Serving Valrico
Fire ant and lawn insect control around Valrico
Fresh mounds after a storm, ragged grass blades in the morning, a yellow patch along the drive. Valrico lawns see a rotating cast of insects, and the right treatment depends on which one is there.
- Phones answered 24/7
- Office on East Busch Blvd, Tampa
- Area
- Valrico
- County
- Hillsborough County
- Office
- East Busch Blvd, north Tampa
- Phones
- Answered 24/7
Valrico yards deal with fire ants year-round and with chinch bugs and sod webworms from spring through fall. Fire ant colonies often shift after heavy rain, so new mounds appear by slabs, sidewalks and utility boxes. We identify which lawn insect is doing the damage before treating, because the products and timing differ.
Local conditions
Fire ants and lawn caterpillars in Valrico
Valrico counted 37,895 residents in the 2020 census, and most of the calls we take there are about the yard. Red imported fire ants nest in lawns, under patio slabs, along sidewalks and driveways, beside foundations and in electrical boxes. After heavy rain, colonies may relocate to higher ground or move indoors, which is why mounds seem to appear overnight in summer. Stings raise a white pustule about a day later and can set off anaphylaxis in sensitive people. Broadcast bait across the lawn reaches colonies that have not shown a mound yet, and we add spot treatments where kids and pets play.
Two other lawn insects compete for the turf. Southern chinch bugs leave roughly circular yellow patches in sunny, water-stressed St. Augustine, peaking in early July. Tropical sod webworms attack St. Augustine, bermuda and zoysia from spring through fall. The grayish-green caterpillars feed at night and hide by day, so you see ragged blades and thinning grass first, then brown patches. The moths fly from dusk to dawn. Both pests can look like drought, so we check the patch edge for chinch bugs and look low in the thatch for caterpillars before choosing a product.
Most called about
What Valrico lawns and homes need most
Fire Ant Control
Mounds in the lawn, along slabs and inside utility boxes.
Sod Webworm & Armyworm Control
Ragged blades and brown patches from caterpillars that feed at night.
Chinch Bug Control
Yellow circles in sunny St. Augustine near driveways.
Lawn Disease Treatment
Brown rings and leaf spot that look like insect damage but are not.
Palmetto Bug Control
Big roaches walking in from mulch beds and garages.
Termite Inspection
A check of slab edges and garage walls for mud tubes.
Getting to you
Serving Valrico from north Tampa
Valrico visits go out from the office on East Busch Boulevard in north Tampa toward east Hillsborough. Tell us roughly when the damage started and whether the lawn was recently mowed or watered, since that helps us tell insects from drought. We answer 24/7, and you hear the price before work starts.
Call (813) 471-5363Look for ragged, chewed blades and thinning patches, and check at dusk for small moths flying low over the grass. The caterpillars hide in the thatch by day.
Heavy rain pushes colonies to higher ground, so they rebuild near slabs, sidewalks and anything raised. That is normal behavior, not a failed treatment.
Chinch patches keep spreading after watering, and live bugs sit at the yellow-green edge. We check before treating.
Broadcast bait across the lawn is the most reliable approach, with spot treatments on active mounds near play areas.
We tell you on the day, based on the product. Most often it means keeping pets off until the lawn has dried.
Talk to a technician
Pests in Valrico? Call now.
Tell us what you found and where. We will tell you what it probably is and when a technician can be there.