Pest control in Los Angeles, from the irrigated flats to the canyon edge

What pests are most common in Los Angeles?

The pests that define Los Angeles are Argentine ants, pocket gophers, roof rats and drywood termites, followed by roaches and bed bugs in dense multi-unit buildings. Most of them are tied to irrigation, mild weather and the age of the housing, not to one neighborhood.

Many of these pests leave early signs. Catching them at that point usually means a smaller, simpler job, and it helps to describe the sign when you call.

• A glossy line of tiny brown ants on a counter or around a sink in July: Argentine ants looking for water.
• Crescent or horseshoe mounds of loose soil in a lawn or flower bed: pocket gophers.
• Scratching in the attic at dusk, gnawed citrus or avocados still on the tree: roof rats.
• Tiny six-sided pellets under attic framing or fascia, or winged insects on a windowsill: drywood termites.
• Roaches in a kitchen or a restaurant back corridor: cockroach control or commercial pest control.
• Bites or small stains on a mattress in a rented unit: bed bug treatment.

How do the dry season, Santa Ana winds and winter rain affect pests in Los Angeles?

Los Angeles has a long dry season, Santa Ana winds from October to March and a short wet winter. July and August each average under 0.05 inch of rain, so ants look for water indoors, while storms between November and April push them in out of the wet.

The city's official weather station sits near downtown, on the south side of Dodger Stadium, and the National Weather Service normals for 1991 to 2020 put July and August under 0.05 inch of rain each. Irrigated yards are the only reliably wet places in that stretch, and pests move toward them.

Use the table as a rough guide, then open the month-by-month pest calendar. Timing shifts from year to year, so treat each line as a tendency, not a date.

How do hillsides, canyon edges and older homes change pest problems in Los Angeles?

Where you live changes what you see. Hillside gardens with drip lines suit gophers and ants, canyon-edge streets bring wildlife that sealing can only keep out of the structure, and older wood-framed houses give drywood termites dry framing to live in.

Silver Lake and Echo Park are dense hillside neighborhoods with steep slopes and narrow streets, and irrigated slopes keep soil workable for gophers. Older houses in Highland Park-Garvanza, the largest historic district in the city with about 2,500 structures, and in Pasadena's Bungalow Heaven, which has more than 800 homes from 1900 to 1930, have decades of attic and fascia wood that termites can reach.

In the Hollywood Hills and the Verdugo Mountains, coyotes, skunks, raccoons and opossums share streets with people. A technician can seal gaps in the building. The animals themselves are a matter for wildlife agencies, covered in the guide on who to call for coyotes and raccoons.

• Highland Park, South Pasadena and Pasadena: Craftsman bungalows with original attics and fascia.
• Silver Lake and Echo Park: hillside lots, ivy-covered banks and irrigated terraces.
• Hollywood, Studio City and Glendale: canyon-edge streets with wildlife around the roofline.
• Hancock Park and Leimert Park: 1920s period-revival houses with tile roofs and mature landscaping.
• Koreatown, Boyle Heights and downtown: apartment buildings and restaurants where roaches and mice are a year-round call.

Which pest problems are handled by a technician and which by a district or agency?

A technician handles ants, roaches, rodents, termites and sealing work on a building. Vector control districts treat public-health pests such as mosquitoes in public water, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife governs coyotes, raccoons and skunks. Knowing the split saves a wasted call.

The Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District covers 37 cities and parts of the unincorporated county, including the City of Los Angeles, and treats mosquitoes, midges and black flies for free. It does not control rodents. Rodent questions there go to the Los Angeles County Vector Management Program at (626) 430-5450. Which district serves your address is covered in the vector control district guide.

For wildlife, California Department of Fish and Wildlife advice is to remove food, water and shelter, use tight-fitting lids and lock pet doors at night. Relocating nuisance raccoons and skunks is illegal. Los Angeles Pest Control does not trap, remove or relocate any wildlife; the work is limited to sealing entry points on the structure.

Do I need fumigation, local treatment or just an inspection for termites?

It depends on what the inspection finds. A limited drywood infestation can sometimes be handled by replacing wood or treating the spot, while a widespread one may call for whole-structure fumigation, which California licenses as its own branch. An inspection report comes first.

UC Integrated Pest Management notes that drywood termites are hard to detect and rarely seen until they swarm, so the sign is usually pellets: small hexagonal droppings pushed out of kickout holes. A technician looks at attic framing, rafters, fascia and exposed trim, then explains the options.

California's Structural Pest Control Board licenses structural pest work in three branches: Branch 1 fumigation, Branch 2 general pest and Branch 3 termite. Start with a termite inspection if you are buying or selling, and read about fumigation and subterranean termites before you decide. The drywood versus subterranean guide compares them.