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Every late spring, homeowners in Wallingford start seeing more wasps around their backyards — darting among the blossoms, checking out eaves and garden sheds, and sometimes making nests in tucked-away corners. That sudden uptick can feel surprising and unwelcome, but it’s the predictable outcome of wasp biology interacting with the specific features of a temperate,…

Each May, homeowners on Seattle’s Queen Anne hill often notice the same unwelcome pattern: trails of foraging ants moving into kitchens, mulch beds suddenly full of activity, or winged ants swarming briefly around exterior lights. That seasonal spike isn’t random. It’s the product of biological timing (many ant species launch reproductive swarms and expand foraging…

Every spring, residents of Fremont start noticing an uptick in wasp activity, and by May many homeowners find small paper nests tucked under eaves, in sheds, or hidden in dense shrubbery. This pattern isn’t random — it reflects the natural life cycle of social wasps and the interplay of seasonal climate cues, local landscaping, and…

Every spring, Ballard homeowners know to keep an eye out for one telltale sign that carpenter ants are active in the neighborhood: winged swarmers on warm May days. These winged males and new queens emerge from established colonies to mate and start new nests, often alighting on windowsills, under porch lights, or in garden shrubs….

Capitol Hill’s apartment buildings — whether historic brick rowhouses, converted Victorian flats, or newer multi-unit complexes — offer close-in urban living but also create the conditions many pests find inviting. Dense occupancy, shared walls and utility chases, older construction with gaps and basements, and the steady flow of people, food and trash from sidewalks, cafés…

Every spring in Seattle, homeowners often notice small black-and-red insects gathering by the hundreds on sunny exterior walls, window sills, and around doorways. These are most likely boxelder bugs (Boisea trivittata), a native species that has adapted well to urban environments. Though harmless to people and structures, their sudden appearance can be alarming and messy…

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…