It's always a little surprising to see an insect making it's way through the snow or see one flying around in freezing temperatures. How are they surviving the cold?
Not all bugs are created equal and insects employ different strategies to get through the cold winter months.
Freeze Avoidant - Migration
We've all seen geese migrations as the cold weather starts seeping into Virginia, but did you know that insects also migrate? The monarch butterfly is the most well-known insect for migrations, but they aren't the only one. Fortunately for us, insects generally migrate away from here to warmer southern areas.
Freeze Avoidant - Invasion
This is one of the most common over-winter techniques for insects. Bugs will instinctively seek warmth. Some of them will simply burrow into outdoor spaces, such as in mulch piles, areas with rotting organic materials (like dead vegetable gardens), or find places under sheds or other outdoor structures. Some insects are able to overwinter in just the soil, which retains a warmer temperature (especially under the snow) than the air. They may also lay eggs in these places which will be dormant until warmer weather.
Unfortunately, though, many insects like to live a little more comfortably and decide to move in to your home with you. These creatures will find their way inside through cracks in walls, access from crawlspaces, and holes in window screens or weather stripping. They will invade your home, causing varying degrees of damage throughout their stay.
"A good reason to clean up your vegetable and fruit production areas in fall to minimize insect pest overwintering sites." – University of Nebraska Lancaster Extension
Hibernation
Overwintering can be accomplished in several different forms- as adults, pupae, larvae, nymphs or eggs. Which insects survive in each stage varies greatly. For example, dragonflies overwinter as nymphs while wasps overwinter as adults. In all cases, they will find (or be laid in) a warm, safe place and enter a dormant state in which their body temperature drops and their metabolic rate slows down.
Freeze Tolerance
There are a few species that can tolerate freezing temperatures in other ways. Honeybees, for example, vibrate their wings to raise temperatures in their hives or hollow trees. Some insects can control where the cold will impact them, keeping ice crystals away from their organs and tissue and allowing them to thaw unharmed in warmer temperatures.
There are some insects that can actually change their body chemistry, essentially turning themselves in to antifreeze in the winter. They create glycerol which acts as antifreeze in their bodies, protecting them from the colder temperatures.
Active All Year
There are some insects that stay active all year, though these are generally confined to aquatic insects that can live in non-adult forms in areas of water that don't freeze all the way to the bottom, such as fast moving streams. These are rarely seen through the winter due to their habitat and generally not a concern for homeowners.
Keeping Your Home Safe In The Winter
Most of these insects' survival strategies can become problematic for homeowners in Virginia. We don't have swarms of insects migrating into our area, but we do need to be aware of the insects that are both active and inactive in the winter, as they can invade living spaces and lay eggs that will become a nuisance or a danger in the spring.
Additionally, most of these pests will become active as the weather heats up, which means that when we get that random warm day in January, as we often do in Richmond, those bugs will come out to enjoy the warmth also. Because of our weather patterns in Central Virginia, we cannot rely on the cold to keep the bugs at bay consistently throughout the season. Maintaining a year-round home pest control barrier will be the best protection for keeping your home, pets, and family safe throughout the winter and into the spring.
Call us today! Don't wait until you've got a major issue in the spring. Remember, prevention is always better than treatment.
To learn even more about common Virginia pests, check out our pest library
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