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Bed bugs are persistently stubborn pests that have re-emerged as a major public-health nuisance in homes, hotels and multiunit housing worldwide. Because these insects hide deep in seams, cracks and furnishings and can survive for months without feeding, deciding how to treat an infestation is often a complex trade-off between speed, completeness of elimination, cost,…

Bed bugs are small, nocturnal pests that can turn a comfortable hotel stay into a weeks‑long headache. Because they are expert hitchhikers—crawling into luggage, clothing and personal items—they can travel from one location to another without you knowing. Checking a hotel room for bed bugs before unpacking is a simple precaution that greatly reduces the…

Travel in May often brings warmer weather, more people on the move, and a greater chance of picking up unwanted hitchhikers like bed bugs. These tiny, nocturnal insects hide in seams, crevices and luggage and are particularly adept at traveling from hotels, trains or vacation rentals into homes. After a May trip, being able to…

If you’ve discovered bed bugs in Seattle in 2026, one of the first questions after shock and planning is practical: how much will it cost to get rid of them? There’s no single number, because pricing depends on the size and severity of the infestation, the treatment method chosen, the property type (studio, multi-bedroom house,…

Every May, as the weather warms and travel picks up for long weekends, conferences and the start of the summer season, Seattle households face a subtle but real uptick in bed bug introductions. Bed bugs are expert hitchhikers: they cling to luggage, clothing, backpacks and used furniture and move easily from hotels, short‑term rentals and…

Seattle’s mild, maritime climate and abundance of flowering ornamental trees make the city an inviting place for tent caterpillars and related web-making caterpillars. These insects—commonly called tent caterpillars (Malacosoma spp.) and sometimes confused with fall webworms (Hyphantria cunea)—build conspicuous silk “tents” in forks and branches and can defoliate cherries, apples, crabapples, hawthorns, and many other…

Seattle’s gardens are famous for their lush rhododendrons and azaleas, but the same mild, wet climate that helps those broad-leaved evergreens thrive also creates ideal conditions for a small, persistent pest: rhododendron lace bugs. These sap-sucking insects are easy to underestimate when you first spot a few pale stipples on leaves, but by May —…

Seattle lawns face a familiar spring threat: white grubs — the C-shaped larvae of various scarab beetles (May/June beetles, chafer species and others) — that feed on grassroots and weaken turf just as lawn growth resumes. In the Puget Sound region, our cool, moist winters and variable springs can allow grub populations to persist and…

Root weevils are one of the most persistent and frustrating insect pests for home gardeners across the Pacific Northwest. Several species (for example, black vine weevil and related Otiorhynchus species) attack a wide range of ornamentals, berries and container-grown plants. Adults chew semicircular notches from leaf margins at night, while the larvae — legless, C-shaped…

Spider mites are tiny arachnids, barely visible to the naked eye, that feed by piercing plant cells and sucking out the contents. On houseplants they cause characteristic stippling, pale or bronzed leaves, fine webbing and, in severe cases, leaf drop. While these pests can appear any time of year, many Seattle houseplant owners notice them…