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Is Your State One Of The Buggiest?

Posted: 9/17/2010

Pest management professionals are best equipped to recognize bugs and successfully treat a home infestation.

(NAPSI) - There's no need to go buggy worrying about bugs in your home. A whopping 90 percent of homeowners say they have had an insect infestation--and you can learn a lot from the results of a recent survey.

When it comes to bed bugs, respondents agreed New York has the worst problem, with California and Florida first and second runners-up. Homeowners ranked Florida as the state with the worst bug infestation problems--including ants, termites and cockroaches. Louisiana and Texas were runners-up.

Ant infestation was rated the most common insect annoyance by homeowners interviewed in the Infogroup/ORC survey sponsored by BASF Pest Control Solutions. Nearly 60 percent of those questioned said ants were "very likely" or "somewhat likely" to infest their homes. In contrast, about a quarter (27 percent) of respondents said they were "likely" to suffer from a termite infestation.

Sales of insecticides also validate homeowners' beliefs about the "overall buggiest states." Researchers compared the survey results with sales of Termidor termiticide/insecticide along with sales of over-the-counter products containing permethrin, a major ingredient in many insecticides sold at home-improvement and hardware stores.

While Florida, Louisiana, Texas and California were considered the buggiest states, Georgia, New York and Mississippi trailed close behind. Washington, D.C., South Dakota, Connecticut and Idaho were rated least buggy.

The survey also provided insight on the debate over "doing it yourself" versus calling a professional. Among the 90 percent of homeowners who have had a bug infestation, 63 percent tried to treat it themselves and only 23 percent called a professional right away.

Forty percent of those who tried to treat it themselves had to call in a professional anyway and 86 percent of those who called a professional reported success.

It's important to be vigilant. Some species of ants and termites are wood-destroying pests. Termites alone cause $5 billion in property damage each year. If you think your house is infested, call a pest management professional.

For more information, visit www.termiteinstitute.com, www.antinstitute.com or www.bedbuginstitute.com.