a rattlesnake’s, and while rarely fatal, bites can cause severe muscle pain, nausea, and difficulty breathing. Brown recluse bites, often painless at first, can develop into large, necrotic wounds requiring medical intervention.
In spring, spiders become more active as they hunt for food. Web-building species like orb weavers may appear in gardens and porches, while hunting spiders like wolf spiders roam indoors searching for prey. If you’re seeing more spiders, it usually means your home has an insect problem, which is what attracted them in the first place.
Pro-Tip: Reduce spider activity by eliminating their food source—if you control insects, you control the spiders.
Stop Spring Pests Before They Take Over
Spring pest activity can go from manageable to overwhelming in weeks. The best time to take action is now—before infestations grow. Elevate Pest Control provides targeted, seasonal treatments to stop pests in their tracks and keep your home protected all year long.
Don’t let pests take over your home this spring—schedule your service today.
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