Description
There are many different kinds of cockroach. Some of the more common types that occur in the UK include Common cockroach, German cockroach, Brown-banded cockroach, American cockroach and Australian cockroach. Cockroaches can seriously harm business reputations, particularly within the food industry.

Characteristics
Common cockroaches can infest premises for long periods before they are discovered. They are a widespread pest in the UK. The adult cockroaches are usually around 20-25 mm long and are reddish-brown in colour.
The Brown-banded cockroach is often found in residential premises. The adult cockroaches are quite small, usually around 10-15 mm long and are a yellowish-brown colour, with dark hoops around their body.

Treatment
Infestations can be very deep-seated within buildings and need regular and thorough treatment to control them. This does vary depending on the type of cockroach.

Description
The bed bug enjoys the luxury of centrally heated dwellings, which they exploit all year round. They avoid the light and hide in/on furniture, on bed frames, in & behind skirting boards and plug sockets, on curtain poles, behind hanging pictures, inside divan frames, on mattresses and headboards.

Characteristics
Bed bugs are parasites & feed exclusively on blood, usually human blood. The bugs climb over their human hosts during the night and use their piercing mouthparts to penetrate the skin for feeding. Adult bed bugs are approximately 5mm long and 3mm wide. They are oval in shape and usually dark reddish brown in colour, although the colour may vary. Bed bug eggs are pearly white and 1mm long. Females feeding regularly will lay 2 or 3 eggs per day, up to a maximum of 12!

Treatment
Insecticidal treatment will be required to eradicate bed bugs. It must be thorough and extensive and will often include treatment of furniture, skirtings and picture rails, curtains, bed frames, headboards and underneath the edges of carpets, etc. Treatment may be needed in all rooms, or all rooms on the same floor.

Description
Fleas are parasitic insect pests of mammals. They depend on their ‘host’ animal for food and development. Their host can be a cat, a dog, a fox, a bird or even in rare cases humans.

Characteristics
Adult fleas vary in size, but are generally about 2-3mm long and reddish brown in colour. There are too many types to list as there are around 1400 known species of flea.

Treatment
First, the source of the infestation must be identified and treatment of the offending animal undertaken. Secondly, a thorough vacuum clean of the premises should be undertaken. Thirdly, all areas should be treated with an insecticidal spray to kill the adult fleas and larvae. Pupa often survive treatment, so it is usual to carry out a second spray treatment to ensure adequate insecticide is available when they eventually hatch out!

Description
Often confused with the common House Fly, Cluster Flies are roughly the same size. Some characteristics that differentiate the Cluster Fly: they fly somewhat more slowly than the House Fly, they almost always fly toward windows on the warm side of a structure and their wings overlap almost completely, when at rest.

Characteristics
Cluster Flies breed in the ground outside of buildings during the warm weather (late Spring into early Summer) using earthworms as a food source for the immature larvae (maggots). The flies later pupate (go into the cocoon stage), then hatch as adult flies. In temperate areas, often in late August, these flies begins to migrate indoors finding any small cracks or crevices that permit entry into structures. These may include areas around window frames, door frames or eaves. Entry tends to be on the same, warm, sunny side (often the southern or western exposure) of the structure as the flies later emerge from.
During the Autumn, Winter or Spring months, these flies may emerge, particularly on warm, sunny days. The flies appear at windows buzzing and “clustering” around those areas to the dismay of the occupants. This fly can become a problem in virtually any structure and they have, on occasion, been a problem in sensitive areas such as hospitals, where they are especially unwelcome.

Treatment
vary between electronic fly killers to sticky fly roles, to insecticide spraying.

Description
Moles are common to mainland Britain, particularly areas of permanent grassland such as private lawns and gardens, golf courses, parks and playing fields. They have a highly developed sense of touch and hearing even though they no external ear flaps. Their bodies are cylindrical, 12-16 cm long from nose to tail and they weigh 70-110g.

Characteristics
Each mole inhabits its own underground tunnel system covering an area 400-2000 square metres. It patrols these tunnels on a regular cycle searching out food such as earthworms and grubs for a period of 4 hours then resting for 3 hours. The mole is most active just after sunrise and again just before sunset. The mole’s breeding season is from February to June each year and litters of young will leave the nest at 5 weeks old. Moles often damage the roots of seedlings and plants causing them to wilt and die, in addition, mole hills can cause severe damage to machines such as lawn mowers. Worms are the mole’s major foodstuff and each mole must find around 200 worms a day to survive. Moles can produce as many as 1.5 hills a day, each hill containing roughly 5 litres of loose soil. Male and female moles live apart most the year, but in breeding season males dig over large areas in search of a mate. They can create 20 metres of fresh tunnels every day.

Treatment
include electronic moles scarers, traps and gassing.

Description
The house mouse is a very common pest of buildings. Field mice and other less common rodents are not usually found in houses, but may cause infestations occasionally. The confirmation of droppings usually confirms mice are present. They can also cause damage to foodstuffs, chew wrappers and cause holes in a variety of materials.

Characteristics
Mice are also nocturnal. They live for around 12 months and can produce around 80 offspring per year.

Treatment
Includes trap setting, sticky – board laying or poison, site dependent.

Description
The most common species of rat found in the UK is the brown rat. There is also the black rat which is much less common and is usually found in very few port side areas. Rats tend to be a problem as they are destructive and transmit many dangerous diseases.

Characteristics
Rats are nocturnal animals. They live for 9-18 months in the wild and the females can have over 50 offspring in a year.

Treatment
Successful eradication maybe possible using a combination of rodenticidal baits, traps and proofing.

Description
Wasps are social insects and form large colonies, or nests, which are socially structured and highly organised. Wasps are a widespread pest during the summer and cause fear and concern in many people because of their powerful stings especially as some species are quite aggressive.

Characteristics
The queen usually spends the winter in a warm protected site often located in lofts, attics, wall cavities or in the ground. As many as 30,000 wasps can populate a nest.

Treatment
The wasps nest will be treated directly. If the wasp nest cannot be located, treatment may involve the use of perimeter traps. Alternatively, insect screens on doors and windows will help stop wasps entering buildings and the installation of electric fly killers will help to control wasps if they do get inside premises.

Description
Moths attack foodstuffs and textiles, and there are in fact six species in Britain, all having similar characteristics.

Characteristics
The lava cause the damage through contamination, and larvae pupate and emerge as adults. Adults feed (if at all) on liquid food and water.

Treatment
They are best controlled through good hygiene, sprays and dusts.

Description
There are various beetles ranging from carpet, plaster, larder, flour and mealworm beetles.

Characteristics
The carpet beetle is a particular nuisance in homes and is about 2-4mm in length with variable black and white mottled markings on its back. Plaster beetles are about 2mm long and feed on mould and mildews and are found in damp areas. The larder beetle is about 8mm long and is dark brown with a pale yellow black spotted band across its back. Preferred food is dried meat products. The flour beetle is about 3-4mm long and reddish brown in colour. It attacks grain products such as flour and cereals, so sealed jars are recommended to avoid them. The mealworm beetle is about 6mm long and found in floor litter and feed on poultry food, bird droppings and carcasses, and is a general scavenger. The lava can cause damage by tunnelling into polystyrene, and insulation materials in buildings. Most beetles can fly.

Treatment
Control against beetles is good hygiene, and residual insecticide as per instructions.

Description
Many people are concerned about foxes affected by mange. A scruffy looking fox is not necessarily an ill fox. When moulting in spring, foxes look quite rough but this does not mean they are mangy.

Characteristics
They are typically found in woodland and open country, but their presence in urban areas is increasing. Red foxes are opportunist feeders and eat insects, earthworms, fruit, berries, wild birds, small mammals and scraps left by humans. Red foxes are primarily active at dusk and night. They are solitary, but they very occasionally group together in a pack. Foxes forage alone in different parts of their territory, which may extend from 25 to 5000 acres, depending on the habitat. Faeces and urine mark territories.

Reproduction: Vixens come into heat once a year for one to six days. They give birth to four to seven cubs in a den (also called an earth), after a gestation period of 51-53 days. The cubs are weaned after seven to nine weeks, and become sexually mature after a year.

The number of cubs and the time of year in which the vixen gives birth depends on food availability.

Treatment
Trapping and extermination.