Silverfish are known for their destructive feeding habits and prefer to live in warm and moist spaces, like basements, crawl spaces and can often be found in the bathroom or laundry. They can survive in almost any environment and are nocturnal pests that move quickly.
Silverfish have been known to stain the items they hide in such as books, cupboards, stored clothing and wall paper.
What do silverfish look like?
Silverfish are white to brown-grey or a blue – silvery colour, their bodies are shaped like a teardrop and range from 12-19 mm in length. They have 3 long bristles on their rear end.
Where do silverfish live?
Silverfish are capable of surviving in all climates, however they do prefer to live in dark & damp areas such as basements, kitchens, bathrooms & attic spaces. They are attracted to paper goods and damp clothing. Silverfish can be found in stored boxes that are kept in sheds or garages.
What do silverfish eat?
As silverfish like to dine on anything and everything they have been known to feed on paper, clothing and even wall paper. They feed on carbohydrates, sugars and starch. It is suspected that silverfish will also feed on shampoo, glue in books, linen & dead insects. Silverfish have also been found in unopened food packages.
How did I get Silverfish?
Silverfish are usually introduced to the home by carrying them in either by cardboard boxes or plastic containers which had been stored in infested areas.
They usually enter homes through cracks in the foundation, torn fly or door screens, gaps around doors. Leaving dirty dishes out in the open will also attract silverfish indoors.
What issues can silverfish cause?
Silverfish have been linked to:
Allergies
Attract other pests
Damage to personal items
Each property, building and location is different, a customised management solution should be designed to suit your specific needs.
We would love to find out more on how we may be able to help you.
Bee Pest Control Sydney – Wasp Pest Control Sydney
Need Pest Control For bees or wasps?
Is this a bee or a wasp?
Wasps and bees can easily be mistaken for one another because both insects can give painful stings and look very similar with their black and yellow colouring.
Bees usually attack when provoked, while wasps are naturally and more aggressive predators.
Identifying the difference between honey bees and wasps is important to administer proper treatment of stings and to ensure the appropriate pest control is carried out.
Bee and Wasp Pest Control Sydney
What are the differences between a bee and a wasp?
Bee Pest Control
Bees
Fat little body
Round thorax
Fuzzy
Hairy
Robust
Flat legs
Wide legs
Loose stinger
Geometric Wax hives
Less Aggressive
Wasp Pest Control
Wasps
Slender body
Cylindrical body
Fidgeting
Smooth body
Smooth legs
Waxy legs
Multiple stinging capabilities
Papery nests
More aggressive
Bees : For more detailed information please click links below
What are bed bugs? Where are bed bugs found? How did I get bed bugs?
Need Pest Control For bed bugs?
What is a bed bug?
Bed bug Pest Control Sydney – Bed bugs probably got their name with the close association with human beds where they are often found hiding during the daylight hours. At night bed bugs come out to feed and are attracted to body heat. The bite of a bed bug is normally painless; however, about 80% of the population will develop an allergic type reaction to the bite. The bed bug bite can cause general swelling that extends beyond the area of the bite leaving no red spot at the bite point.
What do bed bugs look like?
Bed bugs are flat, reddish-brown, and somewhat oval and flat and about 5-6 mm long or the size of an apple seed. As the bed bug feeds their bodies swell and appear to be red in colour due to the blood they have injected. An unfed bed bug would usually be a cream colour.
The Young:
Small and colourless.
General body appearance of adults.
Turn red or purple when engorged with blood.
Adult:
4-5 mm long.
Reddish-brown in colour.
Wingless (oval structure in their place)
Flat, oval shaped body.
Body appears to be shiny.
Piercing/Sucking mouth parts.
Bed bug Pest Control Sydney
Where can bed bugs be found?
Bed bugs are often found hiding in Cracks and crevices including mattress seams, sheets, furniture, behind baseboards, electrical outlet plates and picture frames. Bed Bugs are often found in hotels, where they can travel from room to room and in visitors’ luggage.
What do bed bugs eat?
Bed bugs preferably feed on human blood, but they can also make use of other hosts such as bats, poultry and other birds.
How many eggs can a bed bug lay?
An adult Bed bug under normal room temperatures and with an adequate food supply, can live over 300 days. Female bed bugs deposit their eggs into cracks and crevices or on rough surfaces. The female bed bug lays one to five eggs a day and may lay 200 to 500 eggs in her lifetime.
What is the life cycle of a bedbug?
Under ideal conditions, the bed Bug cycle takes about 21 days from egg to adult. Nymphs go through 5 moults and require a blood feed before each moult. In the absence of blood meals, nymphs have been known to survive for 2 years.
What Impacts can bed bugs cause ?
Bed bugs feed on the blood of humans and other mammals.
Bed bugs are not known to transmit any diseases.
The fear of bed bug infestations and their bites has known to lead to emotional distress
Bites may result in an itchy welt that can cause discomfort and may lead to a secondary infection
Bed bug Pest Control in Sydney
Do I have bed bugs?
The real answer to this and to know 100% for sure if you have bedbugs is to see the bug itself. Not all bites are caused from bedbugs and by presuming you have bedbugs, you could be giving yourself unnecessary stress!
It is important to realise that it is not possible to provide a diagnosis simply by examining the bite, the reason being is that simply that everyone reacts differently to bites!
If you are being bitten you should consider all possible causes of the bites also taking the following questions into consideration:
Have you travelled recently?
Did the bites start after you have come home from travelling?
Has anyone stayed over that has been travelling?
Do you have pets?
Have you seen or heard any birds nesting in or around the window seals/roof cavity/balcony etc?
Bed bug Inspection in Sydney
How can I check if I have bed bugs?
If you believe you may have bedbugs you should inspect the areas marked in the image below looking for:
Rusty or reddish stains on bed sheets or mattresses
Dark spots, similar in size to this dot • which are bed bug excrement and may bleed on the fabric like a mark from a permanent marker or texta
Eggs & egg casings, which are about 1 mm, pale yellow skins that baby bed bugs shed as they grow larger.
Live bed bugs
Pay Special Attention to:
The seams of the mattress, chairs and couches, between cushions, in the folds of curtains.
Mattress Base – Bed Joints especially where the bedhead and side rails meet – Bed slats – Bed legs etc
In drawer joints
In electrical outlets & appliances.
Under loose wall paper and wall art/pictures
Where the wall and the ceiling meet
Where the wall and floor meet
Further Reading
Bedbug Treatment SydneyBed Bug Pest Control in SydneyBed Bugs in the Workplace
We would love to find out more on how we may be able to help you.
Ant Pest Control Sydney – Ants are a part of the insect family and are in fact a group of small and highly specialised wasp and have one of the most advanced forms of social life amongst the insect world. They live in colonies that vary in sizes from a few to hundreds of thousands of individuals. Ants are a unique and superior species that can administer and organise their colony, where each type of ant has a specific role to play.
What do ants eat?
Ants are omnivorous, which means they will eat a wide variety of substances including insects, sweets, oils, vegetables etc which they carry the food back to the nest where they provide food for each other, and it is because of this process of the ants carrying the food back to the nest the products Pest Control Today use for ant eradication work so well.
Why are ants classified as pests?
Ant Pest Control Sydney – There are many different species of ants in Australia and in fact there is only a small number of ant species that have become pests in and around homes and offices.
Ants travel through unsanitary areas before they end up inside. They are known to carry disease organisms which can cause dysentery, smallpox and even salmonella
Ants scavenge for food in kitchens, other food handling areas, garbage areas and even dog poo. Hence, an ant issue in your home should not be taken lightly.
Some species of ants that can sting and bite, which can even be fatal!
An Australian native found in rural and urban areas. They are often a pest of domestic environments and will build their nest in cracks or gaps, beside pathways. They generally enter the home in search of food.
Like other ant species, they will nest underground and in voids, for e.g. roof voids or wall cavities. They prefer sugary liquids and will tend to also feed on aphids and other bugs on domestic plants to feed off their sweet secretions.
Appearance
5-3mm long
Black in colour
Nuisance and scavenge in kitchens, garbage and dog excrement
Able to spread diseases such as salmonella.
Attracted to sweets
Habitat
Nest outside against paths, in rockeries and cracks & crevices.
Will nest indoors
Nests have been found in wall & ceiling cavities, doors & fences
Adults will usually run in distinct trails which can assist in finding nests.
Black droppings can sometimes be seen on floors, window sills and benches
Carpenter Ant
Carpenter Ant
Large and are often mistaken for termites, as they prefer to live in rotting and damp woo. Carpenter ants are often found eating at night, so it might not be an ant that you would see during the day, but you may see or hear evidence of their activities late at night. The carpenter ant eats insects, sweets & meat.
Appearance
Largest ant found in homes
Black to brown in colour
Can also be dark brown to brownish orange
Mandibles have 5-8 teeth
2.5mm in length
Habitat
Nest in Decaying wood
Found nesting in soil
Bull Ant
Bull Ant
Well known in Australia for their aggressive behaviour and their powerful stings. Their venom has known to induce an anaphylactic reaction to victims who have allergies to bull ant stings.
They have large eyes and long, slender mandibles. They have super vision which allows them to be able to track and even follow intruders from approx. 1 meter.
Appearance
18-20 mm
Often black or red
Very aggressive
Habitat
Nests outdoors in soil, under logs or under rocks. They also build a unique, extensive tunnel system.
Found in bushy areas (they rarely enter buildings)
They give a very painful sting.
Able to sting repeatedly.
Feeds on other insects and honeydew from scale insects or plant nectar.
Coastal Brown Ant
Coastal Brown Ant
Often nest between pavers and along pathways and will throw out soils. They can also infest wall cavities, leaving piles of debris at the nest entrance. Nests can become very large.
Appearance
Golden brown to brown in colour
Two raised nodes on pedicel.
Sting present
2 jointed waist
1.5 – 2.5mm
Soldier has enlarged darkened head
Habitat
Infests houses
stores and gardens
Eat sugar to cheese, meat & bread
They prefer to feed on fatty foods
Ant Pest Control Sydney
What are the signs of an ant infestation?
Live ants
Ant trails either internally/externally
Small heaps of dirt in the lawn or in the areas between pathing
How are ants treated?
Pest Control Today uses a product that is designed to eradicate not just the surface ants but the entire nest of ants.
Internally
A low toxic bait is placed in areas where ant trails have been seen. The ants feed from the bait and carry it back with them to the nest which is designed to kill the colony and Queen.
Externally
External ant treatments are conducted with a product called Termidor. The benefit of this product is that as ants cannot detect that the spray is an insecticide they carry it back to the nest where the chemical is transferred amongst the other ants in the colony which in turn eradicates the entire nest of ants.
How can ants be Prevented?
Ants usually come inside your home or business looking for food. They are attracted to sweet and sticky substances.
Internally
Clean up spills and food crumbs
Empty rubbish bins
Feed pets outside and wash their feed dishes daily
Store food in pest-proof containers
Rinse out jars and containers
Externally
Keep trees and shrubs near your house trimmed
clear gutters and storm drains
Look out for new ant mounds or nests around your home
Keep garbage bags sealed
Keep the lid of the garbage bin closed
Seal around doors and windows where ants could enter
Ant Pest Control Sydney
We would love to find out more on how we may be able to help you.
Need pest Control For silverfish?
Each property, building and location is different, a customised management solution should be designed to suit your specific needs.
Bee Pest Control Sydney – Wasp Pest Control Sydney
Pay Special Attention to:
