Fleas |
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Fleas are external parasites, which during the adult stage of their life cycle, suck blood from animals, including humans. Flea bites cause irritation and can transmit disease.
There are two main pest species – the cat flea and the dog flea. There is also the human flea and the oriental rat flea. The most common pest is the cat flea, which despite its name, is also found on other warm-blooded hosts such as dogs, rats, chickens, humans and other animals. |
Economic and Health impact of fleas |
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Fleas have earned their pest status because of their biting habit, which causes irritation and can transmit disease to humans. Fleas are noted as carriers of disease such as plague and typhus and intermediate hosts of dog tapeworm.
Children can become infested with this tapeworm by accidental ingestion of the infested fleas.
Click here for information on K-O Tab the spray treatment for fleas. |
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Silverfish
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Silverfish are small, soft, wingless insects often found in the home. They are nocturnal and move quickly; occasionally they are found in bathtubs as they cannot climb smooth surfaces. Their preferred diet is vegetable matter with a high carbohydrate and protein content. However, indoors they will feed on almost anything, including dried meat, flour, starch, paper, gum, glue, cotton, linen, rayon, silk, sugar and breakfast cereals.
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Economic and health impact of silverfish |
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Silverfish consume small amounts of human foods and can cause contamination with their scales and droppings. They can also cause considerable damage to natural/synthetic fibres, books and other paper products while trying to feed on glues or other starchy substances. |
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Click here for information on K-O Tab the spray treatment for silverfish.
Click here for information on RoboCan Indoor the insect control system for silverfish.
Spiders
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Spiders can be divided into two main groups:
• Crawling or hunting spiders
• webbing spiders
Crawling or hunting spiders
This group of spiders includes funnel web, huntsman, trapdoor, mouse and white tailed spiders are not found on webs but commonly make their home under leaf litter or bark, in hollows or purpose built burrows and in general garden areas. Unlike the webbing spiders they hunt down their prey down or lie in wait to ambush their prey.
Control of crawling/hunting spiders is often limited to removal or elimination of each individual spider. Unless the species is considered dangerous, the best method of dealing with these spiders is to move them back into their habitat. Removal from premises can be achieved without harming the spider by using a glass jar and a piece of paper or cardboard.
Chemical barrier style treatments to stop crawling spiders from entering a premises may not be effective.
Webbing spiders
Webbing spiders depend upon silk for their movements. When young spiderlings disperse from the parent web, they produce a strand of silk which is carried by the wind. The spiderling sits or hangs on to the silk and then builds its web wherever it lands. This process is known as ballooning. Mature spiders, when moving in search of food, produce a strand of silk which is carried by the wind until it comes into contact with a building or other stationary object. The spider then travels across this strand of silk and proceeds to build a new web. This is known as bridging.
Under some conditions, spiders are considered beneficial because they feed on insects. However the unsightly webs used to catch the insects usually outweigh the beneficial aspect.
Spiders are found around the home preying on the other insects attracted by the food and security offered. Here are a two we have to contend with.
Redback spider
The female of the Redback spider is the one that can kill. The female Redback is approximately 10mm long, and is all black, except from the large red stripe on the abdomen. They are common in urban habitats such as garden sheds, under steps or logs and around swimming pools or piles of rubbish. They build webs in dry, sheltered sites, often with the upper part of the web hidden from sunlight.
Black House spider
The other is the black house spider which leaves unsightly webs around windows and doors. Black house or window spiders are shy, and are quick to hide in the retreat at the back of their webs if disturbed. Webs are often made in the corners of windows, and may have a funnel-shaped retreat in which the spider shelters.
Economic and health impacts of spiders
Almost all spiders possess venom and all species of hunting spider are potentially dangerous.
Many ground dwelling spiders such as the funnel web and mouse spiders are aggressive, and will adopt an attacking posture when threatened, rearing up on their hind legs. They are thickset, with large fangs capable of inflicting a painful and potentially serious bite. The aggressive female mouse spider is potentially dangerous to humans and animals, but bites are uncommon.
Redback bites are the greatest single cause of serious envenomation in the country and a bite from the female can kill.
For all spiders, except funnel-web spiders, mouse spiders and redback spiders, the only first aid necessary is the application of an icepack to relieve pain, if needed.
Click here for information on K-O Tab the indoor spider treatment.
Click here for information on Solfac Pro the indoor/outdoor treatment for spiders. |
Flies
Flies are widespread throughout the world and are particularly common in rural and regional Australia with over 6000 species. The order includes blowflies, houseflies, mosquitoes, midges, hover flies and fruit flies.
The lifecycles of flies are complex, but each species has the same developmental stages in common, consisting of an egg, larval (maggot) stage, pupa, and finally the adult.
Each fly species has distinct habits and breeding sites, so it is very important that a correct identification be made of the adult fly before any control program is designed. As flies can feed on excrement and sewage, they can come into contact with germs and transmit disease.
Flies can be split into the biting flies and non-biting flies. Biting flies, such as March flies and stable flies, are renowned for inflicting painful bites and being a nuisance during the summer months. They do not transmit disease however (except mosquitoes).
Non-biting flies, such as the housefly and blowfly, have adapted to the different niches within the human population that permit them to feed, grow and reproduce. Their feeding and breeding habits mean they are effective carriers of disease to humans. Non-biting flies often move indoors, especially during the warmer months when the flies breed prolifically.
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Housefly
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The housefly is found all over the world, wherever there are humans. Not only is it a nuisance but it also carries disease-causing organisms that it picks up from rubbish and sewage.
Adults usually live only 15–25 days but they may live longer in cooler areas. They lay hundreds of eggs and their larvae (maggots) develop in organic material. Adults are attracted to all foodstuffs. They feed by regurgitating saliva onto food to break it down, as they are only able to ingest liquids. |
| Distribution |
Throughout Australia |
| Status |
Common |
| Size |
5-8 mm |
Click here for information on QuickBayt the fast and effective bait for houseflies.
Australian Sheep Blowfly |
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The Australian sheep blowfly is an introduced pest. The maggots feed on carcasses of dead animals but will also cause fly strike in sheep. Fly strike occurs when maggots feed on living flesh near open wounds, and is one of the most significant problems for the pastoral industry in Australia.
Adult flies are attracted to meat or living flesh and, like many blowflies, they lay maggots rather than eggs. This means their full lifecycle can sometimes be completed within 7 days. |
| Distribution |
Throughout Australia |
| Habitat |
Urban areas, semi-arid environments, forests and woodlands |
| Status |
Common |
| Size |
8-12 mm |
March fly (Horse fly/Green heads) |
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March flies are widespread throughout the warmer parts of Australia and will attack humans, livestock and domestic pets. The flies are strong swift fliers that tend to be more active throughout the summer months especially in still, open sunny areas. They have two large prominent compound eyes and are much larger and robust than stable flies; they have a shorter life than stable flies and an adult lives only 3–4 weeks. March flies are ferocious biters, inflicting a painful wound when biting which produces a large puncture site that will continue to ooze blood long after the mouthparts are extracted. |
As with most biting flies, it is only the females that bite as they need blood to reproduce.
The maggots are quite aggressive and efficient predators. They have sharp mandibles (mouthparts) and inject their prey with venom. The venom immobilizes the prey almost instantly and helps to liquefy the tissues, which are then sucked out. They usually feed on the larvae of other insects, however, they are also known to be cannibalistic. March fly larvae can bite if handled. |
| Distribution |
Throughout Australia |
| Habitat |
Freshwater creeks, estuaries and mangroves |
| Status |
Common |
| Size |
Up to 3 cm | |
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Stable Fly
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Stable flies are common in rural areas of Australia where they have been known to enter homes and other buildings to feed during the day. Stable flies can bite through socks and stockings and are commonly associated with rural properties and domestic animals; they are also common on some beaches where they breed in seaweed. Both sexes of this fly will search for blood meals, often twice a day, and can engorge on blood up to three times their own body weight. Stable flies bites are quite painful and they produce small papules that quickly fade, but are often itchy. In the cooler months their life span is 1–2 months, in warmer weather it is reduced to 3–4 weeks of adult life. |
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Bush Fly |
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The bush fly is a major pest which breeds in manure. It is very common in rural and adjoining urban environments throughout the summer. These flies are annoying, constant companions of humans and livestock which they visit in large numbers, and attempt to feed at the mouth, nose, eyes or wounds. They are protein feeders and therefore not attracted to sugar-based fly baits.
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Sand Fly
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In Australia these flies are commonly known as sand flies but are correctly termed midges. Only a few groups within this family are known to suck blood. These small flies are renowned for their nuisance biting. They are common around coastal lagoons, estuaries, mangrove swamps and tidal flats.
Biting is usually limited to dawn and dusk and they are inactive during very windy weather. Sandflies may attack humans in large numbers, biting on any areas of exposed skin, and often on the face, scalp and hands. |
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Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes are widespread in Australia with about 300 species. Only a small number are of major concern as disease carriers.
Mosquitoes have the ability to breed in a wide range of environments including freshwater wetlands, salt marshes, highly polluted waters and artificial containers.
Economic and health impacts of mosquitoes
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Mosquitoes have long been recognised as carriers of several diseases such as malaria and Dengue fever. In Australia, while free of endemic malaria, there are several other potentially debilitating diseases carried by mosquitoes. In recent years, Australian Encephalitis (or MVE) and Ross River Fever have had dramatic impact on the health of hundreds of people from mainly inland areas. Australian Encephalitis may lead to permanent incapacitation, and can be fatal in many cases. |
In recent years, Ross River virus has become more prevalent. Symptoms can persist for many months and include fever and joint pains especially in the ankles, knees and wrists.
Mosquitoes have a high nuisance value as they can disrupt outdoor activities and disturb sleep through biting. Although not painful, some people may suffer an allergic reaction to the bite. |