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BACK to UMaine Extension's Homeowner IPM home page
IPM for Maine Homeowners
Pest Identification Assistance Visit our online Photo Gallery
Further Help - Additional Pest Management Resources for Maine homeowners
Contact Us with your Questions and/or Site Feedback
Fact Sheets about insects and other home-related invertebrates found in Maine
Listed alphabetically within
each category below

INSECTS, SPIDERS, TICKS, etc.
Jump to a listing of common home-related Maine ant species
Jump to a Fact Sheet listing of common Maine household pests
Jump to a Fact Sheet listing of common Maine yard, garden and woodlot insects
Jump to a section listing other, mostly non-pest insects that a Maine homeowner might encounter and be curious about
OTHER
Link to our Plant Disease Fact Sheets at the Pest Management Office of UMaine Extension
Link to the Maine Board of Pesticides Control's Bat Information Sheet
Link to the Univ. of California's Fact Sheet about mice (primarily the House Mouse but also covers deer mice)
Frequently Asked Questions about EEE
Gardening After Late Blight: MS Word || pdf

Maine Household Pests
see also Link to section listing occasional invaders of Maine households
Ants
Assassin Bugs: see listing for Masked Hunter
Bed Bugs: html || pdf.||.Life Cycle Diagram.(Purdue)
-- see also: html.(U. Kentucky) En Español
Blow Flies:
Book Lice:
html (IA State)
html || pdf.(Penn State)
Carpenter Ants:
Carpet Beetles:
Clothes Moths:
Cluster Flies:
html || pdf
html.|| pdf
html || pdf (U.KY)
html || pdf
[People often mistake cluster flies for house flies.]
Cockroaches:
Drain Flies:
Earwigs:
Fleas:
html || pdf
html (Ohio State)
html || pdf
html || pdf
Flesh Flies: html (IA State)
Flour Beetles: html || pdf
Fruit Flies: html (IA State)
Fungus Gnats: html (Ohio State)
Grain Beetles: html || pdf
Head Lice: html.|| pdf
...see also School IPM Action Plan for Head Lice
Hornets (see listing for "Yellowjackets")
House Flies: html (U.Florida)
Indian Mealmoth: html (Penn State)
Larder Beetles: html || pdf
 
Lesser Mealworms: html || pdf
Masked Hunter: html (U. Minnesota)
Mealworms: html || pdf
Millipedes: html || pdf
Mites: html (dust mites)
html (spider mites)
Powderpost Beetles: html || pdf
Silverfish: html (Ohio State)
Spiders - Click the button to go to UMaine Extension's Fact Sheet on household spiders
html || pdf
html.(Penn State)
Ticks:
[Ticks are sometimes found indoors after hitching a ride on you or a family pet.]
html.|| pdf
see also the Maine Medical Center's Ticks in Maine page for Lyme disease information, tips and photos. They will also identify ticks for you.
Termites: [Very rare in Maine; mostly occur only in pocket areas in some southern and coastal locations] html || pdf (Ohio State)
Yellowjackets || Wasps || Hornets: html || pdf || y En Español (U.KY)
Baldfaced Hornets (Iowa State Univ)
 
Occasional invaders of Maine households
Centipedes || Millipedes || Sowbugs/Pillbugs || Springtails:
pdf (University of Maryland / UMD Cooperative Extension)
House Crickets (most often in basements): html (U.Florida)
Lady Bugs (Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle): html (USDA)
Lady Beetles in Homes: html (Cornell)
Larger Yellow Ant || Pavement Ant: html || pdf (Univ. of Minn. Extension)
European Red Ant: html || pdf
Western Conifer Seed Bugl_(Penn State)

l--NOTE: This insect is often mistaken by homeowners in Maine for either the Asian Longhorned Beetle, or for some kind of assassin bug [html - Ohio State Univ.]. If the insect has a long, straw-like mouthpart (referred to as a beak), then it's not a beetle, but rather, what entomologists call a "true bug" in the order Hemiptera.
 

Yard, Garden and Woodlot Pests (Some of these critters will occasionally hitch a ride into the house on such things as firewood, clothing, a family pet, etc.)
.
Aphids: html || pdf
html (potatoes)
Apple Maggot: html || pdf (U.Minn)
Apple Mealybug: html (WSU)
Armyworms: html || pdf
Asian Longhorned Beetle (invasive): html (Maine Dept. of Agric.) (Bangor TV5 News)
Asparagus Beetle: html (Penn State)
html (K.State)
Baldfaced Hornets: html (Iowa State Univ)
Bark Beetles: html || pdf
Black Vine Weevil: html
Blister beetles: html (U.Florida)
Blueberry Flea Beetle: html || pdf
Blueberry Maggot Fly: html || pdf
Blueberry Spanworm: html || pdf
Blueberry Thrips: html || pdf
Cabbage Looper:
Cabbage Maggot:
Cabbageworm:
Carpenter Ants:
html (U.Florida)
html || pdf
html || pdf
html.|| pdf
Chinch Bugs: html || pdf
Codling Moth: html || pdf (U.KY)
Colorado Potato Beetle: html || also html
Corn Earworm: html
Corn Rootworm (Northern, Western & Southern): html.(U.Illinois)
Cucumber Beetle:
Cutworms:
Diamondback Moth:
html || pdf
html || pdf
html (U.Florida)
Earwigs: html || pdf
Emerald Ash Borer (invasive): html (USDA)
Recently detected in western NY (Cattaraugus County) (Press Release)
Maine Forest Service reminder: Don't transport firewood!
European Apple Sawfly: html (Cornell)
European Chafer: html.(Cornell)
html (Purdue)
European Corn Borer: html(sweet corn)
html (potatoes)
European Pine Sawfly: html (Ohio State)
European Red Mite: html || pdf (U.KY)
Fall Armyworm: html
Flea beetles: html (UNH)
html (U.Vermont)
html (Colorado State)
Gypsy Moth html || pdf
Hemlock Woolly Adelgid: html (USDA Forest Service)
Hornets (see listing for "Yellowjackets")
Horntails: html (Cornell)
Hornworms: html (K.State)
Imported Cabbageworm: html || pdf
Japanese Beetle: html || pdf
Leafhoppers: html || pdf
Leafminers: html (U.Florida)
Lily Leaf Beetle: html.(UMaine)
html (UMass)
pdf (U.Rhode Is.)
Longhorned Beetles: html (Iowa State Univ)
see also Asian Longhorned Beetle
 
Mealybugs: html (Washington State)
Mexican Bean Beetle: html (U.Florida)
Metallic Wood-Boring Beetles: html (U.Minn)
Mosquitoes.(Maine Forest Service)
Onion Maggot: html || pdf
Onion Thrips: html (Cornell)
Plum Curculio: html || pdf (U. Kentucky)
Raspberry Cane Borer:
Raspberry Cane Maggot:
Raspberry Crown Borer:
html.(Univ. of Minn. Extension) - covers all three of these pests
Red-banded Leafroller: html.(Cornell)
Redheaded Flea Beetle.(Wisconsin)
Roundheaded Apple Tree Borer: html
Rose Chafer: html(U.Minn)
Sap Beetles: html.(U.Minn)
Seed Corn Maggot: html (U.Minn)
Slugs: html || pdf
Spiders - Click the button to go to a large listing of common spiders via Penn State
html.(Penn State)
Spider Mites: html || pdf
html (ME Forest Service)
Squash Bug: html || pdf
Squash Vine Borer: html (Ohio State)
html (Penn State)
Stink Bugs: html || pdf
html (NCSU)
Strawberry Rootworm: html
Strawberry Root Weevil: html
html.||.pdf (Oregon State)
Striped Cucumber Beetle: html || pdf
Tarnished Plant Bug: html.|| pdf
see also: Canada Fact Sheet:
English or Français
Tent Caterpillars: html || pdf
also html (U.Missouri)
Thrips: html || pdf
Ticks: html || pdf
see also the Maine Medical Center's Ticks in Maine page for Lyme Disease information, tips and photos. They will also identify ticks for you.
Two-Spotted Spider Mite html || pdf
Viburnum Leaf Beetle: html (Cornell)
Wasps (see listing for "Yellowjackets")
Western Conifer Seed Bug: html (Penn State)
Whiteflies: html || pdf (U.Missouri)
html (U.Guelph--Canada)
White Grubs: html || pdf.[Vegetables]
  html.(Illinois) [Turf]
pdf.(Penn State) [Turf]
White Pine Weevil: html || pdf
Wireworms: html || pdf
also html
Yellowjackets ||
Wasps || Hornets:
html || pdf || y En Español (U.KY)
Baldfaced Hornets (Iowa State Univ)
 
Ants
Note:  Homeowners often mistake winged ants--especially if they are swarming--with winged termites.  Due to our long, cold winters, however, termites are quite rare in Maine, with only isolated cases that show up from time to time in some areas.  If you have a specimen that you can provide, or a very good digital photo that you can email, don't hesitate to make use of our Insect Diagnostic Lab for an identification.
See also the University of Minnesota Extension's page entitled, "What To Do About Household Ants" html || pdf
Common Name Scientific Name Fact Pages With Photos
Allegheny Mound Ant Formica exsectoides Forel html || pdf
Carpenter Ant Camponotus sp. html || pdf
European Red Antt Myrmica rubra html || pdf
Larger Yellow Ant (Acanthomyops interjectus): html || pdf (Univ. of Minnesota Extension) NOTE: Quite often encountered by Maine homeowners in the Fall, when they swarm; They like to colonize in the soil adjacent to a home's foundation, so are often encountered in basements, especially along cracks or holes in the foundation or floor, where moisture and/or rotten wood is also present.
Pavement Ant (Tetramorium caespitum): html || pdf (Univ. of Minnesota Extension) NOTE: These ants are encountered commonly by Maine homeowners; They enter homes through cracks (especially cracks in foundations and concrete slabs); They like to nest in the soil under sidewalks, driveways, stones, logs, etc.
t. The European Red Ant is also called the European Fire Ant; It is an invasive insect in Maine, increasing in its geographical range (particularly in coastal communities) and in its encounters with homeowners. However, these ants are only distantly related to the “true” fire ants found in the southern U.S. and Latin America. 
Additional Ant Possibilities:
Common Name Scientific Name Fact Pages With Photos
Acrobat Ant Cremastogaster lineolata (Say) Clemson: html || pdf
Cornfield Ant^ Lasius alienus (Foerster) U.Illinois: html
Crazy Ant^^ Paratrechina longicornis (Latrielle)  U.Florida: html
False Honey Ant Prenolepis imparis (Say)  University of Minnesota Extension:
html || pdf
Pharaoh Ant Monomorium pharaonis (Linn.) 
Lawn Ant Iridomyrmex pruinosus var. analis (E. Andre) Ohio State Univ. Extension: html
Little Black Ant Monomorium minimum (Buckley) 
Odorous House Ant Tapinoma sessile (Say)  University of Minnesota Extension:
html || pdf
Thief Ant Solenopsis molesta (Say)
Key:
^ - Rarely nest in homes;
^^ - Quite rare in Maine; More prevalent, and more problematic, in southern regions of the U.S., from Florida to South Carolina and west to Texas. But it is also found in residences and warehouses over much of the eastern U.S. (and in California and Arizona).
Note: For descriptions and drawings of all of these ants see: Ants in and Around the Home (Ohio State University Extension). See also the University of Minnesota Extension's page entitled, "What To Do About Household Ants" html || pdf
 
 
Curiosities

You can find pictures of all of these critters in our
Link to our online photo gallery of insects and other pests a homeowner in Maine might encounter.


For a comprehensive listing of backyard tree caterpillars (with photos), check out the USGS's Caterpillars of Eastern Forests
Click Beetles: html || pdf
Crane Flies (sometimes a household nuissance): html (Texas A&M)
Cecropia Moth: html (USGS) || html (Univ. of Missouri Extension)
Dobson Fly: html (wikipedia) || html (Texas A&M)
Giant Water Bug: html (Texas A&M)
Horntails: html (Cornell)
Hummingbird Clearwing: html (USGS) Clearwing caterpillars (U. of Missouri)
Luna Moth: html (USGS)
Mayflies: html (Texas A&M)
Polyphemus Moth:.html (Virginia)
Pseudoscorpions: html (BugGuide.net)
Rove Beetles:html (Iowa State Univ.)
Scorpionflies: html (Texas A&M)
Stone Flies: html (U. of Arizona)
Water Scavenger Beetle: html (Texas A&M)
Water Scorpions: html (Texas A&M)
Water Striders: html (Texas A&M)
Woollybear Caterpillars (U. of Missouri Extension):
Banded Woollybear
Yellow Woollybear


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