You run the greatest risk of being stung by bees when you are near their hive. If you are allergic to bee venom, it makes sense to stay away from the hives. It is also a good idea to avoid walking barefoot in flowering clover meadows or among other flowers that the bees are attracted […]
Bee stings
Honeybees only sting in defense. The sting is barbed and is, along with the venom sac, modified so it stays in the victim. The bee dies afterwards, but the sting can continue to deliver venom. There is about 0.1 mg venom in one bee sting, and in order for the effect of the venom to […]
Life cycle
A honey bee family may comprise more than 50,000 individuals. In each family, there is only one egg-laying queen. The workers collect food, nectar and pollen, and inside the nest they build honeycombs, which consist of two layers of hexagonal cells. Some of the cells contain the bees’ larvae. Other cells are used to store […]
The honey bee
Almost all honey bees, Apis mellifica, live as livestock in designated hives, however, wild swarms can settle and adapt in cavity walls, chimneys or hollow trees.
Bees, wasps and ants
Bees, wasps and ants belong to the group of insects known as hymenoptera (Hymenoptera). Many hymenoptera have sucking mouth parts, a tube with which they can drink liquid such as nectar. In addition, their mandibles are used to bite and chew, and for many of the hymenoptera, it is an important tool when they build […]
Prevention and control
One should not refrain from having birds on the house out of fear for louse flies. The risk of them getting inside the house is, after all, very little. If they show up, they are easily eradicated with one of the usual pesticide sprays with pyrethrin. Treating nest environments with an insect powder will usually […]
Life cycle
When louse flies breed, the larvae develop inside the mother, before being deposited to pupate. Louse flies are mostly found on birds, and sucks blood through a short proboscis. However, the flies are also found in nests where you can also find the overwintering pupae, while the birds have migrated south during the winter. From […]
Louse flies
The louse flies, of the family Hippoboscidae. They are obligate parasites of mammals and birds. They are flattened with leathery skin, and their legs have powerful claws that they use to hang onto their hosts. The species, which are most frequently found indoors, include the swift louse fly, Craetaerina pallida and the Stenepteryx hirundinis.
Footprints
The tracing of footprints is primarily an outdoor pursuit, but even indoors it is• occasionally possible to learn something from the track left by some unknown animal. In mills and other establishments where there is always a certain amount of dust lying around tracks will often provide evidence of the presence of pests even though […]
Horse-fly bites
Only the female horse flies suck blood. The males feed on nectar. A horse fly, which is about to suck blood, is almost impossible to get off, and is therefore easy to kill. Their eyes are well developed, and they often use their eyesight when finding their hosts. They move towards dark silhouettes in the […]
Life cycle
Horse-flies lay their eggs on the plants that grow in damp places. When the larvae hatch, they crawl down into the moist earth or into the water where they live as voracious predators of the prey they can overpower. The adult horse-flies are active and fast fliers, and they can fly far away from their […]
Horse-flies
In Denmark, there are a dozen different horse-fly species of the family Tabanidae. The biggest fly in Denmark is a horse-fly, namely the 3 cm long pale giant horse-fly, Tabanus bovinus. However, it is mainly the smaller species which can become so numerous that they become troublesome: deer flies of the genus Chrysops, which has […]
Control
Stable fly control in stables follows the same procedures and is performed with the same insecticides as used against house flies. They are not resistant to the insecticides. Large numbers of stable flies, which have made their way into the living room, can be killed with an Aerosol-spray with pyrethrin I and II + piperonyl […]
Life cycle
The stable flies generally stay indoor and they are particularly fond of stables. From the stables, they can spread to nearby residential houses, but you never see them in real urban areas. The eggs are laid in the manure, preferably when it is wet, for example in stalls and in cattle yards under dripping faucets. […]
The stable fly
In late summer, people often say that now flies have started to bite. It is not the common house fly, which has suddenly become aggressive, but its close relative the stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans. It is mostly common in the fall, but can also be a nuisance during spring and summer. A stable fly looks […]
Prevention and control
Mosquito repellents have some effect against black flies, but the effect will rarely last for more than a few hours. In the countries where black flies transmit serious diseases, the streams in which the larvae hatch are treated with insecticide. This, however, is not an approach that will be used in Denmark, where the black […]
Black fly bites
Only female black flies need blood, and they bites outdoors at all times of the day. Most black flies prefer other host animals; however, they bite humans if more suitable hosts are not present. When a black fly is about to suck blood, it is not easy to chase away. However, it is easy to […]
Life cycle
Black flies lay their eggs on aquatic plants or rocks. The larvae, which are almost bottle-shaped, stick to the ground sticking the body out in the water. On the head they have a special ‘brush-like’ mouth part that collects tiny organisms out of the water. Pupation occurs in a cocoon that is open at one […]
Black flies
The black fly (Simuliidae) is approx. 2 mm long, powerfully built flies. They are black and often have whitish markings on the body and legs. There are fifty different species of black flies in Denmark. They all need running water. Some species mate in streams, others in brooks and ditches.
Prevention and control
The oil-based mosquito repellents, which are effective against mosquitoes, are also effective against midges. Thoroughly apply the repellent – the midges can find even a small spot of untreated skin. The effect of the treatment is brief (a few hours). Draining or flooding of larval breeding sites as well as spraying the breeding sites with […]
Bites
The midge’s proboscis is quite short, however, is has 6 cutting parts with small sharp teeth, so that the midget can cut its way to the blood. It cannot bite through clothing. Midges seek out thin-skinned places on the face, arms and legs. The midge bite is easily noticed, and because midges often attack in […]
Biting midges
The biting midgets are tiny. At only 1-3 mm long, the gray midges (Ceratopogonidae) are the smallest blood-sucking midges. The most troublesome belong to the genus Culicoides, which includes more than 1000 species and can be found in most parts of the globe. Most species of the Culicoides have wings with dark and light spots. […]
Prevention and protection
Mosquitoes have been kept away from humans and animals using smoke from fires. The ancient Egyptians and Romans rubbed themselves with highly odorous plants. At the beginning of this century, numerous mosquito balms of plants like clove, cinnamon, lavender, camphor, etc. were developed. The best was citronella oil, which is extracted from a tropical ryegrass. […]
Transmission of disease
As mentioned, there are malaria mosquitoes in Denmark; however, the malaria has died out. Malaria parasites are not present in Denmark. Therefore, it is not dangerous to be bitten by mosquitoes in Denmark. They are not suspected of transmitting serious diseases. It has been discussed whether mosquitoes can transmit infectious jaundice or AIDS to humans. […]
Control
In Denmark, mosquitoes are not of importance as related to public health, and eradication campaigns have been abandoned. The campaigns were carried out in the 1960s and 70s, where puddles and ditches were sprayed with diesel oil in an attempt to suffocate the larvae, and large meadows were treated with insecticide. A more reasonable approach […]
Mosquito bites
Most mosquitoes can lay a few eggs even if they do not get to a single drop of blood. They simply tap into their food reserves or produce some eggs at the expense of the flying muscles. In order to exploit its possibilities to lay eggs to the full, the female mosquito will attempt to […]
Life cycle
The mosquito larvae and pupae live in water. The species that are particularly troublesome in Denmark do not breed in lakes, ponds, streams or rivers, which are always water-bearing. However, they breed in ditches and puddles, which occasionally dry out. These are mosquitoes of the genus Aedes. In Denmark, they are divided into two types […]
Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes, of the family Culicidae, are slim, elegant, 5-6 mm long, grayish midge-like flies. There are also some peaceful midges, which are similar to the mosquito in appearance, for example the non-biting midges or chironomids, which are often seen in large swarms over lakes and bays. Mosquitoes are characterized by the long, thin, flexible proboscis […]
Mosquitoes and flies
Mosquitoes and flies make up the insect order, which is called dipterans (Diptera). They have, in contrast to most other insects, only one pair of wings. The second pair of wings is small, knobbed structures modified from the hind wings. These are called halteres and are help the insect balance during flight. The larvae are […]
Larder beetle larvae hairs.
Many of the beetle larvae that are common in Denmark, especially the larder beetle larvae (Dermestidae), have very crafty hair. Some larder beetle larvae have spines on their tale end. The spines end in something that resembles a harpoon with 4-6 long barbs and along the shaft are 30-40 shell crests of barbs facing upwards. […]
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