General Description

·  Yellowjackets are are sometimes mistakenly referred to as paper wasps because they build grey paper nests.·        They are 1.3-1.5 cm long, black and yellow in color. · The body is slightly wider than the head.

Credit: pjt56

• There is a yellow band behind the compound eye.
• The face has three small black spots, and the antenna is long and black.
• The dorsal surface of the thorax is black with no stripes down the middle.
• The abdomen of the female has 6 segments and 7 segments in the male.
• The legs are yellow, and the wings are clear.

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

• The queen emerges from hibernation and initiates a nest in the spring.
• The queen mates with up to 7 males.
• The colony grows rapidly during the summer (July and August) with an increase in worker numbers and nest size (more than 4,000 wasps, and more males than workers).
• The old queens die off in the fall and the colony collapses, and the new queen begins hibernation.
• The nests may survive through the winter and reach the next season.
• Yellowjackets are found in ponds, lakes, and swimming pools.
• They enter yards because they smell food (meats and sweets) or other attractants (pests attracting to grills and waste cans in outdoor picnics).
• Workers can be predators and scavengers.
• They are efficient at hunting for small, live food sources.
• As scavengers, they make many trips between the location of the nest and the food source.

Damages and Economic & Medical Implications

• The species is considered a public health threat in urban areas.
• Yellowjackets do not cause structural damage to homes. They may build nests in attics or walls and chew through drywall to enter living spaces.
• They defend themselves if disturbed.
• They are aggressive defenders of their colonies.
• They are not quick to sting, but their sting is painful. Each insect may sting several times.
• Stings induce severe allergic reactions.
• Severe pain or burning at the site lasts 1 to 2 hours.
• No deaths are attributed to yellowjackets.

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Leasse Water Boatman

General Description

Credit: Andy Reago

Credit: Piet Spaans

• It is a water-dwelling insect.
• Adults have a long, flattened body ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 cm long. They have fine dark brown or black striations marking the wings.
• They have 2 short front legs and 4 long rear legs. ·          Its body resembles the shape of a boat and the forelegs are covered with hairs and shaped like oars, hence the name “water boatman”.·          They also have a triangular head and short mouthparts.

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

• Adults overwinter.
• Eggs are laid, between January and April, on the stems of aquatic plants.
•   Eggs are deposited on submerged plants, rocks, or sticks, but eggs fail to hatch above 0.5% salinity.

• The larval stage lasts for 3 to 4 months.
• First adults appear in July.
• They are found in household pools, ponds, brackish water, and slow-flowing rivers, usually in neutral to alkaline water.
• They are omnivorous insects and feed on aquatic plants, algae, and animal materials.
• They have long and strong hind legs which they use to swim and float on the surface of the water
• They swim right side up (unlike the backswimmers who swim upside down).
• They breathe oxygen by trapping air beneath their wing cases (oxygen is trapped by tiny hairs).
• They are herbivores and swim on their fronts.
• There are 1 to 2 generations per year.
• They are strong flier and readily migrates if conditions become unsuitable.

Damages and Economic & Medical Implications

Leasse Water Boatman is considered to be an annoying pest, especially in swimming pools.

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General Description

· The adult insect is about 2.5-3 cm long. · The general color of the body is reddish-brown, and the wings are yellowish-brown. The faces are yellow, as are the posterior margins of the second, fourth, and fifth ventral segments. · The male’s abdomen consists of seven segments, while the female’s abdomen consists of only six. · The antennae consist of 13 segments in the male and 12 segments in the female.

Credit: Charles J. Sharp

• The male is smaller than the queen but equal to the worker in size.
• The wasp nest consists of a queen, who is the only fertile female who lays eggs, some males who mate with the queens and fertilize them, and the workers, who are females and are usually sterile, and the workers may sometimes lay unfertilized eggs when the queen dies before the end of the season. There may be several queens in one nest.

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

• The fertilized queens appear in early March, and their number increases in April. These queens build their nests and take the walls of abandoned houses or the ground as places for them.
• The eggs are laid in cells of mud, and when the larvae are fully grown, they turn into a virgin. At the end of the virgin phase, which takes 12 days, the full insect emerges.
• The number of worker bees increases from August to November (and reaches its maximum number in October and then decreases).
• At the end of summer, queens and males appear, and males arise from unfertilized eggs, then fertilization of these virgin queens occurs in late autumn (October and November). Colony, where all males, workers, and the queen’s mother died. The fertilized queens emerge from their nests in the early spring of the following year to repeat the life cycle.
• Oriental wasps are restricted to areas with underground cavities which can be exploited as nesting sites. In urban areas, nests are found in cavity walls, subfloor crawl spaces, roof spaces, and in outdoor stockpiles of goods such as building materials.
• The peak size of the colony is a few thousand individuals and a colony typically contains three to six combs, each containing 600-900 individual cells.
• Wasps that attack honey bee colonies live socially in the form of colonies inside nests containing hexagonal sells, where they build their nests from leaves or mud under or above the surface of the earth or in cracks in buildings or canal bridges.
• They are stinging insects, and under normal conditions, they feed on the nectar of flowers and collect other insects that they capture in order to feed their young.
• Oriental hornets communicate through sound vibrations.

Damages and Economic & Medical Implications

• Oriental wasps are among the pests that exist in apiaries in many countries.
• The adult attacks bee hives and causes the death of a large number of their workers.
• Venom is regarded as a potential therapeutic agent.

• o deaths are attributed to yellowjackets.

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Paper Wasp – Polistes dominula Christ

General Description

· Paper Wasps or umbrella wasps get their name from the paper-like material that they use to create their umbrella-shaped nests. · They have a narrow body and pinched waist, 1.5-2.5 cm long, and colored bright yellow with alternating black, ·  Wings are grayish in color, and the length of the wings in males ranges from 0,9 to 1.3 cm, while those of females range from 0.8 to 1.2 cm.

Credit: Garnhami

• Females have yellow, comma-shaped scutal spots.
• Females have a black subantennal mark that rarely has a pair of small, yellow spots.
• The female mandible is black and sometimes has a yellow spot.
• Males are often distinguished from female wasps by their curled antennae and lack of a stinger.

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

• Overwintering females are fertilized and emerge to build a nest.
• The queen starts laying eggs in late March or early April.
• Larvae, after egg hatching, develop into female workers that help to take care of the single queen. Workers care for the eggs and larvae and forage for food.
• The existing queen starts producing males and new queens in the late summer. Then the males die off after mating and the newly fertilized queens overwinter.
• The queen survives the winter by hibernating behind the bark of trees, until the next spring when they emerge to start the reproductive cycle over again.
• Queens live longer than the males or the workers.
• Workers protect the queens from predators.
• The life cycle is shorter than a year.
• Paper wasps chew on wood and mix it with their saliva in order to create the paper-like material that they make their nests from.
• It was recently discovered that a paper wasp has the ability to recognize faces.
• The relatively high productivity of the paper wasp is correlated to the timing of its brood development. They have a short brood developmental time.

Damages and Economic & Medical Implications

• Paper wasps are beneficial insects. They feed on nectar and pollen and have a role in pollinating crops and plants.  They also prey on nuisance insects.
• In urban areas, they colonize nearby human civilizations because man-made structures can act as great shelters and also are located close to the resources such as food.
• The paper wasp has a sting but is not aggressive, and will usually attack only to defend itself or the nest. Its sting can cause excessive sensitivity to some people, so the majority of people do not welcome it as a neighbor close to their homes.
• The venom from a paper wasp sting can cause a severe allergic reaction in some people that requires immediate medical attention to prevent serious consequences.

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Common Springtail

General Description

· Springtails (Collembola) are very small, primitive, elongated, 1 to 10 mm in length, and have moderate- length antennae.  Springtails and fleas may be of the same size, but have differences in their structure. · They are dark-colored, brown, grey or, black. Some species may be white and some are even brightly colored.

Credit: U. Burkhardt

• Springtails do not have wings and cannot fly. But they can jump up to several centimeters using a special forked structure under the abdomen.
• They have a forked appendage (furcula) attached at the end of the abdomen and held in place under a clasp-like structure formed by a pair of appendages. The furcula provides a jumping apparatus for the collembolan.
• Springtails also have a ventral abdominal, suckerlike tube (collaphore), which secretes a sticky, adhesive substance and also takes up water.

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

• The young hatch from spherical eggs and closely resemble the adult.
• There can be 3 to 12 molts before maturity and up to about 50 molts during the lifetime of a springtail.
• In areas with sufficient vegetation, around air conditioning condensate lines, Springtails are very common. They tend to grow faster in soil, algae, decaying plant matter, and bacteria and are predators of small soil animals and a few tender plants.
• Collembolans are omnivorous, free-living organisms that prefer moist conditions. They do not directly engage in the decomposition of organic matter but contribute to it indirectly through the fragmentation of organic matter and the control of soil microbial communities.
• Springtails live in soil and on water and feed on fungal hyphae and spores, decaying vegetable matter, logs, plant materials and pollen, animal remains, colloidal materials, mushrooms, minerals, and bacteria.
• Springtails are found indoors and outdoors. Outdoors, are found feeding on fungi, pollen, algae or decaying organic matter.  When they are close to the home, they may move indoors. Indoors, they are in areas of high moisture and condensation (around plumbing leaks in bathrooms, basements and kitchens).  They are also found in the soil of overwatered houseplants.

Damages and Economic & Medical Implications

• Springtails do not cause structural damage and virtually pose no serious threat to the house owner. They tend to feed on fungi and decaying matter.
• They cause severe damage to agricultural crops.

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General Description

A male and female (the female is the larger of the two).  Credit: Calibas

Credit: Patrick Moran

• Common house spiders are tan to nearly black, with patterns of shades on their body.
• Females are 5 and 6 mm long, and males are 3.8 and 4.7 mm long.
• Males have a less bulbous abdomen than females.
• The size and coloration allow the spiders to blend into the background and escape notice.

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

·  This species lives for more than a year after reaching maturity. · Females suspend their egg sacs in their webs; the spherical egg sacs have a tan papery outer layer. ·  Each egg sac contains 150–200 eggs, and a single female produces 15–20 egg sacs in its lifetime. · Spiderlings remain in the mother’s web for several days after emerging from the egg sac. · The spiderlings molt and develop before they become adults.

Recently hatched egg sac. The spiderlings atop the hatched egg sac are likely 3 days old and roughly the size of a pepper grain each.  Credit: Richhoyer99

• Spiderlings molt 6 times for males and 7 times in females.
• Spiders overwinter (as either adults or eggs) inside houses, sheds garages, hollow logs, or underneath rocks.
• Both males and females share the same web for long periods.
• They are found hiding in the corners of doorways, in closets, in clothing and shoes, underneath furniture, and in basements attics.
• They have poor vision and cannot detect any movement more than 7 to 10 cm away

Damages and Economic & Medical Implications

· The house spider is the spider most often encountered in human-dwelling places. They are not aggressive and let a human hand approach their webs.  It is considered to be a nuisance pest, probably more because of its webs than the spider itself.

• They bite humansonly in self-defense when grabbed and squeezed.
• House spiders have neurotoxic Their bites are less severe than that of other theridiids and are “not known to be dangerous to humans”.
• They are natural predators of many other pests, including houseflies and mosquitoes.

• jackets.

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Red Back Spider or Back Widow Spider

General Description

Credit: Laurence Grayson

Credit: William

• Adult female redback spiders usually have a body length of 10 to 15 mm long, while the male is much smaller, being only 3-5 mm long.
• The female is recognized by her spherical black body with a prominent red stripe on the upper side of her abdomen and an hourglass-shaped red/orange streak on the underside.
• Males are light brown, with white markings on the upper side of the abdomen and a pale hourglass marking on the underside.
• Occasionally, markings or the female black abdomens may occur.
• The cephalothoraxis much smaller than the abdomen, and is black.
• Redback spiderlings are grey with dark spots and become darker with each molt.
• Juvenile females have additional white markings on the abdomen.
• The bright scarletred colors may serve as a warning to potential predators.
• The spider has a pair of venom glands, one attached to each of its chelicerae with very small fangs.

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

• The female black widow spiders take about 2-3 months to mature.
• After mating the females kill the male.
• Females lay eggs and create egg sacs (each containing up to 300 eggs) to keep them safe in. Most of the hatchlings do not survive because they are eaten by their siblings or by wasp parasitism.
• The young spiders hatch from the eggs after 8 days and emerge from the egg sac after 11 days of egg laying.
• After emerging the young from the eggs they mature for in 2-3 months, and molt 3-8 times until they reach adulthood.
• They build irregularly shaped webs that they rarely leave.
• Females may live for 2 to 3 years, whereas males only live for about 6 or 7
• Spiders reside in dark, dry areas such as logs or under rocks.
• Spiders are carnivorous eating small insects that are caught in their webs. They also eat skinks and juvenile mice, snakes, and frogs.

Damages and Economic & Medical Implications

• Only female redback widow spiders are venomous. Males are hardly seen and are completely harmless to a person.
• The venom affects the nervous system of the victim. Symptoms of poisoning occur quickly and include shock, chills, stomach cramps, fever, nausea, headache, high blood pressure, difficulty breathing, and sweating.
• One has to be careful when picking up waste, as he rarely feels its sting, but he realizes it recently when the wound site is swollen and two small spots appear at the site of the fangs penetrating the skin. The sting pain is excruciating and runs throughout the body, especially the legs.
• The bite of this spider is serious but rarely leads to death.
• Most bite victims fully recover within two days.
• Redback widow spiders are also beneficial spiders because they help to keep populations down of other spider species and nuisance insects by feeding upon them.

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Common Silverfish

General Description

· Silverfish are among the most common household insects around the world. · Silverfish is also called Hairy Tail. · Adults are very small, oblong, wingless insects, and range from 1.3 to 2.5 cm in length. · The antennae are long and slender.

Credit: Christian Fischer

• The body is flattened, long and slender, broad at the front and tapering gradually toward the rear. The body is covered with soft scales that give the insect a shiny appearance.
• At the end of the body there are three long appendages (two pairs of anal horns and one medial). These give rise to the common name “bristletails.”
• The mouth parts are biting, and the antennae are long threadlike antennae consisting of several segments. Compound eyes are small. The firebrats are gray or brownish.
• The young look like small adults, and their development takes place by gradual metamorphosis.
• Eggs are oval-shaped, whitish, about 0.8 mm long,

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

• Silverfish are most active at night and can run very swiftly.
• They are found almost anywhere in a house, especially in areas of high moisture close to their source of food.
• After mating, females lay eggs in protected areas or near food sources, such as behind baseboards, in small clumps of 2-10 eggs. They usually lay fewer than 100 eggs in their lifetime.
• Eggs hatch in about 30 days into nymphs, depending on temperature and humidity.
• Adults live for about 3 months.
• Insects have the ability to molt continuously, and the number of molts during their lifetime may reach 60 molts.
• They live in warm places like kitchens and laundry rooms, around ovens, boilers, and hot water pipes, and they are also found in storage rooms.
• They hide in cracks and corners of wood, especially damp ones, behind cupboards and pictures, on wooden floors, under plant leaves, dry grass, stones, and in the soil. The spread of the second type increases in damp places, such as in basements, toilets, and adjacent rooms.
• Nocturnal insects, flee quickly when they sense danger and avoid light, and their activity increases in summer.
• Silverfish eat a wide variety of foods containing proteins or carbohydrates.
• Silverfish can survive for long periods of time without food, including rolled oats, dried beef, flour, starch, paper, cotton, some synthetic fibers, sugar, beef extract, dead insects, glue, paste, and linen.
• They have the ability to digest cellulose.
• Silverfish are unable to reproduce, or even to survive in buildings where winter heating and moisture loss result in low relative humidity.
• In protected conditions, silverfish have a very long lifespan and can live between 6 and 8 years.

Damages and Economic & Medical Implications

• Silverfish cause damage to s some natural and synthetic fibers, drapes, and the glossy surfaces of pictures, adhesive and glutinous materials, leather, stuffed animals and birds, wallpapers glued with glue and starch, books and other paper products, and starchy foods.
• Silverfish are primarily nuisance insects.
• They consume small amounts of human foods and contaminate them with their body scales and droppings.

• eaths are attributed to yellowjackets.

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Field Cricket

General Description

· Field crickets are flightless dark brown to gray or blackish. · They are comparatively large; the males range from 1.9 to 2.3 cm and the females from 1.7 to 2.2 cm. · Field crickets are larger than house crickets and have wings extending beyond the wing covers.

Credit: Roberto Zanon

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

• The mating season lasts from May to July.
• The males make a burrow in the soil and wait at the entrance to attract females for mating.
• Nymphs hatch in June till mid-July and hibernate during their 10th or 11^th The final molt takes place from April or early May.
• Females are vagrant and attracted by singing males, while males defend their burrows fiercely.
• They lay their eggs in the bare ground either inside or close to a burrow.
• Nymphs, after egg hatching, molt at least 8 times before they become adults.
• Field crickets frequently invade houses and other structures, and may feed on organic matter in the soil or a wide variety of materials.
• They prefer to live outdoors to feed on soft plant parts, but they move inside when environmental conditions outdoors become unfavorable. Individuals are unlikely to survive more than 2 weeks indoors.
• They prefer sunny locations with short vegetation.
• The species is flightless and unable to migrate long distances.
• They practice cannibalism if they are very hungry.

Damages and Economic Implications

• Field crickets are often attracted to lighted areas at night, and may enter buildings. Their infestation can be loud and annoying as these omnivorous insects feed on anything from plants to paper to clothing.

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Common European earwig

General Description

Female.  Credit: Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez

Male. Credit: Pudding4brains

• The European earwigs are about 1.2–1.5 cm long.
• They have elongated flattened brownish-colored bodies, with scissor-like tail.
• They have two pairs of wings and a pair of forceps-like cerci.
• The antenna consists of 11–14 segments, and the mouth parts are of the chewing type.
• Adult males are polymorphicin body weight and head width, as well as cercus length and width.
• The male forceps are robust and broadened, while the female forceps are about 3 mm long and are less robust and straighter.
• The cerci are used during, feeding mating, and self-defense.

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

• A male finds prospective mates by olfaction (smelling).
• The mating process occurs frequently among clustered individuals.
• A single mating enable the female to lay fertilized eggs.
• The female earwig lays a clutch of about 50 eggsin an underground nest in the autumn.
• The female enters a dormant state about 5 mm below the surface of the ground and stays in the nest with the eggs.
• Adults survive in cool, moist habitats.
• They spend the daytime living on organic matter and waste found in the soil around plants and feed on some plant tissues such as flowers, fruits, and buds, insects, and the remains of dead animals.
  • They appear at night in the desert, gardens, and houses near gardens.

Damages and Economic & Medical Implications

• Common European earwigs cause significant damage to crops, flowers, and fruit orchards when at high population levels.
• They are considered beneficial insects for their use in the pest management of other insects. They are natural predators of a number of other agricultural pests,
• Humans are not very fond of common earwigs because of their foul odor and annoying propensity to aggregate together in or near human dwellings.
• There is no indication in scientific sources of the toxicity of this insect and its effect on humans, except that it stings similar in effect to the pain of a bee sting.
• They may parasitize the habitats of bats and mice and may be vectors for diseases transmitted by these types of mammals.
• One of the myths and legends of Europeans is that earwigs crawl to enter the human ear and feed on the eardrum, and for this reason, it is called in some sources ear piercing or ear insect. The superstition goes that this insect only enters the ear of the elderly, and that is why it was called (the old man’s needle).

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