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Every autumn Seattle homeowners notice a steady trickle of slow-moving, shield-shaped insects gathering on sunny walls and slipping into cool cracks around windows and eaves. Those are most often stink bugs—commonly the invasive brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys)—and while they don’t bite or breed indoors, their sudden presence in numbers and the pungent defensive…

Seattle’s cool, rainy climate and abundant gardens make it an ideal place for slugs. While these slimy mollusks are important decomposers in the garden ecosystem, they can quickly decimate tender seedlings, leafy greens and ornamentals — especially in early spring and late fall when moisture and mild temperatures create perfect slug conditions. Because many gardeners…

May is prime slug season in the Pacific Northwest because the region’s spring weather, garden conditions, and slug biology all line up perfectly. After cool, rainy months, soils are moist, air humidity is high, and daytime temperatures are mild—conditions slugs love. Those same conditions encourage rapid, succulent growth in gardens: tender seedlings, young brassicas, lettuce,…

Crane fly larvae — commonly called leatherjackets — can cause noticeable damage to lawns by feeding on grassroots and crowns, leaving patches of thin, browned turf that pull up easily. To treat them effectively you first need to understand their life cycle: adult crane flies typically lay eggs in late summer and early autumn, the…

Crane fly larvae — commonly called leatherjackets — are a quiet but widespread cause of lawn decline across the Pacific Northwest, and Seattle’s cool, wet climate makes many yards especially susceptible. These legless, grayish-brown grubs live in the thatch and upper soil layer and feed on grass crowns and roots. Because they are most active…

Every May, many Seattle yards suddenly host a flutter of large, gangly insects that look like giant mosquitoes but behave very differently: crane flies. For residents they’re an unmistakable sign of late spring—delicate, long-legged adults gathering on lawns, porches and around lights in the evenings. Because they appear en masse over a brief period, it…

Carpet beetle larvae are small but destructive household pests, and recognizing them early is the best way to protect clothing, rugs, upholstery and other natural fibers. An introduction to what they look like and where to find them helps homeowners and renters spot an infestation before the larvae cause extensive damage. These larvae are the…

Carpet beetles are small, inconspicuous insects that can quietly and steadily ruin wool rugs, heirloom coats, and beloved clothing in Seattle homes. While the adults are often mistaken for harmless garden visitors because they feed on pollen and nectar, the larvae—the bristly, caterpillar-like stage—are the real problem. These larvae are specially adapted to digest keratin,…

Few insects are as familiar — and as often misidentified — in and around homes as cluster flies and house flies. At a glance they can look similar: both are roughly the size of a grain of rice, dark-colored, and commonly found near windows. But they belong to different groups, have very different life histories,…

Each spring in Seattle many residents notice the same small nuisance: slow-moving, dark “cluster flies” suddenly dotting sunny windows and accumulating in attic corners. Unlike fruit flies or house flies, these insects aren’t breeding inside your home; their seasonal appearances are the visible end of a life cycle and behavior shaped by cold-weather survival, warming…