How to Get Rid of Wheel Bugs | DIY Wheel Bug Control

Do you want to learn how to get rid of wheel bugs? If yes! Keep reading this article. Wheel bugs are a type of assassin bug that targets many garden pests normally making them beneficial insects.

However, wheel bugs will still bite humans been mishandled and their bites are known to be more painful than the sting of a bee because they primarily hunt garden pests, their presence on your property can indicate an additional underlying pest problem.

So, in this article, you will learn how to identify and get rid of wheel bugs and their food sources keeping your lawn and garden safe and green.

 

How to Identify Wheel Bugs

In any pest control process, the first thing is identifying what exactly you’re dealing with. Without proper or careless identification can lead to wrong treatment methods which cost you time and money.

You can easily differentiate wheel bugs from other assassin bugs by identifying be a cogwheel-shaped plate on the bug’s thorax.

No other assassin bug has this, wheel bugs are among some of the largest true bug species growing up to about 1 and 1/4 inches in length.

They have wide abdomens and small narrow heads with 2 antennae. Wheel bugs are typically a pale brown or gray in color.

Being a true bug, it possesses a large, stinging sucking proboscis or fang, wheel bugs reproduce at a rate of one generation per year.

So you may find immature wheel bugs, newly hatched wheel bugs with one color, then become black and red as they mature into adolescence.

When a wheel bug molds into an adult for the first time its body is initially a bright red color, but it quickly fades into the regular pale brown or gray.

 

Read also: Swallow Bug: Facts, Identification, and How to Get Rid

 

Picture of a Wheel Bug

 

What Do Wheel Bug Eggs Look Like?

Wheel bugs eggs look like brown containers with white lids and are typically laid and clusters on trees.

 

Read also: Water Bug vs Cockroach | Differences Exposed

 

Signs of Wheel Bugs Infestation and Possible Places to Inspect

Once, you know what your pests look like, check around your property to confirm their presence or signs of their infestation.

Wheel bugs may be found where prey is abundant. This is usually outdoor near gardens or in woody areas, on trees, or among the shrubbery.

Wheel bugs will feed on caterpillars armyworms aphids moths and other soft-bodied insects when inspecting your property outdoors, be on the lookout for any wheel bugs and clusters of their prey and pest damage.

If you found wheel bugs in your property, it is likely your lawn or garden may be infested with damaging pests.

Identify any pests that may be present as you will that information to determine your treatments application rates.

Note: Be careful not to approach any wheel bugs. You may find or mishandle them as they will bite you out of self-defense.

 

Read also: Bugs That Look Like Bed Bugs | Identification

 

How to Get Rid of Wheel Bugs with Insecticides and Sprays

After identifying the pest and inspecting for signs of their activity on your property. It is necessary you know how to get rid of wheel bugs using insecticides and sprays, before starting any treatment, be sure to wear your personal protective equipment or PPE and remember to keep all people and pets off the treated areas until dry.

If you are experiencing a large infestation of wheel bugs on your property. You can get rid of them by treating their food sources, you can do this with an application of Bifen LP granules followed by an application of Reclaim IT.

Procedures

• First, calculate your lawn square footage to determine how many products you need.
• You can do this by measuring the area’s length and withstand multiply them together.

 

Read also: How Often Do Bed Bugs Feed? Feeding Habit of Bed Bugs

 

How to Apply to Bifen LP Insecticide

Bifen LP is a ready-to-use insecticide made with bifenthrin that controls many types of pests, including armyworms, mealybugs, all crickets, and other pests that wheel bugs will target interface.

• You will apply this product with a push spreader at a rate of 1.15 to 2.2 ounces per 1,000 square feet of the treatment area
• Depending on the pest you’re targeting. You can also use a hand spreader for smaller applications like in garden beds.
• Load your spreader with the proper amount of Bifen LP, and evenly distribute all of it throughout your treatment area.
• With a push spreader broadcast, use half your granules and parallel lines once across your area, then broadcast the other half, at a perpendicular angle to cover the area in its entirety.
• Once you have finished your Bifen LP application and will need to be watered in to be activated and pushed into the soil.
• You can do this with an application of Reclaim IT. Reclaim IT is a bifenthrin base liquid insecticide product label to treat over 70 different pests.
• Many pests that may be targeted by wheel bugs can be eliminated using this product.
• You will apply this product at a rate of 0.125 fluid ounces to 1 whole fluid ounce per 1,000 square feet of the treatment area.
• Depending on the best you’re targeting, we recommend you use a 20-gallon hose-end sprayer since you’ll be making a large volume spray application.
• To use the 20-gallon hose-end sprayer remove the reservoir from the nozzle. Make sure this barrier is the control valve and your water pump is off, then attach the nozzle to the hose at the proper amount of Reclaim IT.
• Then fill the reservoir with enough water to treat the entire lawn to make sure you thoroughly cook the area and push the product into the soil.
• Use at least 2 gallons of water per thousand square feet of the treatment area.
• Double-check to make sure your control valve and water pump are still off then reattach, the reservoir to the nozzle.
• Once you have entered a tight connection. You can now turn the water on to spray.
• When the bifenthrin is applied properly with this application, the Bifen LP granules will absorb into the soil and the plant’s roots.
• Pests that eat the traded plants or burrow into the soil will begin to die within 24 hours.
• Finally, be sure to keep up with the applications of Bifen LP and Reclaim IT.

These products will leave a residual that lasts for up to 3 months. So we recommend, you make applications quarterly for year-round control.

 

How to Get Rid of Wheel Bugs Naturally

Knowing how to get rid of wheel bugs naturally is essential to keeping pests in check even after you’ve applied pesticides, the best way to stop pest activity is to make sure it cannot happen using natural steps.

The key to getting rid of wheel bug infestation is to ensure their food sources are unable to invest in your property.

• First, you will need to clean up your property to reduce pest cartridges.
• Pick up any debris and rake away any Leaf litter.
• If you keep firewood, make sure it’s properly stacked and covered as far away from your structure as possible.
• You will want to take measures to reduce moisture on your lawn by reducing the available water in the area.
• Pests won’t have the resources to survive drain. Any sources of standing water like birdbaths should be eliminated.
• Reduce shade on your lawn by trimming overhanging trees, branches, and overgrown shrubbery. This will expose your lawn to more sunlight and encourage water evaporation.

 

Conclusion

Wheel bugs may target other pests, but that won’t stop them from stinking humans. If we get too close, but these professional products and DIY guides on how to get rid of wheel bugs naturally and using insecticides and sprays.

We guarantee you can get rid of wheel bugs permanently from your property. Share, comment on your experience and keep visiting Pestclue for more DIY pest control tips.

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