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Papernest Wasps
Paper wasps have a small head, with medium sized eyes and medium length antennae. The body is slender, with a very narrow waist. There are two pairs of brown-tinted wings, with the first pair larger. The abdomen has some yellow/orange bands, but is mainly black. Recently, the introduced Asian Paper Wasp (Polistes chinensis) has been reported from several inner city suburbs of Sydney.
Millipedes
Millipedes, vary in size and colour (depending on species). The portuguese variety is black and up to 45 mm long. May vary in the number of body segments, but they always have 2 pairs of legs per segment (centipedes have one pair of legs per segment). Young millipedes look just like the adults (only smaller).
Litter Beetle
Adult litter beetles are dark brown and 6-7 mm long, beetle larva are light brown-yellow in colour.
House Crickets
Adult house crickets are light yellowish brown in colour with three dark crossbands on their head. They are about 3/4 – 7/8 inch in length and have a threadlike antenna that is often longer than its body, and wings that lie flat on its back. Nymphs are wingless but otherwise look similar to adults.
European Wasps
Europen wasps are a stout wasp with a bright yellow and black banded abdomen, and a pair of black spots on each yellow band. They have two pairs of wings with the first pair larger than the second. They have black antennae and fly with their legs held close to the body.
Earwigs
Earwigs have an elongated and flattened or cylindrical body. They can be winged or wingless, and they have chewing mouthparts. The abdomen is long, flexible and telescopic (segments of the abdomen may be drawn into one another like a telescope). The two forcep-like cerci on the end of the abdomen are heavily sclerotised (hardened) and vary in shape and size between species.
Clothes Moth
There are actually two main species of clothes moth, the webbing clothes moth and the case-making clothes moth. The adult Webbing moth is light, gold coloured less than 1 cm long.
Cat Flea
Fleas are small, wingless insects and species range in size from 1 – 10 millimetres. They are easily recognised by the majority of the world’s population, especially those who own cats or dogs.
Carpet Beetle
Although there are a number of different species of carpet beetle, the most common species is the Variegated Carpet Beetle. (All the species have similar behaviours and appearance, although the colour of the adult needle may differ).
Biting Midge / Sandfly
Biting midges (often referred to as “sandflies”) are small biting flies about the size of a pin-head belonging to the Ceratopogonidae family. They are especially prolific in coastal areas of tropical and subtropical Australia where some species can cause significant pest problems. They make up for their small size with the large numbers in which they can occur and their painful bite.
Bird Mites
Bird mites are not insects as some of the public may think as they have eight legs and two body parts. The most common mite associated with bird nests is the “Starling mite” or “Tropical fowl mite”
Subterranean Termites
Members of the Coptotermes genus are easily distinguished from other termites when the soldier is poked or lightly squeezed, upon which a white milky liquid is secreted from a specially modified pore (fontanelle) in the front of the head as a defence mechanism