Pest Control Brisbane

Ants are one of the main nuisance pests in Brisbane. “Black ants” are the most frequent ant invading homes, typically one of two species – black house ants or white-footed house ants.

Outdoors coastal brown ants (also called big headed ants) can cause a problem where they dig up soil in between pavers. They can also find their way indoors looking for food.

Green-head ants and funnel ants are the two main lawn ants. Green head ants cause painful and itchy bites and funnels ants build their soil funnels and undermine he lawn structure.

For ant control in Brisbane, pest managers will generally use a combination of spray and bait products to eliminate ant problems. The objective is to eliminate the nest to get lasting control and where that isn’t possible prevent the ants entering the home.

Outdoor ant problems often require regular treatments as ants can always re-invade from surrounding areas.

Birds nesting in and around homes and businesses can cause a nuisance – not only do their droppings make a mess and damage buildings, but they carry diseases and parasites… and can make a lot of noise!

The main pest birds in Brisbane are pigeons and the Indian myna.

Homeowners also need to be aware that birds can cause significant damage to solar panels and their droppings can decrease the output from the panels. Bird proofing solar panels and getting the panels cleaned annual is a great way to protect your investment.

Biting midges are a significant problem around some of the coastal areas of Brisbane, especially the mangrove areas.

As the larvae develop in the mud, they are very difficult to control.

However, a outdoor spray to vegetation around the home to target the adults can significantly reduce the size of the problem. Such treatments will also reduce mosquito populations for several months.

Cockroaches are everwhere in Brisbane, especially the large cockroach species, such as the American and Australian cockroaches. These cockroaches generally live outside, under houses, in drains and rubbish and come inside looking for food. When it’s warm enough, they are capable of flying!

The German cockroach which is a small cockroach species only lives inside, most commonly in kitchens. It is a big problem in the food industry.

For cockroach control in Brisbane, the type of treatment a professional pest manager will use depends on the species of cockroach present. For large cockroach species, spraying the outside of the building (to prevent them entering) and spraying or dusting other hotspots are the key activities. Occasionally cockroach baits may be used as well. For German cockroaches, which are smaller and a lot more difficult to control, the main treatment involves the use of cockroach baits. When using baits it may take several days to reduce the population and with German cockroach treatments, more than one visit may be necessary to eliminate the problem.

To prevent a cockroach problem developing, good housekeeping / hygiene is essential – clear away dirty dishes and food spills, and make sure garbage is but in sealed bags and placed into bins away from the building.

Fleas are generally only a problem in the spring and summer months, as the flea larvae require humid weather conditions.

Most homeowners struggle to eliminate a flea problem using “flea bombs” as to completely eradicate a flea infestation, it is necessary to treat both indoor and outdoor areas where the pet has been resting. A pest professional will know all the places to look and apply the correct products.

In terms of preventing a flea problem, the best action is to keep the pet flea treatments up to date.

There are number of flies that cause for homeowners and businesses in Brisbane. The main group are the filth flies, which includes the common housefly and the drain fly, but there are also the drain flies which are small flies found in kitchens and bathrooms.

Filth flies and housefly problems occurs if there is garbage, pet faeces or manure around for them to lay their eggs on – the maggot love any organic matter! So to prevent filth fly problems around your home is it vital to eliminate fly breeding spots. A professional spray to surfaces to target fly resting places and the use of fly traps will eliminate any remaining adults.

Drain flies are the small flies that you can find in bathrooms, laundries and kitchens. They typically feed on rotting fruit or vegetables or in the slime in drains. If you have a problem with these annoying flies try and find any rotting food and clean out the drains before calling your pest professional. They can breed in the smallest of food sources in cracks and crevices, so you need to look everywhere!

The house mouse is a common indoor pest in Brisbane. They will often nest inside in wall void and behind or indeed inside furniture. They carry diseases and parasites, which can be transferred when they urinate on surfaces and food.

Rodent control needs knowledge and expertise to eliminate the problem safely. Simply throwing bait into the roof often won’t work as it is important to place the bait in the correct foraging sites.

Safety is also important to protect children, pets and native wildlife. You pest manager will know where to place the bait to avoid accidental poisoning and in many cases will use lockable bait stations.

Mosquito problems in Brisbane are found across the city. There are two groups of mosquito, one group tend to breed in small pools of water, the other group are the saltwater mosquitoes which breeding in tidal areas (but can fly long distances).

To keep mosquito numbers down at your property eliminating mosquito breeding sites is a great first step – eliminate areas of resting water, plants pots, drains, gutters, etc.

A professional mosquite treatment will involve fog your outdoor areas and treating the surfaces where mosquitoes land and rest. Although no treatment can deliver 100% control of mosquitoes, these fogging treatments can reduce the mosquito number significantly to allow you to enjoy your outdoor areas for up to 3 months.

There are two pest rats in Brisbane, the smaller roof rat and the larger sewer rat. Rats typically live outdoors coming inside to find food, although roof rats in particular will take up residence inside homes. They carry diseases and parasites, which can be transferred when they urinate on surfaces and food.

Although it is tempting to use baits from supermarkets, they are very toxic to humans, pets and non-target wildlife like possums. As such, for rodent control in Brisbane, it is always best to pay a pest professional to carry out the treatment to ensure the baits are placed in the best locations to deliver results and prevent accidental ingestion. Pest Professionals will use lockable bait stations in most areas.

Rats can also be difficult to control due to their intelligence and the neophobic behaviour – they are frightened of new things. To eliminate a rat problem quickly using a rodent expert will get the quickest results.

The key spiders in Brisbane are the black house spider, redback spider, white tail spider and huntsman spider.

Some people correctly point out that spiders are “beneficial” in that they do help eliminate insect pests. However, the bites from these spiders are health threat to your family and pets.

Black house spiders create dense funnel shaped webs around windows and door frames and under eaves. Redbacks make messy fish net-like webs, often containing leaves, in dry cracks and crevices, and even in downlights.

Spider control in Brisbane depends on whether the issues is web-building spiders (such as redbacks) or hunting spiders (such as huntsman).

Treatments for web-building spiders such as the black house spiders and redbacks involve a “spider spray”, when the outside of the building, obvious webs and spider hiding places are sprayed. Sometimes insecticide dust may be blown into cracks and crevices. These treatments can be quite long lasting, typically 6 months or longer in protected areas.

Treatment for white tail and huntsman spiders is more difficult. These hunting spiders tend to wander and don’t have any webs where they rest. A comprehensive surfaces spray treatment can work well, although any spiders walking across a treated area may not die immediately, so they may still find their way inside.

However, if you have a standard spider treatment which targets redbacks and black house spiders, this will also eliminate other insect pests, making your home far less attractive to these hunting spiders as there will be no food for them to eat.

Both white-tail spiders and huntsman spider like to rest in tight spaces and in nature they will often rest under logs or under the bark of trees. Whey they come into your home, clothes on the floor and under bed sheets are similar so keep your clothes off the floor and check your bed before jumping in!

Termites are major concern for homeowners in Brisbane causing millions of dollars of damage each year. There are several termite species in Brisbane and with the warm year round temperatures allowing the termites to keep active with a voracious appetite, they are capable of causing significant damage in as little as 6 months.

The key pest species in Brisbane are Coptotermes and Schedorhinotermes.

Although making your home less attractive to termites is something all homeowners should do, termite inspections and termite treatments are jobs for trained, experienced, licensed and insured termite professionals.

In Brisbane, homeowners should have a professional termite inspections at least once a year and a termite management system should be installed around and under the home to prevent termite attack.