Insect control
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An infestation of insects inside your home is not only a nuisance but can also cause great discomfort through biting and stinging. Although many insect are mostly active during the summer months, there are few persistent offenders that thrive all year round. An experienced BPCA/RSPH Qualified technician will visit you at your property to carry out a full inspection to determine the level of the infestation and establish possible route causes. Once all facts have been logged, we will then carry out a treatment plan best suited to the environment and discoveries.
Insect carry diseases
Insects, can easily contaminate food and work surfaces with their excreta, hairs or body parts. These are potential pathogens that can be passed on to humans causing illness such as Salmonella and Gastroenteritis.
From the common garden ant, right through to the more complexed bed bug, we've got you covered
What next?
Once you have decided that you need help please do contact R D Pest and Property Management
Tel: 01842829964 Mob: 07795841831
Email: [email protected]
What to expect on your visit
- Prior to any visit you will receive preparation instructions, so that your home is ready for the chosen treatment.
- An experienced qualified technician will visit your home and carry out an inspection to in some cases confirm the identity of the intruder before deciding the most efficient and safe treatment plan.
- You will receive a written report on the work carried out with all recommendations and advice to adhere to.
- For some treatments a 2nd visit is required and will be arranged with you on the day of your first visit
Identify Your Intruder
See Your Usual Suspects Below
Ants The commonest species that invades houses is the Black Garden Ant, which is actually very dark brown. All ants have the main divisions of the body (head, thorax, abdomen) distinctly separated by very narrow waists and have a sharp elbow joint in their antennae. They are highly organised social insects. It is the foraging worker ants that invade buildings in search of food. These are from 3 to 5mm in length and are attracted to sweet foodstuffs which they take back to the nest to feed to the larvae and queen.
Habitat Black Garden Ants nest mainly in dry soil and humus. Although their nests are most often noticed in gardens – in flower beds, lawns, and under paving stones – they are also common in dry grasslands and heaths.
Diet
Black garden ants eat anything from leftovers, soft fruits, seeds, to other small insects. They can also frequently be seen farming honeydew farmed from aphids around gardens and vegetation.
Bed Bugs This common pest once associated with unhygienic surroundings is prevalent due to a number of reasons, including increased travel, the use of second-hand furniture, and suspected tolerance to some pesticides. These bugs still occur with regularity, particularly in multi-occupancy buildings with rapid resident turnover, for example, hostels, hotels, holiday camps and blocks of flats.
Appearance Adult Bed bugs resemble a small brown disc, measuring up to 6mm in length. It is wingless but the legs are well developed and it can crawl up most vertical surfaces. Their elongated eggs are cemented in cracks or crevices close to the hosts (which for Bed bugs are humans). The early stages of the Bed bug (nymphs) are tiny making them hard to detect with the naked eye.
Characteristics Bed bugs can usually be introduced to your property as they attach to luggage, bags, and clothing. Bed bugs may also be introduced through second-hand beds, furniture, and possessions.
Bed bugs can also travel from one room to another in search of food, or, after mating. Sometimes this may be a neighbouring property which then can create new infestations throughout multi-occupied premises.
Diet Bed bugs need to feed on the blood of a human host. However, in some cases, they can survive up to a year without feeding.
Cockroaches are distinguished by their very long whip-like antennae, flat oval bodies and rapid, jerky walk. The adult German Cockroach is a light yellowy/brown and is 10 to 15mm long. The Oriental Cockroach is dark brown/black and is 20 to 24mm long. Immature stages of Cockroach, look exactly like adults, just on a smaller scale.
There are two main species of cockroach in Britain, Oriental and German Cockroaches.
Characteristics The German Cockroach carries its egg case until the 30 or more nymphs are ready to hatch. The Oriental Cockroach deposits its 13mm long egg capsule on packaging, sacking or in suitable dark crevices before the 16 to 18 nymphs hatch around 12 weeks later. They grow in stages, from nymphs to maturity in 6 to 12 months for the Oriental Cockroach, and 6 to 12 weeks for the German Cockroach.
Habitat Cockroaches are rarely able to survive out of doors in the British climate but thrive around the heating ducts and boiler rooms of large centrally heated buildings e.g. hospitals, bakeries, hotels and restaurant kitchens, and blocks of flats. They cluster around pipes, stoves, and sinks, especially in humid areas, and will often remain hidden during the day.
Cockroaches will feed on almost anything, including refuse, faecal matter and food for consumption. They also require access to water and will be generally found in inaccessible harbourages, close to water and food. Cockroaches can survive for several months without food, but will not live for more than a few days without water.
Fleas The most common species of flea in the UK is the Cat flea Ctenocephalides felis. They are an extremely common pest whose primary host is domestic cats, but are known for readily biting humans and dogs too.
The Dog flea Ctenocephalides canis can also use a variety of mammals as a host, but primarily targets dogs and cats.
Appearance Appearance differs only very slightly for different types of flea, and often only trained professionals are able to spot the difference under a microscope.
As a group, adult fleas are wingless, flattened laterally (enabling them to move easily through fur) and vary in colour from grey to dark mahogany.
Most species have backwardly directed spines, which are designed to help them grip onto their host.
Adult Dog fleas are on average 2mm in size and brownish-black in colour (appearing to be more reddish-black after a blood meal).
Adult Cat fleas are generally bigger, on average 3mm in size.
Habitat Fleas can live on any warm-blooded animal but are often found to be living on humans, domestic animals and rodents.
When not feeding on a host, fleas are mainly active in communal rooms, places where pets sleep and wherever there is most activity.
Fleas and their eggs can be commonly found in soft furnishings which provide plenty of insulation, such as carpets, pet bedding, clothes and upholstered furniture.
If you have an active infestation, you may see fleas jumping in your carpet and furniture.
Diet Adult fleas feed on the blood of humans and animals; females need this in order to produce viable eggs.
The larval stages have mouthparts for chewing. They feed on detritus, dust and animal protein, such as dead skin and feathers.
Moths A moth is a type of winged insect which ranges in size from very small at 2 mm to rather large at 300 mm across. There are roughly 165,000 species in the world. Many species of moths are household pests.
The most common moth to infest a home is the (Common Clothes Moth)
The Common Clothes Moth belongs to a particular family of the Lepidoptera known as the Taeniidae – the fungus moths, which mainly feed on detritus, fungi and lichens. The larvae of clothes moths are adapted to feed on natural fibres and were once considered a significant pest to home furnishings and stored fabrics. With the increased production of synthetic fibres, the common clothes moth is now less frequent, however woollen clothing, upholstery, carpets and furs risk infestation.
Appearance Adults have golden coloured wings which are held back behind the body. Both fore and hind wings have a fringe of hairs along the margins, no pattern and a wingspan of 12-17mm. The head is coated with reddish hairs. Larvae can reach 13mm and are white with a hardened, brown head capsule and no ocelli (simple eyes).
Habitat Thought to be native to western Eurasia, the common clothes moth is found extensively in temperate habitats throughout the world. It is associated with natural, animal fibres, such as wools, feathers and furs and is now considered an indoor insect, found in urban areas and inhabiting upholstery, clothing and carpets. Clothes moths prefer low light levels and dirty fabrics, such as carpets and rugs, which contain essential nutrients and moisture for growth. Females lay eggs within natural fibres, which hatch between 4-10 days in summer months and up to three weeks in colder weather. The tiny larvae spin tunnels of silk and nearby materials which provide camouflage during the day, these can become dense mats if larvae are gregarious. At night the larvae emerge to feed, slowly damaging the materials they inhabit. The larvae have five instar stages and can take from 1 month to 2 years to fully develop, depending on conditions. They then spin cocoons and pupate for 10-50 days, developing into an adult moth. Adults have atrophied mouth parts so do not feed and will often scramble across fabrics, rather than fly, as they try to find a mate. Between 1-2 days after emergence, they mate and lay eggs.
Diet Adults do not feed, obtaining all nutrients needed for their final life stage during larval growth, and cause no damage to fabrics. Larvae can cause serious damage to tapestries, carpets and clothing, leaving trails across woollen garments and removing hair from fur coats at the base.
Queen wasps emerge and start working on new nests in the Spring, as the weather gets warmer. By the Summer months, wasp nests are working overtime, with up to 300 eggs being produced every day and up to 5,000 adults feeding grubs and building the nest structure.
In the UK you’re most likely to come across (Vespula vulgaris) and German Wasps (Vespula germanica). Both species are yellow and black striped, and have painful stings that can cause allergic reactions.
Appearance
German Wasp - Vespula germanica There are usually three small black spots (rarely one) and it is never anchor-shaped as it is in case of the Common Wasp. The antennae are black right down at the base. The thoracic stripes usually bulge in the middle and there are four yellow spots at the rear of the thorax. Characteristics The queen wasp is larger than normal wasps (about 20mm).
She hibernates over winter, making a nest in the spring in which to lay her eggs. She feeds the grubs on insects until they develop into worker wasps, three to four weeks later.
Workers, all sterile females, forage for over a mile in search of food.
At the end of the year when the colder air arrives, and fruit starts to perish quickly, wasps start to starve or die of the cold.
The adult worker wasps start to die off, and the new queen wasps go into hibernation and emerge in the spring to initiate the process again, building completely brand new nests.
One nest may produce 3,000-8,000 wasps in a year.
Habitat All wasps build nests, although they vary in their nesting preferences. A wasp habitat is a paper-like nest made from wood fibres that have been chewed into a pulp. Diet Wasps tend to eat other insects.
At their peak in August and September with the youngsters reared, the workers turn to the sweet food they prefer.
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Call: 01842 829964
Mob: 07795841831
Email: [email protected]