Pest Information
RODENTS
House Mouse
The House mouse is a worldwide pest of buildings. They are nocturnal creatures and are extremely inquisitive, exploring their surroundings mainly by touch as their eyesight is not particularly good.
A mouse can produce up to 80 droppings in 24 hours, so food and food reparation surfaces can easily become contaminated even when only a small number of mice are present.
Probably the most important disease that can be transmitted by mice in the UK is Salmonella food poisoning.
Brown Rat
Also known as the Norway rat, Common rat or Sewer rat. It is a worldwide pest of industrial, commercial and domestic premises. It can be a major pest on some farms, where warmth, food and a source of water are easily found. Like the House mouse, this animal is nocturnal, but the Brown rat is very wary of new objects and is said to be neophobic (fear new things). A single Brown rat may produce up to 40 droppings in 24 hours so the contamination potential of these animals is high.
Brown rats are capable of carrying several diseases, amongst which, in the UK, are Salmonella food poisoning and Weils disease (Ieptospiral jaundice).
Black Rat
Also know as the Ship rat or Roof rat. Again, this animal is nocturnal as with the other species of pest rodents. It can be found worldwide but distribution in the UK is very limited and is normally restricted to areas around large ports. It is a major pest of ships. This rat was responsible for spreading (via fleas) the Bubonic Plague throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. Fortunately in the UK, this disease does not exist, but can still be found, to some degree, in many other countries around the world.
Birds
Feral Pigeon
The Feral pigeon is wide spread throughout the country and can be a serious pest in towns and cities. Nesting on buildings and ledges, they cause large amounts of fouling and damage to buildings and vehicles. Droppings can also make pavements, steps and external fire escapes slippery.
Pigeons can transmit Salmonella food poisoning, ornithosis and fowl pest.
House Sparrow
One of the most common of the garden birds, the House sparrow is found throughout our towns and cities. Their droppings can contaminate foodstuffs and their presence often leads to the introduction of insect pests such as Dermestid beetles.
These birds may become major pests of food manufacturing sites and supermarkets, where they enter the premises through open doors and windows, often finding suitable nesting sites indoors.
Starling
Starlings are everywhere. These gregarious birds can be seen throughout the UK and flock together at dusk to roost in vast numbers. Occasionally, tree branches and power lines can break under the weight of roosting Starlings! During the winter months, the UK native Starling population is added to by millions of birds migrating from northern and eastern Europe.
Damage caused by droppings produced at starling roosts can be tremendous, and the noise and smell are overpowering.
FLIES
House Fly
A worldwide pest of homes, shops, factories, catering establishments and rubbish tips. The adults are attracted to, and breed in, decaying animal and vegetable waste. The House fly is a major health risk: a carrier of a large number of disease organisms, e.g. Salmonella food poisoning and infantile diarrhoea. Active during the day and resting at night, preferring projecting edges high up in rooms as alighting surfaces.
Lesser House Fly
The Lesser house fly is commonly found indoors, especially males, which fly on irregular triangular or square courses in rooms, usually under pendant lamps. This fly is a major pest of poultry houses and farms where it breeds in manure and other semi-liquid organic matter.
Although many species of flying insect are attracted to ultra-violet light emitted by electric fly killers, the Lesser house fly is not particularly attracted.
Bluebottle
The Bluebottle is a member of a group of flies commonly referred to as 'blowflies' on account of their habit of 'blowing' or depositing their eggs on exposed meat. They are a pest of buildings where meat is to be found: slaughter houses, canning factories, meat processors and, of course, houses. Outdoors they are associated with decaying animal matter and rubbish tips.
The female fly will enter houses with a loud buzzing noise, searching for flesh for depositing eggs on, or for food.
Beetles
Larder Beetle
The Larder beetle is one member of a group of insects commonly known as Dermestid beetles. These insects attack animal furs and feathers, and feed off meat scraps found behind and beneath units in meat processing plants, renderers, butchers, fishmongers, delicatessen counters in supermarkets and, of course, beneath and behind cookers and refrigerators in the kitchen. Dermestid beetles fly and most are attracted to ultra-violet light emitted by electric fly killers.
They are particularly important pests of museums, where collections of stuffed animals can be destroyed. In this case fumigation should be considered.
Australian Spider Beetle
Of the 400 species of spider beetles, 14 are known in the UK and the Australian spider beetle is now one of the most common and widespread pests of stored products and miscellaneous food debris. The adults avoid light and feign death when disturbed.
Spider beetles are so-called due to their appearance when viewed from above. Although all insects have only six legs, the long antennae of the spider beetles gives the impression of another pair of legs and thus of a spider.
Very common in old birds' nests, but may also be found in stores, larders and warehouses, living more as a scavenger of miscellaneous debris including a wide range of dried materials of plant and animal origin.
Booklice
Sometimes called Psocids, these insects are common resident pests in libraries, homes and warehouses; often occuring in stored foods. Psocids feed principally on microscopic moulds on damp materials (glues, books, paper, wallpaper, wood and plaster) and also live on foods with a high vitamin B content. They are common pests of new houses where wood and plaster is still damp. Despite their name, booklice do not bite.
When valuable books or other items are infested, fumigation will control booklice without damaging the articles.
Wasps and Ants
Wasps
There are six species of wasp commonly found in the UK but only two enter buildings. Wasps can be seen throughout the country but the wasp 'season' tends to be shorter in the cooler north.
Wasps build elaborate nests made from a papery substance. This is produced when workers mix wood scraped from trees, fence posts or materials scraped from dried grasses with saliva. Nests can be located hanging from trees, bushes and hedges, or beneath roof tiles, in attics, garages, etc.
A wasp nest survives only for that season as the nest dies off in the late autumn, and although they will never re-inhabit an old nest, they may build a new one directly beside an old nest. At the height of the season, there may be as many as 25,000 wasps in a very large nest!
Ants
The Black garden ant is to be found throughout the UK, particluarly where soil is of a sandy nature. It is common around homes and the workplace, the worker ants entering through cracks in brickwork and around windows in search of food.
These ants follow trails, so when a rich source of food is found, this information is communicated back to the nest resulting in large numbers of ants following a trail from the nest back to the food source. Nest openings can be distinguished by small piles of fine earth.
Although not known to carry any diseases, most people would rather discard than use food which has been fed on by ants.
Cockroaches
Common Cockroach
The Common, or Oriental cockroach, is well-established throughout the UK. These insects prefer cooler environments to the German cockroach and tend to be found deep within building fabric.
This makes infestations of the Common cockroach difficult to control, as getting insecticide to the harbourages can be difficult, if not impossible. These pests can be found almost anywhere, from kitchens to cellars, in wall cavities, around fire places, in rubbish dumps and virtually any work environment.
These insects are often confused with ground beetles.
German Cockroaches
Sometimes referred to as the "Steam fly" due to their preferred habitat of hot, moist environments. They can be a major pest of laundries, hospitals, kitchens, restaurants, bars and even blocks of flats.
They do not live deep within the building fabric, but close to the surface and although this should make them easier to control, it does not. This is due to their liking of very small harbourages (down to 0.2cm), making the location of these harbourages difficult. German cockroaches can survive quite happily inside coffee machines, under bar counters, around the door seals of refrigerators and even in sink overflows.
The large number of eggs in an egg capsule along with the relatively short hatching time can quickly produce very large infestations.