Pest management is a massive industry in New Zealand because they are everywhere.
Introduced pests infest our homes, farms, factories and forests, making control services essential.
We want to protect our homes and commercial premises, to create environments that are safe and hygienic.
Why try to control pests in our homes?
Pests can cause physical damage to buildings, goods and machinery. Often, by the time you notice a problem the damage has already occurred. Furthermore, ants, cockroaches and flies all carry disease and some types attack our food crops and livestock.
For this reason, it can be beneficial to call on the services of a professional NZ pest control expert who can identify existing problems and assess potential risks. Once this is done, a routine maintenance check is a good way to make sure you know about a problem before it has caused costly and inconvenient damage to your property.
What kind of New Zealand pests could be lurking in my home or business?
Some of the most common types of pests in New Zealand are:
Rodents: Rats and mice cause contamination of food and work areas with urine, droppings and hair. They also cause damage by chewing through cables, wiring, timber and other materials. Solutions include baiting, trapping and rodent proofing products.
Insects: Creepy crawlies such as silverfish, spider beetles, carpet beetles, larder beetles and booklice can contaminate food and other items on your property. It is important that these pests are correctly identified so that you can manage the problem effectively. Solutions for eradication include baiting, trapping, insect proofing, spraying, fogging and misting.
Cockroaches: Several species of cockroach are found in New Zealand. The most common culprits infesting homes, commercial kitchens and hospitals are the Oriental, German and American varieties. Cockroaches love warm, moist conditions and can quickly become a large infestation. Cleaning up food and dirty dishes, identifying and blocking entry points and chemical elimination for bad infestations help keep them under control.
Flies: Flies are a pest for many in the summer months, particularly in areas where food is made, prepared or stored. They cause contamination and reduced hygiene in these areas. Species include houseflies, blowflies, fruit flies and midges. Solutions include external and internal surface treatment, fly proofing and fly traps. There are companies that spray the interior and exterior surfaces of your home and this can be an effective method of keeping them out of your kitchen. Window mesh and bead curtains for doorways are effective non-chemical methods to reduce fly numbers, too. If you have a dog, ensure you remove the poo from your lawn regularly to prevent it from attracting flies. Flies also don’t like wind, so opening windows on the windy side of the house to provide a breeze can deter flies from hovering.
Wasps: Wasps are an issue in our gardens and our forests. Wasps have a nasty sting and if you’re allergic or you are attacked, they can kill you. In the forest, they can form large colonies containing many thousands of wasps. They steal food from our birds and can also attack them. It is dangerous for inexperienced people to deal with a nest unassisted.
Bees: Honey bees are not usually a pest – indeed they are an essential part of the pollination process – but they may become a threat if present in a wild colony or swarm. If in search of a new home, they may choose yours, at least temporarily. The solution is the professional removal of nests.
Spiders: Despite looking creepy, spiders are our friends – they keep other insects under control, including flies and mosquitoes. Most spiders do not pose a threat, however, biting and venomous spiders can threaten the health of people and animals. The only poisonous spider in New Zealand is the Katipo (a cousin of the Black Widow spider) but they are very rare and it has been decades since anyone was bitten by one. House spiders can bite, and the Whitetail spider has been linked to bad reactions. Solutions can be combined with treatment for flies and flying insects, usually involving treatment of the building exterior, interior roof voids and interior.
Ants: Ants are social creatures and can be present in colonies of tens of thousands and are often found in areas where food is stored or left uncovered. To be controlled, the nest must be located. An effective solution is destroying the nest directly or with baits which are carried back to the nest and fed to the rest of the ant colony.
Borer: Sometimes known as Bora or Woodworm, this pest can cause great damage to timber structures. During the larval stage, the beetles eat through the interior of wood until they emerge through an easily visible hole in the wood, emerging as an adult to mate and begin the cycle again. Any untreated timber is a possible target. To deal with borer, an insecticide is used to kill the insect as it emerges; this will prevent re-infestation for up to ten years.
Parasitic Insects: Fleas commonly strike in the family home. The species most often found are the Cat Flea, the Bird Flea and the Dog flea, and now we have the joy of Bed Bugs making a comeback, as well. As well as treatments for your pet, there are carpet cleaning treatments that can deal with fleas and other nasties in our carpets.
Professional pest control companies can help you with all these pests