Is it a case of ‘Out of Sight Out of Mind’. Just because you do not see any nasty, creepy cockroaches doesn’t mean they are not lurking behind walls and in appliances.They are a problem if left to themselves, multiplying which they do well, and they are waiting for the warmer months to once again be more active. Five sexually active female German cockroaches can produce a staggering 300 million juveniles and 75 million adults over 12 months and can definitely spread a number of diseases that pose health risks to humans
in the form of threatening bacteria i.e. Staphylococcus & Streptococcus and Salmonella which are passed in their droppings. Food is contaminated with cockroach waste and diseases are transmitted to humans when the food is eaten. Of all pests cockroaches are probably the most common found in homes world wide. PEST COCKROACHES ARE;
GERMAN, AUSTRALIAN,
AMERICAN, SMOKYBROWN, BROWNBANDED and ORIENTAL.
SOME HANDY HINTS.

Wipe up spillages promptly Pay special attention to kitchen and where food is prepared and stored, store food in sealed containers. do not store boxes and paper
MOST IMPORTANTLY USE ONLY A QUALIFIED & LICENSED PEST MANAGER TO TREAT AND ERADICATE INFESTATIONS.

REMEMBER your yearly pest treatment for a happy and healthy family and home and to keep cockroaches under control BEFORE they become a problem.
Your homes best friend is your experienced ‘PEST PROFESSIONAL’.

PROBABLY NOT UNTIL YOUR CLOTHES HAVE BEEN ATTACKED AND MADE TO
LOOK LIKE SWISS CHEESE!

WHAT ARE SILVERFISH? COMMON SILVERFISH (LEPISMA SACCHARINA).
Firstly let me say they are interesting creatures. Small & wingless insects that wriggle when they move & so annoying and destructive. A silverfish’s body is elongated which is fairly flat and tapers at the end. The surface is segmented and is covered with shiny,
silvery-grey scales. On the tip of its head are two long antennae and three long bristles at the end of its body which are responsible for its alternate name “bristletail” and used for both the silverfish & its relatives. Silverfish, like other insects, have three pairs of legs and adults grow up to 15mm long. The insects tend to move for a short time, stop, and move again. As they are unable to climb smooth surfaces they are often found in the bottom of bath tubs ad basins.

WHERE DOES ITS NAME COME FROM?
It’s sometimes hard to see their thin, light-coloured legs and appendages when they wriggle & move swiftly along the ground and this creates the illusion of little silver fish swimming on land and makes their common name very appropriate.

WHAT ATTRACTS SILVERFISH?
Certain types of clothing, food, paper and other items containing starch/carbohydrates is the major reason for attacks as starch/carbohydrates is the main ingredient in their diet, unlike Clothes Moth which is attracted to your expensive clothing i.e. wool, fur, felts, felts in pianos, rugs, carpets, blankets, upholstered furniture & materials of animal origin. Silverfish are agile, fast running, nocturnal insects that generally shun sunlight and are usually found in dark, undisturbed areas but can be widely found throughout a dwelling. They feed on most types of human food but prefer starchy materials. They are attracted to book bindings, cotton, linen, wallpaper, paper, photographs, 2nd. hand books, any sources of glue, starch or sizing. Books, papers & files should be stored in light and airy rooms.

DIET.
Foods found in the kitchen i.e. sugar, flour, bread, rolled oats & other cereals are on their menu and other lip smacking foods that Silverfish are partial to are mould, dandruff, body coverings from insect molts, high protein foods i.e. meat & dead insects. Yummy. They can survive for several months without food.

IMPORTANT HOME CHECK. EARLY DETECTION IS BETTER & CHEAPER THAN CURE.
Regular checks of your home in dark and hidden places is strongly recommended to determine whether pests are present as they are secretive insects & may reproduce and do a lot of damage before being discovered.

HOW DO THEY ENTER YOUR HOME? HABITAT.
They can enter on their own from outside but mainly are carried into your home unwittingly in a box that has been stored outside or 2nd hand books. Usually found in damp areas with high humidity i.e.. bathrooms, basements, laundry rooms and kitchens. Being nocturnal they hide unnoticed in cracks & crevices during the day and are active at night searching for food.

DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THESE LITTLE CRITTERS AS THEY ARE PESTS & DESTROY PROPERTY. LIFE CYCLE.
They may hatch in weeks or months after eggs are laid depending on the condition of the environment. The nymph is a smaller version of the adult & once reaching adulthood live for 2-8 years. An unusual feature of the Silverfish is they continue to molt even as an adult
which IS unusual for an insect.

CONTROL OF SILVERFISH.
Silverfish can be found in many areas of a dwelling and a thorough inspection by a
qualified pest manager is important to prerequisite treatment, although non-chemical
methods of prevention and control can be used.

SIMPLE HINTS TO HELP PREVENT SILVERFISH INFESTATION IN THE HOME.
• Regular tidying, cleaning and vacuuming to remove silverfish eggs, crumbs, scraps of paper, debris & mould.
• Remove any uneaten pet food.
• Clean under sinks & crevices i.e. around base of ovens, refrigerators and along skirting boards.
• Fill any cracks that are noticeable.
• Seal wallpaper where it has become detached from the wall.
• Dripping taps increase humidity and attracts Silverfish.

STRATEGIES TO HELP STARVE SILVERFISH.
• Make sure all food containers, packages, photo albums and containers of important
papers are securely shut & sealed.
• Books, magazines & newspapers should be put in closed areas i.e. cabinets, cupboards
and plastic storage containers.
• Cupboards & containers should be cleaned to remove any silverfish eggs before paper
products are stored in them.
IN CONCLUSION BE VIGILANT AND CONSISTENT WITH YOUR HOME CHECKS.

Rats and mice are basically social animals they live in groups in nests made of any soft material available e.g. paper, fabrics, insulation and share your food and lodgings. hygiene is very important in helping to control these pests and disease transmission to humans is of profound importance. The rodents that are of great concern, not just in Australia but many other countries as well.

The Norway Rat (ratus norvegicus)
A Norway rat can gnaw through a lead pipe, have 6-12 young per litter and average 4-7 litters per year and nests in burrows near water in well protected vegetation. Roof rat (rattus rattus) extra pads and longer digits on their paws enable them to be excellent climbers. they have 6-8 young per litter and average 4-6 litters per year.

House Mouse
The smallest and most successful commensal rodent in Australia. A family of 6 mice in a cluttered garage can grow to 50-60 mice in only 90 days. Number of young per litter 5-6, number of litters per year 8. Tell tale signs that you have rodents are droppings, nests, gnaw marks and rub marks along walls. What do rodents need? food (water) warmth, shelter. Some interesting facts about rodents.

Rodents are the second most successful mammals on earth.
No.1: Homo Sapiens
No.2: House Mouse
No.3: Norway Rat

Rats can fall 5 stories without harming themselves, are very good swimmers and can climb in small spaces between two surfaces very easily. Standing till they can jump almost half a metre vertically and when running can jump on an average one metre horizontally. Cheese is not a favourite food of mice. ideal peanut butter, chocolate and meat, especially bacon is their preference. Rats do not travel in packs although they live in social groups.

In closing the old saying “me cassa you cassa” could very well apply to our little freeloaders, the rodents.

WAS IT A DADDY LONG LEGS?
If I told you Daddy Long Legs were NOT spiders would you be surprised or believe it. Well it is
true, they are not spiders but belong to the order Opiliones and are more closely related to mites or
scorpions than spiders. They ARE arachnids but so too are mites, ticks, scorpions and other 8
legged creatures.

So now that Daddy Long Legs are not spiders are they still the worlds most venomous arachnids? They can pierce the skin and bite a person but don’t have harmful venom so the myth that it is the worlds most venomous spider has been proved to be false.

The Daddy Long Legs is also known as Granddaddy Long Legs or Harvestmen and get confused with the Cellar Spider which is a spindly-legged spider and are arachnids of the order Pholcidae. Another interesting fact is Daddy Long Legs don’t make webs or even make silk, their bodies are pill shaped, no “waist” as spiders have, between their body sections, they have 2 eyes not 8, can eat chunks of food, not just liquids.

Opiliones, Daddy Long Legs, fossils have been found in rocks and sediment deposits which have dated as old and older than 400 million years and 435 million years ago it is believed Daddy Long Legs split from scorpions which means this is about 200 million years before the Dinosaurs appeared who were only around for approx. 165 million years with the Daddy Long Legs are still
here long before Dinosaurs inhabited the earth and long after the Dinosaurs have vanished. Daddy Long Legs will play dead by curling their legs in if they are disturbed and with their excellent camouflage colour they will play dead by not moving for several minutes to make sure their predator has not seen them and has gone away and they are out of danger. They live in moist dark places.
So next time you are walking in the garden or rummaging around in a dark place and come across
a Daddy Long Legs no need to panic, you are not looking at a deadly creature.

SUMMER TIME & IT’S TIME TO LIGHT UP, NO NOT THE BARBIE, BUT THE MOZZIE COILS!
What would summer be without the mosquito and it’s incessant buzzing around your ear. It only takes one to keep you awake at night with you swatting aimlessly at the air and usually the only one being hit is yourself.It is the female who bights us and animals for blood in order to produce and has the capacity to carry Ross River (RR) virus & Barmah Forest (BH) virus.Both the male & female buzz but it is the female who has the higher pitched buzz and you mostly never hear the male as it does not bite.

The life cycle of a mosquito starts as an egg and advances to larvae – pupae -adult. We know larvae as wrigglers & pupae as tumblers and for them to breath they must attach themselves to the underside of water surfaces to breath through special tube like structures attached to the back of the juvenile. If unable to connect to these water-air interfaces they will drown so the saying “Keeping Your Head Above Water” does not apply to these juvenile mosquitoes as they hang upside down!

DISEASES CARRIED BY MOSQUITOES IN AUSTRALIA ARE:
Dengue Fever
Australian encephalitis or Murray Valley encephalitis
Ross River (RR) virus disease
Barmah Forest (BH) virus disease
Heart worm in dogs & cats.

MALARIA is not found in Australia but occurs in more than 100 countries & territories transmitting malaria to roughly half the worlds population. Malariaendemic considered areas at risk are large areas of Africa, South Asia, parts of Central & South America, the Caribbean South East Asia, The Middle east and Oceania.The malaria mosquito larvae is found in a wide range of locations and prefer clean unpolluted water. Mosquitoes carrying malaria are more attracted to human scent than non malaria ones.

There are many species of mosquitoes which are found world wide and there are a number of different ones that can impact on your family and your pets. ANOPHELES MOSQUITO (Anopheles SPP.) is the mosquito responsible for transmitting malaria. AEDES MOSQUITOES ( Aedes Algypti) bites heighten at change of light i.e. after sunrise & before sunset. CULEX MOSQUITO (Culex Tritaeniorhynchus) is the main carrier of Japanese B-Enephalitis.

Question? When is an Ant dead? No, not necessarily when life has left it.
Two days after dying an ant emits an odour or signal which the living ant smells and this dramatically changes the living ants behavior. Dead is what you smell if you are an ant and before 2 days ants don’t recognize the ant as being dead.

Once the ants have received this signal that the ant is dead they carry the corpse through the colony to dispose of it in the designated graveyard and dumps it on the pile of also-dead ants. This is the pile of grit you may find on the floor in the corner of a room.
If a tiny drop of Oleic Acid, an artificial chemical created to copy the odour of a dead ant as ants communicate by smell, was placed on the live ant it sends out to the other ants a signal that tells them that this ant is dead.
So what do they do?
They carry it out to the grave yard although it is still kicking and dump it on the already-dead pile.
When the ant dusts itself off it returns to the colony it will be repeatedly thrown out until the odour wears off and it is accepted back as a “Living” ant. This could be the “Living Dead”.
From an ants point of view would you say “I’m Dead” or “I’m Alive & Kicking”.
Sight and sound is not the only way Earthly organisms communicate. Taste and smell is another way an enormous number of creatures- ants included- share information.

AN INTERESTING FACT ABOUT ANTS .

Ants don’t have leaders they self regulate all their movements, like a large flock of birds flying, as this is a natural instinct. So when you see a swarm of ants on the move they instinctively know where they are going and what they are doing.

Feeding Habits & Behaviours of Termites.

Cellulose is the basic food requirement for all termites and it is found in all types of plant-based materials. The cellulose is digested by bacteria in the gut of species in the family Termitidae. Most termite species eat grass and other ground growth and have an important role in maintaining soil fertility.The plant tissues on which termites feed contain very little protein and therefore little nitrogen but nitrogen is not contained in the protozoa bacteria. It is vital for them to conserve nitrogen and this is accomplished by consuming the excess dead or diseased colony members. Gut bacteria is also used by some termites to regulate the nitrogen in the atmosphere.

Does Soil Benefit From Termite Mounds & Galleries

When soil particles rich in nutrients i.e. calcium, magnesium and potassium are washed into the soil from eroding termite mounds this then becomes advantageous for plant growth. Soil structure, water entry and storage in soil is improved by termite galleries thus enabling water runoff and reduces soil erosion.

Natural Enemies

Ants are the most significant natural enemy of the termite but not the only predator. Lizards, snakes, frogs, insect eating (Insectivorous) and eating food of every kind (Omnivorous) birds, dragonflies especially and other predatory insects.

Echidna Tachyglossus aculeatus use their strong, long clawed feet to attack mounds and subterranean galleries to access the termite workers and soldiers which form an important part of the Echidna’s diet.

Timber in it’s early stage of decay by wood-rotting fungi attracts other termite species while other species of timbers are termite resistant but none are entirely “Termite Proof”. Materials damaged by termites but not able to digest are plastics, rubber, metal and mortar and the damage occurs when they come across those materials while searching for food. For some termites they use subterranean galleries or covered runways to forage for food. These galleries extend from the central nest to food sources above or below ground and the gallery system of a single colony may utilize as far as one hectare to forage for food. Individual galleries can extend up to 50 meters in length but the northern termite Mastotermes darwiniensis have individual galleries extending as far as 100 – 200 meters. All termites except the grass-eating species which forage in the open, remain in the closed system of galleries where no light can penetrate. The light is of no use to the worker and soldier as they are blind and have only a thin covering which gives them a very low resistance to drying out. The only exception is during swarming flights, repairs or new formations.

The closed system gives termites two advantages. Firstly protection from natural enemies, secondly a degree of protection from temperature, extreme humidity and keeps the nest a constant 36 degrees.

Five families of termites occur in Australia and all five are found in Queensland

TERMITES (order Isoptera) originate back to the Cretaceous Period more than 100 million years ago and are more closely related to the cockroach than to ants although they are sometimes referred to as “White Ants”.

They are social insects and the order is typified by the families Mastotermitidae, Termopsidae, Rhinotermitidae and Termitidae and can be divided into 3 groups, Dampwood, Drywood and Subterranan.

Found in colonies termites are termed eusocial along with the ants and some bees and wasps which are all placed in the separate order Hymenoptera.

Their diet mostly consists of wood (could be your home), leaf litter, soil or animal dung and are major detrivores especially in the Tropics and Sub-Tropics.

In our 12+ years experience with termites they still amaze me with their ability to hide their nests and galleries from detection in the most inconspicuous and odd places so they can attack and eat your home.

They are clever engineers building their nests to keep a constant 36 degrees all year round. You don’t know they are there until you accidentally put your hand through a wall or knock a skirting board or hear them gnawing behind a wall.

TERMITES FOUND!

1. DO NOT PANIC.
2. DO NOT DISTURB THE GALLERIES OR DAMAGE FOUND.
3. DO NOT SPRAY THE TERMITES WITH KNOCKDOWN SPRAYS

WE RECOMMEND CALLING A PROFESSIONAL “PESTIE” TO ARRANGE A CONSULTATION CONCERNING INFESTATION AND TERMITE TREATMENT. AFTER Treatment; 21-28 days an inspection of the nest is carried out to ensure the nest has been eradicated. All Clear Pest Control & Termite Management recommend another visual site inspection thereafter.

TIPS TO HELP REDUCE THE RISK OF TERMITE ATTACK.

Have a yearly visual termite inspection internal & external of your property. Remove any tree branches/ bushes that are in contact with exterior walls. Keep gardens and planter pots away from exterior walls, batons, and piers. Batons to have a clearance of a minimum of 400 mm from ground. Remove timber stored against exterior walls and/or under house and/or on property. Check for water leaks i.e. Air conditioner, hot water system, shower and dripping garden taps. Moisture attracts termites.

A YEARLY VISUAL TERMITE INSPECTION IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to help keep your home “ALL CLEAR“ from termite attack.

PROTECTING YOUR HOME WITH A TERMITE BARRIER.

WHY SHOULD I HAVE A TERMITE BARRIER INSTALLED WHEN I HAVE A YEARLY TERMITE INSPECTION?

Good question. A regular yearly visual termite inspection will not prevent termite attack, but they will minimise the amount of damage caused before infestation can be eliminated.

BENEFITS OF INSTALLING A TERMITE BARRIER.

A termite barrier will protect your most valuable asset and life time investment, your home, also providing peace of mind for you and your family.

A professional “PESTIE” will give you a proposal (cost) to install a barrier which might seem expensive but if you break down the cost of a $2,000.00 barrier with a 10 year warranty it is much less than a cup of coffee a day. Then you are termite free and your house is still standing for years to come.

           TYPES OF TERMITE BARRIERS. 

• PHYSICAL BARRIER
• CHEMICAL BARRIER
• RETICULATION.

     MONITOR BAITING SYSTEM

Monitor baiting stations are placed externally at 3 mtrs apart around the structure.
The baiting system is not a barrier and it’s purpose is to monitor the possibility of termite attack. The baiting stations are checked regularly by the “PESTIE” then baiting stations are treated if active termites are found, baits are replaced. Then further treatments recommended.

ALL CLEAR PEST & TERMITE MANAGEMENT ASSURES PROFESSIONAL & COURTEOUS SERVICE. FOR ALL YOUR TERMITE & PEST TREATMENT CONCERNS OR ENQUIRIES PLEASE CALL US ON 0488 532 398

TO MAKE A BOOKING OR REQUEST A QUOTE PLEASE CALL OUR OFFICE 0488 558 688.