Between the years 1999 and 2006 there was exponential growth in the number of new infestations equating to an extraordinary increase of 4,500% (Doggett and Russell, 2007) and bed bugs continue to be a major issue.

Up until recently in the modern bed bug resurgence, encounters with the insect were mainly in areas where people slept. However, bed bugs have had a broader societal impact with infestations occurring in shops, offices, hospitals, physician waiting rooms, public transport systems such as planes, trains and buses, and cinemas. You no longer need to stay in an infested bed to pick up bed bugs.

That said many Brisbane and Gold Coast accommodation establishments are calling in with bed bug infestations.

Be warned they are not an easy problem too fix and the total cost can be expensive.Because this problem has crept up on the pest industry the available treatments and their success rates are mixed at best.

As the article mentions a study conducted by scientists at the University of Amherst found that bedbugs in New York City are now 250 times more resistant to standard pesticides than bedbugs in Florida, due to changes in a gene controlling the resilience of the nerve cells targeted by the insecticides.

So we have a scenario where not only are the available pesticides relatively inadequate at dealing with bed bug infestations but the bed bugs themselves are becoming resistant to the pesticides.

So when it comes to Bed Bugs prevention is so much better than cure.

If you are travelling to the far flung places of the globe (like New York City ) be bed bug alarmed. The critical point is to make sure you do not bring them back with you in your luggage!

Before you know it they will have set up shop in YOUR home and that dream holiday will become a nightmare!

Cheers

My Pest Control can identify the type of ant that has invaded your home, get to the root of the problem – and eliminate it.

Inside

• Clean up spills and food crumbs quickly.
• Empty rubbish bins often.
• Do not feed pets inside.
• Store food in pest-proof containers.
• Rinse out jars and containers before placing them in rubbish and recycling bins.

Outside

• Keep trees and shrubs trimmed back from your house.
• Keep gutters and storm drains free of debris.
• Watch for new ant mounds or nests around your home.
• Keep trash bags sealed and in closed garbage cans.
• Seal doors and windows

A recent article in the Courier Mail

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/royal-execution-combats-pests/story-e6freoof-1226229767731

Termidor Ant Control

Termidor® has delivered unparalleled termite control since it was first introduced into Australia.

The key reasons for this success are that Termidor is non repellent plus it has the unique ‘Transfer Effect™’.
These key attributes make Termidor the ultimate ant control agent. As ants are social insects living
together in large colonies, feeding and grooming each other, it makes perfect sense to bring the
power of Termidor to help in the battle against one of the hardest to control pests.

Termidor is non-repellent, which means the ants never know it’s there, and cannot react to it or avoid it. Ants on their
routine travels to and from your home, can pick up Termidor and spread it to other ants throughout their colony.

Termidor utilises a unique process called the Transfer Effect™ to affect entire populations of
ants, even if many of them never make direct contact with a Termidor treated area.

When ants contact Termidor they carry it on their bodies and pass it on to any ants they subsequently come into
contact with. Those ants pass it on to more ants, who continue the process of transferring Termidor
throughout the ants’ nest.

The paralysis tick causes many deaths amongst our 4 legged friends every year.

The adult female paralysis tick can attach itself to a dog, cat or human and burrow its mouthparts into the skin. The tick then injects a toxic fluid into the host to allow it to suck the blood of the host.

Ticks start out quite small but quickly grow to the size of a small pea as they suck the blood of their host.

Most pets show little in the way of paralysis symptoms for the first few days, but the longer the tick remains, the greater the severity of symptoms and the more life threatening it becomes.

If your pet shows signs of weakness of the legs, vomiting or dry retching, and/or difficulty with breathing search all of their body for a tick.

Remove any ticks by simply pulling it straight out with your fingers or tweezers.

Contact your vet ASAP.

Pest Control Brisbane

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/worlds-worst-termite-heads-south-to-gold-coast-region/story-e6freoof-1226167319034

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/woman-rescued-after-cockroach-hunt-triggers-house-blaze-in-coburg/story-fn7x8me2-1226082488807

My Pest Control Cockroach Control

http://www.couriermail.com.au/entertainment/weird/casino-staff-forced-to-wear-flea-collars/story-e6frep26-1226062003533

Summer brings with it many pleasant experiences but the increased number of cockroaches is certainly not one of them.

Cockroaches basically fall into two categories, those that fly and those that don't.

Those that fly are larger and include Australian, American, Oriental, Smokybrown and Brownbanded generally live outside in the garden.

On the other hand German cockroaches, which do not fly, are smaller in size and generally 'set up shop' in your kitchen-particularly in the hings on your cupboard doors, under your sink, in your microwave and under your electric jug.

The larger cockroaches that fly generally enter your home by mistake. they crawl under a door looking for food, or up a drain or through an open window.

The smaller German Cockroaches are generally carried into your home by you in a box e.g. when you are moving into a new home, a box of fruit/groceries or even a box of drinks from the supermarket.

German cockroaches are well suited to living with humans and will eat almost anything. Your kitchen and bathrooms provide their every need-food, water and shelter.

Tell tale signs that you may have cockroaches:

Obviously seeing cockroaches is a pretty good giveaway that you may have a problem. However seeing the odd large cockroach does not mean you have an infestation. If you have had an annual pest service then just leave it be an within a matter of time it should pick up a lethal dose of active ingredient and die. If you have not had a general pest service completed recently then simply grab a can of fly spray and give it a quick spray-no need to drown it!

On the other hand if you have started to notice cockroach activity in your kitchen-particularly at night, then it could be time to call your professional pest manager.

Also check for droppings that can show up against white laminate.Smear marks may also be noticeable-it's a brownish colour.

Cast skins may also be present as may the egg sac-known as the ootheca.It looks a bit like popcorn before you cook it!

Treatments

Larger cockroaches that fly can be treated as a stand alone service or as part of a combined service. Generally speaking an annual or bi annual pest treatment should be enough to keep these larger cockroaches in check.

This will depend on your general level of tolerance. All you have to do is wait for the cockroach to pick up a dose of the active ingredient. this will happen via the roof cavity, skirting boards, eaves etc. A good pest manager should be able to place enough 'active' around your house to give you good all year protection.

German cockroaches on the other hand are more effectively treated using gel bait.

In combination with Integrated Pest Management protocols the bait will not only knock the adult population on the head but offer all year protection from further infestations.

It should be noted however that like all pests if you do not remove the conducive conditions that attracted the pests in the first place then the effectiveness of any pest treatment will be severely reduced.

For example, continued poor hygiene and cleanliness standards in your kitchen will not give the cockroach gel bait a chance to get on top of the cockroach problem. You need to eradicate the choice between other alternative food sources and the gel bait.

Most gel bait will work if given a fighting chance, so work with your pest manager to achieve your desired objectives.

The last few weeks has seen a large increase in the number of actual and possible flea infestations in and around the Brisbane area.

The warmer weather and higher moisture provide ideal conditions.

Clients call us in distress with an 'overnight' infestation.

It's important to remember that fleas have a 4 stage lifecycle that can make treatment a little tricky.

The 4 stages are:

1.Egg

2.Larva

3.Pupa

4.Adult

The egg stage and the pupa stage are impervious to insecticides which means a basic pest treatment will only treat the larva and the adults.

Many new tenants experience a flea infestation when they occupy a new rental property.

This occurs generally because the movement causes the pupa to hatch into an active adult. This process takes almost next to no time and before you know it the adult fleas are biting your legs and sucking out your blood!

Fleas need blood to reproduce so humans and cats and dogs provide ideal hosts!

It's important your pest control brisbane service provider thoroughly inspects your premises both internallly and externally to determine the extent of the infestation.

They will need to provide a number of different treatments which will include the clients agreement and participation.

Treatments will need to kill the active adult fleas that are present as well as provide a residual affect for newly emerging adult fleas.

Additionally an Insect Growth Regulator will need to be used to 'break the breeding' cycle.

Clients will need to keep their premises clean and vacuuming their floors and upholstery items regularly is a must.

Remember to treat the vacuum bag and empty after each session to avoid in infestation in your broom cupboard!!!!

Clients will need to treat their pets at the same time as the treatment and it is a good idea to alternate products to avoid 'resistance' amongst the flea population.

Flea control is achievable if you use an integrated approach.

Treating your premises with appropriate insecticides, regular vacuuming, general cleanliness and keeping your pet treated will should eliminate any current infestation and prevent future problems.

It should be noted that the price of a flea treatment is difficult to assess over the phone and the more widespread the active fleas are around the premises the greater the cost to treat.