Identification:

• Overall Length: Workers are 6-13mm, Queen is 25mm or more
• Colour: Reddish brown or black
• Other Features:  Large mandibles, round thorax, single node, cone hairs on tip of abdomen

Life Cycle:  A founding queen will establish a colony by laying 20-30 eggs and then feed the larvae until pupation occurs.  Workers emerge from these pupae to in turn take care of the queen and excavate a larger colony for her newly laid eggs.  Initially, all of the workers are minor workers (workers who care for the eggs, larvae, pupae and the queen) but as the colony matures some of the pupae develop into major workers (workers who defend the colony).  The colony will continue to mature for 3-6 years at which time 3000 or more members may be present.  The life cycle will take approximately 66 days.

Behaviour:  Indoors, carpenter ants make their nests in moist areas or slightly humid places for example, between panelled doors, in wood cabinets near dishwashers, in damp locations behind baseboards, fireplaces, window frames and may also nest in polystyrene insulation, fiberglass and other insulating materials which have not been treated to withstand attack.  Carpenter ants usually limit the size of the colony to the area of the damp wood but are capable of doing extensive structural damage.

Outdoors, carpenter ants nest in any wood that is in a state of decay.  Wood in close contact to a moisture source, for example, stumps, landscape ties, decks and wooden posts are ideal sites as are the dead limbs or heartwood of trees.

Signs of Infestation:  The presence of large, dark coloured ants inside the home is usually the first sign of infestation.  Although carpenter ants chew their way through wood, they do not eat it.  All material waste or frass (particles resembling sawdust) is ejected through the nest opening so that the nest itself is clean.  The presence of frass may indicate ant activity.  Colonies within homes can sometimes be located by listening for a rustling sound in walls and ceilings using a stethoscope or inverted water glass to hear the ants.

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Identification:

• Overall Length: Adult worker is 1.5mm
• Colour: Adult worker is dark brown to black
• Other Features: Colonies have many queens

Life Cycle: Very little is known about the little black ant’s life history. Colonies can contain multiple queens and up to 2000 workers. New colonies are formed during the summer as winged adult males and females mate in spring through mid-July.

Behaviour: As a native species the little black ant and can be found throughout Southern Ontario. They are adept at developing nests. A colony can thrive in open soil, lawns, under patio stones and masonry, wall voids and under flooring.

Signs of Infestation: Little black ants are often observed on their feeding / foraging trials especially when they invade the kitchen. Cabinets and pantries can become overrun with these ants and homeowners may see them swarm in large numbers during mating season.

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Identification:

• Overall Length: Adult ant is 1.5mm
• Colour: Adult ant is yellow or light brown to red
• Other Features: Club at end of antennae has three segments

Life Cycle: Unlike most ants that have a mating swarm, pharaoh ants produce new colonies through a process called ‘budding’ or ‘fractionating’. Budding is when worker ants move brood (larvae and pupae) to establish a new nest. Often one or more queens will accompany the workers and brood to the new nest. Buddy occurs when the pharaoh ant colony becomes too large for the host site or when the colony is under stress. The application of repellant insecticide / pesticide will cause a pharaoh ant colony to bud.

Behaviour: Pharaoh ants nest in inaccessible locations near warm and moist areas. A very low percentage of the colony leaves the nest to forage, those that do can travel long distances in search of protein and sugar sources. A pharaoh ant colony can have multiple queens and worker populations can number 300, 000 or more. The use of insecticide and sprays easily causes the colony to bud off to initiate new colonies – accelerating the growth of the colony rather than eliminating it.

Signs of Infestation: Most often pharaoh ants are observed on their feeding trails along countertops baseboards. Once a worker ant has located a source of food it will lay a pheromone trail from the food to the nest. Worker ants will be seen moving the food along the pheromone trail.

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Identification:

• Overall Length:  Adult worker is 12-18mm
• Colour:  Adult worker is black and white

Life Cycle:  In the spring, that have overwintered in protected areas become active and begin to build a nest.  She creates a few broad cells in the nest which she then  deposits with eggs.  In the summer, the colony grows until there may be 100 – 400 workers.

Behaviour:  In the early and summer, protein in the form of live prey is the usual diet.  As the season progresses and there are fewer larvae to feed, the workers will take nectar and other forms of carbohydrates.  The Bald-faced hornet can become aggressive if the nest is disturbed.

Signs of Infestation:  The Bald-faced hornet builds a large grey-blue soccer ball sized paper nest with a single entrance off-centre at the tip.  Usually a nest is suspended among the branches of a tree.

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Identification:

• Forearm: 4.4-5.1cm
• Wingspan: 32.5-35cm
• Ears: 1.6-2cm
• Colour: Reddish brown to dark brown

Life Cycle: Southern Ontario litter size is two. Big brown bats may live as long as 18 years but in the wild life expectancy is drastically reduced to a few years.

Behaviour: Summer maternity colonies may include approximately a dozen to a few hundred bats while males typically roost in small groups or alone. Big brown bats are sensitive to high temperatures and will choose cooler summer roost sites such as: behind chimneys; in hallow walls; behind shutters and in enclosed eaves. During the winter big brown bats canoverwinter in attics, wall voids and basements.

Signs of Infestation: If you suspect that you may have big brown bats roosting within your home you can verify your suspicions with a “bat watch” – please see the section titled “Little Brown Bats” for more information on how to perform a bat watch. Other signs of an infestation include: physically seeing a bat inside your living quarters, rub marks and guano.
If you see a bat within your living quarters it may be a big brown bat. Big brown bats tend to move about during temperature swings, this can mistakenly draw them into your living space as they seek to exit their roost site to the outside.
Rub marks around small gaps and crevices often indicate the presence of bats. The rub marks are an oily residue which is excreted from bats and builds up as they regularly move over an area. The rub marks will appear smooth and polished and are a sure way to identify a bat entry / exit point into a building.
Guano (bat droppings) will often be present in and around structures where bats are roosting. At a glance, guano looks like mouse droppings. However, and unlike mouse droppings, when crushed guano becomes powdery and reveals shiny bits of undigested insects.

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Identification:

• Forearm: 3.4-4.1cm
• Wingspan: 22.9-26.9cm
• Ears: 1.4-1.6cm
• Colour: Reddish brown to dark brown

Life Cycle: In Southern Ontario litter size is one, however, twins occasional occur in warmer regions. In captivity the life span of the little brown bat can be as great as 31 years. In the wild life expectancy is limited to only a few years.

Behaviour: The little brown bat is one of the most common bats found in and around buildings. Being able to tolerate high temperatures,summer colonies often roost in hot attics. Colony size can range from approximately a dozen to thousands. In the winter little brown bats will leave their summer roost sites to hibernate in caves. Their winter roost sites may be up to a few hundred kilometres away from their summer roost sites.

Signs of Infestation: If you believe that you have little brown bats roosting in your home you can verify your suspicions with a “bat watch” (look for bats flying in and out of your home). To perform a bat watch, observe the exterior of your home in the evening about 30 minutes before dark. Multiple people may be needed to cover all exterior surfaces. Little brown bats only need a 1/4” opening to gain access into your home so pay attention to even the smallest of openings. It may be necessary to perform multiple watches to compensate for weather conditions, bat’s sensitivity to observers, noisy or inexperienced observers and improper use of lights.

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Identification:

• Overall Length: Adult up to 4.5mm
• Colour: Reddish brown
• Other Features:  Bed bugs are small, flat, oval bloodsucking insects.  Nymphs and adults are wingless, adults posses vestigial wing pads

Life Cycle:  Mature Bed bugs may live from 4 months to 1 year or more.  After mating and having a blood meal, the female deposits from 10-15 eggs in irregular masses until 200 or more eggs have been laid.  There are records of a single female laying as many as 500 eggs.  During warm periods hatching occurs within 6-10 days.  Bed bugs develop through incomplete metamorphosis.  Newly hatched nymphs undergo 5 moults, taking a blood meal between moults.  Under favourable conditions, the period from egg hatching to egg laying is 2 months.  Generally, there are 3-4 generations in a month.

Behaviour:  Bed bugs feed mostly at night by biting sleeping people.  If they are very hungry, they will feed during the day.  When feeding, Bed bugs inject an anticoagulant into the skin to prevent the host’s blood from clotting.  The anticoagulant often causes the skin to become irritated and inflamed, welts may develop and itching may occur.  If feeding is undisturbed, a full grown Bed bug becomes engorged with blood in 3-5 minutes.  It then crawls to a hiding place where it remains for several days digesting its meal before emerging and seeking another blood meal.

Signs of Infestation:  Look for Bed bugs: behind your headboard and around the cracks and crevices of your bed; in the seams and tufts of your mattress; inside your box spring and along your bed frame; along bedroom baseboards; in and around nightstands.  Bed bugs are not restricted to the bedroom, they can be in any area of your home.

Their presence is not necessarily the result of poor housekeeping.  If introduced into a home, they may become numerous and irritating which will affect the welfare of the occupants.

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Identification:

• Overall Length:  Adult worker is 18-20mm
• Colour:  Adult worker resembles a bumble bee except the abdomen is almost hairless and is a metallic blue-black clour

Life Cycle:  Females will provision an average of 6 cells with a supply of pollen and a single egg.  Eggs and larvae will develop for about 36 days before the adult emerges.  The new adults will provision an old nest with pollen to feed on during bad weather and before they go into hibernation.

Behaviour:  The Carpenter bee usually excavates galleries in fascia, siding, porch beams, exterior columns, telephone poles, fence posts and treated wood.  Extensive excavation of wood members may weaken there structural soundness.  Males do not have stingers and females do not use theirs unless handled or molested.

Signs of Infestation:  Exit / Entrance holes are round and 25mm in diameter, about the size of a dime.  Unsightly streaks may be present beneath entrance holes to nests.

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Identification:

• Overall Length: 13-40mm
• Colour: Greyish yellow to dark brown
• Other Features:  One pair of legs per body segment

Life Cycle:  The centipede has six larval molts, and four post-larval molts before the centipedes reach maturity.  Females have been known to survive for several years and produce up to 150 offspring.

Behaviour:  During the daytime, centipedes inhabit dark, damp locations in the home and come out at night to forage for prey.  House centipedes feed on silverfish, firebats, carpet beetle larvae, cockroaches, spiders and other small arthropods.  Although bites are rare, they produce a reaction comparable to a wasp sting.

Signs of Infestation:  Common harboring sites include: beneath concrete slabs; behind baseboards; inside cement block walls; in floor drains; under and in cardboard boxes; wood piles; and in any damp, cool location such as a crawl space.

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Identification:

• Overall Length: Adult is 10-14mm
• Colour: Adult is brownish-buff
• Other Features:  Two brownish-yellow bands across the tegmina (wings)

Life Cycle: Females carry a small egg capsule which can contain 16-18 eggs.  The egg capsules incubate for about 6-10 weeks before nymphs emerge.  Nymphs become adults in about 5 months and adults live about 10 months.

Behaviour: Although the Brown-banded cockroach is nocturnal, it may often be seen during the day.  It is capable of flight and can be found fluttering around lights in the house.  It prefers to hide in crevices high up in heated rooms where the average temperature is 26 degrees Celsius.

Signs of Infestation: Common harbouring sites include furniture, bedding, behind picture frames, in old clothes, inside ceiling fixtures, behind curtain hooks and behind wall paper.

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