Deer ticks (correctly called blacklegged ticks) are our smallest disease-carrying ticks. And that’s part of the problem. All stages of this tick can carry and transmit Lyme disease: larval stage, nymph, and adult tick. One of the reasons they can so easily attach and feed is that they are so hard to see. The adult
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Every year at the end of the summer we get those humpbacked spidery crickets in our house, but this year we have something different. They’re pretty big and almost totally black. They must be crickets because they jump and chirp. Did they come in from outside? H. H., Arlington, MA You’re probably seeing invading field
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Over the past week we’ve seen quite a few tiny insects on the walls in our new townhouse. We’ve been told that they are plaster beetles but no one seems to know anything more about them. What do they do? C. G., Jamaica Plain, MA We’ll assume they are plaster beetles, but know that these
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I need some information about fourid flies? They’re driving us nuts! For about 6 weeks we’ve had tiny little black flies in the house that get in your face and land on you. They’re about the size of those fruit flies, but we actually had them identified by our extension office and they said they
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Centipedes are not insects, although they are related to insects. One clue is that insects have 6 legs, centipedes have many more. Although they’re often called “hundred-leggers,” the typical adult centipede has about 15 pairs of legs for a total of 30. They have one pair of legs per body segment and actually add segments
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Did you know that if you have a lot of yellowjackets around your property this summer, you’re likely to have even more next summer? That’s because in the fall each yellowjacket colony produces a number of “queens-in-waiting” as the rest of the wasps die off. These future queens spend the winter in a protective place.
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The folks who know say we should expect a bad tick year in New England and that means a bad year for Lyme disease cases as well. Why the higher number of ticks this year? It may just seem worse in comparison. Last year was actually a lower tick year in New Hampshire and much
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You can get Lyme disease without ever leaving your house. Does that statement surprise you, knowing that Lyme disease is transmitted by the bite of an infected blacklegged tick? “Okay,” you say, “I get it. A tick can be accidentally carried inside on someone’s clothing or on a pet and can then bit an occupant
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My kid has already had his first attached tick this year! I always forget exactly how you are supposed to remove a tick, whether you cover it with baby oil and wait for it to back out, or what. Could you please repeat that advice again? L. Y., Saugus, MA Absolutely! We’re always glad to
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Worcester, MA 01604
47 Thames Rd Ste 6&7
Hooksett, NH 03106