Ants
Ants are social insects which live in nests. The nests vary in size depending on their age and the species of ant. They are generally found in the ground, in wood or under rocks, although ants can also nest in walls, fireplaces, under paths and in buildings. They are most active from October to March.
Ants are a very successful insect group with over 1200 species. All species can be beneficial to the environment. Some eat insect pests such as termites, their nests improve the soil, they quickly recycle nutrients back into the soil and they are food for a wide range of native birds, reptiles and other small animals.
Although ants are environmentally important, some can also be pests to people. Their nests and the ants themselves may be considered unsightly and they may kill or damage seeds or seedlings. Some ants bite or sting, eg. the bull ant.
Bed Bugs
Bed-bugs are usually found in unhygienic conditions inside bedrooms as their name implies. They have a flattened appearance before a blood feed and are about five millimetres long with the look of a rather wide flea, reddish brown in colour. They hide under the buttons and in creases of old mattresses, behind wallpaper, skirting boards and cracks in the floor. They are wingless so they can?t fly or jump like the flea. They are active during the night and have been known to drop from ceilings onto beds. They can survive without a blood feed for up to a year. Bites can cause welts to appear on the skin with three rows of puncture marks being characteristic. Itchiness and irritation affect some people more than others. A nuisance pest, generally harmless.
Bees & Wasps
Bees are most active during the warmer months of the year. They invade houses in order to establish new colonies and to
shelter. Scout bees will fly around a building, looking for entry points.
Usually these are holes in the mortar of brick walls, in ventilation holes (weep
holes) and under tiles on roofs etc. They do not fly far from a previous colony
and it is not unusual to see a swarm of bees settle onto a house in just a few
seconds.
This is why bee jobs are considered to be an emergency as many
people are allergic to their stings, some severely. They are not naturally
aggressive except when defending an established hive. People normally get stung
by bees when they step on, lean on or pick them off their clothing. Walking
within their flight path can agitate them, as will fast and jerky movements near
the hive.
WARNING: Treating Bees yourself can be dangerous. Call a Pest Professional to safely treat your Bee problem.
Fleas
There are approximately 70-80 species of fleas, the most common being the cat flea and the dog flea. They are
1-6mm in length and black or brown in colour. They are usually cat fleas that
their pet has deposited on the ground. All fleas are blood-sucking parasites and
they need a living host in order to survive.
Fleas are wingless insects
with a laterally flattened body, hairy with hooks on their legs to move easily
through and to grip onto the fur of their hosts.
A flea can lay up to 25 eggs in a day and over 800 in a lifetime. The eggs hatch between 5 & 14 days becoming larvae.
An adult flea can survive for over 4 months without a blood feed.
Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes are known to carry and transmit diseases although only a small number of species are considered a major concern. It is their persistent biting that is a major disruption to people. This can affect people’s outdoor lifestyles to a stage where their control is essential.
The Mosquito’s reproduction cycle relies on a water habitat with the immature stage of life being totally aquatic. The adult female will return to a water habitat to lay a batch of eggs. Most mosquitoes then stay within a two kilometre distance from their original breeding place hence mosquitoes being more of a problem along the edges of wetlands, lakes and rivers. On average a female mosquito will live for about 3 weeks with the male less than this.
Both male and female will feed on plant fluids and nectar but only the female will seek a blood meal as a source of protein for reproduction. They are attracted to people and animals by various stimuli including body odours, carbon dioxide, movement and heat. The female will then probe the skin for a blood capillary, injecting a small amount of saliva containing chemicals which prevent the person or animal’s blood from clotting.
After feeding on blood the female will find a place to rest, digesting their meal and developing eggs. They will then fly off to a suitable water habitat to lay eggs.The larvae’s development depends on the availability of food and the temparature but generally takes one to two weeks. They develop into a pupa from which the adult mosquito hatches about two days later to feed, mate and begin the breeding cycle once again.
Roaches
Pest controllers are often asked by clients "Aren't cockroaches supposed to be one of the cleanest animals because of the grooming habits?" The obviously are not because of the habits of roaming through sewers, urinals, garbage and rubbish. They consume food and faeces of man and animals, harbouring diseases such as Salmonella, Diarrhoea and Typhus. PEST SPECIES PROLIFERATION
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Rodents
Rats and mice are, next to man, the most successful animals on earth in terms of
abundance and diversity. Man has unwittingly help their spread throughout the
word by exploration and his own success. However, they have in some
circumstances become his worst enemy.
Billions of dollars each year is
lost by contamination of food by rodent droppings, urine and hair. Rodents
destroy much more food than they could possibly eat, and their chewing habits
have been responsible for causing fires.
They are so prodigious that
within a year a rat can have between thirty and eighty offspring, depending on
the species -one pair could generate fifteen thousand rats in their life span.
Rats can squeeze through a hole the size of a 10 cent piece, fall 70 feet with
no injury, tread water for 3 days, eat all sorts of food and survive an atomic
bomb test.
Silverfish
Silverfish are a small, wingless insect measuring normally 20mm or less in length. They have three tails and their body is covered in tiny silver scales. It’s name comes from it’s silvery blue colour along with it’s fish-like appearance and movements. Silverfish are commonly found outdoors under bark, rocks, leaf and plant compost, in soil and animal burrows. They also can live inside homes in dark, humid, crevice-ridden enviroments – especially bathrooms (take away these elements and it will not be able to survive). In homes they like to feed on starch rich substances such as paper, book bindings, wallpaper glue and sometimes photographs.
Spiders
The method which our company controls spiders relies upon:
- Knowledge of spider biology and
- Your awareness of how our treatment works
Female spiders may reproduce up to 300 spiderlings per hatching 2 or three
times per year, depending on their species. The spiderlings (baby spiders) are
then distributed en masse on gusts of wind on parachutes of web, or crawl to
their new home. When we treat your home, we pay attention to all the potential
spider harbourage areas including webs.
Spiders that we contact with the
spray will definitely die after a short period of time, ranging from just a few
hours up to a couple of weeks.
It is not our aim, nor is it possible to
eliminate all spiders on your property. Spiders play an important role in our
food chain and it is much more environmentally responsible to concentrate on
keeping spiders from entering your home.
No pesticidal residue that is
available on the market today will kill spiders when they crawl over it. What
will occur though, is a reduction of the spider population in your
area.
WE CANNOT ELIMINATE ALL
SPIDERS ON YOUR PROPERTY OR GUARANTEE THAT WEBS WILL NOT RE-APPEAR AFTER
TREATMENT.
What we can guarantee is that all potential
harbourage areas will be treated and spiders will die after being contacted with
the spray.
Q. How can I reduce spider populations safely around
my home?
A. By regular treatments spider populations will be reduced
to more bearable numbers. Be aware that spiders may become more active after
spraying and check boots and clothes on the washing line before
wearing.
A good idea after about one month after having your home treated
is to vacuum away webs with a vacuum cleaner. This is a safe way of cleaning up
spiderlings which may not have been contacted by the spray.
Termites
Q. What do termites look like?
A. Termites are similar in
size to ordinary black ants. They are generally pale , some with darkened heads
(soldiers). You are more likely though, to see their mud tracks or timber damage
first. Termites like to stay hidden inside timber or their mud leads. The damage
done to timber is typically in channels, or fluted.
Termites communicate by a faintly audible tapping noise made with their mandibles. When they sense danger to the nest, this noise is greatly increased in volume. By moderately thumping and listening, it is possible to locate areas of termite activity.
Subterranean Termites
Latin Name:
Order Isoptera
Appearance:
Four "castes" of a termite colony: workers are approximately 1/4-inch long, light-colored and wingless; soldiers have elongated heads with mandibles; supplementary reproductives are light-colored and wingless or have very short, nonfunctional wings.
Habit:
Live in colonies underground, from which they build tunnels in search of food; able to reach food above the ground level by building mud tubes; dependent on moisture for survival.
Diet:
Wood and other cellulose material.
Reproduction:
Different rates of growth from egg stage to adult depending on individual species; one queen per colony, which can lay tens of thousands of eggs in its lifetime, but most eggs are laid by supplementary reproductives in an established colony.