Insects and Spiders

Insects and spiders crawling around your property can be distressing and frightening!

Insects can be found in every environment on earth. Insects are amazing creatures that play a large role in the environment, although when their world collides with ours they can become pests that can give nasty bites and invade our homes.

Below is a list of a few insects you may come across in Australia:

Ants

Certain species of ants can give bites that can be quite serious and cause a lot of pain. Other species will simply enter your kitchen and invade your food pantry, which can cost you a lot of money if you constantly have to replace food.

Black House Ant - Ochetellus spp: Roughly around 2.5-3mm long and are black in colour. This ant will live for 8-10 weeks and eat a variety of food.

Fire Ant - Solenopsis spp.: The workers are 3-6mm long and the Queens are 15mm long. They are coppery-brown in colour their stings are painful. The Fire Ant eats dead animals including different types of insects.

Jumper Ant - Promyrmecia spp.: The Jumper Ant is 13-15mm long and yellow and black in colour. They have a habit of jumping and enjoy living in bushy areas. These ants rarely enter buildings although can cause a very painful sting to humans.

Pharaoh’s Ant - Monomoriam pharaonis: These ants are regularly found in hospitals or in heated buildings and feed on meats, fats, blood and dead insects. The workers are roughly 1.5-2mm long – yellow-brown with brown abdomen, males 3mm long – blank and winged and queens 3.5-6mm long – dark red with wings.
To find out more information about the various species of Ants from around the world, visit Rentokil.com.au.

Cockroaches

One visitor you would not like in your home is a Cockroach. A cockroach can be a sign of your home being unhygienic and this is something you would not like to be associated with. There are various types of cockroaches in our country, below are a few you may recognise:

Australian Cockroach - Periplaneta australasiae: 30-35mm long and are red-brown in colour. The enter building at night and mostly found in areas that experience a mild winter. This Cockroach is not a native species despite it’s name.

German Cockroach - Blattella germanica: 12-15mm long and brown in colour. They have sticky pads on their feet which help them run and climb. They enjoy living in heated buildings and are regularly found in kitchens. In 1 years German Cockroaches can produce roughly 25,000 offspring.

Oriental Cockroach - Blatta orientalis: 25-30mm long and dark brown – black in colour. This cockroach prefers to run rather than fly. They can tolerate cooler conditions and are also found outdoors.

 

Spiders

A lot of people are afraid of spiders, and whilst they play a very important role in the food chain, people must always be aware of these little creatures.

Daddy Long Legs - Pholcus phalangioides: 7-9mm long and has very long legs. They do not harm humans and are non-toxic. This spider is found in urban areas and feed on insects and other spiders.

Funnel Web Spider/Sydney Funnel Web Spider - Atrax robustus Hadronyche & Atrax: This spider is large with the females growing to 35mm long and the males growing to 25mm long. The male spider is a lot more venomous and can be fatal. The female venom is not as toxic as the males. The males can be found in and around homes during mating seasons and the females are usually found in borrows.

Huntsman Spider - Delena ss, Holconia, Neosparassus spp, Olios spp: This spider comes in a variety of colours and patterns, but mostly brown, black and grey. They generally survive for about two years or more. They are found Australia-wide on tree trunks, under bark, beneath stones or on the walls of houses. The huntsman is poisonous but not fatal to humans.

Red Back Spider - Latrodectus hasselti: The female Red Back is black with a red or orange marking on her back, although sometime the marking may not be visible. She can grow up to 15mm long and the male usually only grow to be roughly 5mm long. The Red Back can be found in and around homes and like dark dry areas. Red Back spiders can be fatal to humans.

St Andrew’s Cross Spider - Argiope spp.: This spider has a body length of 1-15cm long and has bands across its abdomen. This spider also has zig-zag strips that form the sign of a cross through the centre of the web. They feed on insects such as flies, moths, butterflies, bugs and bees. The spider is not considered to be harmful to humans.

White Tailed Spider - Lampona cyclindrata: Females can grow up to 20mm long and males up to 12mm long. They are long and have a dark grey abdomen with a white speck tip. The White Tailed Spider can be found in cool dark places such as under bark, leaves, and corners of private homes. This spider is mostly active at night. The White Tailed Spider do bite people but will only attack when they are provoked.

To stop your home from being invaded by insects and spiders, call Adelaide Pest Control on 1300 697 290 or click here to send us an enquiry and we will take control of your pest control problems!

For more information about various insects and spiders found around the world please visit Rentokil.com.au.