Abate Pest Control Services

Ants

The common garden ant is 2 to 3mm long and shiny black. The queen ant lays a variable number of eggs, 3 to 4 weeks later legless grubs hatch, 3 weeks later the larvae mature, 2 weeks after pupation adult ants emerge. In late summer winged and mature males leave the nest and mate. The male dies whilst the females find new nests. Many thousands of ants live in a nest in a social hierachy. Sweet spillages attract ants to a wide range of locations.

Bedbugs

During the day bed bugs live in cracks and crevices but they come out at night to feed on their host including humans. The bites can become very inflamed and sensitive. These creatures have also been associated with over 25 diseases although a direct link has not been proven. They are prolific breeders who lay up to 500 eggs in a lifetime.

 

Life Cycle - The female bedbug will not lay eggs until she has fed on blood. She will deposit 4 to 8 eggs in the fur of the host animal, or its bedding.

Bees and Wasps

There are different types of bees and wasps in the UK and generally they do not cause a problem. However, when they nest in your loft or chimney stack they can be a big problem. The Honey Bee colony is made up of one queen, thousands of workers and a few hundred drones. The queen lays the eggs. The workers, which live only a short time perform different tasks. The queen measures 16 to 20mm. The workers 12 to 15mm and the males 14 to 18mm. The Honey Bee is golden brown and black with pale orange/yellow rings on the abdomen. Because Honey Bees survive winter conditions, active nests will continue to expand. Their presence in places like chimney stacks, roof voids and cavaties can cause many problems.

 

The Bumble Bee is a big fuzzy insect and are black and yellow in colouration. They are around 20mm or more in length. Their nests are much smaller than that of the Honey Bee, the nest, containing only a few hundred bees is abandoned at the end of the summer. They usually nest in the ground, vacated mouse nests, amongst rubbish and also wall cavaties.

The Mason/Mining Bee. There are several hundred species of different solitary bees, these all play an important role as pollinators. They live alone but sometimes thousands of solitary bees gather in a small area and build their nests together. It nests in holes and cracks in wood, stonework and defective masonary.

 

The Common Wasp are distinctive yellow and black insects that live in large structured colonies inside papery nests. They are seasonal, mainly active between July and late October. The queen emerges from hibernation in mid April and by late summer the colony reaches 3 to 5 thousand. They favour bakeries, food processors, jam and drink factories and confectioners.

Life Cycle (wasps) - Queen emerges in mid-April, constructs up to 20 chambers and lays eggs in each one. Sterile female workers hatch and by late summer the colony reaches 3,000 to 5,000. Males and young queens are produced in the late summer.

Cockroaches

There are numerous forms of cockroaches but the most common to the UK are the German and Oriental. They are abundant breeders, the female can lay upto 8 egg capsules containing 30-40 eggs in her short lifetime. They are active at night and if they are seen foraging during the day it is a sign of a serious infestation.

 

Life Cycle - They produce 4 to 8 eggs per female, each containing 30 to 40 eggs. Incubation is approximately 17days at 30C. Their life span is 128 days for males and 153 for females.

Fleas

After every feed the female will lay up to 8 eggs. The eggs will then fall into the bed of the host animal. The larvae develop after roughly 10 days and feed on the faeces of the adult fleas which contain dried bits of blood. Once they reach maturity they seek a host for a full meal. They will feed of humans as well as pets.

 

Life Cycle - The female flea will not lay eggs until she has fed on blood. She will deposit 4 to 8 eggs in the fur of the host animal, or its bedding. A cats bedding can support upto 8,000 pre-adult fleas and several thousand adult fleas. The eggs fall away and in a few days hatch into tiny worm like larvae. They feed on organic material, such as adult flea feaces and bits of dead skin and hair. After 2 to 3 weeks they develop cocoons to pupate in. After another week adult fleas emerge, however, they can remain dormant in the cocoons for months if the conditions are not right.

Silverfish

These creatures are shiny grey in colour, torpedo shaped with long antennae and are normally about 10mm long. In the UK they are found in dark, moist, warm conditions such as in bathrooms and kitchens and areas of high humidity. They thrive on tiny scraps of food, preferring foods such as bread and flour.

Life Cycle - 100 eggs laid over 2 to 3 months in cracks and crevices. There are 10 nymphal stages, adult hood is reached at approximately 1 year.

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