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Call Us Today at : (512) 561-7451Miami-Dade County, Florida
Miami Beach stands on natural and man-made barrier islands that average only 4.4 feet above sea level, with Biscayne Bay on one side and the Atlantic on the other. Bay water, aging buildings and a constant flow of visitors shape the pest work here.
Miami Beach recorded 82,890 residents in the 2020 census on 7.69 square miles of land, and nearly as much of the city, 7.53 square miles, is water. The interior was once a tangle of mangroves. Dredging Biscayne Bay in the 1920s created Star, Palm and Hibiscus Islands, the Sunset Islands and all but one of the Venetian Islands. Parts of western South Beach sit at almost zero feet above a normal high tide, and the annual king tides flood certain streets.
The buildings are just as distinctive. The Art Deco Historic District holds hundreds of hotels and apartment houses put up between 1923 and 1943, the city has over 26,600 hotel rooms, and about 13.3 million people visit in a year. Buildings of that age, shared walls and a steady stream of suitcases call for a different plan than a mainland subdivision.
No-see-ums are biting midges (Culicoides species). UF/IFAS lists the marshes, swamps and mangroves of coastal Florida as the nurseries for several pest species, and the city's flood plan includes planting red mangroves along its seawalls. Most midges bite at dusk, overnight or in the morning, though coastal ones will bite in full daylight. They pass through ordinary window screen, so finer no-see-um mesh and a DEET repellent are the practical defenses.
A district built between 1923 and 1943 is prime ground for the West Indian drywood termite, which UF/IFAS says is more common in older metropolitan areas with aged wooden structures. First recorded in Florida at Key West in 1918, it spread along the coasts, often inside furniture and other wooden articles that people carried with them. Colonies need no soil. Nearly all structural fumigation in Florida is performed for this one species.
With more than 26,600 hotel rooms on the island, bed bugs are a standing risk. UF/IFAS notes that they infest houses, hotels, dormitories and cruise ships and ride along on clothes, suitcases and used furniture. Adults measure 6 to 9.5 millimeters before feeding. The giveaways are dark excrement spots near their hiding places and reddish-brown stains on mattresses and furniture. They have never been shown to spread disease.
The big roach that turns up in a ground-floor bathroom is usually the American cockroach, one of several large species nicknamed palmetto bugs. It lives in sewers and drainage systems and in moist, shady places outdoors such as hollow trees and mulch, and it follows plumbing into buildings. Older hotels and apartment houses have plenty of pipe penetrations to caulk. UF/IFAS rates pellet baits as extremely effective against it.
Green iguanas bask on seawalls and docks and dig beside them. UF/IFAS warns that a burrow next to a seawall allows erosion and eventual collapse, and FWC names seawall burrowing, eaten ornamental plants and droppings on docks and in pools among the concerns residents raise. Sheet metal collars on trees and dock pilings stop them climbing. They are not cold hardy: the 2010 winter reduced their numbers in some areas.
Showers are few and humidity is low from November through April. February, March and April belong to the Asian subterranean termite's swarms, and drywood termites join in from April, so switch off balcony and porch lights on evenings when winged insects gather, and check windowsills for six-sided pellets.
About 67 inches of rain fall in a year, mostly in these months, though the island receives less than the mainland. Formosan termites swarm at dusk in late spring, and lit boats draw them just as buildings do. Container mosquitoes breed in whatever holds rainwater; South Miami Beach stayed on the CDC's list of active Zika transmission areas until December 9, 2016.
The year's highest tides push bay water onto low streets on the west side of South Beach; the fall 2015 king tides ran higher and longer than expected. Black salt marsh mosquito eggs wait on moist soil and hatch when tides or rain flood them, so biting can pick up after high water.
Older Beach buildings reward a slow inspection. We check window and door frames, trim and original woodwork for kick-out holes and pellets, look where pipes pass through walls for roach entry, and note lights that burn all night near doors, since swarming termites fly to them. Raised streets have left some unchanged properties sitting lower than the road, so drainage at the base of a building matters too.
For hotels, rentals and real estate sales we record what we find room by room. Bed bug checks center on mattress seams, bed joints, wall outlets and baseboards. Waterfront lots get a look at the seawall, dock and trees for iguana burrows. Eco-friendly products and targeted placement suit buildings that stay occupied.
Because they breed in coastal wetlands and the city is ringed by water. UF/IFAS says several biting midge species develop in the marshes, swamps and mangroves of coastal Florida and can reach incredible densities. Standard screens do not stop them, so wear a DEET repellent outdoors and consider fine no-see-um screening for porches.
Look before you unpack. Pull back the sheets and inspect the mattress seams, the joints and slats of the bed, nearby wall outlets and the baseboards for live bugs, dark excrement spots or reddish-brown stains. Keep suitcases off the bed, since UF/IFAS notes that bed bugs hitchhike on luggage and clothing.
They can. UF/IFAS reports that iguana burrows beside seawalls lead to erosion and, in time, collapse. Pack empty burrows with sand or concrete, fit sheet metal guards on dock pilings and trees, and never leave food out. FWC allows green iguanas to be removed from private property year-round with the owner's permission, by humane methods only.
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