Many unwelcome animals visit or make their home in residential buildings, industrial sites and urban areas. Some contaminate foodstuffs, damage structural timbers, chew through fabrics or infest stored dry goods. Some inflict great economic loss, others carry diseases or cause fire hazards, and some are just a nuisance. Control of these pests has been attempted by improving sanitation and garbage control, modifying the habitat, and using repellents , growth regulators, traps, baits and pesticides
Ants
The most common species of ant is the black garden ant. A highly organised and social insect, a colony will nest and include worker ants which are attracted to sweet food. Ants may cause contamination to food and preparation areas.
Bedbugs
Bedbugs are small, oval, brownish insects that live on the blood of animals or humans. Adult bedbugs have flat bodies about the size of an apple seed. After feeding, however, their bodies swell and are a reddish colour. Bedbugs may enter your home undetected through luggage, clothing, used beds, sofas and other items. Their flattened bodies make it possible for them to fit into tiny spaces, about the width of a credit card. Bedbugs do not have nests like ants or bees, but tend to live in groups in hiding places. Bedbugs live solely on blood. Having them in your home is not a sign of dirtiness; you are as likely to find them in immaculate homes and hotel rooms as in filthy ones.
Cockroaches
There are two types of cockroach found in the UK, the Oriental cockroach and the German cockroach. Cockroaches will feed on almost anything, from food to faecal matter. They are commonly found in kitchens and heating systems. They prefer warm moist conditions and they reproduce rapidly; a German cockroach can produce up to 240 eggs per month. They can spread bacteria and usually indicate that food preparation areas are not clean. Germs can be spread from the body of a cockroach or from their droppings. They can carry dysentery, gastroenteritis, typhoid and food poisoning organisms. Contamination occurs when the cockroaches come into contact with food.
Fleas
Fleas are external parasites, living off the blood of mammals and birds, and include cat/dog fleas, human fleas and rat fleas. Beside the problems posed by the flea itself, they can also act as a vector for disease, for example, they can transmit a variety of viral and bacterial diseases to humans and other animals. Cat/dog fleas are not thought to transmit any serious illness to humans but they can cause severe irritation.
Wasps and bees
Wasp nests are normally built in sheltered spots, with easy access to outside. They can be found in areas such as wall cavities, roof spaces and under eaves. They can grow to around the size of a football as the summer progresses. Only female wasps sting, but they can do so repeatedly. Honeybees live in colonies often greater than 30,000 in roof and wall cavities, and hollow trees. They swarm in early summer. They have a barbed sting and die once this is used but will sting when provoked. Untreated infestations can cause contamination of food, harm to mortar and building fabric, and threats of stings. Some people may experience anaphylactic shock on being stung and will require prompt treatment.
Flies
Whether they are blue bottle or fruit flies, these pests carry a wide variety of diseases such as food poisoning and dysentery.
Moths
The two moths most commonly found in UK homes doing damage to natural fibres are the common clothes moth (Tineola bisselliella) and the case-bearing clothes moth (Tinea pellionella). It is the immature larvae, rather than the adult moths, that cause the damage to natural fibres such as woollen clothing, upholstery and carpets. Females lay eggs within natural fibres, which hatch between 4 and 10 days in summer months and up to three weeks in colder weather.
Pesticide fogging is a quick and effective way to control insect populations in high-activity areas. The fogging machines release a fine pesticide mist into the air, quickly killing insects on contact.
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Video of a Bedbug feeding
Video of wasps entering there nest