Amarillo · Potter and Randall counties
Pest Control in Amarillo, TX
Panhandle Pest Protection is based in Amarillo, where cold fronts, steady wind and thunderstorm season set the pest calendar. The Home Protection Plan brings a visit about every two months, all year, so service keeps pace with the weather.
Pest control built around the Amarillo calendar
Amarillo is the largest city in the Texas Panhandle, with about 200,000 residents spread across roughly 100 square miles of land in Potter and Randall counties. It is also the county seat of Potter County. Census Bureau estimates show the median Amarillo home was built in 1973, about 70 percent of homes are detached single-family houses, about four in ten households rent, and about one in five homes was built in 2000 or later. That mix of settled older houses and newer construction is what a pest plan here has to work with.
The Home Protection Plan is our year-round plan for homes. It brings six visits a year, about two months apart, and covers rats, mice, wasps, carpenter bees, spiders, earwigs, non-wood-boring ants, millipedes and centipedes, American and Palmetto roaches, stink bugs, pill bugs and silverfish. Carpenter ants, voles and exterior fleas and ticks can be added. The separate Mosquito Reduction Plan adds nine visits from March through November.
Below is how the Amarillo year tends to run, drawn from National Weather Service records and public health data, and how six visits a year line up with it.
Local conditions
How Amarillo's weather shapes pest pressure
The National Weather Service records an average of 19.71 inches of precipitation a year at Amarillo, and about three-quarters of it falls between April and September, mostly in thunderstorms. Summer highs run in the low 90s, with 100-degree days about five times a year, and winter highs average in the upper 40s. The average last freeze is April 18 and the average first freeze is October 20, which brackets the months when outdoor pests are most active.
The Texas Panhandle is also one of the windiest regions in the country, and wind speeds of 50 mph or more occur every year. Cold fronts can drop the temperature 50 to 60 degrees in twelve hours, and winter warm spells can push highs into the 70s. Those swings matter to pests: mice and rats start looking for warmth as nights cool, and wasp queens that overwinter in attics and chimneys often find their way into living spaces during warm spells.
Rain is limited on the High Plains, so the water that does collect matters. The original Amarillo townsite included a large playa lake, and the National Weather Service describes numerous shallow playa lakes across the area, often dry until storms fill them. The City of Amarillo says it treats over 100 sites around the city, focusing on public rights-of-way, parks, drainage areas and other public spaces, and that it does not spray private residences or private property. Standing water in your own yard is yours to manage, and so are the mosquitoes that breed in it.
At a glance
- Counties
- Potter and Randall
- Residents (2020 Census)
- 200,393
- Elevation
- About 3,700 feet
- Average precipitation
- 19.71 inches a year
- Average freeze dates
- Last April 18, first October 20
- Median home built
- 1973 (Census Bureau estimate for 2020 to 2024, margin of error one year)
Through the year
The Amarillo pest calendar
Timing shifts a few weeks with each year's weather, but this is how the seasons usually run and where a visit every two months fits.
Late winter to April
Wasps, carpenter bees, ants, spiders
Paper wasp queens that spent the winter in sheltered spots start new nests as spring arrives, and carpenter bees leave their winter tunnels in April and May to look for bare, weathered wood. The City of Amarillo says its own mosquito spraying typically runs from April through October, depending on the weather, and the Mosquito Reduction Plan starts in March.
May to August
Mosquitoes, wasps, ants, pill bugs, earwigs
Storms fill playa lakes, puddles and buckets, and mosquitoes use standing water. Wasp colonies keep growing through summer. Moisture-loving pests such as pill bugs and earwigs gather around irrigated beds, mulch and downspouts, and ants forage along foundations and into kitchens.
September to early November
Mice, rats, millipedes, centipedes, wasp queens
Cold fronts arrive, and rodents look for warmth and food. Millipedes and centipedes may move into homes as the weather cools, and new wasp queens leave their nests to find winter shelter, sometimes in attics. With the first freeze averaging October 20, this is the stretch to have a visit behind you.
Late November to February
Rats, mice, spiders, silverfish, American roaches
Pests that got in stay in. American roaches and silverfish favor dark, damp places such as basements, spiders settle into quiet corners, and rodents look for warm, undisturbed spaces to nest. The cold is steady, but 70-degree afternoons do happen, and they can wake wasps that overwintered indoors.
What we treat
Which services matter most in Amarillo
Most Amarillo homes start with the Home Protection Plan, because rodents, spiders, wasps and ants are concerns in every season. If mosquitoes are your main complaint, the Mosquito Reduction Plan is the option for your own property from March through November; the City of Amarillo says its own program focuses on public spaces. Carpenter ants and exterior fleas and ticks are available as add-ons to the Home Protection Plan, and ticks can also be added to the Mosquito Reduction Plan.
What our plans cover
The Home Protection Plan covers rats, mice, wasps, carpenter bees, spiders, earwigs, non-wood-boring ants, millipedes and centipedes, American and Palmetto roaches, stink bugs, pill bugs and silverfish, with a visit about every two months all year. Open any service below to see how it works.
Ant Control
Non-wood-boring ants are included in your Home Protection Plan. Carpenter ants are available as a priced add-on.
Spider Control
Spiders, webs and egg sacs around eaves, doors and windows, included in your Home Protection Plan.
Rodent Control
Rats and mice are covered by your Home Protection Plan. Voles are available as a priced add-on.
Wasp and Carpenter Bee Control
Wasps and carpenter bees on eaves, porches and wood trim, covered by your Home Protection Plan.
Roach Control
American and Palmetto roaches, covered by your Home Protection Plan with visits about every two months.
Mosquito Control
The Mosquito Reduction Plan: nine visits from March through November, with a tick add-on available.
Mosquito Reduction PlanFlea and Tick Control
Exterior flea and tick treatment, available as a priced add-on to your Home Protection Plan.
Plan add-onHousehold Pest Control
Earwigs, silverfish, millipedes and centipedes, pill bugs and stink bugs, covered by your Home Protection Plan.
Get in touch
Talk to our team
Call (806) 209-4849 or request a free quote online. Give us your ZIP code and tell us what you are seeing, and we will confirm plan options for your address.
Our team is available Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm, and closed on holidays.
Panhandle Pest Protection
- Phone
- (806) 209-4849
- Hours
- Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm
- Service area
- Pest control for Amarillo and the Texas Panhandle.
Questions
Amarillo pest control questions
Have a question that is not here? Our team is happy to help.
Call (806) 209-4849Does the City of Amarillo treat mosquitoes in my yard?
According to the city, no. It says it does not spray private residences or private property, and that its program focuses on public rights-of-way, parks, drainage areas and other public spaces with high mosquito activity within city limits. Details can change, so ask the city's Environmental Health Department what is treated near you. For your own yard, the Mosquito Reduction Plan brings nine visits from March through November. Either way, emptying anything that holds water once a week takes away places for larvae to grow.
When do mice start coming indoors in Amarillo?
Usually when nights cool in fall. The average first freeze is October 20, but a cold front can drop the temperature 50 to 60 degrees in twelve hours, so the move can start earlier. A mouse can squeeze through a gap about as wide as a pencil, so sealing around pipes, vents and door frames is worth doing before the cold. The Home Protection Plan covers rats and mice all year, and with visits about two months apart there is normally one during the fall stretch.
Why do wasp nests keep appearing in the same spot?
Paper wasps build a new nest every year, often in the same general place where the last one hung, and eaves, porch ceilings and garages are favorites. Queens that overwintered start the new nests in spring, and the colony grows through summer. The Home Protection Plan covers wasps and carpenter bees, and its visits continue through spring and summer, when nests are being built.
Are miller moths covered by the plan?
No. Miller moths, mostly adult army cutworm moths, pass through the High Plains each spring and are not among the pests the Home Protection Plan covers. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension notes that the migration usually ends in about three weeks and that the only practical steps are keeping porch lights off and sealing gaps around doors and windows.
How do visits every two months line up with Amarillo's seasons?
The Home Protection Plan runs year-round with six visits a year, so no seasonal shift, whether spring wasp nests, thunderstorm season, the fall move indoors or winter, is more than about a month from a visit. Your own schedule depends on when service starts. Request a free quote or call (806) 209-4849 and we will explain how it would work for your home.
Nearby areas
Nearby communities we serve
Panhandle Pest Protection is based in Amarillo and serves homes in the communities around it. Each area guide below covers the geography, the seasons and the pest pressure that are specific to that place.
Get a plan that fits your Amarillo home
Tell us your ZIP code and what you are seeing, and we will confirm plan options for your address. Request a free quote or call (806) 209-4849 during business hours.