Common Georgia Pests
By Mark Sargent, President of High Priority Pest Services · Updated October 7, 2026
This is a plain-language reference to the pests we actually get called about across central and eastern Georgia — what each one is, how to tell it from the thing people confuse it with, what genuinely works against it, and what does not. Where the honest answer is that you do not need to hire anybody, the page says so.
If you are not sure what you have found, call or text a photo to (470) 474-2847 and we will tell you what it is.
Ants and Roaches
Carpenter Ants
They do not eat wood, they hollow it out — and they choose wood a leak has already ruined. How to tell them from termites, and why the water matters more than the ants.
Fire Ants
You do not eliminate fire ants in Georgia, you manage them. Why the mound is not the colony, and why bait timing is the whole game.
German Cockroaches
The hardest routine pest problem there is. Why foggers make it worse, and why this is never a one-visit job for anybody.
American and Smokybrown Roaches
The big ones. They come from the yard, the gutters and the crawlspace — not from your housekeeping — and spraying indoors does almost nothing.
Spiders and Stinging Insects
Black Widows and Brown Recluse
Georgia has two spiders worth knowing. One of them probably is not in our part of the state, and most reports of it are something else.
Paper Wasps, Yellowjackets and Hornets
Identify it by the nest, not the insect. Includes the one mistake that sends a wall-void colony into the house.
Ticks and Fleas
Ticks
Most tick advice leads with Lyme. In Georgia that is the wrong lead — and the tick you are most likely to meet here carries something most people have never heard of.
Fleas
Why seeing fleas again two weeks after treatment is normal biology rather than a failed job, and why a house with no pets can still have them.
Moisture and Stored-Food Pests
Silverfish, Earwigs, Centipedes and Millipedes
All four are moisture insects. Finding them regularly indoors is telling you something specific about the structure.
Pantry Pests
Usually not a treatment at all. They arrive sealed inside the packaging, and insecticide is close to the worst response.
Where This Applies
We are based in Eatonton on the Lake Oconee corridor and work across central and eastern Georgia — the Lake Country, the I-20 corridor toward Augusta, the Athens area and the eastern side of metro Atlanta. Everything on these pages is written for Georgia conditions specifically, because seasonality and species mix here do not match advice written for a national audience.
Recurring protection against most of what is on this page is handled under the Priority Pest Management Plan. Wood-destroying insects are covered separately under termite protection with Sentricon.
Not Sure What You Are Dealing With?
Call or text High Priority Pest Services at (470) 474-2847. Tell us what you are seeing and where, and we will tell you what is likely driving it. Service is available within 24 hours, and our work is backed by the High Priority Promise: if pests return between scheduled visits, so do we, at no extra charge.
Schedule Pest Service
Tell us what you’re seeing and we’ll get back to you within 24 hours. Office hours are Mon–Sun, 8AM–6PM — and we’re available 24/7 for urgent problems, so call (470) 474-2847 if it can’t wait.
Where we treat this
High Priority treats this pest across the Lake Country, including Eatonton, Lake Oconee, Greensboro, Madison and Milledgeville. See all areas we serve, our current prices and the Georgia pest calendar.