There are many common bugs found in Florida. Some eat the plants we consider important, and some bite, sting, or try to feed on us. Many invaders from Florida are considered invasive species that arrived by accident or were intentionally introduced.

Fire Ants

Fire ants are the most common household pest in Florida. They can be found in almost every part of the state and can cause a lot of damage to both people and property.

Fire ants are tiny and aggressive creatures that can simultaneously deliver a nasty bite and sting. They are scientifically known as Solenopsis Invicta.

Mosquitoes

Mosquitoes are the second most common household pest. These bugs carry diseases like the Zika virus, West Nile virus, and dengue fever.

Palmetto bug

“palmetto bug” is just a slang name for some species of cockroaches that are common in the South. There are over 4,000 living species of cockroaches identified in the world, with 70 species found in the United States.

It is called the Palmetto Bug because it is often found in areas with palmetto trees and also in piles of rotting wood and dead leaves.

Horse flies

Horse flies are the most common flies found in homes in Florida. Horseflies frequently enter homes with swampy backyards or a large amount of trash that isn’t secured in a closed trash receptacle.

No-See-Um

No-see-ums are tiny, biting pests in coastal areas. They are often just as much of a nuisance as mosquitoes and can be difficult to control. Noseeums, also known as sand flies, are tiny flying pests that ruin an outdoor gathering.

Mosquitoes are usually visible, but noseeums can be difficult to see. Noseeums bite and suck blood like mosquitoes, but they also spread diseases such as leishmaniasis.

Also called Midges often bite people and the likelihood of being bitten increases during new and full moon phases.

American Dog Tick

American dog tick or wood tick, is a species of tick that is known to carry bacteria responsible for several diseases in humans, including Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia (Francisella tularensis). It is one of the best-known hard ticks.

A tick bite does not automatically transfer diseases to the host. Instead, the tick must be attached to the host for a period of time, generally 6–8 hours but sometimes as little as 3–6 hours, before it is capable of transferring disease. The earlier the tick is removed from a host, the less likely it is to contract the illness.

Lovebug

Lovebugs are a type of fly found in the southern United States. They are most commonly found in Florida, Louisiana, and Texas.

Lovebugs swarm to mate during late spring and summer. Males and females will pair together during mating and remain stuck together until death.

If an automobile driving through a swarm of lovebugs does not wash off the bugs soon enough, the insect residue can damage the paint on a car.

Yellow Fly

The yellow fly is a ferocious biter that peaks in Florida during the April-June season. They cause pain and can be difficult to get rid of. They are most active during the summer, and their bites can cause a lot of irritation.

Stable Fly (Dog Fly)

The stable fly is a member of the family Muscidae and is closely related to the housefly. They congregate in large numbers near the shoreline in northwest Florida, particularly around seaweed.

Black Widow spider

Black widows are a venomous species of spider found in the US, primarily in the south and west. They can be identified by their black coloration and an hourglass-shaped marking on their abdomen. These spiders are considered dangerous to humans and should be avoided.

They get their name because the female black widow spider is known to eat the male after mating.

Black widow spiders typically live in colonies, and they build webs near the ground to catch their prey. If a black widow spider bites you, it is important to wash the wound well with soap and water to reduce your risk of infection.

Black widows live in dark, secluded, and protected areas. This can include woodpiles, sheds, under rocks or flower pots, and garages. They are not typically found in open areas.

Interestingly, black widows spiders have been known to spin webs during the daytime. They typically build their webs in dark and secluded areas, such as woodpiles, under eaves, or garages.

Wolf Spider

It is the largest spider in Florida in size. They generally look ferocious, but they shy away from humans and are beneficial in that they consume insect pests for food. Wolf spiders are generally hairy and will try to hide from people if they come across them.

Termites

They cause American homeowners five billion dollars worth of damage each year. In Florida, termites cause more damage to structures than fires, floods and storms combined. Property owners spend over $2 billion to treat them since Florida homeowners insurance policies do not cover termite damage.

Subterranean termites are the most common type of termites found in Florida homes and cause the most damage.

These dangerous pests typically form their colonies—which can number in the thousands or even millions—in the soil near a wooden structure. The earth provides them with the moisture they need to survive, and the nearby wood sustains them. To access their food, they construct mud tubes outside houses and other structures leading from their nest to the food source. These mud tubes, which look like thin lines of dried mud about the width of a pencil, are a telltale sign of the presence of subterranean termites.

Drywood termites are typically found in high-up wooden spaces like attics but can also be found beneath wooden floorboards.

These termites need less moisture to survive than subterranean termites, and they consume dry wood as their main sustenance, which can weaken support beams and cause widespread damage in a home if allowed to continue unchecked. One of the main signs of dry wood termites is the presence of frass—piles of tiny pellets that look a lot like sawdust but are termite droppings.

Dampwood termites infest wood with high moisture content, such as decaying timber. Of the three main types of termites found in Florida, these are the largest.

Dampwood termites are typically found in logs, stumps, dead trees, decaying fence posts, or utility poles. These termites need frequent contact with water to survive, but when conditions are right, they can often live their entire lives inside the pieces of wood they’ve infested.

The exotic conehead termite, has been found in Broward County, Florida. This is the only known occurrence of conehead termites in the United States. It is assumed that conehead termites entered the state in wooden packing material from a boat that had traveled through the termite’s native range, the Caribbean and Central and South America, and docked at a marina in Dania Beach.

Unlike all other termites in South Florida, the soldier form of this termite species has a cone-shaped, dark brown head from which it secretes a pine sap-like chemical to ward off predators, including ants, lizards, and termites from another colony. Soldiers are difficult to identify with the naked eye due to their size, but the above-ground tunnels they construct are easily seen and may signify the presence of this species. Coneheads travel to their feeding sites in narrow (usually 1/2 inch wide or less) brown tunnels, or termite highways, on the sides of trees, houses, fences or other surfaces.