Help! There’s A Hornet In My House

Alicia for rentokil.co.uk | May 24, 2013

A hornet can measure up to 2 inchesDue to a prolonged winter and wet spring wasp sightings have been few and far between. This has not been the case in my house (which should be designated an area of special scientific interest). I’ve had to eject a number of queen wasps which have overwintered in the eaves and sleepily dropped down onto the carpet.  I was unpleasantly surprised yesterday to be greeted at the breakfast table by this enormous hornet buzzing round the dining room. Measuring almost two inches long hornets can deliver a fierce sting if provoked, and can bite at the same time. Read More »

Rodents on the rise: Don’t let them ruin your reputation.

Kate for rentokil.com.au | May 23, 2013

It’s starting to get cold. Really cold. And that means my exposure to the outdoors is limited to the scurry between my front door and my car. We all turn to the indoors when it gets cold and we’re not the only ones: rats and mice do the same thing. In fact, since the end of summer we’ve seen an 18% rise nationally in the number of commercial call outs we’ve had for rodents.

It seems that these little guys and I share another cold-avoidance strategy. I was swapping stories with one of our technicians last week when he was telling me about a restaurant (whose name and location will remain anonymous) where he had spent every day for the last 2 weeks on site treating a major rodent problem. Read More »

Nature’s own Assassin

Nicole for rentokil.co.za | May 21, 2013

peacockroyal.blogspot.com

Carefully concealing itself, whilst watching and waiting for its next victim, is the Assassin bug. This bug is the hit man of the insect world, striking fear into the heart of every other living insect it comes across. It is known to attack quickly, paralyzing its prey, and then taking it out mercilessly!

This creature belongs to a large diverse family of around 7000 predatory insects, referred to as Reduviidae (meaning “hangnail” or “remnant”). What sets this bug apart from other creepy crawlies is its mouthpart; a needle-like structure which is designed to suck the juices from plants, other insects and even some mammals (such as bats and humans)! Read More »

G is for Good Golly Miss Molly

Brigitta for rentokil.ie | May 20, 2013

Lavender to repel antsGood golly!! Garden ants are on the march in Ireland.

Sorry if the title misled you. Sadly, this isn’t a post about the great tune by Little Richard – the lyrics of which (having just researched) are not really about anything, but let’s not let that detract from the great song….but moving on.

It appears that more and more people are encountering Garden ants (Lasius niger) with their increased activity due mainly to the weather. Read More »

Gefeliciteerd, ook jij hebt tapijtkevers

Anneke for rentokil.nl | May 17, 2013

Do beetles climb out of your house plants?Van de week trof ik drie hele kleine torretjes aan in mijn vensterbank. Het was dat ik mijn orchidee goed aan het bekijken was, dat ik ze zag. Mijn eerste gedachte was: “Snel een op papiertje en naar buiten met die beestjes!” Gelukkig had ik geen papiertje bij de hand dus mijn rationele gedachte kreeg ook de kans. Ik heb net een nieuw appartement, daarom leek het me beter de beestjes in een potje te doen en ze te laten bekijken door Peter Timmermans, onze entomoloog.

De volgende ochtend stond ik met lichte angst bij Peter. Wat nou als het houtwormkevers zijn! Ik heb een fantastische houten salontafel waarin houtworm heeft gezeten. Het hout heb ik heel eigenwijs daar zelfs op uitgezocht, ik vond die gaatjes juist erg leuk. Ik heb altijd geleerd dat je besmet hout moet behandelen met olie, was of beits. Dit voorkomt dat er nieuwe eitjes in het hout worden gelegd en dus nieuwe houtworm in je houten tafel terecht komt. Read More »