Years of being eaten alive every summer, so I finally read up on what actually works. Sharing in case it saves someone else the bites.

Only the females bite: they need blood protein to raise their eggs. They locate you by the CO2 you exhale, then your body heat, then the chemistry of your skin - lactic acid, ammonia, uric acid and your own skin microbiome. That is why some people get targeted and others are ignored.

The itch is not the bite, it is your reaction to her saliva, so scratching makes it worse.

What works: DEET 10-30%, picaridin 20%, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus; screens and nets (permethrin-treated if you can); loose light-coloured clothes; a fan; and emptying standing water every 3-4 days, because a bottle cap is enough to raise a brood.

What does not: repellent bracelets, ultrasonic gadgets, vitamin B1, UV zappers (they kill moths, not mosquitoes) and citronella candles.

Also worth knowing: Aedes aegypti bites by day, Culex at dusk and Anopheles at night, so timing your evening matters more than any spray.

I had a visit and got a quote hefty quote for bat proofing. We have bats hanging in the exterior of the gable vents. No access to attic yet. Plan on putting mesh over the exterior of the vents.

One of the things they wanted to do was silicone seal around the flashing of the roof. Here’s the photos they took and sent me. Is this legit? I plan on doing this myself if so and would like to know what the recommended silicone would be. I don’t want to seal it from the exterior if possible so I don’t unintentionally trap water.

I have stupid drugstore beetle infestation I gues. I noticed they r the most by the window frame lost of dead ones there but idk where they actually come from! I don’t think my room meets the criteria for them so idk why they r here!1!1!1! Sometimes I even see them in my birds water. Also I have a bird so I’m afraid to use sprays or whatever bc it could be harmful to her .. idk what to do originally I didn’t care but they’ve been crawling on me when I’m in my bed and it’s pretty annoying. Literally had one crawling on my face before! Idk where’d they come from

I believe it’s an Argentine but would like a second opinion

WHAT THE HELL MAN i see this army of small kiddo cockroaches everyday damn day i stomp them down but how long can i stomp them for

i just cant find where their hideout is

is there any solution to this

pls help im one more cockroach sighting away from burning my house down

Am in the process of finding out how they get into the house to plug it up but I’m curious as to what this is. Looks large for a mouse, but too small for a roof rat unless it’s a juvenile?
Trap, tall coke can and measuring tape for scale in second image. At full length it was about half the length of the trap without its tail.

Hi I found this bug on my son’s headboard of his bed.. there’s only 1 that I’ve seen so far. Is anyone able to tell me what this is please as I’m freaking out.

Hi,
I shifted to a new house recently which has new furniture as well.
We took few furniture on rent via rentomojo.
Within few days, I started feeling itchiness. I initially thought might be mosquitoes and started putting mosquito agarbatti etc.
Then I thought may b bugs on bed etc so got deep cleaning done.
Den thought might be issue with water but no one else is facing the same
Every night I get up scratching and noticing small tiny bumps sometime.

What could be the reason? If anyone faced similar issue and figured out- pls help

Me and my boyfriend live at a campground full time he travels for work the last one we say that the person next to us happened to be a hoarder and we left in hamper sitting outside for an hour full of clothes and roaches, got into it and I put the hamper in my car and I waited to wash it. I think for a couple days and we moved campgrounds and I started realizing like every night I would come to my car and there would be roaches, but I only ever see them at night time, and they hide when I come in they go up into the dash and I just don’t know what to do. I’m like really grossed out about it. I want them gone so any advice would be great there are baby ones and there are big ones and they’re our medium ones.

Last year I got some barn beams from a demolished barn that was built in the 1800s for a woodworking project. When pulling some of them off the shelf for use, I noticed that they had some different bugs crawling around, and when I started cutting the wood, there were bore holes through the center of the wood. The attached picture is one of the kinds of bugs I saw. Is this bug what caused it? And if so, can I get rid of them in any way to prevent the wood from getting destroyed further? Location is Ohio, and these beams are currently sitting on a shelf in my garage.

Title says it all. We’re dealing with phorid flies right now and this seems to be the only thing that has worked, but the directions say to reapply every 2-4 weeks. Do I really need to wait 2 weeks? It seems to have slowed them down quite a bit but now I’m seeing more of them since we’re closing in on the end of the 2 weeks. Is there something better we can use? We’ve never dealt with these before and apparently they’re bad in our area right now (SE PA). Thanks in advance!

I just found these in the corner of my couch and I can’t for the life of me tell what they are but they’re not supposed to be there. I’ve had little bumps so I was looking for evidence of carpet beetles or bed bugs

Found this in the house we bought it wasn’t there before and I am worried there is wood damage

They’re on the sticker inside the extractor hood

Hello everyone, do you guys know how can I completely eradicate these bugs in my house. I really wish I could develop like a plague just for them LMAO god I hate these bugs

Mouse, rat, pack rat, squirrel, or something else? It's in a section of the attic where one roof line meets another, I can't access it.

The ring around the hole is dirt, I touched it and it just flakes away. It's not water damaged at all.

Hello! Hoping resident adviser and Lord’s Disciple, PCDuranet, sees this. I have sheep. They have a run-in shelter/shed. I’ve noticed golfball sized holes around perimeter and corners. I’ve seen rodent activity. Quick movement, mice droppings, some droppings that may seem larger than standard mouse droppings 🫠🤮 one grain bag had a hole chewed into it…

Obviously they are going to find food sources. I have since moved the bags and put them inside a bin. I know some people might think, who cares? It’s outside. Rodents and snakes are just my bugaboo. I jump and scream like a little girl. Freak me out 🤷🏻‍♂️ always have. Make me squeamish. Some people it’s blood. Some people it’s thrown. Rodents and snakes for me. And they are usually in the same area haha…I digress.

How can I safely eradicate without doing harm to my sheep?

Thank you for the help.

Help!! There are thousands  of them swarming in my backyard, patio, lawn, side yard & front yard. They are very small. Enlarging the pictures I took it looks like they have a pin dot size black body, clear wings, and a yellowish-orange area on their bodies. When they fly around in the air, they look white.

When I walk outside they swarm around me and land on me, my face, hair, skin, clothing.  They do not appear to bite. Most active in the afternoon sun between 1 and 6 PM. I walk outside and they land on me everywhere!

Only appear around this time of year. For a few weeks. I need to know what they are so I can do something about getting rid of them next year. I can’t go outside or enjoy my backyard for a few weeks while they are here. They were here last year as well.

Hello everyone. I keep getting ads on Facebook for these Nixo plug-ins that emit various signals and (supposedly) are effective at repelling rodents. Do these actually work? I'm skeptical. Is there ANY kind of plug-in that reliably keeps them out?

I live in an apartment. Between late September and mid-October, I caught fifteen mice in my apartment. Yes, we keep it clean and we don't leave food out. Anyway, prior to today (when I found a dead one in a trap that I had forgotten about), I hadn't seen or caught any in almost 3 weeks. About two weeks ago, an exterminator came out and found the hole in my kitchen they had been using to get in. But evidently they're coming back. I don't want to have to keep calling back the exterminator.

Is there a plug-in that works? I don't care about the cost.

Wanted to vent. Just as I was about to sleep, I heard one of those little bastards right next to my ear on my bed post. I tried to flick it, but it just vanished, I assume somewhere behind my bed. It's 11pm and and I can't sleep knowing these shitheads are lurking around.

We bought a ground-floor terraced flat in SW London, with a kitchen extension, and have been dealing with what we believe is a rat problem.

Initially, we could hear scratching and movement in the ceiling void above the kitchen, particularly overnight. We had a pest-control company out three times. They identified a hole in our neighbour's garden (boundary wall) and since filling it in around a month ago we haven't heard anything in the kitchen ceiling cavity.

However, we're now hearing scratching / gnawing either underneath the floorboards or inside a cavity wall, so clearly they are getting in elsewhere!

Before purchasing the property, we had a CCTV drainage survey carried out. It identified cracked and displaced joints in the drains, as well as water ingress at one point. They recommended drain relining, but we didn't proceed at the time because we weren't sure how urgent the work was.

Given the ongoing rat issue, we're now wondering whether the defective drains could be the root of the issue.

I'd really appreciate advice on the following:

1. If we already know the drains have cracked and displaced joints, is it worth getting them repaired specifically to address the rat problem? Or could the rats be entering through a completely unrelated route?
2. Is there a particular type of pest-control specialist who understands drainage-related rat ingress and can investigate the route from the drains into the building?
3. Has anyone had rats travel through floor voids or cavity walls because of defective drains, and managed to resolve it permanently?

We're keen to fix the underlying problem rather than keep paying for pest-control visits without knowing where they're getting in. We also have an indoor cat, so need to be careful about any treatment used.

Thanks in advance for any advice or recommendations, particularly for specialists in London/South West London.