Flies pose a threat to hygiene and are a nuisance to humans and animals. They are vectors of a large number of diseases including gastroenteritis, dysentery, typhoid, polio, salmonella and tuberculosis. Some flies, such as sandflies, are a direct irritant, biting humans and sometimes causing painful reactions.
The true flies are insects of the order Diptera (meaning: …
Cluster flies are an annoying group of flies. Their larvae feed on earthworms in grass in pasture and lawns. Find out how to stop them invading your home this season.
What Are Cluster Flies?
Cluster flies are large, slow moving, hairy, flies around 10-15mm with a dark gray to black non-metallic abdomen. The larvae of the flies …
Pests can be defined as animals or plants in the wrong place. Wrong in the sense that we consider it wrong because there they harm us or annoy us in some way. For example the fly in our soup is a risk to health because of the pathogens in might carry, the rat in the …
Hand hygiene is our first line of defence against many transmissible diseases, including the flu virus. We use our hands to contact objects and surfaces that may be contaminated with micro-organisms of all sorts. I am typing this article on my laptop, and now that I look at it, I see that the keys have …
Bees are Beneficial Insects, they pollinate our fruit crops, other flowering crops, the flowers in the garden and of course they make honey.
Bee Numbers are Falling
Honey Bee numbers worldwide have been falling and there is considerable worry over the implications for food crops. There appears to be a combination of reasons for the decline in bee …
Pest wasps were accidentally introduced to New Zealand and have found the conditions here very much to their liking. In particular the honey dew in beech forests provides the workers with the high energy carbohydrate food to keep them active and wasp densities can become very high. Also the milder winters in New Zealand compared …
Australian Brushtail possums were first introduced into New Zealand in 1837. They were initially landed in Invercargill by Captain J. Howell with the intention of establishing a fur trade. With no native predators and the native plant life having no natural defense against these browsing mammals there was nothing to stop their breeding out of …
Caterpillars are the larvae of moths and butterflies. Many of them, such as Leafroller caterpillars, Looper caterpillars, White Butterfly caterpillars, Diamond Back Moth caterpillars, Tomato Fruit Worm and Fall Webworm are well known to gardeners trying to grow fruit, vegetables or other plants. Caterpillars are voracious eaters. They can be regarded as eating machines whose …
Are ants pestering you in and around your home? With summer and the warmer weather, populations of ant nests rise and they become more active. Ants are often found invading our kitchens or marching across our decks in search of food, our food; the sandwich we innocently left on the breakfast bar or the glass of …
Finding a cockroach in your home is not a pleasant experience, and it can become annoying if they keep on returning. Find out why they enter your home, and how to get rid of this common pest with a few handy tips ….
Types of Cockroaches
There are common pest species in New Zealand - German Blatella …