Other Common Public Pests Carpet Beetles Overview: Carpet beetles feed on a wide range of animal and plant substances such as wool, fur, feathers, hair, hides, horns, silk, and bone as well as cereals, cake mixes, red pepper, rye meal and flour, powdered milk, dog and cat food, leather, bookbindings, dead insects, and even cotton, linen, especially when stained with foods stuffs or animal excreta. Carpet beetle larvae prefer to feed in dark, protected places.
Health risks: N/A
Damage to property and reputation: Beetle larvae cause damage by crawling from room to room, living behind skirting boards, mouldings, in air vents, drawers, carpets, clothing, and furniture. Eggs laid indoors are also found near food sources.
How we can help you help yourself: Quick tips: Check lint under floor and skirting boards, in upholstered furniture, air vents stored cereals or grain, attics, woollens, wardrobes and furs. Check storage boxes and old suitcases. Cast skins may be more prevalent than larvae. Adult beetles flying around window access points could indicate infestation. Did you know? Carpet beetles breed and feed outdoors in places such as bird and rodent nests. Eggs and larvae may be carried into homes on articles containing wool or other animal fibres. Each female can lay 40-90 and be hatched in 8-15 days.
Flour Beetle Overview: The confused flour beetle and the red flour beetle are similar in appearance apart from the antennae. These beetles have shiny, red/brown bodies that are about 1/7 inch long, flat and oval.
Health risks: The females lay their small, white eggs loosely in flour or other food material. The eggs, which are coated with a sticky secretion, become covered with flour and unseen. Damage to property and reputation: Kitchen areas are at significant risk as these beetles have a very wide food range including cereals, damaged grains, grain products, shelled nuts, dried fruit and chocolate.
How we can help you help yourself: Quick tips: Clear out all infested products and store any susceptible food in airtight containers or in a refrigerator or freezer. Storing infrequently used food items in the freezer prevents infestations developing. Follow the guidelines for removing and cleaning up an infestation. Did you know? Some pests including beetles are capable of living for several weeks without food and the threat of re-infestation is present until they die.
Cigarette beetle and Drugstore beetle Overview: The cigarette beetle and the drugstore beetle closely resemble one another, but the cigarette beetle is more common. Both beetles are about 1/8-inch long, cylindrical, and uniformly light brown. The easiest way to distinguish the two is by the wing covers: the wing covers of the drugstore beetle have longitudinal grooves, while those of the cigarette beetle are smooth.
Health risks: Can be found in food stuffs and medication. The drugstore beetle lays eggs in almost any dry, organic substance. Damage to property and reputation: The kitchen is the main place at risk in the home as this beetle is most commonly found in pet foods, cereals, nuts, and candy. It may also infest dried pepper arrangements, wreaths, and spices such as chilli powder or paprika. They also feed on cured tobacco, cigarettes, and cigars as well as dried herbs, spices, nuts, cereals and cereal products, dried fruit, seeds, and animal products such as dried fish and meats, hair, and wool. Also, bathrooms where drugs can be stored.
How we can help you help youerself: Quick tips: It is best, at least for several months after eliminating the infested products, to store any susceptible food in airtight containers or in a refrigerator or freezer. Storing infrequently used food items (e.g., pancake flour, grains, spices, etc.) in the freezer prevents infestations from developing. Did you know? The drugstore beetle gets its name from its habit of feeding on almost all drugs found in pharmacies.
Larder Beetle Overview: These beetles are around 7-9mm in length, dark in colour with a light coloured band across their back.
Health risks: These beetles play only a small role in the transmission of disease and the worst they do ruin the foods they contaminate. Damage to property and reputation: These insects are found throughout Britain and Europe in houses, factories, shops and farms.
The larvae are usually to be found in corners at the base of skirting boards, often behind the cooker, where they feed upon the condensed grease deposits or on any food spillage. During the summer, adult beetles can fly considerable distances and usually start a new infestation through an open window, hence they are found in tall blocks of flats, often on the upper floors.
How we can help you help yourself: Quick tips: Infestations can be managed by using insecticidal dust or aerosol spray direct into the nest. Keep bathrooms clean as they can sometimes be found in bathrooms where they feed on the human skin scales, which are shed and lodge under the edges of floor-coverings. Did you know? They can also be found in birds’ nests and sometimes on dead animals such as mice. The larvae require a high protein diet and feed on materials of animal origin.
Fruit Flies Overview: These flies are variously referred to as vinegar flies, banana flies, sour flies, vinegar gnats, and lesser fruit flies. There are several species of fruit flies all similar in appearance. Adults may be dull yellow/brown-yellow, or brown/black in colour and range from 1/10 to 1/5 inches in length and most have red eyes.
Health risks: Fruit flies are nuisance pests and serious contaminators of food.
Damage to property and reputation: Large populations of these flies can quickly build-up in restaurants, hotels, cafeterias, and similar food service establishments. Orchards, vineyards, truck crop acreages are often invaded.
How we can help you help yourself: Quick tips: In warmer weather, screen all openings to the outdoors with fine net or mesh. Do not leave cut or spoiling fruit or vegetables, fruit salads, fruit juices, jams, jellies, pickles exposed. Do not expose whole raw fruit to fruit fly infestations. Check root vegetables such as potatoes and onions; one rotten vegetable in the bottom of the bag, which would be enough to start a sizable infestation. Keep susceptible foods in cold storage. Check for larval breeding areas if fruit flies increase. Remove any overripe fruit or vegetables to alleviate risk. Did you know? Female fruit flies lay their eggs on the surface of rotting fruits and vegetables up to as many as 500 eggs.
Rice Weevil Overview: The adult rice weevil is dull red/brown/black in colour with round or irregularly shaped pits on the thorax and four light red or yellow spots on the wings. They are about 3/32 to 1/8 inch long and are attracted to lights.
Health risks: They infest dried grains but do not bite.
Damage to property and reputation: Rice weevils can be found in grain storage or processing plants, infesting wheat, oats, rye, barley, rice, and corn. At home they can be found in beans, birdseed, sunflower seeds, dried corn, and macaroni and spaghetti. They do not damage wood or furniture.
How we can help you help yourself: Quick tips: Inspect and remove infested foods. Repackage the material in new airtight containers. Vacuum kitchen cabinets and floors. Place products that need to be retained in the freezer for several weeks to kill adults and larvae. Did you know? The adult female rice weevil can lay an average of 4 eggs per day and may live for 4-5 months, producing 250-400 eggs.
Yellow Mealworm Beetles Overview: Adult beetles are shiny and dark brown/black in colour. They can grow up to 30mm in length and are generally seen during summer months. Although seen wandering in many areas, they do prefer dark and damp conditions. Adult beetles found indoors in ones and twos may have come from a nearby bird’s nest into an open window.
Health risks: They will use food containers as a breeding ground.
Damage to property and reputation: They do no harm generally but can be a nuisance in the kitchen if they get into containers of food and start breeding. They generally target unhygienic areas where rotten food is present.
How we can help you help yourself: Quick tips: Check all the kitchen cupboards for spilled food or infested bags of flour and throw away any old or infested stocks of food. Check the bases of cupboards and behind appliances for scraps of old food that you may not be aware of. Use an insecticide spray sold for ‘crawling insects’ safe for kitchen use and always read the label of an insecticide before deciding to buy it and follow the safety guidelines. Did you know? Mealworms often feed on corn or flour, and are sometimes found in bird’s nests and they also feed on the bodies of dead rats or mice if they are old and dry.
Ladybirds - Harlequin Overview: Have you seen them? Sightings of this invasive insect have been recorded in London and there is a UK-wide survey to track this alien ladybird that threatens the existence of the native species. Originally from Asia, the harlequin was probably imported into the UK on plants that came in from continental Europe.
Health risks: No
Damage to property and reputation: Potential damage annihilation of our own British ladybirds.
How we can help you help yourself: Quick tips: Report any sightings of the harlequin ladybird, including where it was found (using a grid reference or postcode), the date and how many ladybirds there were. Photograph the ladybird to help the verification of each find. Gardeners and wildlife enthusiasts should report sightings. Gardeners, wildlife enthusiasts and anyone with a love of ladybirds to examine trees, bushes and plants and record the harlequins they find. Did you know? This insect has a huge appetite for greenfly, leaving little for native ladybird that then starve. Worse still, the harlequin will turn on other ladybirds if their food resource diminishes. The invader will also prey on other types of insects, eating butterfly eggs and caterpillars.
Wharf Borer Overview: The adult wharf borers are narrow, flattened insects approximately 1cm in length with the body a brown to rusty red/yellow colour. The wing tips are black, along with the eyes, legs and underside of the insect. The body is also covered with fine yellow hairs and antennae are half as long as the body.
Health risks: No
Damage to property and reputation: Wharf Borers are found in moist wood, especially around coastal areas, lakes, rivers, estuaries and waterways. Wharf Borers are also found in wharf timbers, damp crawlspaces or in any wood that has a very high moisture content and is subject to decay.
How we can help you help yourself: Quick tips: Correct any wood moisture problems that might exist. Remove any structurally unsound wood or wood that has been infested with larvae. If necessary, replace with wood treated with an appropriate preservative or a material not susceptible to insect attack. Did you know? The life cycle of the wharf borer from egg to adult usually takes about one year but in colder climates can take several more years. The wharf borer is primarily a nuisance pest rather than a serious threat.
Woodlice Overview: Although woodlice look like insects, they are actually crustaceans and are related to crabs and lobsters. There are about 3,500 species of woodlice in the world, and 35-40 of these can be found in the UK. A woodlouse has 14 legs and an outer shell called an exoskeleton.
Health risks: No
Damage to property and reputation: None. Woodlice like damp, dark places and can be found hiding in walls, under stones and in compost heaps, they are rarely found in the home.
How we can help you help yourself: Quick tips: No
Did you know? Woodlice eat rotting plants, fungi and their own faeces, but they don’t pee! They get rid of their waste by producing strong-smelling chemical called ammonia, which passes out through their shells as a gas.