Category Pest : All

Bees

General
Bees are common in all of the Netherlands. Usually these are the so-called honey bees (Apis mellifera L.). These honey bees are very useful for the cross-pollination of plants and cultivated plants. After all, the food of the bee is pollen and nectar of flowers. Flying from flower to flower, they provide the cross pollination. The collection of honey in particular is an activity of which humans benefit greatly.
The queen produces the offspring. Once enough young queens have developed in the nest, the old queen leaves the nest with part of the bee population, to look for a new home. The entire bee population, with the exception of the males, remains in their hive/nest throughout the cold winter months. In the fall, the males are killer or chased out of the hive. That is the period in which no fertilization takes place, causing the men to be obsolete.
The bee population lives in colonies and can house themselves in the most unlikely places. When you find a swarm, the best thing to do is to call EWS, which will remove and relocate the entire nest, where possible. Only when this is not possible and the bees cause nuisance, insecticides are used. In principle, bees are not dangerous to people. They will defend themselves however when attacked.
Expert help
The professional exterminator of EWS will come to your home and will check what treatment will be most effective. Based on this diagnosis, he will treat the nest. You will be given the guarantee that the nest is treated in a responsible manner and that this treatment works.

Brown-banded cockroach

Appearance
The brown-banded cockroach often has a maroon colour and a light transverse stripe on the breastplate and abdomen. In terms of appearance they look a lot like the German cockroach. They are about 10 to 15 mm long, excluding their antennas, the wings are well-developed and they can fly. The egg package is pale to red-brown in colour and contains about 16 eggs on average.

What causes cockroaches?
The cockroaches that occur in buildings originate from the tropics and can hide in the packaging of tropical products. In addition, cockroaches can be found in packing boxes, boxes from the supermarket, second-hand goods / household appliances and eve rented videotapes. Cockroaches can also simply ‘hitch-hike’ with clothes or luggage, for instance after the vacation.

General
In the Netherlands, the brown-banded cockroach is often found in houses and apartment buildings. Another name for the brown-banded cockroach is the house cockroach or furniture cockroach. They need a high temperature of about 26 C°. Like all cockroaches they are undesired, because they contaminate food and can transmit bacteria and fungal spores. They spread an unpleasant odour and are a big nuisance due to the great numbers in which they can exist.

Lifestyle
Brown Banded Cockroaches can move very quickly, even across the ceiling, walls and other surfaces. They are less light-shunning than the other species and also live in dryer and higher places. They prefer to feed on food that is rich in starch. In addition, the brown-banded cockroach likes to eat the glue in books and, for instance, of wallpaper. Shelters can be behind paintings, wallpaper, books and in furniture. They can even survive in a clean, hygienic environment. The reason for this is that adult cockroaches can last 40 days without food! If your house is very dirty, the cockroach will thrive and reproduce very quickly due to the abundance of food.

Prevention: How do I repel the cockroach?
Check your goods for cockroaches before you take them into your home; Properly ventilate your house and don’t raise the temperature too high. The cockroach is comfortable at a temperature of 26 C°. Store your food and waste properly so that cockroaches can’t reach them. If you use canisters, that prevents other vermin to reach your food as well. Clean your kitchen frequently and thoroughly. Seal cracks, seams and conduit openings of pipes.

Control
After a thorough inspection and inventory of the relevant object, a control plan is drawn up. In consultation with users / residents of the building time of action, preparation etc are agreed on. To kill the cockroaches, a bait gel is applied which will be applied to all possible hiding places. These substances, which are permitted by the government, can only be used by control professionals. The people involved will be informed in advance of the measures to be taken.

Pharaoh ant

The Pharaoh ant is an ant species that originates from the tropics, but was introduced to the Netherlands around 1900. After 1945 in particular, their numbers have increased greatly, due to the application of central heating in buildings, and today they are present throughout the country.

Like almost all ants, pharaoh ants are social insects, and live in so-called states. Within an ant state, there is a clear division of tasks: The queens provide the reproduction and they lay the eggs, the workers (infertile females) provide the food and take care of the larvae and the males inseminate the queens.

Appearance
Workers 2.2 to 2.6mm. Brown-yellow with a dark coloured abdomen. Queens 3.5 to 4,8mm. Brown-yellow with a dark coloured head. Males 2.8 to 3.1mm. Black-brown with pale yellow legs and antennas, winged. Larvae don’t have legs and are white..

Lifestyle
Pharaoh ants feel most comfortable at a temperature of about 30 degrees C and – in the Netherlands – only live indoors. Per population, they have several nests that can often be found at warm places, such as in the vicinity of furnaces, radiators and ovens. They are omnivores and can be found in bread, sugar, dog food and other food, but they prefer meats.

Per nest, Pharaoh ants can have up to 400 queens that can live up to 9 months, by which they will have laid about 300 eggs.

Damage
They can be a great nuisance in kitchens and other areas and they can transmit pathogens.

Prevention / control
The only way to fend off Pharaoh ants is to carefully check goods received and to store food in properly closed pots and canisters.

If the presence of pharaoh ants is detected it is important to initiate control measures as soon as possible to prevent them from spreading further. For effective ant control it is necessary to kill all queens, but sprays will not reach the nests. Only the bait method, in which the workers take the bait to the nest, allows for killing both the adult ants and the larvae.

To carry out a control action based on the bait method, you can contact EWS.

Grass fly

This fly species is much smaller than the previous two species. Grass flies are about 3 mm long and have a yellow body with three black stripes at the top of the breast shield. The somewhat rounded wings are fairly large in proportion to the body. The female of these species lay their eggs in the soil in meadows etc. The larvae parasitize on certain types of aphids. The grass fly too has the habit of overwintering in buildings en mass. They seem to prefer church towers.

Prevention / control
To prevent a fly plague in the fall, it must first be made impossible to enter the building; screens in front of windows and doors, weather stripping, sealing holes and cracks in exterior walls and sealing ventilation openings with fine mesh. The (partial) removal of creepers can help as well. Because grass flies prefer ivy and Virginia creeper. Sealing is not always effective. The flies can also enter a building through the roof riles.

If there already is a fly plage, there are different methods to resolve it. If the cluster place of the flies is tracked and well-accessible, the swarm can be removed using a vacuum cleaner. In the spring, it is often enough to open windows against each other. Sometimes the cluster place is hard to reach or inaccessible. In that case, an insecticide is required. EWS can advise you on this.

If, regardless of all control measures taken, the flies keep returning every year, EWS can carry out a preventive treatment early in the fall, with a residual-acting insecticide. The agent is sprayed in seems and cracks, on and near entrances of the flies and – optionally – on walls and frames.

Autumn house fly

Autumn house-flies look a lot like house-flies but can be distinguished by the clearly striped yellow with grey abdomen and the eyes of the males that almost touch each other on top of their heads.

Lifestyle
Female autumn house-flies lay their eggs on manure in meadows. The larvae develop in the manure and pupate in the surrounding soil. The adult flies feed on body secretions of the cattle and sometimes drink blood, although they can’t bite through the skin of people or animals. The overwintering behaviour of the autumn house-fly is almost the same as that of the cluster fly and both species can jointly use the same building.

American cockroach

Appearance
With a length of 28 – 44 mm (excluding the long antennas) are American cockroach is the biggest cockroach species that is frequently found in the Netherlands. Both genders are shiny red brown and have wings, but the males have longer wings. The nymphs (younger stages) look a lot like the adult animals, but do not have wings. The egg package is pale to red-brown in colour and contains about 16 eggs on average.

General
American cockroaches are hardly ever found in houses in the Netherlands. Because this species needs a high temperature and high humidity, they cause the most nuisance in factories, zoos, aquariums, food companies, bakeries and restaurants. Like all cockroaches they are undesired, because they contaminate food and can transmit bacteria and fungal spores. They spread an unpleasant odour and are a big nuisance due to the great numbers in which they can exist.

Lifestyle
Cockroaches can move very quickly, even across the ceiling, walls and other surfaces. American cockroaches can also fly at higher temperatures. Once cockroaches have invaded a building, they look for a warm, dark hiding place. The reason for this is that cockroaches shun the light. In a dark, warm and moist place they can easily survive and reproduce.

Cockroaches are omnivores. They can even survive in a clean, hygienic environment. The reason for this is that adult cockroaches can last 40 days without food! If your house if very dirty, the cockroach will thrive and reproduce very quickly due to the abundance of food.

Prevention: How do I repel the cockroach?
Check your goods for cockroaches before you take them into your home; Properly ventilate your house and don’t raise the temperature too high. The cockroach is very comfortable at 25’C; Store your food and waste properly so that cockroaches can’t reach them. If you use canisters, that prevents other vermin to reach your food as well. Clean your kitchen frequently and thoroughly. Seal cracks, seams and conduit openings of pipes.

German cockroach

Appearance
This cockroach species is light brown of colour and has two clearly black longitudinal stripes on the breastplate. Long antennae, large wings. Approximately 12 – 16mm long. The nymphs (younger stages) are 2 – 12mm long, wingless. The egg package is light brown and about 8 mm long.

What causes cockroaches?
Cockroaches originate from the tropics and can hide in the packaging of tropical products. In addition, cockroaches can be found in packing boxes, boxes from the supermarket, second-hand goods / household appliances and eve rented videotapes. Cockroaches can also simply ‘hitch-hike’ with clothes or luggage.

General
Cockroaches are very common in centrally heated buildings, food production companies and aboard ships. These insects are undesired, because they contaminate food and can transmit bacteria and fungal spores. They spread an unpleasant odour and are a big nuisance due to the great numbers in which they can exist.

Lifestyle
Cockroaches can move very quickly, even across the ceiling, walls and other surfaces. Once cockroaches have invaded a home, they look for a dark hiding place. The reason for this is that cockroaches shun the light. In a dark, warm and moist place they can easily survive and reproduce. You can always crush cockroaches or pour boiling water over them. There are male and female cockroaches. The female carries an egg package containing about 30 eggs. One cockroach couple can – in optimal circumstances – produce about 400.000 offspring in one year.

Cockroaches are omnivores. Still they can survive in a clean, hygienic house. The reason for this is that adult cockroaches can last 40 days without food! If your house if very dirty, the cockroach will thrive and reproduce very quickly.

How do I repel the cockroach?
Check your goods for cockroaches before you take them into your home; Properly ventilate your house and don’t raise the temperature too high. The cockroach is very comfortable at 25’C; Store your food and waste properly so that cockroaches can’t reach them. If you use canisters, that prevents other vermin to reach your food as well. Clean your kitchen frequently and thoroughly. Seal cracks, seams and conduit openings of pipes.

Prevention
Good hygiene and being alert to the presence of cockroaches in received goods and products, can help prevent cockroaches from multiplying into large numbers in objects. Properly carried out control can resolve the nuisance.

Oriental cockroach

General
Except in houses, these cockroaches are common in food companies, bakeries, hotels, restaurants, hospitals, laundries etc. in large numbers. They spread an unpleasant smell that is also absorbed by the food; the smell is caused by the secretion product of a back gland.

Oriental cockroaches (also referred to as the water bug) are omnivores and feed on our food, however they can also survive by eating dead animals, droppings and waste. Cockroaches can be carriers of bacteria and mites. They can also transmit certain diseases because they come into contact with all kind of dirt. Their presence in the immediate vicinity of people is utterly undesired. In the tropics, they are a cleaning crew of nature and they also serve as food for larger animals such as birds.

Appearance and lifestyle
An adult oriental cockroach is 20-27 mm long. Their colour is red-brown to black, the larvae are the darkest. Only the male has well-developed wings, but cannot fly. The wings often makes the male lighter in colour. The oriental cockroach doesn’t just live in bakeries, but also in restaurants, hotels, laundries and houses. Its preferred temperature is 20’C – 29’C.

Many cockroach species shun the light, this also includes the oriental cockroach. During the daytime, they hide in dark, war, places: behind the heater, oven or central heater, in kitchen cabinets, heated cellars, wall cracks near hot water pipes, in bathrooms and drains, near aquariums etc. During the night, they look for food via openings and holes along heating and water piping. They don’t stock up, but they feed every night, during which they move very fast. If they can’t find food, they gnaw in paper (books) and leather.

Development
The development of this insect takes fairly long. The female carries the eggs in an egg package (cocoon) which contains about 16, for a maximum of 5 days at the abdomen, before she drops it at a favourable location.

On average, adult females produce about 8 egg packages during their 35-180 day lifespan. About 2-3 months after dropping the cocoon, the wingless larvae hatch, that, via 7-8 moult processes go through a very long development period, of 1-4 years, depending on the circumstances, before they reach adulthood. The transformation is incomplete, meaning that the larvae look like the adult insect (imago) at birth and only differ in size and lack of wings. During the last moult, the wings are fully grown, however for the eastern cockroach this only applies to the males. The egg package is grey-brown, 10x5x3 mm and has a serrated edge at the top, which breaks open as the larvae hatch.

That the temperature plays an important role in the development is demonstrated by the fact that a difference of just several degrees, can accelerate or slow down the development with several months. They are sensitive to cold; a temperature of -4’C for a period of about 15 hours is usually fatal.

Prevention
The spreading of cockroaches takes place by bringing in frequently used boxes, caskets, crates, containers etc, with luggage and by with moving and transports. In addition to try and prevent the insects from being brought into the area, it can also help to limit the food supply, due to careful hygiene.

Make sure that no food or food residue is to be found in places where cockroaches find their food at night, which usually is the kitchen. Keep food in properly closed dishes, cans, plastic boxes or in the refrigerator. Get rid of food residue and kitchen waste. Carefully seal garbage cans and preferably take them outside for the night. Sealing pipe conduits etc may contribute to limiting the spread of cockroaches in a building.

When planning new construction and the configuration of kitchens, bathrooms, restaurants, bars, hospitals and nursery homes, one should avoid creating ideal shelters for insects. In addition, kitchens of companies and institutions should be situated as favourably as possible compared to the other parts of the building and the food should be stored in a dry cool storage.

Control
Before proceeding with a control action, the extend of the spread of the cockroaches within the relevant building and the adjacent buildings must be investigated. In apartment buildings, the spread first takes place in a vertical direction via pipe ducts etc. Glue traps can be used for this investigation. After this inventory, EWS can proceed to draw up the control plan (order of the treatment, control method to be applied and permitted substances etc) and the information provision to the parties involved. More information is available on our page for cockroach control.

Aftercare
It is recommended to have an expert of EWS check about 6-8 weeks after the treatment whether a post treatment is necessary. The residents/users of the treated areas must be alert to cockroaches after the inspection / treatment and report any detection of them as soon as possible. After the control action has been carried out, one can identify cockroach infiltrations in vulnerable objects such as food companies with glue traps for instance.

House fly

General
The house-fly and the small house-fly are the two fly species that are most common indoors in the Netherlands. The house-fly is 7-8 mm long, has a grey breast plate (thorax) with 4 black stripes and an abdomen with a yellow base (less so in the females). The small house-fly is thinner and is 5-7 mm long, has a brown thorax and an abdomen with three yellow rings and triangular faces on its back. Both fly species are herbivores and are common in manure, waste, dead animals and food.

Lifestyle
All fly species undergo a complete transformation (metamorphosis). This means that these insects go through 4 life states during their development into adult fly, being egg, larvae, pop and imago (adult insect). The female of the house-fly lays about 600-2000 eggs of about 1mm long in series of 100-150. The female of the small house-fly lays 200-600 eggs in groups of 30-70 each. The eggs are laid on all kinds of rotting material such as droppings or waste. After 1-3 days, the larvae crawls out of the egg and starts pupating after about 1 week. The pupal stadium takes about 3-8 days in the house-fly and 10-30 days in the small house-fly. The males die briefly after mating, the females live 2-3 months.

Damage
In addition to the fact that flies can be very annoying, they are also known as notorious disease spreaders. They carry all kinds of pathogens and viruses on their legs, mouth and hairs and their droppings which pose a hazard for people and pets.

Prevention
Fly nuisance can often be minimized by taking the proper control measure such as: timely removal of waste. Using properly sealable waste bins and containers. In farms, dispose of manure as soon as possible and keep manure gutters and stable floors clean. Don’t leave food and ingredients for food uncovered. Where possible, apply mosquito nets, fly screens, ribbon curtains or flap doors.

Control
Fighting flies is only useful after the necessary prevention measures have been taken. There are a lot of methods for exterminating flies, such as fly strips, electrical fly swatters, fly traps for indoors or outdoors, treatment of resting places of flies with insecticide and treatment of fertilizer to eliminate maggots. The EWS exterminator is happy to inform you about what methods are most suitable for your situation.

Cluster fly

This general fly species thanks its name to its habit to overwinter in buildings in large numbers. The cluster fly looks like a very big house-fly with a lot of golden hairs on its thorax (breast plate).

Lifestyle
The adult females lay their eggs on a moist floor, under rotting leafs etc. After about a week, the larvae hatch and start actively looking for rain worms, which they then hang onto and drill a hole in. The maggot develops inside the body of the rain worm. If the rain worm is dead or nearly dead, the maggot drills a way out and pupates in the soil. The life cycle of the cluster fly strongly depends on the weather conditions, two generations per year is normal. However, in hot summers there can be four generations per year. The adult cluster fly feeds off of the nectar of flowers.

Damage/nuisance
During the summer and the beginning of the fall, cluster flies hardly ever cause nuisance. When the weather turns cooler, they seek shelter in nooks and crannies in houses and other buildings. As the temperature drops further, they look for better shelter and often form clusters of thousands of flies. It is not uncommon for the same building to be used year after year for purposes of overwintering. Cluster flies do not cause any damage, but due to their great numbers, they are very annoying.