Crawling Insects

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 The two main species of cockroach found in the UK:

German cockroach prefers warm, moist environments, particularly heating systems in large buildings. It can swim, fly, climb smooth surfaces easily, and hide in inaccessible places. 

Oriental cockroach is found  indoors in heated buildings like hospitals, hotels, restaurants, prisons, and blocks of flats. It is sometimes found outdoors around dustbins and rubbish tips. It is dark brown to black in colour, very shiny, and has long flexible antennae and a flattened body. 

Cockroaches can carry food germs on their bodies and spread diseases such as dysentery and gastro-enteritis.

 Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) are small, flat, parasitic insects that feed solely on the blood of people and animals while they sleep. Bed bugs are reddish-brown in colour, wingless, range from 1mm to 7mm, and can live several months without a blood meal. 

Unlike their name, silver fish are small ground dwelling insects that tend to be found in dark areas such as under cupboards

Silverfish are harmless enough to humans, but they can destroy books, old papers, wallpaper, carpets and clothes with their droppings. They also love to make unsealed pasta, oat and cereal packets their home, so you'll want to get rid of them quickly. 

Perhaps the best-known of ant to the people of England is the common black garden ant. The ant is known by gardeners and household owners due to its tendency to enter houses. This ant nests under pavements, in soil and along the edges of lawns. In fact, almost anywhere.

It is a very quick, robust, and prolific ant, using formic acid and its jaws as a means of attack/defence. Its colonies can grow up to a size of 15,000 workers, though about 4000 to 7000 is perhaps the average.

The ants of this species eat insects, nectar, and even the bodies of their own dead, or ants from other colonies. They are also very fond of sugary substances. Their diet consists of a variety of insects including flies, beetles, the larvae of various flies and beetles, fruit, and honeydew.

Fleas are small, wingless, flat insects with three pairs of legs. Adult fleas are about 1/8 of an inch long (1 to 3 mm). They are dark reddish-brown in colour and have biting mouthparts. They can be very hard to spot because they move so fast along the animal's body. 

What Do Fleas Eat

Fleas feed on any warm-blooded body, including humans. However, they prefer to dine on hairy animals such as dogs, cats, rabbits, rats, and mice.

Once a flea hatches and becomes an adult, it uses its powerful legs to jump onto a host, where it will likely remain. While attached, the flea will feed, mate, and lay eggs. The eggs often fall off the host into the garden, bedding, carpeting, or blankets.

Fleas not only cause discomfort from biting, but they are also vectors of the bubonic plague. While there are few cases reported today, this rare disease wiped out one-third of Europe in the 14th century. Additionally, they can spread the bacterial disease murine typhus, which is transmitted to humans through infected rats. In pets, fleas serve as an intermediate host for tapeworm. The saliva of these biting pests is known to cause serious flea allergy dermatitis in dogs and cats.

The woodworm is the larvae of wood-boring beetles. One of the most common in the UK is the Common Furniture Beetle. The woodworm larval stage feeds on timber and leave tiny holes on the wood's surface. Woodworms are off-white or yellow in colour with a small brown head.

They can undermine the structural integrity of a wooden structure or wooden components of a build. As such they can cause a huge amount of damage.

• The spread of diseases
• Irritation of the skin of both humans and animals
• Damage to fabrics such as clothing and carpets
• Damage to paper
• Damage and infestation of food
• Damage of wooden structures

To treat crawling insects we can use various methods depending on the situation to ensure a safe resolution. These methods are as follows:

Insecticides applied in various methods including:

• Spraying
• Fogging
• Dusting
• Bait traps and other trapping methods
• Installation of preventative measures to reduce the risk of re-occurrence