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On pests in general

One might get the impression that all the world’s invertebrate animals are wholly bent on making life difficult for us, but in fact only a tiny proportion of them can be regarded as pests.

The insects are, of course, by far the largest group in the animal kingdom, and they also include the largest number of pests. It is estimated that about a million different insect species have been described, but far fewer than one in a thousand of these can be accused of causing damage or injury of one kind or another to man. And of course some insects are beneficial to man.

It is difficult to define exactly what an animal pest is. There are certain species which are exclusively adapted for plaguing us and the body louse is a good example, but there are not many to which the term pest can reasonably be applied. It may be sufficient to say that some species under certain conditions may become as numerous as to encroach on some of man’s interests, and must therefore be regarded as pests. This does not preclude the possibility that under different conditions they may be harmless, or possibly even beneficial.

In modern agriculture and forestry the aim of pest control is normally not to exterminate the pest animals concerned. In the majority of cases it will be a much sounder principle to reduce them to a level where the damage they cause can be tolerated, the actual level depending upon economic considerations.

It is rather more difficult to decide how many invertebrates can be tolerated in a home. Most people will not be concerned if there are a few flies buzzing around the lights or the odd spider in a corner of the garden shed, but it must be recognized that for some people the presence of a single invertebrate in the house is a traumatic experience.

Pests in House and Home
Introduction
Houses as animals habitats
Animal names and systematics
Arthropod structure
Arthropod senses and behaviour
Where do invertebrates come from?
Arthropod development
Colour plates
Animals that bite, sting and irritate
Scorpions
House centipede
Mites and ticks
Itch mite
Bed mites
Prune mite
Red poultry mite
Pigeon tick
Castor bean tick
Brown dog tick
Thrips
Springtails
Sucking lice
Body louse
Head louse
Crab louse
Dog louse
Biting lice
Fleas
Human flea
Cat flea, dog flea
Bird fleas
True bugs
Bed bug
Bat bug
Pigeon bug
Martin bug
Debris bug
Fly bug
Common flower bug
Gnats and mosquitoes
Mosquitoes
Malaria mosquito
Theobaldia annulata
Common gnat
Stable or Biting housefly
Forest flies
Wasps and hornets
Bees
Chalcids
Ichneumons
Where do the biting and irritating organisms come from?
Prevention of bites and stings
Invertebrates and hygiene
Animals in foods
Mites
Flour mite
Tyrophagus longior
Cheese mite
Prune mite
Order Thysanura
Silverfish
Firebrat
Cockroaches
German cockroach
Oriental or common cockroach
Brown-banded cockroach
American cockroach
Booklice
Small moths
Mill or flour moth
Warehouse or cocoa moth
Dried currant moth
Indian meal moth
Brown house moth
Wine moth
Beetles
Mealworm beetle
Tribolium destructor
Flour beetle
Rust-red flour beetle
Cadelle beetle
Saw-toothed grain beetle
Merchant grain beetle
Flat grain beetle
Biscuit or drugstore beetle
Tobacco beetle
Lesser grain borer
Grain weevil
Rice weevil
Nutmeg or coffee weevil
Common bean weevil
Hide and bacon beetles
Larder beetle
Dermestes haemorrhoidalis
Dermestes frischi
Khapra beetle
Red-legged copra beetle
Red-breasted copra beetle
Ant beetle
Spider beetles
Australian spider beetle
White-marked spider beetle
Golden spider beetle
Housefly
Lesser housefly
Blowflies
Grey flesh fly
Vinegar fly
Cheese fly
Ants
Small black or garden ant
The jet black ant
Pharaoh ant
Birds
House sparrow
Rodents
House mouse
Mouse proofing
Mouse eradication
Brown rat
Black rat
Rat proofing and eradication
Prevention of damage by pests in kitchens and food factories
Controlling pests in kitchens and food factories
Animals that attack textiles
Small moths
Common clothes moth
Case bearing clothes moth
Brown house moth
Tapestry moth
Dermestids
Carpet beetle
Museum beetles
Spider beetles
Common house mite
Silverfish
Precautions against infestations by pests of textiles
Animals in paper, leather and plastics
Slugs
Woodlice
Silverfish
Booklice
Animals in timber
Furniture beetles
Common furniture beetle
Ernobius mollis
Dendrobium pertinax
Death-watch beetle
Fan-bearing wood-borer
Powder post beetles
Lymexylon navale
Bostrychid beetles
Weevils
Pine weevil
Bark beetles
Ash bark beetle
Ambrosia beetles
Trypodendron
Longhorn beetles
Callidium violaceum
Phymatodes testaceus
House longhorn
Tetropium luridum
Pine sawyer
Leptura rubra
Criocephalus rusticus
Gracilia minuta
Chlorophorus annularis
Clytus arietis
Wharfborer
Wood wasps
Ametastegia glabrata
Small black or garden ant
Jet black ant
Hercules ant
Goat moth
Dermestid larvae
Spider beetle larvae
Woodlice
Termites
Woodpeckers
Mammals
Chalcids
Opilo domesticus
Ant beetle
Prevention of attacks by timber pests
Control of timber pests
Fungus in timber
Animals in masonry and insulation
Davies’s Colletes
Animals in thatch
Caredrina clavipalpis
Animals that gnaw metal
Animals that merely live in the house
Slugs
False scorpion
Harvestmen
Spiders
Common house spider
Steatoda bipunctata
Ciniflo fenestralis
Zygiella x-notata
Zebra spider
House cricket
Empicoris culiciformis
Fungus beetles
Wasps
Bees
Honey bee
Bumble bees
Solitary bees
Patchwork leafcutter
Mason bee
Aphomia sociella
Bathroom fly
Birds
Swallow
House martin
Swift
House sparrow
Rock dove
Jackdaw
Kestrel
Owls
Bats
Beech marten
Animals that come inside for the winter
Lacewing
Cluster fly
Musca autumnalis
Thaumatoniyia notata
Gnats and mosquitoes
Theobaldia annulata1
Common gnat
Butterflies
Seven-spotted ladybird
Wasps
Mice
House mouse
Yellow-necked mouse
Occasional visitors
Grey worm
Woodlice
Centipedes
Lithobius forficatus
Geophilus carpophagus
House centipede
Millipedes
Bryobia praetiosa
Gamasid mites
Springtails
Thrips
Earwig
Dusky cockroach
Cone bug
Carabus nemoralis
Devil’s coach-horse
Black vine-weevil
Cis boleti
Hoverfly
Drone fly larva
Crane fly
Faeces
Footprints
Scent
Sounds
On pests in general
Prevention
Methods of treatment
Risks of using poisons
Resistance
Where to go for further guidance
Index

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