Pest Files: page 6
One reference page per pest: identification, the damage it does, what treatment involves and how long it realistically takes.
Articles
Spiders and scorpionsDo Spiders Bite You in Your Sleep? Mostly Not
Spiders rarely bite sleeping people: they do not feed on blood and seldom reach a bed. What the medical studies found, what really bites at night,...
October 18, 2026
For Property OwnersWhy Do So Many Bugs Come Out at Night?
Bugs come out at night to avoid heat, drying out and predators, and many keep an internal clock. Which house pests are night-active, what each one...
October 18, 2026
Spiders and scorpionsWhat Do Spiders Eat? House Spiders, Garden Spiders and Pests
What house spiders and garden spiders eat, the global prey estimate by habitat, which household pests spiders help with, plant-eating spiders, and how long they go...
October 18, 2026
AntsWhat Do Ants Eat? Sugar, Protein and Why It Changes
What ants eat by species, indoors and in the garden, why colonies switch from sugar to protein when rearing larvae, and how to use that to...
October 18, 2026
TermitesWhat Does a Termite Nest Look Like? Subterranean, Drywood, Formosan
Most termite nests are never seen. Here is what subterranean, Formosan carton and drywood nests look like, the signs each leaves, and why treatment does not...
October 18, 2026
Bed bugsDo Bed Bugs Bite Every Night? How Often They Feed
A single bed bug feeds once every 3 to 7 days, so nightly bites depend on population size, and about 30 per cent of people never...
October 18, 2026
Damp-loving pestsAre Centipedes Dangerous? House Centipedes vs Giant Centipedes
House centipedes rarely bite and are harmless; the giant redheaded centipede of Texas, Oklahoma and Arizona gives a painful bite. What the case data show, pets,...
October 18, 2026
CockroachesCan a Cockroach Crawl Into Your Ear? What the Case Reports Show
Cockroaches do crawl into ears, usually at night, but they get trapped in a 2 to 3 cm canal and are removed within hours. What hospital...
October 18, 2026
Flies, moths and pantry pestsWhy Do Flies Rub Their Hands Together?
A fly's hands are front feet loaded with taste sensors and sticky pads. Rubbing them is cleaning, in a fixed order, and it explains why flies...
October 18, 2026
CockroachesWhy Do Cockroaches Die on Their Backs?
Most dead roaches lie on their backs because nerve-acting insecticides cause spasms and destroy the coordination they need to roll back. What that, and where the...
October 18, 2026
Mosquitoes and ticksHow Long Do Ticks Live? By Species and Life Stage
Ticks live about two to three years but feed only a few times. How long they survive without a host, indoors, on dogs and on clothes,...
October 18, 2026
Spiders and scorpionsBlack Widow vs False Widow: How to Tell Them Apart
Black widows are glossy with a red hourglass; false widows are purplish brown with no red. How to tell them, and the brown widow, apart, what...
October 18, 2026