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Call Us Today at : (512) 561-7451Maricopa County, Arizona
Phoenix covers about 517 square miles of the Salt River Valley, from central streets shaded by decades-old citrus to houses backed against South Mountain. What gets into your home depends on which of those places you live.
Phoenix is the Maricopa County seat and, with 1,608,139 residents in the 2020 census, the fifth most populous city in the country. It sits at about 1,086 feet in the northern Sonoran Desert, and its water still moves through canals laid over routes the Hohokam dug centuries ago. Citrus was one of the Five C's that carried the early economy, and many older yards still hold mature fruit trees.
Those three things, canals, old fruit trees and the mountain preserves that break up the grid, explain most of what we find on Phoenix service calls. A central home under tall palms, a house in Maryvale and a newer build in Ahwatukee Foothills each need a different plan. We start outside with the trees, block walls, drains and irrigation boxes, then treat and seal where the activity actually is.
University of Arizona Cooperative Extension reports that roof rats were first documented in Phoenix in 2001. They moved into old growth citrus, palm trees and mature landscaping and use irrigation canals to spread. These are climbers: they run along utility lines and rooftops and nest in attics, soffits, garage rafters and palm crowns full of old fronds. The giveaway is an orange hollowed out on the branch with only the rind left hanging.
The bark scorpion is the most venomous scorpion in the United States and is common around buildings of every kind in the low desert. It hides in hollow block walls, climbs textured stucco and ceilings, and gets indoors through worn weather stripping, window vents and the weep holes along the base of stucco. Warm nights keep it moving most of the year. Extension specialists say pesticides alone will not solve it, so sealing and clearing clutter are part of every visit.
Arizona's biggest and most frequently seen roach is the American cockroach, nicknamed the sewer roach. Sewer lines are its main home in the desert Southwest, and it climbs out through dry drain traps, door gaps and window frames. Keeping seldom-used drains filled with water and fixing leaks closes the easy routes. The Turkestan cockroach, first found in Arizona in 1982 and now common here, packs into water meter boxes and irrigation valve boxes and peaks in June.
Heterotermes aureus is the most common and most destructive termite in the region. It lives in the soil and builds mud tubes up the stem wall to reach framing, and it will eat dry, sound wood as well as damp wood. Extension guidance for older homes is to inspect the foundation twice a year, keep main irrigation lines at least 18 inches from the stem wall, and leave about 4 inches of exposed stem wall below the stucco.
The white-throated pack rat is the one most often found in suburban Phoenix. Along South Mountain Park and the Phoenix Mountains Preserve it piles sticks and cactus into middens against walls and under sheds, and it can chew vehicle wiring. Those middens are breeding sites for kissing bugs, which fly to porch lights after dark and bite sleeping people. Extension specialists rank exclusion as the most effective fix, so the work centers on sealing and removing shelter.
Roof rats are far more active in the cooler months, when backyard trees are heavy with tangerines and oranges. Pick ripe fruit, clear what drops, and trim branches that touch the roof. A wet winter is also a good reason for a spring termite check along the stem wall.
Phoenix averages 111 days a year at 100 degrees or more, most of them from late May into September. Turkestan cockroach numbers peak in June, and adult kissing bugs fly toward house lights from May through July, so this is the time to check door sweeps and window screens.
The National Weather Service sets these dates for the monsoon. Storms flood scorpions out of their hiding spots, desert subterranean termites swarm after rain, and puddles, plant saucers and birdbaths can breed mosquitoes. Culex mosquitoes, the main West Nile carrier in Maricopa County, bite from evening to early morning.
In central Phoenix the risk often starts overhead. Roof rats in an urban neighborhood usually stay within about 120 yards of their nest, so a neglected palm or a fruit tree next door can feed rats that nest in your attic. Trimming dead fronds, cutting limbs back from the roofline and screening vents does more than bait alone.
Out toward the preserves and in newer tracts, the ground matters more. Hollow block walls shelter scorpions and can hold honey bee colonies, and every wild honey bee in Arizona carries some Africanized genes. We check walls, meter boxes and irrigation boxes, seal the gaps we find, and leave active bee colonies to trained removal.
Roof rats feed on backyard citrus because it gives them food and water in one place. They climb into the tree at night, chew a hole in the fruit and hollow it out, leaving the empty rind on the branch or on the ground. Finding those shells from November through May is a strong sign rats are nesting nearby.
Bark scorpion stings can be serious, especially for young children and older adults. For a stung child aged 9 or younger, or weighing under 70 pounds, University of Arizona guidance is to dial 911 or the Poison Help line, 1-800-222-1222, right away. Adults should call Poison Help for advice.
Twice a year is the Extension recommendation: once in spring, especially after a wet winter, and again near the end of the monsoon when termites are most active. Look for pencil-width mud tubes on the outside stem wall and where pipes come up through the slab, and call for an inspection if you see one.
Phoenix plans begin at $57; tell us about your house at /quote for a free estimate, choose a date at /schedule-pest-control-service, or talk it through at (512) 561-7451.
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