About pests
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Pharaoh Ant
This is the ant which everybody knows, the good old garden ant. It is found everywhere and no matter what you do, short of sterilising the ground which kills everything, you have just got to live with it.
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The queen can be as big as 15 mm but the worker or male is only 4 - 5 mm long. These are the flying ants which everybody associates with in middle to late summer (see above).
Ants frequently build their nests in the insulation layers of houses and from there they penetrate up into the house itself through the cracks which inevitably appear in the concrete and cement. Below is a picture showing garden ants burrowing up from the wall of a cellar, notice that they virtually separate the concrete into separate grains hence you end up with a pile of what is actually sand.
The black garden ant (Lasius niger)
1/16" inch, yellow, reddish brown, workers all same size.
Thought to have come to North America from Africa, Pharaoh ants can be an acute problem in hotels and inns as well as apartments and homes.
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The queen can be as big as 15 mm but the worker or male is only 4 - 5 mm long. These are the flying ants which everybody associates with in middle to late summer (see above).
Ants frequently build their nests in the insulation layers of houses and from there they penetrate up into the house itself through the cracks which inevitably appear in the concrete and cement. Below is a picture showing garden ants burrowing up from the wall of a cellar, notice that they virtually separate the concrete into separate grains hence you end up with a pile of what is actually sand.
German Cockroach (Blattella germanica)
It is recognised by the two dark, longitudinal stripes on the "shield" at the front of the body under which the head is located.
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Behaviour: The German cockroach is the most prolific breeder among all cockroaches. Each egg capsule can contain up to 40 eggs and development from egg to adult can occur in as little as 45 days. Like all cockroaches, it is omnivorous and will eat virtually anything people will and many things we won't.
Habitat: In homes, this pest will first locate itself in bathrooms and the kitchen, as close as possible to food and moisture sources. It spends 75% to 80% of its time resting in cracks and voids.
American Cockroach (Periplaneta Americana)
The American cockroach is the largest cockroach that infests buildings in the United States. This insect may be recognised by a yellow "figure-8" pattern on the shield at the front of its body.
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In Florida, the American cockroach is called the "palmetto bug" and it has the nickname "water bug" throughout the United States.
Behaviour: Like all cockroaches, it is omnivorous and will eat virtually anything people will and many things we won't.
Habitat: This cockroach thrives in warm, damp environments, such as sewers, steam tunnels, basements, crawl spaces, and boiler rooms. In southern states, it will also be found living and breeding outdoors.
Oriental Cockroach (Blatta orientalis)
Dark brown, about one inch long. Common outdoors, often enter buildings through sewer pipes, tend to live near the ground and in warm damp areas.
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These cockroaches eat anything, but are found often feeding on garbage, sewage, and decaying organic matter. They seem to prefer starches if available.
Adults can live up to 180 days. They are more sluggish than other species and give off distinctive unpleasant odour
Females may be nearly 1-1/4 inches long, while males are 1 inch long. The male's wings cover most of the body, while the female's shorter wings are reduced to mere lobes. Neither sex can fly, and in fact, these cockroaches do not move very fast even when disturbed. Nymph cockroaches are smaller than adults, dark brown to black, and have wing stubs without definite veins.
Cluster Fly (Pollenia rudis)
Cluster flies are close relatives of blow flies and are similar in size to house flies (3/8-inch) but are more robust in body structure.
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They are nonmetallic gray, lack stripes on the thorax (segments with the wings and legs attached), and have yellow or golden hairs on the back, behind the head, and around the base of the wings. Cluster flies appear narrow when at rest because their wings completely overlap over their backs. The larvae are typical spindle-shaped maggots but are never seen because they develop as parasites in earthworms.
House Fly (mosca domestica)
Description: 1/8-1/4" (3-6 mm). Gray with 4 black lengthwise stripes on thorax. Abdomen grey or yellowish with dark midline and irregular dark markings on sides.
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Food: Adult sucks liquids containing sweet or decaying substances. Larva feeds on moist food rich in organic matter.
Life Cycle: Female lays 5-6 batches of 75-120 oval, white eggs on moist manure or garbage. Eggs hatch in 10-24 hours. Larvae reach full size in 5 days emerging as adults about 5 days later. Males live for 15 days, females up to 26 if they have access to milk, sugar, and water.
Habitat: Near horse manure, garbage, or exposed food.
Range: Worldwide, except in Antarctica and a few remote islands.
Earwig (Eruca sativa)
Description: 3/8-5/8" (9-15 mm) including abdominal forceps. Body reddish brown to almost black. Antennae, legs, and elytra yellow. Underside yellowish brown.
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Forceps reddish brown; male's curved, female's almost straight and parallel. Short wings do not cover abdomen. Antennae have 15 or fewer segments; 2nd tarsal segment lobed beneath.
Food: Vegetables, orchard fruits, garden flowers, garbage, as well as mites and insect larvae and pupae.
Life Cycle: Female digs cup-shaped nest in upper soil, deposits mass of up to 30 oval grayish-white eggs, and stays with them until a few days after they hatch. Nymphs mature in about 10 weeks. Eggs and adults over winter in soil or under boards and stones. One or two generations a year.
Habitat: Dark damp crevices and ground litter; grasses, herbs, shrubs, trees, and even buildings.
House Mouse
Description: Grayish brown above; nearly as dark below. Tail dusky above and below; nearly hairless; less than half the body length.
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Breeding: Gestation 18-21 days; several litters per year, each of 3-16 young; reproduces through the year.
Sign: Musky odor. In buildings: small dark droppings, damaged materials, holes in insulation, and shredded nesting material; in fields: small dark droppings, small holes in the ground.
Habitat: Buildings; areas with good ground cover, especially cultivated fields. Uncommon in undisturbed or natural habitats.
Norway Rat (Rattus norvegicus)
Norway rats are originally native to northern China. Following a series of introductions, the species had found its way to Eastern Europe by the early eighteenth century.
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By the year 1800, it occurred in every European country. Records show the first sighting of R. norvegicus in the New World occur in the 1770's as ship stowaways. Today, Norway rats (a.k.a. brown rats) can be found on every continent of the world except Antarctica.
Silverfish (Lespisma saccharina)
3/8-1/2" (9-13 cm). Tapering, carrot-shaped. Silver-gray, coated with scales. Threadlike antennae and 3 tail filaments, all shorter than body. Small black eyes. Maxillary palps.
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Food: Dried cereals, flour, glue, and starch, including stiffeners used in clothing and bound books, and coated papers used in magazines
Life Cycle: Oval white eggs are dropped in a few places week after week. Eggs hatch in 2-8 weeks. Nymphs, 1/8-1/4" (4-5 mm), have the same body form as adults. In the South full size is attained in about 2 years, longer in the North.
Habitat: Indoors in warm, dry or damp places, including closets, bookcases, behind baseboards, in partitions, or in bathtubs.
Range: Worldwide in temperate climates.
This insect has a scaly covering that helps it to escape from the grip of ants and spiders. Silverfish can survive without food for months.
Bedbug (Cimex lectularius)
Background: This insect has a famous history as a bloodsucker and is named due to its tendency to feed on a bed's occupants at night.
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The bed bug primarily attacks humans but can feed on any warm blooded animal such as birds, mice, and pets.
Adults are just under a 1/4" long and are relatively flat, nearly as wide as long, and oval in shape compared to most other insects. The colour is brown to reddish brown. The body may have short golden hairs and will exude a "sickening sweet" smell from glands on its body.
Range: The bed bug is found worldwide and probably came to the US from Europe in the 17th century.
Common wasps (Vespula vulgaris)
Common Wasps nest underground and in cavities in trees and buildings.
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In addition to causing painful stings to humans, they compete with birds and other insects for insect prey and sugar sources.
They will also eat fruit crops and scavenge around rubbish bins and picnic sites.
Bumble Bee ( Bombus lapidaries)
Description: Bumble bees are members of the superfamily Apoidea. Bees form a large group of insects that are specialised for feeding at flowers and gathering honey and pollen.
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Bees, 1/8-1" (4-25 mm) long, may be black, brown, or banded with white, yellow, or orange. In many species the tongue is long and pointed, adapted for probing into flowers.
Warning: This bee stings but is not aggressive.