Pest control in McAllen

The Structural Pest Control Act, Chapter 1951 of the Occupations Code, requires anyone doing structural pest control for hire to be licensed through TDA. Licenses come in categories, among them general pest, termite, lawn and ornamental, and structural fumigation, so match the category to the job. A company offering pest control for hire employs commercial applicators; a noncommercial applicator is licensed for pest work but isn't affiliated with a for-hire business.

TDA publishes lists of active business, applicator, technician and apprentice licenses, plus a search for pest control companies by zip code or address. Type in a McAllen zip code and confirm the company you were quoted appears.

Insurance a McAllen exterminator must carry

A licensed business must keep at least $500,000 of bodily injury and property damage coverage, with a $1,000,000 aggregate, for the whole license period. TDA also requires the policy to cover property in the company's care, custody or control, so the usual exclusion for that has to be removed. Ask for the certificate if the crew will be working inside.

Mosquitoes. DSHS reported 42 West Nile disease cases and 7 deaths in Texas in 2022, and 485 cases over the five years to then. It advises EPA-registered repellent and emptying standing water from tires, buckets, clogged gutters, toys and plant pots. Do that walk-round before a mosquito treatment, and ask the company whether its visit includes it.

Fire ants. AgriLife's preferred method has two steps: broadcast bait across the yard, then treat individual problem mounds. Spring and fall work best; in hot, dry summer months ants are less active and mounds are harder to find.

Scorpions. The striped bark scorpion is the only one of Texas's 18 species found statewide, and it hides under rocks, boards and debris. Clearing brush piles removes some of those hiding places, and McAllen's Public Works collects brush on a schedule posted through the city's 311 service. AgriLife says most stings cause only moderate reactions, though a stung person should be watched for allergic signs.

Termites. Texas A&M says Formosan termites have been found in 31 Texas counties, with more each year; they swarm at night in late May and early June and are drawn to lights. Hidalgo County is on that list, so get any winged swarmers identified.

Published figures are national. HomeGuide (January 2026) puts a one-time exterminator visit at $100 to $600, quarterly service at $80 to $150 a visit and monthly treatments at $40 to $75. Mosquito control runs $80 to $150 a visit or $350 to $1,000 a season, and HomeGuide notes it costs most in warm, humid places with long seasons.

For termites, HomeGuide (November 2025) lists $225 to $2,500 for chemical or bait treatment and $2,000 to $8,000 for tenting a whole home, with inspections from $0 to $250. Ask whether a quote is a one-off or a contract, what retreatments it includes, and how it ends. The Texas pest control guide has the full breakdown.

For an indoor treatment at a home you own and live in, the applicator must make TDA's consumer information sheet available to you. TDA provides that sheet in English and Spanish, and companies must use TDA's own form, so ask for whichever you prefer. In a rental with fewer than five units, each resident can ask for it at every indoor treatment.

Apartment complexes of five or more units must notify residents in or next to the treatment area at least 48 hours ahead, by a sign or notice at each unit. The sign must be at least 8.5 by 11 inches and list the National Pesticide Information Center hotline, 1-800-858-7378. The notice can be waived only for an emergency that threatens health, with a signed statement from the customer and applicator.

Termite reports for a McAllen home sale

A real estate termite report must be on TDA's Wood Destroying Insect Report form, unaltered, from a licensed applicator or technician in the termite category. It covers visible, accessible areas only, so hollow walls and spaces behind built-ins may go unchecked. Treatment can be recommended only for visible active infestation, or past infestation with no sign of prior treatment. Buyers can read more on McAllen real estate agents.

The McAllen guide covers brush pickup and water rules, and pest control in Brownsville is down the valley.