Pest Control News Archive 2007

Mating Interruptions For Moths
A leading food industry cleaning company is using science to disrupt moth mating cycles and prevent them contaminating chocolate bars. Hygiene Group is using pheromone technology to confuse male tropical warehouse moths, whose larvae can chew through... [more]

Home Invasion
Ants are coming in to escape the bad weather. When it's cold or rainy, they want to come inside and get warm and dry. But, when it's too hot and dry, they like to come in to cool off, too. So summer or winter, these unwanted house guests barge in and... [more]

Effective Fly Control
Effective pest control takes into account an insect's life cycle, how mobile it is, how it eats, and what it feeds on. These key characteristics are different for each of the flies that beef producers have to deal with. Proper identification of probl... [more]

Rodents on the Rise
UK households are experiencing a dramatic increase in rodent infestations. The latest figures show that during the first ten months of 2007, call-outs for pest control of rat and mice infestations more than doubled the volume received for the whole o... [more]

Control Of The Meal Moth
The main pest species of stored food include the Flour or Meal Moth, the Mediterranean Flour Moth and the Indian Meal Moth. The larvae of these and several other species feed on cereals and cereal products and frequently destroy or damage large quan... [more]

Unwanted Garden Visitors
Creating a garden is hard enough without having to deal with rodents, cats and other critters eating it. Animals can wreak havoc in a garden – munching on leaves, nibbling on flowers and overturning pots. But these critters don't have to ruin a... [more]

Little Bloodsuckers
A couple of years ago, none of the calls received were about bed bugs. People would contact us begging for their home to be rid of fleas, ants or mice. But bed bugs? Hardly ever. Until now. Decades after the tiny bloodsuckers were almost eradicated ... [more]

Contract Killer
The "joys of pest control" may sound like a contradiction in terms, but this industry is if nothing else, an interesting one – you never quite know where you're going to be from one minute to the next. Not simply something you can pick up over... [more]

Bloodthirsty Bed Bugs
The current invasion of bed bugs into North America, Australia, and Western Europe is highlighted in a new study published by the Institute of Biology, London. It's still unclear why the parasites are returning to cities where they were exterminated... [more]

Got Fleas? Get The Vacuum
Chances are, if you have ever owned a pet cat or dog, you will have encountered fleas at some point. In most situations, flea infestations are small and therefore, are one of the easier pests to eradicate. Fleas spread diseases, can transmit worms, ... [more]

Eyes Peeled For School Pests
The latest green movement experienced in our schools today includes pest control. Environmentally friendly Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs are being encouraged across the UK to tackle the problem of preventing insects and rodents from roami... [more]

Swift End To Mouse Plague
With the weather turning colder, it is inevitable that rodents will attempt to find more substantial shelter and, as a consequence, you may find that you have unwelcome visitors to your home. With so many over-the-counter products available from bai... [more]

Hasten Those Fleas Out
Fleas are one of the most common parasites caught by pet cats and dogs. Indeed, it's thought that every cat and dog will suffer an infestation at some point in their lives. Fleas are not just an inconvenience. Their saliva is considered one of the m... [more]

Pest Proof Your Home
The recent wet weather has caused the number of phone calls regarding cockroach and ant infestations to soar. When infestations do occur, the most effective method of removal is to invite your local pest control company to assess and then remove your... [more]

Good Night, Sleep Tight...
... don't let the bed bugs bite. While parents have long left their children with these seemingly benign words as they drift off to sleep, few consider the reality of bed bugs when reciting the rhyme. Yet the bugs have made a comeback across the coun... [more]

Speedy Squirrel Evictions
Grey squirrels breed in mid-December or early January (and again in early summer) and are diligently seeking a nesting site this time of year. Litters consist of one to eight kittens, and the young are weaned within two months. The territory of a gr... [more]

Second Homes Targeted
Second homeowners may find their vacation properties have become home to such crib crashing critters as squirrels, mice, birds, spiders, ants and wasps. With the purchase of holiday homes on the rise, especially those situated in natural settings, ... [more]

The Noise of Rats with Wings
As the sun sinks slowly and day turns into night, the glowing skies at dusk often carry the soft sounds of the fluttering wings of the majestic... pigeon? Oh, yes. Columba livia – the Rock Dove, or common pigeon – has found a good thing ... [more]

Victim of the Larder Beetle
Imagine the scenario... You go to your kitchen cupboard to get some dry food for your pet. As you reach for it, you notice a couple of small, dark, hairy-looking "worms" on the bag. When you look closer, you see a couple more on the shelf, away from ... [more]

Mice Heading For Home
When the weather turns cold, we aren't the only ones seeking the toasty comforts of indoors. When it gets cold outside, mice try to come inside, and they're not only looking for food – they're looking for warmth and they're looking for a good n... [more]

Rats In The Stables
While horse trainers and owners are not unaccustomed to seeing rodents in the stable environment, what with the abundant straw and open-air structure, the amount of rats taking up residency can cause health and aesthetic issues if the numbers continu... [more]

Tips For Home Pest Control
The first important step in the process of insect control is to identify the insect that is present so that the proper control procedure will be used. The internet is a great source of information, and pest control officers from you local company wil... [more]

From Great Britain To Great Bitten
Bed bugs are everywhere; and the UK is experiencing an epidemic that has seen a 500-fold increase in these egregious little parasites, something which has been largely attributed to increased mobility and warmer temperatures. No longer confined to g... [more]

Removing School Pests
Recent rat infestations across the country have nudged schools to focus on more modern methods of dealing with pests. Schools are putting together what's known in pest control circles as an integrated pest management plan, wbich relies more on buildi... [more]

Pest Management For Restaurants
The most common pest in restaurants, by and large, is the German cockroach. This is a roach that is predominately found inside homes. It is not an outside insect, and can easily be moved from area to area in boxes, in cartons, and in deliveries. A l... [more]

Watch Out For Rodents
It's getting cold, and rodents want to come indoors as much as you do. However, if they get in to your home, mice, rats and squirrels can cause hazards to both your health and your property. With ravenous appetites they will raid your cupboards, soi... [more]

Clean and Spray to Oust Cockroaches
The first thing to ensure is that your pest is actually the humble cockroach. At this time of year, crickets and other insects that resemble cockroaches like to enter homes. These look-alike insects are rather benign, but cockroaches constitute an im... [more]

Sting in the Tail
The picnic gatecrashers are back with a vengeance. Drunk, irritable and ready to cause trouble, they are amassing in greater numbers and heading for a jam sandwich near you. A warmer winter and spring coupled with a wet summer has reduced the natura... [more]

Bed Bug Epidemic
An epidemic of bed bugs is sweeping the nation, fuelled by air travel and warmer summers leading to the number of infestations soaring by 500 per cent in the last two years. Cities such as Cambridge and Peterborough have taken the brunt of the epidem... [more]

Time To Go On The Defensive
The alarm rings. You rise in the dark. You stumble into the kitchen. You flip on the light. AAAACK!!! No, not a burglar. This instant heart failure has been brought to you by a creature no bigger than a nectarine stone. Autumn is prime time for mous... [more]

The Perils of Building Management
No matter how clean, well-managed or amenity-rich a building is, insect and rodent sightings are guaranteed to put tenants on the warpath, therefore making proactive pest control a component of your building management plan is the key to avoiding thi... [more]

Sticky Sticky Sticky
Use of glue boards to trap stinging insects is really catching on at homes and sensitive accounts such as schools and churches. For most insect accounts, the best time to treat is in the evening, when most of the colony have finished their daily for... [more]

Ants Are Enemy Pest Number One
They paraded into the pantry, inundated the bathroom and marched their way under the covers and into bed. The six-legged pests even turned up frozen in the middle of ice cubes. Attacking everything, ants can very nearly take over your home and your ... [more]

Wasp Alert
Higher temperatures after so much rain have resulted in an explosion in the number of wasps. With nests up to four times bigger than normal, experts are warning that sunbathing and picnicking Britons should be on the alert for one of the worst plague... [more]

Bug Free Barbeques
When the sun is shining and the drinks are cold, you know it's time to heat up the barbeque, however when pests gatecrash the party, the seasonal fun can be spoiled. Ants, flies and stinging insects are prevalent in the late summer and early autumn ... [more]

Attack of the Home Wreckers
"Home, sweet home" can have an entirely new meaning when used in connection with pests. Rats, cockroaches and other pests can treat your house as a veritable food source, reducing it to a shell right under your feet. Rats and cockroaches are not jus... [more]

How To Choose A Safe Pest Control Firm
First of all, you want a pest control firm that has been in business for a while – pick your own standard. In addition, you should probably make sure that he / she belongs to a pest control association such as the British Pest Control Associati... [more]

Plague of Mice Spreading
Warmer winters, the prevalence of rubbish on the streets and homeowners renovating their houses are all causing mice numbers to escalate at an alarming rate. New figures have revealed that homes and businesses with mice problems increased by eight p... [more]

Pest-Free Schooling
Which would you prefer. A school free of the many insect and rodent pests that can spread disease or one in which fears of pesticides exceed having a safe learning environment? Every year, parents hear or read stories involving the application of pe... [more]

Crawling Bed Bugs
Bed bugs were largely wiped out by DDT after World War II, but for whatever reason – resistance to pesticides, changes in people's travel habits – their numbers are increasing at an alarming rate. As to their spread, bed bugs are great h... [more]

Welcome Summer, Unwelcome Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes top the list of summer pest concerns according to recent research. Although mosquitoes will inevitably continue to put a stinger into summer fun this year, there are a number of solutions available to homeowners, helping you to keep these... [more]

The Enemy In The Closet
Most moths are harmless to humans, but step inside the boudoirs and it's a different story. Our wardrobes are under siege from clothes-eating moths – or, to be more precise, their larvae. Global warming has seen a surge in moth numbers, but im... [more]

Pest Control Can Be A Hoot
Under the cover of darkness, a shadow silently swoops down from the trees and across a field. Rabbits don't have a chance, mice might as well be fish in a barrel. Meet the latest wave in pest control. It's called Tyto alba - otherwise known as the b... [more]

The Eco-Friendly Garden
Kermit the Frog is fond of saying "It's not easy being green", but thanks to concerned companies and people all over the world, going green has risen from obscurity to the mainstream in recent years. Gardeners and weekend warriors, along with the pr... [more]

Stinging Insects
People are often amazed to learn just how many species of stinging insects there are - and summer is the time many have a painful introduction to one or more of them. There are fleas, flies, lice, mosquitoes, ticks, wasps, and bees, to name just a fe... [more]

How To Deal With Bed Bugs
For insects that can't hop or fly, bed bugs do have an amazing ability to get around. This is proved by the fact that bed bug infestations are on the rise in North America, Western Europe, and Australia. The National Pest Technicians Association (NP... [more]

No Fleas Please
Fleas are a more difficult opponent to eradicate than most other household pests. But by using an integrated pest management approach that includes you, the homeowner, as part of the overall, long-term solution, fleas can be effectively controlled an... [more]

Controlling Mosquitoes
Did you know that there are more than 2,500 different species of mosquitoes throughout the world? The UK is home to over 30 of those species, which amounts to a large number of irritating mosquito bites. Not only do mosquito bites cause skin irritat... [more]

A Compendium of Pigeon Control Methods
Pigeons can be a menace to society and can cause damage and distress simply by deciding to take residence in our buildings. It's not only their droppings that cause problems, but their poor standards of hygiene and in particular their ability to harb... [more]

Elevated Wasp Populations
The pest control world is bracing itself for a marked increase in the wasp population across the UK and Ireland this summer. A mild winter and early spring coupled with low winter rainfall has given every opportunity for colonies to flourish. Early ... [more]

No More Free Estimates
Simply by flipping through the local phone directory, it is easy to get a good idea of the number of companies offering free estimates in a doomed-to-fail attempt to attract recurring business. Sadly, there tends to be far more pest control companies... [more]

Ant Diets
Baits can be very effective at controlling ant infestations. However, to use baits successfully requires a reasonable understanding of species identification, ant feeding preferences, and how these preferences are influenced. Understanding ant diets... [more]

Bed Bug Encasements
Bed bugs are proving to be one of the most challenging bugs pest management professionals have ever faced. The resiliency of this insect is nothing short of amazing. In addition to being capable of withstanding weeks of freezing temperatures and the... [more]

Nature's Pest Control
There's an epic battle going on in garden's across the UK and Ireland. Ants are herding aphids on a weakend hibiscus, but a swarm of ladybirds have been unleashed who are now crawling over the leaves munching hungrily on the little white pests as the... [more]

PestBusiness Launched
Active Solutions and Xenex Associates have announced the launch of PestBusiness.com, a business resource and a series of business-orientated pest management events. The announcement was made at PestEx2007, held in London in April. North America is ... [more]

Cockroaches Trigger Asthma
In recent years, several large-scale studies funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) have reinforced the dangerous connection between cockroaches ... [more]

Insects Wrongly Branded As Pests
Of all the insects found in and around your home, only around 5 percent should be considered as pests. The rest are actually quite useful to us, providing an important service in pollinating our plants and flowers. Pollen must be spread from one flo... [more]

Help To Control Fleas
Fleas can create a full-blown infestation of your home and jeopardise the health of your loved ones without warning, but homeowners can arm themselves with the right information to better treat, control, and eradicate fleas. Homeowners are urged to ... [more]

Feeling A Little Antsy?
Springtime is when ants always seem to appear in large numbers anyway, but if homeowners are seeing a few more six-legged guests than usual, take comfort: you're not alone. Just about anywhere that's been getting heavier-than-usual rainfall has been ... [more]

Integrated Pest Management
Millions of insects zapped with gamma-rays and let loose into the wild to destroy their mates – the very thought of it is enough to make any self-respecting greenie choke on his tofu. In fact, the technology known as the Sterile Insect Techniq... [more]

CEPA 2007
Virtually the entire pest control community was represented at the recent Confederation of European Pest Control Associations (CEPA) General Assembly, held immediately after the PestEX 2007 exhibition, on the Sunborn Yacht Hotel, next door to ExCeL i... [more]

Booming Vermin Populations
In many areas around the country, the council has cut back its pest control services to divert resources to "priority" causes, most notably recycling. Rubbish is collected every week but unfortunately in areas such as London, overflowing bins are a c... [more]

Spiders Check Weather
Spiders love to fly. Hundreds can touch down in an acre of land on a day when conditions are right. But before casting out a silk thread and swooping miles through the air, a spider checks the weather just as a human pilot might do during a pre-fligh... [more]

Hungry Insects Invade British Homes
Looking for the leftover scraps on the counter or that last doughnut in the open bakery box, little black ants are inviting themselves into British homes. After waking up from hibernation, ants are ready to chow down. If they can't find what they ne... [more]

Controlling Periodomestic Cockroaches
Peridomestic cockroaches include all of our common large cockroaches such as the American cockroach, but also some smaller species, such as the Asian cockroach. When you find peridomestic cockroaches indoors, they usually came from outdoors. If the ... [more]

The Birth Of A New Pesticide
With the instances of bed bug infestations on the increase, it is suprising that there still isn't a specific spray for the treatment of this intrusive insect. The problem lies not with the development of an appropriate pesticide, but the sequence o... [more]

Romantic Insects
Some of the mating rituals of pests can put your first date to shame. Male insects offer gifts, song and even dance to impress the female. But remember, this is not Love Story - this is Fatal Attraction, which can cause many headaches for homeowners.... [more]

Winter Warmth Sparks Pest Concerns
After an unseasonably warm winter in many parts of the country, it is predicted that a busy spring pest season lies ahead. As pests are most active during the spring and summer months, the pest control technicians at Attack Pest Control advise that ... [more]

Speciality Pesticides
Speciality pesticides are pest management tools used in and around homes, businesses and public areas as well as on lawns, flowers and trees. They're used in commercial greenhouses and nurseries, factories and offices, parks and gardens, to control ... [more]

NPTA Rodent Report
The findings in the seventh National Rodent Survey for the United Kingdom does not make for good news! In fact looking at this the latest 2006 annual report and bearing in mind all the previous reports, it appears that there has been a serious increa... [more]

Bed Bugs Make A Comeback
The incidence of calls regarding bed bug infestations has risen over the last year. Calls are being received from five-star city hotels to council estates, all in dire need of a bed bug exterminator. The problem faced by pest control companies attem... [more]

Flybrella Natural Pest Control
A new fly trap using a "natural" attractant has proven highly effective during tests, and could replace chemical pest control in food processing plants. Flies and other flying insects can carry and spread bacteria spoiling foodstuffs and contaminati... [more]

Breakthrough Study Of Cockroach Sex
Wanted: Mature males looking for a good time. Must have all six legs, strong antennae and love city life. Proclivity to procreate a must. Apply at crack in the bathroom wall, apartment 8B. Believe it or not, female German cockroaches looking to attr... [more]

The Rat Race
Pest rodents are the fourth-ranked top pest by volume of work, so why are rats and mice still such a focus of effort? Enough bait and traps have been sold in the past decade alone to kill millions of these pests, and no secrets exist in the life cyc... [more]

Beneficial Garden Insects
Using beneficial insects to help manage insect pests can be a significant part of a successful pest-management plan in your garden. However, there is more to it than just buying some ladybirds and releasing them in your garden. Knowing what these in... [more]

The Pest Control Future
I'm sometimes a little disappointed by the lack of technical progress that's been made in my lifetime. Sure, we now have computers, DVD players, wall-to-wall plasma-screen TVs, and mobile phones that can make calls, send and receive e-mail, take pict... [more]

Pests In Your Flat
A flat dweller can clean up after every meal, vacuum religiously and dust every conceivable crack and nookie in their home but pests can still inevitably invade their personal space, and it isn't just those tenacious cockroaches that are to blame. R... [more]

Processing Plants Targeted
Food processors are a growth market for pest control companies as they traditionally rely on staff to keep insects and rodents at bay, according to a new report. It shows that, in general, restaurants and other facilities operating kitchens are almo... [more]

Garden Pests Likely To Increase
Gardeners could face another year of hosepipe bans, water-saving campaigns and a move towards planting more drought-tolerant species if climate-change experts' predictions of another scorching year come true. Scientists at the Met Office say 2007 wi... [more]

Sheltering From The Cold
Now that we're on the cusp of February, residents across the UK are bracing themselves for the cold, wet weather that usually hits the UK at this time every year. It is now that you may want to take a moment to glance around your home, looking for ... [more]