Tequesta is the northernmost town in Palm Beach County, a small and mostly residential village wrapped around the forks of the Loxahatchee River. Mangroves, boat docks, older country club yards and big shade trees set the agenda here, from no-see-ums at dusk to whiteflies on the hedge. Toro Pest Management has served South Florida since 1969, and we build each Tequesta plan around the river, the yard and the age of the house.
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River Bugs, Yard Bugs and House Bugs: What Tequesta Homes See
No-See-Ums
These biting midges are the pest Tequesta visitors remember. Their larvae need wet ground, and UF/IFAS names mangrove swamps, salt marshes and muddy shorelines among their habitats, all of which line the Loxahatchee. They are weak fliers, so a fan on the lanai helps, and they slip through ordinary 16-mesh screen. Adult sprays have limited value here, so we focus on honest advice about screens, airflow and timing, and on the mosquito work that does pay off.
Signs to watch for: itchy bites at dawn and dusk on calm days, with nothing visible on your skin.
Drywood Termites
Tequesta's first subdivisions went up in the late 1950s and 1960s, and older wood is where drywood termites quietly settle. They need no soil contact, so a colony can sit in roof framing, window trim or a piece of furniture for years. Spot treatment suits a small, contained colony, while several colonies in one house may call for whole-structure fumigation.
Signs to watch for: small piles of pellets on sills, shed wings after a spring swarm.
Subterranean Termites
Waterfront soil stays damp, and termites that build mud tubes want exactly that. The invasive Formosan termite usually swarms just after sunset between early April and late June, peaking in May, while the Asian subterranean termite flies earlier in the spring. Soil treatments or baiting are the usual answer, and tenting does not solve this kind of termite.
Signs to watch for: pencil-thin mud tubes on the slab, in the garage or along a seawall cap.
Whiteflies on Hedges and Palms
The county's Extension office lists three whiteflies of concern: the ficus whitefly on weeping fig hedges, the silverleaf whitefly on hibiscus, and the rugose spiraling whitefly, established along the eastern county on coconut palms, adonidia palms, gumbo limbo and black olive. Those are the plants that shade many older Tequesta yards. Our whitefly control starts with naming the right species.
Signs to watch for: sticky film on cars and pavers, black sooty mold, white spirals under leaves.
Roof Rats
Fruit trees, palms and limbs that touch the roof give roof rats a private road to the attic, and bird feeders or dropped fruit keep them fed. Boat storage and dock boxes offer quiet shelter too. Our rodent control closes gaps at the soffit and roofline, then removes the rats already inside.
Signs to watch for: scratching overhead at night, gnawed fruit, dark droppings in the attic.
Green Iguanas
Iguanas like riverbanks, seawalls and sunny lawns with hibiscus to eat. UF/IFAS notes that their burrows can damage seawalls and other structures, and it reports that West Palm Beach spent almost $2 million repairing a dam they burrowed into. Florida lists the green iguana as a prohibited species. See our wildlife services for your options.
Signs to watch for: holes along the seawall, chewed flowers, droppings on docks and pool decks.
Tequesta homeowners also call about ghost ants, which often ride in on potted plants and nest in wall voids, American cockroaches from drains and mulch, spiders around dock lights and pool cages, wasps under eaves, and chinch bugs on St. Augustine grass, which our lawn spray team handles.
From Country Club Plan to River Village: Tequesta’s Setting
Tequesta began as one developer’s idea. In 1955 Charles Martyn bought 350 acres along the north and northwest forks of the Loxahatchee and laid out about 600 home sites around the Tequesta Country Club, with a golf course designed by Dick Wilson. The village incorporated in 1957, and more subdivisions followed after Pratt and Whitney Aircraft arrived in 1958 and RCA in 1960, according to the Historical Society of Palm Beach County. The Tequesta name came from an Indigenous people of South Florida.
The village remains small. The 2020 census counted 6,158 residents on less than 2 square miles of land, and its 2022 master plan calls Tequesta predominantly residential. It lies just south of Jonathan Dickinson State Park and the Martin County line, and its territory reaches from the river’s northwest fork east to the ocean on Jupiter Island. Tequesta Drive is the main east-west street, tying Old Dixie Highway and the Florida East Coast Railway corridor to US-1.
Water shapes daily pest pressure. The Loxahatchee was designated a federal Wild and Scenic River in 1985, and the Loxahatchee River District describes its mangrove swamps and a brackish mix where river water meets the tides coming through Jupiter Inlet. That is lovely to live beside and very good for biting midges. Add National Weather Service normals of more than 60 inches of rain a year at Palm Beach International Airport, the nearest long-term record we checked, with June, August and September the wettest months, and yards rarely dry out for long.
Tequesta Homes: Older Yards, Docks and Lanais
Tequesta homes vary more than the village’s size suggests. Early country club houses sit under mature trees and may need a careful look in the attic. Waterfront homes add docks, seawalls and boat lifts to the inspection. Newer enclaves bring tile roofs, screened pools and irrigated landscaping, where ants and whiteflies tend to be the first complaints.
We start every residential visit with a free inspection and walk the property the way pests do: along the water, up the trees, across the roofline and through the garage. You get a straight answer on what we found, what can be treated, and what is better handled with a screen, a pruned limb or a fixed sprinkler head. Regular service keeps the home protected through the seasons. Under our 110% Satisfaction Guarantee, if the bugs come back, so will Toro, at no additional cost to you.
Selling or buying on the river? Ask about a termite inspection before closing. Damage from either kind of termite can stay hidden behind trim, paneling and dock-side storage rooms, and a look before the deal closes costs far less than repairs after it.
Tequesta Through the Year: A Pest Planner
| Months | Showing up in Tequesta | Smart move |
|---|---|---|
| December to February (dry, cooler) | Roof rats seeking attics, ghost ants trailing indoors, whiteflies on palms | Cut limbs back from the roof and check new potted plants before bringing them in. |
| March to June (swarm months) | Asian subterranean termites early, Formosan swarms from April with a May peak, drywood flights | Dim dock and porch lights on swarm evenings and keep a few wings for identification. |
| April to September | Chinch bugs on St. Augustine lawns, fire ant mounds, iguanas digging | Watch for yellow patches near pavement and fresh holes along the seawall. |
| June to September (wettest stretch) | Mosquitoes in bromeliads and boat covers, no-see-ums on calm evenings | Dump standing water each week and run a fan on the lanai at dusk. |
| August to November (peak storm months) | Rodents and wildlife pushed out of wet ground, mosquito surges after flooding | Walk the seawall and roofline after a storm and clear debris soon. |
Keeping Tequesta’s Shopping Centers Pest-Free
Business in Tequesta runs along a short list of corridors. Gallery Square North and South anchor the Village Center on Tequesta Drive at Seabrook Road. The Fashion Mall and Village Square Shopping Center sit near US-1, and County Line Plaza and the shops around County Line Road serve the north end. Concrete and construction-materials yards operate near the railway south of Tequesta Drive. Older strip centers with shared walls and several owners can pass a roach or rodent problem from one tenant to the next, so a building-wide plan works better than one store acting alone.
Our commercial pest control serves:
- Restaurants and food service in the village’s shopping centers, with cockroach, fly and rodent programs.
- Retail stores and offices along US-1 and Tequesta Drive.
- Property management companies, condominium boards and shopping center owners.
- Schools and preschools.
- Local government buildings and recreation facilities.
Each account gets written service reports and visits timed around business hours. Our technicians learn their trade at the TORO Institute at our Miami headquarters, under the on-staff entomologists who lead its food safety, sanitation and pest management classes.
Four Steps to a Pest-Free Tequesta Property
- Walk the propertyWe inspect your Tequesta home or business for free, including the attic, the yard and any dock or seawall, to find pests and their sources.
- Sort what can be fixedWe explain what treatment will solve, what screens or pruning will solve, and what a one-time or ongoing plan would cover.
- Treat with the river in mindWe target nests, entry points and harborage, following label directions on every product, with extra care near the water.
- Come back if neededUnder our 110% Satisfaction Guarantee, if the bugs come back, so will Toro, at no additional cost to you.
Why Tequesta Neighbors Call Toro
- In South Florida since 1969. Dr. Jose Perez Linares founded the company, and the third generation runs it today.
- Entomologists on staff, which matters for look-alikes such as whitefly species and termite swarmers.
- A guaranteed response within 24 hours.
- $25 off the first service for new customers, after a free first inspection.
- Hablamos Español. Talk to us in whichever language you prefer.
Free inspection and $25 off your first service in Tequesta.
Schedule Your Free InspectionTequesta Homeowners Ask Us
Do you cover all of Tequesta?
Yes. We serve the village in ZIP code 33469, from Tequesta Country Club, Turtle Creek and Tequesta Pines to the riverfront streets and the shops along Tequesta Drive and US-1. Response within 24 hours is guaranteed.
Why are no-see-ums so bad near the Loxahatchee River, and can you get rid of them?
Their larvae develop in wet mud in places like mangrove swamps, marshes and shorelines, so a river full of mangroves gives them plenty of room. UF/IFAS is candid that spraying for adults is inefficient, because new midges keep drifting in from breeding sites. They bite most around dawn and dusk and on calm days, and they pass through standard 16-mesh screen. Finer screen, moving air from fans, and repellent before you go outside help the most. We can look over your lanai and tell you what is worth doing.
My Tequesta house dates from the 1960s. Should I worry about termites?
Have it checked. Many homes here were built when the village was young, and older wood frames, trim and attics have had decades of exposure to drywood termites. Riverfront lots with damp soil are also suited to subterranean termites. Our inspection covers the attic, slab edge, garage and any wood near the dock or seawall.
Could my boat bring termites to the house, or the other way around?
Boats are a real pathway. A 2025 University of Florida study pointed to recreational boats as a major way invasive termites move, and UF/IFAS notes that swarming Formosan termites are drawn to lights, which can lead them to structures or boats. If you see winged insects near dock lights in spring, save a few for identification.
Iguanas are digging along my seawall. What are my options?
Call us before the burrows spread. UF/IFAS reports that iguana burrows can damage seawalls and other structures. Our wildlife service looks at the burrows, the plants that draw them and the options that fit your property.
Is the first inspection free, and can I speak with someone in Spanish?
Yes to both. The first inspection is free for homes and businesses, new customers get $25 off their first service, and Hablamos Español. Call 305-594-4767 or fill out the Free Inspection form on this page.
Neighbors of Tequesta We Also Serve
Toro also serves the communities around Tequesta:
Last updated: November 2, 2026
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If the bugs come back, so will TORO, at no additional cost to you. TORO responds within 24 hours, guaranteed, and our technician will arrive quickly and deal with the pest problem to prevent it from coming back.
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