COMMON HOUSEHOLD PESTS

$5.00

Homeowner’s Guide to Detection & Control
by Phillip Hadlington & Christine Marsden
(Australian Publication)

Softcover
180 x 245mm
80pp

Published by the University of NSW Press Ltd, Sydney NSW.

WAS R.R.P. $19.90

ISBN 0-86840-625-2

 

As reviewed in House & HOME Issue 45

The same team that brought us Termites and Borers: a Homeowners Guide to Detection and Control has just released a new book on general household pests. It covers a variety of infestations that are largely preventable and can in most instances be successfully treated by the homeowner.

Household pests – including cockroaches, fleas, ants, flies, mosquitoes, bed bugs, spiders, ticks and mites, lice, various food pests, carpet beetles and other pests of fabric, wasps, rats and mice – present real dangers to humans. Some are carriers of serious disease, a reality which may surprise many readers, and shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Many of these pests are not just simply a nuisance. For instance, fleas – with which most owners of cats and dogs would be quite familiar – are carriers of several diseases. Rats harbour a particularly dangerous variety of flea – the oriental rat flea – which is considered to be the major carrier of bubonic plague and murine typhus. Allergic reactions to fleas in the form of dermatitis are not uncommon and they also carry micro-organisms such as intestinal parasites (tapeworm).

In the book we are introduced to the lifestyle and life cycle of each pest, along with large colour photographs for identification. In most instances, correct identification is an essential part of proper control and eradication.

Most pests can be treated by either chemical or non-chemical means, and often with a combination of the two. The options for each pest are described in the text.

For example, there are non-chemical interventions include controlling mosquito numbers by eliminating locations around the home where moisture can pond or collect for extended periods of time. For fleas, it is recommended not to leave half-full or full bags of dust in the vacuum cleaner between uses, as these are ideal conditions for holding eggs before they hatch.

Easy to understand, at-hand information on the control methods for all the pests listed is contained in a chart, with a guide to buying pesticides that details the active ingredient as well as common trade names. This enables the reader to pinpoint, without any confusion, the control agents required for the problem at hand.

Hadlington and Marsden have again succeeded in providing a definitive guide to a household problem – the prevention and control of those nasties which have the potential to make life in the home quite miserable!

Photos: Colour

Contents

Foreword

Introduction and Acknowledgments

Cockroaches
Life cycle and habits
Cockroach species
Detection and prevention
Control
Common questions about cockroaches

Fleas
Appearance, life cycle and habits
Flea species
Fleas and disease
Control
Fleas: What to do

Ants
Features and life cycle
Ant species
Control
Ants; What to do

Flies
Features and life cycle
Fly species
Control

Mosquitoes
Feeding habits and life cycle
Disease
Mosquito species
Control

Bed Bugs
Features and life cycle
Control
Bed bugs: What to do

Spiders
Features, life cycle and habits
Ground-dwelling spiders
Orbweaving spiders
Other spiders
Control

Ticks and Mites
Australian paralysis tick
Ticks: What to do
Mites
Mites: What to do

Lice
Lice: What to do

Food Pests
Detecting infestation
Minimising infestation
Food moths; What to do

Carpet Beetles
Control
Carpet beetles; What to do

Pests of Fabric
Clothes moths
Silverfish
Booklice

Wasps
European wasp
Papernest wasp
Pesticides and pets

Rats and Mice
Pest status
Species
Rodents and disease
Detection
Control
Rats and Mice: Baiting and trapping

Baiting and Trapping

Control Methods
Non-chemical procedures
Pesticides
Pesticide groups
Selecting pesticides
Buying pesticides

Index

Further Reading

 

SKU: BK13_36 Categories: ,
COMMON HOUSEHOLD PESTS
COMMON HOUSEHOLD PESTS
$5.00