The brown banded cockroach is relatively small. Adults are pale brown in colour with very pale bands across thorax and abdomen. The females wings are somewhat reduced, while those of the male extend past the abdomen.

Egg cases, which may contain up to 18 eggs, are glued to surfaces, and the hatched nymphs require 2-4 months to develop into adults. Adults typically live for up to 6 months, during which time the female produces up to 13 egg cases.

This cockroach tends to be an indoors pest frequently infesting the dwelling parts of buildings. Egg cases, nymphs and adults may be found in wardrobes, dressers and cabinets and behind book shelves or wallpaper.

Usually preferring warmer temperatures this cockroach does not require moisture as the German cockroach. The brown banded cockroach is very active and may fly if disturbed or in warm conditions. Sightings of them during the day are not unusual.

The medium sized oriental cockroach is dark brown to black. The female has much reduced wings while the male has wings that cover most, but not the entire abdomen.

Egg cases are usually glued to surfaces and may contain up to 16 eggs. Nymphal development may require 6-18 months. Adult lifespan is usually about 3-6 months, and a female may reproduce up to 14 egg cases during her adult life.

The Oriental Cockroach is the major pest cockroach of buildings in Britain.

Its preference for relatively cool conditions this cockroach is usually found under leaf litter and bark and in damp sub floors, around drainage systems. Being relatively sluggish it feeds on a variety of decaying organic matter, frequently feeding in garbage disposal areas. As well, starches and sizing of wallpaper and books may also be attacked.

The American cockroach is probably the largest cockroach that infests dwellings and utilities. Adults are fully winged and are a reddish-brown in colour with a pale yellow border around the pronotum.

Eggs cases are usually dropped or glued to surfaces within reasonable proximity to food and water.

Up to 16 eggs may hatch from each egg case, and nymphs may take 6-12 months to develop into adults. Adult lifespan may be 6-12 months and females may produce up to 50 eggs.

As the American cockroach prefers warm, moist, dark conditions, it tends to live indoors in colder regions and outdoors in warmer regions. Partly due to its size it tends not to so often infest the dwelling parts of buildings although it is a very widespread pest often found in wall cavities, roof and sub floor voids, sewers, drains, moist cellars, grease traps and rubbish dumps.

This cockroach seems to have a preference for decaying organic matter, but will eat human and animal foods along with books, paper and clothing particularly if soiled.

The Australian cockroach is relatively large. In appearance adults are similar to the American cockroach, but the body is a darker brown, the yellow markings on the pronotum are more clearly defined, and the foremargins of the forewings have a distinct yellow marking.

Egg cases that are either dropped or glued by the females may contain up to 24 eggs which, after hatching, require some 6-12 months for nymphal development.

Adults seem to live for about 4-8 months, during which time females may produce up to 20 egg cases. Preferring food of plant origin, this cockroach may be encountered in greenhouses and under bark or leaf litter in gardens. As well, it is found in sub floor voids, wall voids and roof voids etc. This cockroach tends to be more frequently encountered in warm, subtropical to tropical conditions.

The Smokey Brown Cockroach is relatively large, and adults are dark brown to almost black with no pale markings. Its life history is somewhat similar to that of the American cockroach.

Egg cases dropped or attached to surfaces by females may contain up to 26 eggs, which, when hatched, may require 6-12 months for nymphal development. Adult lifespan is probably about 6-12 months, and during this time, a female may produce close to 20 egg cases.

The habits of the Smokey Brown Cockroach are in some ways similar to those of the American cockroach, and it is often found in garages, sheds, sub floor areas, roof voids and in and around grease traps and drains.

The Smokey Brown Cockroach does; however, seem to have a particular preference for food materials of plant origin, so it is often a pest in greenhouses, nurseries and gardens. It is most often regarded as an outdoor species, and very seldom does it infest the dwelling parts of buildings. Adults are fully winged and can fly short distances in warm conditions, often being attracted to lights at night.

The red back spider has long thin legs, a large bulbous abdomen and a small cephalothoraxes. The male red back spider is much smaller and insignificant to the female. Females are usually 12-15mm in length whilst the male is 3-4mm in length.

The red back spider has black velvet like colouring with a well defined red stripe on its dorsal surface, with a more pale looking colouring to its ventral surface.

It is important to note that this red defined stripe may be missing on some. Red backs make a loose web in rubbish, unsewered toilets and under houses. Most bites that are recorded are on the male genitalia. The red back spider is not an aggressive spider, although their bites are very toxic and painful.

The white tail spider has a cigar like shaped body that is grey to black in colour with a prominent white mark on the end of its abdomen.

The female white tail spider is generally 12-15mm in length and the males are generally 5-8mm in length.

This spider is often found under bark of trees and often enters houses residing in bathrooms. Their bites cause local pain and blistering and also tissue necrosis.

Usually preferring warmer temperatures this cockroach does not require moisture as the German cockroach. The brown banded cockroach is very active and may fly if disturbed or in warm conditions. Sightings of them during the day are not unusual.

Considered the most dangerous spider in the world is the male Sydney funnel web. Usually identified by it shiny cephalothoraxes and its spinnerets that are quite long. The male has palps and a small spur on its 2nd pair of legs.

The female is generally 30mm in length and the male is 25mm in length. The Sydney funnel web is a covering of black fine reddish hairs over its body. This species favours moist dark situations. They are an extremely aggressive spider and their bites are very toxic, the male being more toxic than female.

The Huntsman is quite a large flattened hairy spider and its first 2 pairs of legs are longer than its rear two legs.

The male is slightly smaller than the female with enlarged palps. Females are usually 35-40mmin length and the males are usually 15-25mm in length.

Their colourings are usually buff dark patch like looking on cephalothoraxes and abdomen. They mostly live under bark during daytime and emerge at night to feed. They are often offenders entering inside houses. Their bites are not toxic but may be painful though.

The Black House Spider has a large abdomen and its fangs are not obvious but move pincer wise. The females are usually 15-18mm in length while the males are generally 8-10mm in length. They are mainly dark brown in colour and its legs are often black. Their construct a felted like web and in the centre of the web is a tunnel. They can be often sighted in sheds, toilets, windows and under guttering.

They are a non aggressive spider. But their bites are toxic which produces pain, nausea and sweating.

The garden orb weaving spider has a rather large abdomen with an abundant of hairs covering its body surface. The male species is seldom encountered. The female is about 20-25mm in length whilst the male is usually 5-10mm in length.

The garden orb weaving spider ranges from a dark to light brown in colour with a distinct pattern to its body. This species hides in foliage during the day and then constructs its web at night. They are considered not to be aggressive and its bite is not toxic.

Honey bees often leave commercial hives and settle in and around buildings, when established between the walls of the building they present special problems and must be dealt with urgently. Where necessary, the hive must be killed, particularly when allergic people are likely to be stung. Some people may die from one bee sting. It is important that the bee is identified correctly, as the native honey bee may be involved in a situation where killing of the hive is not necessary, for the honey bee does not sting.

The native honey bee also nests in trees and in hollow log sections of large stumps. It is a much smaller bee and of a different colour.

These bees are mostly large and have coloured bands across the abdomen. They normally make their nests on banks of hard soil or sand. Brick homes and those with brick foundation walls and poor quality mortar may be damaged by the female mortar bees that often make their burrows deep into the mortar. Each female makes its own burrow, but it may be part of a complex of separate burrows in the mortar. The female lines the burrow with a wax-like material and this gives some protection to the young which are reared in the burrow.

Small solitary bees will excavate the early wood on the end grain of softwoods such as Douglas fir and lay their eggs plus food for the young after they hatch. The young are fed in the recesses until they pupate when the ends are sealed. The adults break the seal when they are emerging. This type of attack may be found on the end sections of roofing timber in open areas such as carports and garages.

Paper wasps have a rather slender body with quite a narrow waist with a small head usually 10-15mm in length. Their eyes and antennae are generally medium in size.

They have two pairs of long /thin brown coloured wings, with the first pair being larger. The abdomen of the paper wasp has some yellow/orange bands, but is mostly black. Yellow markings may also be seen on their face.

As their name best describes their nest, these wasps construct a cone shaped nest with several hexagonal cells inside, some with white caps. These nests are constructed of wood fibres mixed with their saliva.

Inside each hexagonal cell contains one larvae, the larvae are fed on chewed up caterpillars, whilst the adults rather feed on nectar substances. Their nests can usually be sighted under eaves of houses and in amongst trees/shrubs.

These wasps generally only become aggressive when defending their nests but it is important to note that they do inflict quite painful stings and whilst being able to sting multiple times, a more severe reaction may occur.

The worker wasps of this species are sterile females and are 12-15mm in length, with yellow bands on a black body. European wasps are fast fliers, with clear wings that fold longitudinally over their bodies.

They have black antennae and fly with their legs held close to their bodies. Queens and males measure about 20mm in length, with the queen having a stout abdomen and the male a long thin abdomen.

The nest varies in size from about 15cm to about 5 metres and may contain up to four million cells and over one hundred thousand workers. The nests are commonly found underground, amongst tress stumps and rockeries and also in roof voids and wall cavities.

These wasps also construct their nests with wood fibres mixed with their saliva. The workers feed mainly on sweet substances such as fermenting fruit and human food and drink. These wasps are common intruders of pet food lying around the home they are generally looking for meat to take back and feed to their grubs in the nest.

European wasps are extremely aggressive wasps and if their nest is disturbed they generally swarm out to attack the intruder. Their stings are very painful often inflicting a burning pain accompanied with swelling, if multiple stings occur this can be very dangerous if not fatal.

Due to their large size and bright black and yellow colouring the Mud wasp is considered to be the most easily identified wasp. These wasps have a long thin waist with quite long slender legs and are often sited collecting mud from puddles in which they roll the mud into a ball and take it away to construct their nest.

Their nests can often be found under eaves or attached to the walls of buildings. They will basically construct their mud nests on basically anything that is left undisturbed such as handles of tools left outside.

The adults generally feed on nectar where as their young are provided with spiders and insects that the adult has paralysed and taken back to the nest. Once she has paralysed her prey she then places it in her nest and then seals it off with a newly laid egg, its when the young have hatched they can then begin to feed. These wasps are not an aggressive wasp but will inflict a painful sting if bitten.

These are the common house ants that are found nesting in paths, in wall cavities, roof voids, fences, woodwork, masonry, soil and rotted wood. They are generally shiny black in colour with a pale tarsi. They have a long slender body usually 2.5-3.0mm in length and have chewing mouthparts.

They have no nodes present on one segmented pedicel and their larvae is a whitish looking grub. They feed mainly on sweets, meats, vegetables, honeydew and other insects. Ants are known carriers of disease organisms such as smallpox, salmonella and dysentery.

Coastal brown ants are generally 1.5-2.5mm in length and their bodies also appear long and slender. They are a light yellowish brown to brown in colour and have two raised nodes on pedicel with the hind node being more rounded. Coastal brown ants also have one pair of small spines on the hind part of their thorax.

This species of ant has two worker castes - those with enlarged darkened heads are the major workers sometimes called soldiers and the others are the smaller minor workers. They are commonly found nesting in building structures, in crevices in brickwork, in cavity walls, inside termite tracks, paths, rockeries and behind skirting walls and architraves. Their larvae are a whitish looking grub. They feed mainly on materials of animal origin including dead insects, meat particles, fat and grease.

These ants are common offenders for shorting out electrical appliances such as hot water systems as their nests contain high moisture levels. Ants are known carriers of disease organisms such as smallpox, salmonella and dysentery.