Often referred to as “wrigglers”, mosquito larvae choose stagnant water to develop into “tumblers” which is a term often used to describe the larval stage of this serious disease-carrying insect.

The two general types of MOSQUITOES are Culicine (Culex spp. And Aedes spp.) and Anopheline (Anopheles).

Their eggs are laid in water, sometimes in “rafts”, usually hatching after 2 – 3 days.
The hatchling, known as a larva feeds on bacteria, spores and pollen present in the host water environment utilizing a special type of mouthpart with tiny filter brushes often referred to as “bristles”.

Breathing by both larvae and pupae is achieved using a periscope type of apparatus. Some species rely only on spiracles, others utilize a conical breathing trumpet and yet others have a siphon air breathing system.

An “old-school” control method is still applicable today and sadly displaced, in my opinion, by more modern insecticidal methods. The old method relied on simply suffocating the developing larvae. This was achieved by placing oil on the surface of the water, preventing these stages obtaining air and blocking up their breathing apparatus. The resulting suffocation of the under-developed mosquitoes stopped the life cycle abruptly with finality.

Male mosquitoes do not bite. Adult female mosquitoes bite in order to digest a blood meal before she can lay any eggs.Infact blood is the only food an adult female mosquito requires.With the exception of Aedes spp., adult female mosquitoes are night and dusk feeders. Aedes spp. adult female mosquitoes feed night and day and their bitten victim runs a risk of being infected with Dengue fever.

Dengue Fever and Brisbane

Whereas timber destroying insects such as termites ( white-ants ) and borers can be successfully controlled by barriers and methods such as termicide and borercide treatment, mosquito infestations are difficult to control due to their ability to fly between blood meals without necessarily contacting residual insecticide deposits or spray mist environments. A greater emphasis should be directed to minimizing breeding harbourages in our cities and other populated areas. Whilst it is seemingly impossible to guard against being bitten by one of these disease-carrying pests, there is much that can be done to minimize the risk.

Mosquito Control

An essential part of any successful Mosquito Control programme is to remove breeding environments. Old tyres, pot plant reservoir dishes, blocked roof gutters,water tanks, septic systems, fish ponds, other stored and stacked rubbish provide water-holding environments which can be exploited by egg-laying adult female mosquitoes. Where feasible, items such as these, should be regularly monitored and control measures implemented.

If you want a professional to control and monitor your Mosquitoe problem, then contact us at Termite Rescue today!

During the approach of cooler seasons in Brisbane suburbs, an army of heat-seeking 4 legged pests marches into “warm spots” to survive the impending freeze. These non-paying tenants will use the warmth of your house to make babies (called pups) and eat your food,urinate and even strip the plastic off electrical and data wires causing house fires.

It’s not only our homes these critters invade. Rodents are one of the most serious pests because of their ability to co-habit any environment or building eating the same food as us.

Rats and mice spoil food prior to harvest causing huge economic losses to the world’s food supply. After harvest, stored grain and seeds in silos, vessels and warehouse supermarket distribution lines, are targeted by rats and mice. The resulting contamination yields further economic losses and, more frighteningly, carry many external parasites which also attack man.

Plague, Murine Typhus Fever, Weils Disease, Rat-bite Fever, Trichinosis, Meningitis, Mouse Typhoid or Duck Egg Disease, Poliomyelitis (POLIO) and Favus (ringworm) are among the diseases vectored in Australia by allowing rats or mice to share our cities.

Other countries suffer a similar fate. Diseases such as Toxoplasma, rat and dwarf Tapeworms, lung flukes, rabies, rat mite dermatitis, Tuberculosis, Sylvatic Plague, Pneumonic Plague, Rickettsial Pox, Salmonella and Bubonic Plague have presented.

There are three main pest rodents:

1. The Norway Rat (Common Rat, Sewer Rat) Rattus norvegicus
2. The Roof Rat (Ship Rat, Black Rat) Rattus rattus
3. The House Mouse Mus musculus musculus

Wild rats behave differently to the white rat which is used mainly for research purposes and often as a family pet. Being mainly nocturnal, when food supply is short they do search and feed in broad daylight, modifying their usual habits to meet the demands of a changed environment.

The roof rat prefers higher places, being agile jumpers and climbers. They nest in walls, roof voids, furniture and ship holds. They are also accomplished swimmers.Norway rats live in more ground-level environments, often making burrows in the ground at waste transfer stations, bus and railway stations and under buildings.

Wood Decay Fungi – A very destructive and widespread cause of wood destruction to timber structures in Sth East Queensland.This type of fungus grows on damp wood and it’s roots ‘eat’ the lignin (the cellular glue that holds wood cells together).These fungi render sound timber susceptible to certain insects that do not normally damage sound wood eg. Anobium australiense, Subterranean and Dampwood Termites. The types of damage that results is called ‘brown rot’ usually in hardwoods or ‘white rot’ often in softwoods.

Chemical Decomposition – A quite common occurrence, the importance of which is often overlooked during Building and Pest Inspections in Sth East Qld. Acids and alkalis such as Nitric acid and some types of industrial waste gases including Sulphur dioxide quickly decompose moist wood. This is because these compounds destroy the lignin, thereby making the cells fall apart. This type of wood degeneration produces ‘hairy wood’. Houses on the seafront of the Gold Coast often present roofing timbers severely ‘de-ligni-fied’. The wood is only slowly damaged by salt air over 25-75 years and finally collapse occurs in smaller dimensional members such as tiling battens.

Examples of these two types of decomposition are OREGON or DOUGLAS FIR decks and stairs. These species of timber were recently removed from Building codes for weather-prone structures in Queensland including outside attached decks, stairs and feature garden retaining structures.

My point is this:

When considering what timber to buy from Bunnings for your next outside project, consider CCA treated softwood over cheaper alternatives. The CCA (copper chrome arsenate) treated softwood is usually more impregnated than similar hardwood products. When choosing between taninised, boron, CCA (copper-chrome-arsenate) and other types of treated timber for outside installation remember to allow for regular fungicide added timber preservitaves like a good quality exterior grade oil containing more than 1% Copper napthanate. This compound is a fungicide and it’s mode of action is to kill fungus spores before they can take root in the timber.

Termites exploit faults in concrete slabs to gain ingress to dwellings and commercial buildings in South East Queensland on a regular basis.

What looks to be a normal tiled kitchen floor in a concrete, brick veneer house, for example, often covers faults in the concrete slab underneath the tiles. These faults provide easy access for Subterranean Termites to timber wall frames etc. which can ultimately result in serious structural damage occurring to the house. One common type of these faults is called a ‘Cold-Joint’.

So What is a Cold-Joint?

There are two types:

1. Purposely created.
2. Accidentally created.

Lets look at these two different types of Cold-Joint.

Purposely created Cold-Joints come with the original house plans and are specified by the building designer and, sometimes, an engineer to suit the type of foundations, bedding soil and even cyclone rating of the building to be erected. They are a joining of two concrete slabs which are poured separately. Usually the first slab is formed and poured and allowed to go ‘cold’ and after the formwork is removed, the second slab is formed and poured to join it. Where the two slabs join is referred to as a ‘Cold-Joint’.

Accidentally created Cold-Joints occur, for example, when a monolithic (one piece) concrete floor slab has been specified by the building designer. In this example, the concrete contractor has under-calculated the full amount of concrete required, and ofcourse the concrete truck runs out of concrete before the slab form is full. Another load of concrete aggregate is hastily ordered by the embarrassed concreter. Unfortunately the first part of the slab has gone ‘cold’ and hardened by the time the second concrete truck arrives. As the new concrete is joined to the cold slab an interruption occurs because the two slabs don’t mix into each other.This creates an unplanned ‘Cold-Joint’.

These are two examples of many variations of Cold-Joints in buildings. Often as a termite technician I have been called to locate and determine the cause of an active termite infestation in a building that appears be well protected against termite entry, but now has a significant damage bill to be addressed! Termimesh, Kordon or other ‘whole of house’ Termite Protection can be successful in providing long term protection to a building, however, if there are unseen faults in the concrete slab floor, over time termites will discover and utilize these cracks to do what they’re GOOD AT..to demolish the building.

Coastal Brown Ants

Coastal Brown Ant (Pheidole megacephala) are common Brisbane pests.Usually found excavating under patio pavers and slabs, their presence often pre-empts termite entry into the adjoining building. A relationship has emerged between the presence of Coastal Brown Ant and subterranean termites. Being commensal in similar “non-poisoned soils”the discovery of these ubiquois insects in a building’s foundation surrounds, usually means there is no current termite poison in the soil. Coastal Brown Ant and Singapore Ant often infest lawns, the soldiers cracking open grass seeds etc.

These small brown ants along with the smaller black ants can undermine bedding sand under pavers and house slabs causing subsidence and develop large hard to locate colonies. These types of ants, therefore, should be considered a structural pest of buildings in South East Qld and beyond.

Whitefooted House Ant

Whitefooted House Ant (Technomyrmex albipes) prefer carbohydrates such as sugars, glue and fermented cordials. This nuisance pest is common in Brisbane homes. Control can usually be achieved using sugar-based baits such as Borax.These ants love to establish arboreal nests in raked cathedral ceilings causing annoying falling frass below for the occupants.

Choosing the best method of Pest Treatment for ants in your space, is simple. Contact us today, to hire an experienced professional that will ensure the job is completed properly!

“I’m being bitten all over!”

“What are these red spots on my skin!”

“I feel them crawling into my eyes!”

It was my first client of the day..8 am Wednesday and STILL RAINING 8 days straight.
My client displayed her left inner arm toward me, revealing hundreds of red dots like pin-pricks all over the skin.
She had tried everything..Aerogard, Rid, changing to unperfumed soap, incense, olive oil, pyrethrum sprays. In desperation, she had even heeded the doctor’s advice. She now bunked at her parent’s backyard caravan, the only way a good night’s sleep was possible.
“Am I going crazy?” She was barely whispering.And that’s when I discovered the cause.

I had been there before.

She and myself had been in this conversation for about 10 minutes, both standing beside the kitchen bench. The itching was now spreading above my knees.”GOTCHA” I quietly announced.”What do you mean?” she asked defensively.

Then I HAD to start scratching my stomach..they were all over me too!!

Paper lice (book lice) are often, as this case turned out to be, the culprit. You can’t see them but you can sure feel them! Places like office stationery archive rooms, paper files, carpeted areas covered by furniture and even second-hand book stores and furniture items are often infested by this invisible little icher.So, having identified the cause as being a UNIDENTIFIED BITING INSECT or “UBI” a successful treatment can be undertaken.
In the old days I would fog the house or even fumigate the house with dichlorvos (DDVP). Since, however, withdrawal of the product by legislation for that type of use about 18 months ago, I have changed tactics.
In this case, I treated the house with a Synthetic Pyrethroid misting, and after re-ventilating the house after 3 days vacant, my client moved back in. The result?

MAJIC

My point is this…Unidentified biting insects need proper identification and, often, a qualified Pest Management Technician is a good first point of call. More later..

Identify hazards (risks) and take basic actions to eliminate or control hazards (risks) that have been identified.

Essentially, common-sense dictates how to safely perform a pest management procedure. Hazards such as electrical faults, asbestos and insufficient ventilation are often not identified by the Pest Manager and can often present a serious threat to health or, in some cases prove to be lethal.

CASE STUDY;
2012, January.

Location..Brisbane western suburb.

Whilst carrying out a Pre-Purchase Timber Pest Inspection for my client on a house she was considering purchasing, the time came to inspect the roof void. As is necessary, the ladder was positioned under the man-hole access and climbing the ladder, the man-hole cover slid over to one side to allow me to enter the void.

What comes next should be standard operating procedure for ANYBODY considering entering a roof void…..I DID NOT ENTER THE ROOF VOID!

Why? Foil insulation had been installed and tacked onto the top of the ceiling joists. This meant that for as far as the torch could see, a blanket of shiny metal foil carpeted inside the void. Any footstep on the shiny blanket could have been my last! This is because, amongst other things, contact by the blanket and any 240v terminal (such as a light fitting) could electrify the foil and the rest would be history?

My point is this..

In this case I advised my client to arrange a licensed electrician to isolate all power to the building including the installed solar panels prior to me returning to complete the essential inspection to the roof void.More later..

Bait systems such as EXTERRA TERMITE INTERCEPTION AND BAITING PROGRAMMES offer a sensible low-environmental impact control solution.

However, as with any chosen type of termite control system, there are obvious advantages and compromises. Baiting systems of all types and different “indirect” modes of action invariably require more service visits by the technician in order to check, clean and replenish the various baiting components, and often the indirect translocation method employed by feeding stations is, although thorough in extermination of the actual cell nests, a long process taking up to, in my own experiences, 9 months to eradicate the termite infestation. So, a large portion of the final cost quotation for these types of systems becomes for relatively often and expensive service visits by the installing company.

On the other hand, CHEMICAL SOIL TREATMENTS and COLONY CONTROL FOAMING PROCEDURES are much more direct and, in the longer term, more affordable options.

For example, I recently was called to provide advice to a home-owner in a Brisbane outer suburb who had discovered small mud spots appearing on Gyprock wall linings in the studio theatre room ensuite. The culprit? Coptotermes Sp. (termites) were entering the house via the underground power line live feed conduit in the electrical meter box, on the brick house wall.

Electrical hazards such as this situation commands the use of no liquid. Therefore, I recommended and subsequently installed an Exterra feeding station to the bathroom wall, allowing the safe execution of what turned out to be a 100% successful elimination of the Royal Cell (main nest). The location of the main nest (now dead)!! Remains unknown.

CONCLUSION

Choosing the best method of termite treatment is not a task a home-owner can always make alone. A Termite experienced professional can explain all options and help you make the right investment decision.

I don’t have arguments with prospective client’s of mine. As my peers in this industry will tell you, if asked, my reputation is being a problem-solver..NOT a problem-maker!!

“Tea or coffee?” I detected a softening in her voice as her gaze left the termite report on the kitchen bench and gently asked. “Anything white and two,thank’s” I had just completed a thorough inspection of the termite-ridden house.

Anyway, the steel frames supporting the Gyprock wall linings had not been affected by the buzzing hive of Coptotermes Sp.continuing to digest the remaining scraps of musty old medical journals in the basement library room.So the house wasn’t about to fall over, was it?

“Those books were the pride and joy of my father’. She was dunking my teabag in the steaming mug.”They are insured with our household cover policy for $6,000 but that money won’t bring back my father’s books.” Picking up the termite report she placed my mug in it’s place.”How much would your quote come down for cash?’ My eyes stuck steady, but not threateningly on her’s and as she looked away I said “ 10% discount for cash on the day”.

“You’d better book me in then. How soon can you start?”

A steel framed construction in SE QLD is a very positive step in the right direction..however it affords NO PROTECTION against Subterranean Termites rifling through and possibly destroying house contents, kitchen joinery, carpets, parquetry floors, architraves, and anything in the house and garage which is attractive to their taste buds.

Termites can be ravenous, destroying up to one lineal metre of “fodder” in 24 hours.

That is why I always recommend atleast Annual Timber Pest Inspections to steel-framed buildings in Brisbane and it’s neighbouring shires.

Termidor has been protecting Australian home-owners against Subterranean Termites for 10 years now.

Being, I believe, unmatchable in performance ( none of my clients have had a failed Termidor barrier) there are some important features to consider before choosing your Termite Specialist.

If you are getting a few quotes for either immediate termite treatment or Termite Prevention for your home (I always recommend to get 3 quotes) please be careful of generic “termidor copies”. Let me explain. The last couple of years has seen the introduction of very cheap generic chemicals which contain the same main active constituent of Termidor which is a compound called FIPRONIL.Some operators pass off these generic Fipronil concentrates as Termidor. Probably, in many cases,no harm is intended by the termite technician, and with favourable conditions the generic formulation will deliver results as expected for the home-owner. However, what happens if termites come back??????

Being an Accredited Termidor Applicator, if termites come back during one of my client’s warranty period, the owners of Termidor, BASF, step into the picture.This means my client’s best interests are served in backing up the product. So how is that different to another termite contractor?

Subject to conditions being met, as an Accredited Termidor Applicator, I can arrange Termidor Assurance Warranty for the covered building/s for structural damage up to $2 million dollars, which means if the worst happens, and termites cause structural damage that the assurance is in place backed by one of the world’s leading companys.

That is why I chose to become an Accredited Termidor Applicator.

Termidor is a very special product and, provided it is installed by an Accredited Termidor Applicator, adhering to strict guidelines set by BASF and subject to conditions being met for each individual property, may qualify for the $2 million dollar warranty.