:: EXTERMINATORS ::

PEST CONTROL

"Pest Control is controlling or eradicating pests that
cause physical and structural harm to humans"
Exterminator's definition 2009

"The pest is defined as an organism that causes discomfort to humans,
Spreading disease and also causing damage to food and structures"
Exterminators definition 2009

Cockroaches are primitive insects whose origin extends to at least 300 million years ago and are thought to have originated in the tropical and sub tropical areas of Africa. The advent of travel and international trade has brought about the spread of cockroaches to most countries in the world. Ccockroaches are thought to have originated in the tropical and sub tropical areas of Africa. Cockroaches are the living dinosaurs of the insect world. And their ability to survive surpasses all other creatures on earth.

A customer who sees a cockroach in your premises will tell ten people about it!

Although worldwide there are over 3,000 species of cockroaches, only half a dozen have attained the status of pest species & inhabit decaying plant material, dark damp areas such as caves, and beneath the bark of rotting trees.

In Sri Lanka there are three common species of cockroaches


American Cockroach : Periplaneta Americana	German Cockroach : Blatella germanica	Oriental Cockroach : Blatta orientalis

Integrated Cockroach Management

The goal of Integrated Cockroach Management is to prevent or reduce problems caused by cockroaches using all appropriate methods in a highly professional & safe manner.

Treatment Method

The treatment will be carried out by applying a residual insecticide to all infested areas, breeding spots and entry points to control the cockroach infestation & prevent cross infestation to the premises. A special Gel Treatment will be carried out to control cockroaches in highly sensitive areas such as the pantry & kitchen areas according to HACCP & ISO 22000 requirements.

FUN FACTS - COCKROACHES

The world's largest roach (which lives in South America) is six inches long with a one foot wingspan
Some female cockroaches mate once and are pregnant for the rest of their lives (bummer)
A cockroach can live a week without its head. The roach only dies because without a mouth, it can not drink water and dies of thirst.
Cockroaches can run up to three miles in an hour. (Hey, it is no marathon, but it is not bad.)
Cockroaches can live without food for a month, but will only survive a week without water
Cockroaches can climb walls because they are equipped with a set of little claws on their feet designed for that very purpose
Crushed cockroaches can be applied to a stinging wound to help relieve the pain.

RODENTS

Rodents are a home and business owner's nightmare, capable of causing electrical fires due to their constant gnawing. Rodents can spread various forms of diseases and also contaminate 100 times the amount of food they can eat.

Did you know that if two pregnant rats enter a building (Not infested with rats) within nine months it will be infested with 3000 infested rats?

In a recent survey in the United States, rats were given top ranking in the pest table and although this may not be the case elsewhere, their potential for destroying food, building structure, electrical installations & spreading disease would certainly put them high on anyone's list. Rats are known to carry and spread diseases such as Weils Disease, Bubonic Plague, Trichinosis, Rat Bite Fever & various types of food poisoning.

In Sri Lanka, there are three common species of rodents


Norway Rat (Rattus norvegicus)	House Rat (Rattus Rattus)	House Mouse (Mus domesticus)

These three rodents are known as common pests, which describe their ability to successfully cohabit with humans. Since early times, rodents have been responsible for the loss and contamination of feed from the crop stage to the storage of processed food in both domestic and commercial premises

Integrated Rodent Management (The Professional Way to take out rodents)

The goal of IRM is to prevent or reduce problems caused by rodents. The best control of rodents as most other pest is prevention.

Six Step Treatment Method

1. Identify the rodent species prior to the treatment
2. Choose the right rodent bait for the job
3. Carryout a risk assessment prior to the treatment
4. Place the rodent bait at appropriate spots
5. Place the needed amount of bait stations
6. Help you to eliminate the rodents' food, water & harborage areas

Rodent FACTS

There are many documented cases where building fires have not been started by short-circuits but caused when rodents gnaw electrical conduit!
Did you know that if two pregnant rats enter a building (not infested with rats) within nine months it will be infested with 3000 rats
Mice produce some 50-60 droppings per night & urinate frequently
In mouse infested environments, people may suffer from stress related illness
It is estimated that 100 mice in a grain store will produce about 100 Kgs of faeces per year
A single rat passes about 5 liters of urine per year

ANTS

Ants are social insects that live in more or less permanent nests. Colony sizes vary enormously and are mostly located in soil, wood and among rocks. The main enemy of the ants are termites. Ants often regarded as "nuisance" pests in around buildings. They may also present a health risk. There are known cases where ants were mechanically carrying disease organisms causing dysentery, smallpox & variety of pathogenic bacteria, including Salmonella.

ANT FACTS

If a 175 pound human had the comparative strength of an ant he could lift almost 9000 pounds
There are about 9000 species of birds identified throughout the world.
There are almost that many species of ants - currently about 8800
The largest ants in the world are the Driver Ants in Africa.
Some workers ants reach almost one and a half inches long
In contrast, the smallest ant species is from Sri Lanka
The workers are only 1/30th of an inch long

SPIDERS

Spiders have colonized all environments in the world with the exception of salt water. Even in Sri Lanka we have many species of spiders in a wide range of environments. Spiders play a significant role in the biological control of invertebrate pests.

All spiders spin silk, produced from specialized glands at the tail of the abdomen called spinnerets. Frequently many threads are spun together, each one being perhaps less than one hundredth of a millimetre in diameter. The liquid silk pulled into threads is spun together. The liquid silk pulled into threads dries chemically, rather than due to the action of air and weight for weight is considerably stronger than steel.

SPIDER FACTS

Fear of spiders is called Arachnophobia
It is one of the most common fears among humans
Spiders are not insects. Insects have three body parts and six legs
Spiders have eight legs and two body parts, the abdomen and the thorax
Not all spiders spin webs. Spiders belong to the Arachnid family
There are more than 30,000 species of spiders
Most spiders have either six or eight eyes
Spider bites can be quite painful, and a select few can be fatal
Spiders eat many types of harmful insects, helping to keep your garden free of pests
Webs get dirty and torn, so lots of spiders make a new one every day
They don't waste the old one, though--they roll it up into a ball and eat it!
Young spiders resemble adults. Only their size and coloration differ
Male spiders are usually smaller than female spiders
The largest spider in the world is the Giant Bird-eating spider. One that was found had a leg span of 28 cm (11 inches)!
The smallest spider is the Patu Marplesi. You could fit 10 of them on the end of a pencil
Spider silk is possibly the strongest material in the world!
Scientists believe that if they gathered the same weight of spider web as a piece of steel, the web would be much stronger than the steel!
As hard as scientists try, they cannot match or copy the silk.

FLEAS

There around 2380 species of fleas worldwide. Fleas are small & very specialized, adult fleas are blood suckers, the majority feeding on mammals & some feeding on birds. Fleas transmit disease from animals to humans. Historically, bubonic plague has claimed untold millions of human life. (The "Black Death" that occurred in the middle ages in Europe)

Facts about Fleas

Fleas are vectors of Bubonic Plague, carried from rodents to humans when they suck our blood
In an epidemic in Europe in the 14th Century 25,000,000 people died from the disease
That was over one-third of the entire population of that continent
This epidemic was part of a worldwide epidemic
1347 to 1351 over 75 million people died around the world

BED BUGS

The bedbug is found worldwide. It is associated with human habitation, hiding in furniture and structural cracks and crevices, emerging at night when hungry to search for blood for meals. Although they do not seem to be involved with any serious disease transmission, the bite of bed bugs in the night can prove very irritating, even unbearable at times

Bed bugs can have 10,000 babies in three months
An adult bed bug can survive 550 days without food
New York City has gone from 82 infestations in 2004 to 4,088 in 2009
Bed bugs do not transmit disease, but may cause symptoms including rash, psychological distress, and insomnia
They feed principally on human blood by piercing the skin with a long beak and sucking blood into their stomachs.
They feed mostly at night, but will feed during the day if hungry and the light is dim.
Their presence is indicated by leaving blood stained smears on walls, sheets, pillows and other light-colored surfaces
Bed bugs are difficult to eradicate and best to avoid

TICKS

Although ticks are commonly thought of as insects, they are actually arachnids like scorpions, spiders and mites. All members of this group have four pairs of legs as adults and have no antennae. Adult insects have three pairs of legs and one pair of antennae. Ticks are among the most efficient carriers of disease because they attach firmly when sucking blood, feed slowly and may go unnoticed for a considerable time while feeding. Ticks take several days to complete feeding

DUST MITES

Dust Mites are microscopic creatures that live in your bedding by the millions and cause allergies. Dust mites do not bite in the sense that they do not inflict a wound to obtain food. Dust mites feed exclusively on the dead skin cells that we shed every day in the form of dandruff and other flakes and particles. They are essentially scavengers, not predators or parasites.

SILVERFISH

Silverfish are always wingless and are silvery to brown in color because their bodies are covered with fine scales. They are generally soft bodied. Adults are up to 3/4 inch long, flattened from top to bottom, elongated and oval in shape, have three long tail projections and two long antennae.

WEEVIL

A weevil is any beetle from the Curculionoidea superfamily. They are usually small, less than 6 millimetres (0.24 in), and herbivorous. There are over 60,000 species in several families, Some other beetles, although not closely related, bear the name "weevil", such as the biscuit weevil. Many weevils are damaging to crops. The grain or wheat weevil (Sitophilus granarius) damages stored grain. The boll weevil attacks cotton crops. It lays its eggs inside cotton bolls, and the young weevils eat their way out.

Weevils are often found in dry foods including nuts and seeds, cereal and grain products, such as pancake mix. In the domestic setting, they are most likely to be observed when a bag of flour is opened. Their presence is often indicated by the granules of the infested item sticking together in strings, as if caught in a cobweb.

CENTIPEDES

Worldwide there are estimated to be 8,000 species of centipede of which 3,000 have been described. Centipedes have a wide geographical range, reaching beyond the Arctic Circle. Centipedes are found in an array of terrestrial habitats from tropical rainforests to deserts. Within these habitats centipedes require a moist micro-habitat because they lack the waxy cuticle of insects and arachnids, and so lose water rapidly through the skin. Accordingly, they are found in soil and leaf litter, under stones and dead wood, and inside logs. Centipedes are among the largest terrestrial invertebrate predators and often contribute significantly to the invertebrate predatory biomass in terrestrial ecosystems.

CATERPILLARS

Caterpillars are the larvae of butterflies and moths. Many are major pests but several merely make us curious as to what they are doing. There are many types of caterpillars and they feed in or on a broad array of trees and shrubs. Some are simple leaf feeders and others bore in tips or are leafminers. Most feeding by caterpillars takes place in the later instars as they approach maturity. Small caterpillars are easier to control.