What Are These Common Insects?

Termites cause billions of dollars in damage each year..

B ug identification can be difficult. Here are a few pests you're likely to find in and around your home, and the easiest way to identify them.

• Termites

  You're not likely to see termites unless a mature nest has produced swarmers near, or inside, your home. These reproductive termites--that will one day become the queen and king of a new colony--are around a centimeter in length with straight antenna and six legs.



• Carpenter Ants

  Winged reproductive carpenter ants are often confused for termites, but they are much larger. If you only have a single swarmer for identification, look to see if it has curved antenna and three distinct body parts. Wingless carpenter ants are black to dark reddish black in color and have a tiny node at their waist that almost looks like a fourth body part.



• Marmorated Stink Bugs

  These insects are recognizable by their brown-flecked coloring and shield-like shape. As insects, they have the customary six legs, two antennae, and three body segments. You wouldn't know it, though, to look at one. The thorax and abdomen appear as one shield shape on the stink bug.



• Yellow Jackets

  These insects, from the wasp family, tend to build their nests in the ground. Though they have the yellow and black coloring of a honey bee, their skin is shiny and mostly devoid of hair.



• Carpenter Bees

  Most know what a bumble bee looks like. For this reason, many mistake carpenter bees for bumble bees. They are both big, both round, and both cover in furry. The distinct visual difference between them is that carpenter bees are black from the waist back. If there is no yellow on the abdomen, you can be sure that you are looking at a carpenter bee.



• Bed Bugs

  Bed bugs are oval in shape and rust in color. Their larvae can be as small as the tip of a pencil and adults grow to be a third the size of a dime. When engorged with blood an adult bed bug can have a tick-like appearance. But, it is important to note that bed bugs are an insect. That means they only have six legs, not eight--like a tick.