Category Archives: pest

Yellow Swarming Flies One of the species collectively known as Cluster Fly …

Worms Parasitic worms are a veterinary or medical problem but they are …

Woolly Bears The small hairy grubs of the carpet beetles and fur …

Woodworm A term used for the destructive larvae of the Common Furniture …

Woodlice Woodlice are one of the few land crustaceans. They have oval, …

White Shoulder House Moths See Brown House Moth

Wharf Borers A brown beetle, about 1cm long, with pronounced antennae and …

Weevils A term frequently misused to describe beetles in general, but actually …

Voles Small, blunt-nosed rodents which occasionally enter buildings, but which normally live …

Ticks Closely related to the mites, but much larger and reliant on …

Thrips Also known as “thunder-flies”, very small (1.5mm) insects, black with narrow …

Termites Social insects which may live in communities of many millions of …

Super-Mice A favourite media term. These rodents are generally described as resistant …

Starlings Although a native to this country, our permanently resident starling population …

Stable Flies Closely resembles the Housefly, but this fellow bites. Uncommon indoors …

Squirrels Deliberately introduced to this country sometime in the 19th century the …

Springtails Small, wingless insects which usually live in soil but occasionally come …

Spiders Not insects but arachnids, spiders come in many sizes but all …

Spider Beetles A group of beetles with globular abdomens and fairly long …

Sparrows Rarely a problem in domestic situations, but frequently a problem in …

Slugs A mollusc, occasionally found indoors, in damp areas such as cellars. …

Sewage Flies See Gnats

Red Spider Mites Tiny, bright red specks, about 1mm across, sometimes move …

Powder Post Beetles See Woodworm

Plaster Beetles In a new house where plaster is still damp, or …

Pharoah’s Ants A small tropical species of ant of increasing importance in …

Parasites An organism that lives on the outside of (ectoparasite) or within …

Own Midges See Midges

Oriental Rat Fleas Carrier of bubonic plague and murine typhus from rat …

Oriental Cockroaches See Cockroaches

Nits The eggs or empty egg shells of lice, that stick to …

Moths See Brown House Moths, Clothes Moths and Flour Moths

Mosquitoes Most “mosquitoes” seen in houses are in fact the harmless and …

Mites Barely visible to the naked eye, mites have eight legs and …

Midges Tiny dark grey flies, only about 2mm long with hair-fringed wings, …

Mealworm A term applied to the larvae of the three species of …

Maybugs See Cockchafers

Maggots The layman’s term for the legless, wriggling larval stage of certain …

Longhorn Beetles See Woodworm

Long Tailed Field Mice See Field Mice

Lice Small, flat, wingless, grey parasites about 2mm long with strong claw …

Lesser Houseflies See Houseflies

Larder Beetles A fairly large (7-10mm) oval beetle, almost black but with …

Ladybirds (Harlequin) The Harlequin ladybird is found naturally in the Far East, …

Lacewing The pale green Lacewing is a harmless wanderer from the garden …

Itch Mites See Mites

House Moths Textile pests and scavengers whose grubs eat natural fabrics. Similar …

House Mice Burns “Wee sleekit, cowring, timorous beastie” is nothing of the …

House Longhorn Beetles See Woodworm

House Flies “If you followed a fly for a day, you wouldn’t …

House Dust Mite Exceedingly common, minute creatures of the genus Dermatophagoides. The …

Hornets Twice the size of the common wasp and brown and yellow …

Head Lice A medical problem more common since the development of “resistant” …

Harvestmen Harmless spider-like creatures with eight exceptionally long, thin legs. They do …

Harvest Mites A very tiny creature living in long grass but which …

Ground Beetles Various large black or violet beetles that occasionally wander in …

Green Bottles Large buzzing flies about 9mm long with a characteristic bottle-green …

Grain Weevils See Weevils

Gnats The insect normally referred to as a gnat is actually a …

German Cockroaches See Cockroaches

Furniture Mites A tiny speck of “living dust”. If the dust gets …

Furniture Beetles A small brown beetle, 2.5-5mm long, that is the adult …

Fur Beetles An oval black beetle 4-6mm long with a white spot …

Fungus Beetles A general term for various very small (3mm) beetles that …

Fruit Flies A family of very small (about 3mm) flies, some with …

Foxes The red fox is native to the British Isles, and widespread …

Flour Moths Moths whose grubs feed on stored food – especially cereals, …

Flour Mites A minute, slow-moving, white or pale-brown creature only a barely …

Flour Beetles Small reddish-brown beetles about 3-4mm long that feed on flour …

Flies “God in his wisdom made the fly,And then forgot to tell …

Flesh Flies See Blow Flies

Filter Flies See Midges

Field Mice Outdoor cousins of the House Mouse, which tend to move …

Earwigs A long, narrow, brown insect 10 to 14mm long with characteristic …

Dust Mite Allergy Asthmatic conditions in many people are worsened or induced …

Drug Store Beetles See Biscuit Beetles

Death Watch Beetles A woodboring beetle whose grubs eat old hardwood structural …

Crickets Closely related to the cockroaches, most species of cricket live outdoors, …

Crane Flies The familiar Daddy-Longlegs. A large mosquito-like fly with a long …

Crab Lice A human parasite. This nasty little (3mm) parasitic louse feeds …

Cockroaches Sometimes confused with black beetles from the garden, cockroaches are distinguished …

Cockchafers Large blundering insects also known as May-bugs which are attracted to …

Clothes Moths There are several species of clothes moths, all of them …

Cheese Skipper A small shiny black fly with reddish eyes whose slender …

Cats As mouse-killers their efficiency varies enormously. Few of them really come …

Cat Fleas The commonest of the pest species of flea in Britain; …

Carpet Beetles The larvae (known as “woolly bears”) of these small, oval …

Brown Rats The common or Norway rat, also known as the sewer …

Brown House Moth The commonest of the so-called clothes moths, with characteristic …

Booklice These fast moving, minute, cream-coloured or light brown insects, only 1mm …

Bodylice See Lice

Bluebottles The Bluebottle is a large buzzing fly with shiny, metallic blue …

Blow Flies Blow flies are so called because they were believed to …

Black Rats The old English ship rat or roof rat that brought …

Biscuit Beetles These are closely related to Common Furniture Beetles or Woodworm. …

Birds The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protects all wild birds, their …

Bird Mites See Mites

Bird Lice See Lice

Beetles The main types of Beetle in the UK are listed below. …