What To Do About Clover Mites In Your Charlotte Home

Here in Charlotte, we’ve got it comparatively good climate-wise. Sure, the summers are muggy, but we get plenty enough rain for our lawns, we enjoy four distinct seasons, and our winters aren’t nearly as harsh as they could be. However, along with those four seasons and all that rain comes a high number of pests. With all the other vermin we have in North Carolina – like mosquitos, roaches, termites, and more – clover mites might not be the first thing on your pest radar. However, these little bugs can be a big headache when they invade your home in huge droves. 

What Are Clover Mites?

Clover mites are a dark, reddish-brown bug that’s smaller than a pinhead. They also have eight legs, with the front-most pair longer than the other pairs. If you know what chiggers are, clover mites look really similar at first glance. Thankfully, unlike chiggers, clover mites don’t feed on people and you also will almost never find chiggers indoors. A lot of folks refer to clover mites as tiny red spiders, and they are an arachnid. But though they’re a relative of the spider, clover mites feed on plants rather than insects.

As their name suggests, clover mites love to feast on clovers, but they also love anything else lush and green like lawn grass and other common ground covers. They use their specialized mouthparts to suck the juices from these landscaping plants. Clover mites don’t normally do severe or lasting damage to your yard. It’s when they get in your home that they become a problem.

The Clover Mite Life Cycle

Clover mites don’t actually breed. They develop from unfertilized eggs, and all individuals are female. A whole generation only lasts about 30 days. Adults live around two weeks, laying about 70 eggs in that period. This gives plenty of opportunities for the mite population to explode. Eggs laid in the fall overwinter and hatch in early spring – the best time to feed on those tender, juicy new clovers. When the hot summer weather arrives, the summer generation of clover mites lays its own eggs, giving rise to a fall generation that may seek warmth inside your home.

Newly hatched clover mites love to congregate in places where they can warm in the sun. They might form big clumps on the sunny sides of buildings. When these clumps of mites start to spread out, they can find their way into your home through cracks, holes, and other openings. While they’re mostly just a nuisance, if there is a large enough infestation, they can stain fabrics like furniture and carpets. These bugs also can be a huge aesthetic problem. Who wants to live in a house crawling with thousands of tiny, red mites?

How To Prevent Clover Mites

The best way to keep clover mites out of your house is to physically block their entry by:

• Sealing up all cracks in your home’s foundation and walls – no matter how small
• Sealing legitimate entry points like holes for cables, wires, and pipes
• Keeping weeds and the grass cut back away from your home
• Setting up a crushed stone barrier of around 20 inches between your lawn and your house
• Installing weather stripping around all doors and windows

Unfortunately, these mites are so tiny that even the most stringent prevention measures can sometimes fail to keep them out. When that happens, it’s better not to waste time and money trying to deal with them yourself. In fact, there usually aren’t a lot of store-bought remedies available for lesser-known pests like the clover mite.

Here at Azura Pest Control, we’re equipped to deal with these unfamiliar pests. We’ve got over 20 years of industry experience and QualityPro certified technicians to help us in the fight against clover mites. We’ll customize our Charlotte pest services to meet your individual needs and make sure all your pest problems are gone for good. Don’t hesitate to call us at Azura Pest Control today, at (855) 976-5660 or visit our contact page to schedule your service today.