Common Pests

• Up to 40cm in length, with a tail shorter than the head and body
• 350-500g in weight
• Blunt nose, small ears and thicker body when compared to the Black Rat (Rattus Rattus)
• 7-8 young per litter, 3-6 litters a year
• Gestation periods of about 3 weeks
• 10-12 weeks from birth to sexual maturity
• Usually ground living and burrowing but sometimes climbs. The only species to occur in sewers in the UK.
• Preferred food source is cereal
• Will eat around 30g of Food per day and drinks 60ml of water
• Known carriers of diseases of such Salmonella, Weils and other food poisoning organisms

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• Female Common Clothes Moth lay eggs in clusters of between 30 and 200, which adhere to surfaces with like glue substance. These hatch between four and ten days later into near-microscopic white caterpillars, which immediately begin to feed.
• Adults can live for an additional 15–30 days
• The adult moth does not cause the damage to the materials such as carpets and clothing. It is at the larvae stage where the damage to materials is caused
• Life cycle can be completed within one month
• Larvae will still hatch and grow at temperatures as low as 10 °C
• Both sexes prefer scuttling over surfaces to flying
• Heated buildings allow clothes moths to develop all year-round. The overall life cycle from egg to egg typically takes 4–6 months, with two generations per year.

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• Mice are small rodents characteristically having pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail and a high breeding rate.
• Mice are prolific breeders with an average gestation period of 20 days and an average litter of 10-12 young.
• Mice can transmit diseases to humans
• Mice squeeze into small holes, with a rough guide of a biro pen thickness.
• With preferred food sources such as bread, pasta, rice, chocolate, biscuits and grain
• Mice are nocturnal
• Mice only need to consume 3-5g of food per day
• Mice self groom 20% of the day.

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• Adult Indian Meal Moths are 8–10 mm in length
• The outer half of their fore wings are bronze, copper, or dark gray in colour, while the upper half are yellowish-gray, with a dark band at the intersection between the two.
• The Larvae are off-white in colour with brown heads; the larvae are usually about 12 mm long.
• The entire life cycle of this species may take 30 to 300 days.
• Laying between 60 and 400 eggs on a food surface, which are ordinarily smaller than 0.5 mm and not sticky. The eggs hatch in 2 to 14 days. The larval stage lasts from 2 to 41 weeks
• They mainly feed on grain but will also feed on cereals, bread, pasta, rice, flour and other similar products.
• The moths are able to get into surprisingly tight spots, including sealed bags by chewing through them.
• They are also notoriously difficult to get rid of, and the larvae can crawl on ceilings

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• Varied Carpet Beetles are 3 mm long,  ladybird shaped.
• Patterns vary according to species but often a mixture of black, white and yellow.
• Larvae are 4-5 mm long.
• Larvae are brown and hairy with three bunches of spear-headed hairs either side of the rear segments.
• Larvae will roll up when disturbed. Hairs may be an irritant to some people.
• Larvae known as “woolly bears”.
• Mating takes place outdoors after which they fly indoors to lay eggs.
• The adult stage is often found on window sills as attracted to UV light

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• Blue Bottles are 10–14mm long, slightly larger than a Housefly
• The head and thorax are dull grey with the abdomen a bright metallic blue with black markings
• A female blue bottle fly lays her eggs where she feeds, usually in decaying meat, garbage, faeces.
• The larvae are commonly called maggots, are pale white colour.
• As soon the larvae hatch from the eggs, the larvae immediately begin feeding on the decomposing matter.
• Flies, most commonly Blue Bottles have frequently been associated with disease transmission in humans and animals, as well as myiasis.
• The adult Blue Bottle Fly has the ability to smell a dead animal from up to 1 mile away.

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• Prefers to feed on human blood.
• Prefers warm houses and inside beds and bedding or other sleep areas
• Bed Bugs are mainly active at night, but are not exclusively nocturnal
• They are not known to transmit any diseases
• Adult Bed Bugs are light brown to reddish-brown, flattened, oval-shaped
• Adults grow to 4–5 mm long
• Bed Bugs use pheromones to communicate regarding nesting locations, feeding, and reproduction.
• Bed Bugs are attracted to their hosts primarily by carbon dioxide
• Bed Bugs prefer exposed skin, preferably the face, neck, and arms of a sleeping person
• Fertilised females with enough food lay three to five eggs each day, possibly generating as many as 500 eggs in a lifespan.

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• Garden Ant colonies can reach in size 40,000 workers but 4,000–7,000 is around average.
• The queen can live up to around 15 years and it has been claimed that some have lived for 30 years.
• 3–5 mm long
• workers are dark glossy black.
• As the colony gets older it has been known for workers to increase in size over generations
• Nesting sites are usually found underground, commonly under stones, in rotten wood, soil and under pavement.
•  The mating season usually takes place between July- August.
• Worker ants forage for sweet nutrients such as ripe fruits, sugar and will also feed on aphids/ other small insects.

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• Feral Pigeons carry a number of potentially infectious diseases such as salmonella, tuberculosis and ornithosis (a mild form of psittacosis with pneumonia like symptoms).
• Abandoned buildings are favourite nesting areas
• Feral Pigeons breed when the food supply is abundant enough to support embryonic egg development, which in cities can be any time of the year.
• Females lay eggs, which can take place up to six times per year.
• In the UK Pigeons are covered under the ‘General Licences’ https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/bird-licences) and can be humanely culled by the land owner
• It is not legal to kill/ destroy nests for any other reason other than those listed under the general licences.
• Pigeons are homing bird which means they will always return to where they was born.
• Fouling on floors can represent a slip hazards when wet.

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