bedbugs

Bed bugs are parasitic insects that prefer to feed on human blood.^[2] The term is used loosely to refer to any species of the genus Cimex, and even more loosely to refer to any member of the family Cimicidae (cimicids).^[3] The common bedbug, Cimex lectularius, is the most famous species of the family.^[3][4] The name of the “bed bug” is derived from the insect’s preferred habitat of houses and especially beds or other areas where people sleep. Bed bugs are mainly active at night but are not exclusively nocturnal and are capable of feeding READ MORE

fleas

Fleas are the insects forming the order Siphonaptera. They are wingless, with mouthparts adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood. Fleas are external parasites, living by hematophagy off the blood of mammals (including bats and humans) and birds. READ MORE

cockroaches

Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattaria or Blattodea, of which about 30 species out of 4,500 total are associated with human habitations. About four species are well known as pests.^[1][2]

Among the best-known pest species are the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana, which is about 30 millimetres (1.2 in) long, the German cockroach,Blattella germanica, about 15 millimetres (0.59 in) long, the Asian cockroach, Blattella asahinai, also about 15 millimetres (0.59 in) in length, and the Oriental cockroach, Blatta orientalis, about 25 millimetres (0.98 in). Tropical cockroaches READ MORE

wasps

The term wasp is typically defined as any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee nor an ant.^[1] Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that preys upon it or parasitizes it, making wasps critically important in natural control of their numbers, or natural biocontrol. Parasitic waspsare increasingly used in agricultural pest control as they prey mostly on pest insects and have little impact READ MORE

ants

Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae ( /f?r?m?s?di?/) and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than 12,500 out of an estimated total of 22,000 species have been classified.^[3][4] They are easily identified by their elbowed antennae and a distinctive node-like structure that forms a slender waist.

Ants form colonies that range in size from a few dozen READ MORE

flies

True flies are insects of the order Diptera (from the Greek di = two, and ptera = wings). They possess a pair of wings on the mesothorax and a pair of halteres, derived from the hind wings, on the metathorax. Apart from secondarily flightless insects (including some flies), the only other order of insects with any form of halteres are theStrepsiptera, and theirs are on the mesothorax, with the flight wings on READ MORE

birds

Birds (class Aves) are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic (warm-blooded), egg-laying, vertebrate animals. With around 10,000 living species, they are the mostspeciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. All present species belong to the subclass Neornithes, and inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic.Extant birds range in size from the 5 cm (2 in) Bee Hummingbird to the 2.75 m (9 ft) Ostrich. The fossil record indicates that birds emerged within theropod dinosaursduring the Jurassic period, around 160 million years READ MORE

rats

Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. “True rats” are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are theblack rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus. Many members of other rodent genera and families are also referred to as rats, and share many characteristics with true rats.

Rats are typically distinguished from mice by their size; rats are generally large muroid rodents, while mice are generally small muroid rodents. The muroid family is very large and complex, and the common terms READ MORE 

mice

A mouse (plural: mice) is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (Mus musculus). It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles. They are known to invade homes for food and occasionally shelter.

The American White-footed Mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) and the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus), as well as other common species of mouse-like rodents around the world, also sometimes live READ MORE

moths

A moth is an insect related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be about 160,000 species of moth (nearly ten times the number of species of butterfly),^[1] with thousands of species yet to be described. Most species of moth are nocturnal, but there are crepuscular anddiurnal species. READ MORE

We provide a full proofing and follow-up service.

Bed Bug Life Cycle

If you think you don’t need to worry about bed bugs in London, talk to the London International Academy boarding school students.

Or better yet, take a close look at them.

It won’t take long to find clusters of red bug bites on the students — whose parents pay $20,000 per year for accommodation at the Park Tower on King St. and pre-university courses at the downtown private school.

“Right here,” said one teen yesterday, rolling up his sleeve to show where he was bitten the week before. “My neck,” said another, gesturing to a grouping of six angry red welts just under his chin.

Many of the students have arrived during the past month to start school meant to prepare them for Canadian university. Their English is still spotty, but when stopped out front of their residence at 186 King Street Thursday, all were familiar with the term bed bugs.

“Oh yes bed bugs,” said one boy, who declined to give his name or have his picture taken. “I’ve been here two weeks. I was bit three or four nights.

“I don’t sleep well.”

Another student said he had seen the bugs and killed some, but still he wakes up with bites “every night.”

Inspectors with the Middlesex-London Health Unit are aware of the situation at the building, said environmental health director Wally Adams.

He said a health unit inspector called out for something else in August noticed some bed bugs and ordered the building manager to “beef up integrated pest management measures.

When the inspector returned Aug. 23, he was satisfied that the manager had complied. SEE MORE

Bed Bug Bites

They’ve fed on people for thousands of years, and now, if the local health officer has his way, they’ll gnaw on the wallets of Ontario taxpayers.

Bed bugs have been a nuisance for millennium but it was only last year Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews declared her government would spend $5 million to fight the insect, including $180,000 for the Middlesex-London Health Unit.

The money was meant for a single year so health officials could teach citizens how best to prevent infestations and get rid of those that occurred.

But with the next provincial budget a couple of months away, the local medical officer of health wants to make the funding permanent.

Dr. Graham Pollett will ask the health board at a meeting Thursday to request the Health ministry include funding to combat bed bugs in the base budgets of the province’s health units.

Pollett pointed to the success of a “bed bug hotline” as one reason to permanently place taxpayers on the hook for funding.

“The hotline was opened in June 2011 and the number of calls SEE MORE

The aggressive multicoloured Asian lady beetle – whose population has exploded across southern Ontario over the past few summers – has taken a liking to Niagara vineyards. That’s causing much chagrin and concern among grape growers and winemakers, because the insects can end up in the winery vats, causing unexpected and undesirable flavours in the wine.

The pesky multicoloured Asian lady beetle has not only invaded homes, but is also getting into winery vats, tainting entire batches of wine and causing winemakers much concern.
Photo credit: Steve Marshall

University of Guelph Prof. Mark Sears and graduate student Christie Bahlai, Department of Environmental Biology, are studying the origin, abundance, dispersal and eating habits of the insect. By learning more about the pesky lady beetle, they hope to find a way to stop it from invading winemakers’ brews.

“Flavours of some wines changed abruptly in 2001, and it was soon apparent that beetles crushed with grape clusters were the source,” says Sears. “As a result, the wines that had the off-flavour were never released for sale. We’re trying to find out how the beetles get to the vines – and what we can do to help keep vineyard owners informed for the upcoming SEE MORE

Spring clean-up to prevent insects from entering home

Homeowners are likely to start finding unwanted pests in and around their homes as we transition from the colder wet winter months to warmer spring months. The following are some simple steps homeowners can take to reduce their risk of pest control problems:

Pest Control Tips In the Kitchen

- Store food in airtight containers. Open packages of pasta, rice, and baking goods (i.e. flour, oatmeal, cornmeal) should be placed in the freezer and frozen for 72 hours, then placed in airtight containers, or thrown away to reduce the chance of insects infesting the pantry.

- Always wipe down sticky containers. Bottles of sticky substances such as syrup and other sauces or condiments should be wiped down with warm soapy water to reduce the chance of ant infestation.

- Throw away spoiled food right away. Items such as old potatoes, onions, and other vegetables should be checked for spoilage to avoid fruit fly infestation or attack from ants, crickets, earwigs, etc.

- Freeze candy and chocolate. Put leftover holiday candy and other treats in the freezer to avoid attracting insects into your pantry.

Pest Control Tips Throughout the House

- Clean your doors and windows. Thoroughly vacuum and clean window and sliding door tracks to help prevent outside invaders such as carpet beetles, earwigs, silverfish and spiders.

- Don’t let the bed bugs bite! After house guests leave, carefully inspect closets, drawers, and beds/sofas for bed bugs that may have inadvertently been brought in. Also, after you travel, carefully clean or vacuum all luggage inside and out, and then store it in tightly sealed plastic garbage bags.

- Store away wool and fur-trimmed clothing. During warm weather months, wash and store away wool and fur-trimmed or -lined clothing in sealed containers or plastic bags to reduce the chance of moth or carpet beetle activity. READ MORE

http://www.funtasticus.com/2008/10/03/cool-bug-puzzle-game/

http://www.coolgames88.com/Cool_bug_Games.html

http://www.coolbugstuff.com/

The first thing you can do is find reviews of the hotel you’re staying at by searching the internet. We can do that for you if you prefer, simply leave a comment asking us to check your hotel [include the name and address of the hotel in your comment] and we’ll post the results under your comment. Keep in mind that a report about one hotel does not mean the issue wasn’t isolated to one room, or that hotel management hasn’t since exterminated the bugs.

When staying at a hotel, hang clothing in the closet that is farthest from your bed, place luggage on the folding rack usually found at hotels and always place your luggage in a plastic bag (hotel provided dry cleaning bags work great).

When you inspect a room for bedbugs, make sure you wear disposable medical gloves! Bedbugs gorge on the blood of humans, so much so that they can easily pop with very little pressure. When a bedbug pops, it will splatter blood and you may be exposed!

Picture of Bed Bugs, their eggs, shells and feces! This is a high resolution photo of what a bed bug infested mattress looks like including their shells, eggs and feces. You can zoom in on the picture if you need to.

• After you arrive at your hotel, the first thing you should do is to spot check the bed. Peel back the bed sheets and check the mattress, running your fingers along the upper and lower seams. Make sure to check the mattress tag and plastic around the edges (see the picture above); bed bugs often hide there.
• Check for tiny black spots (smaller than the size of poppy seeds) behind the headboard, translucent skins or actual bedbugs. Bed bug spots (fecal matter) are dark brown to black in color and stick to the surface. If it falls off, then it’s not a bed bug spot. You can also take a wet towel and wipe the spot to see if it smears and if so, then it may be fecal matter.  READ MORE