Working out what an insect is from what you can actually see: colour, location, movement and look-alikes.
A tube rather than a sheet narrows it sharply. Case-bearing larvae, funnel weavers and pantry moths all build them, and only one of them moves.
Silk Tubes and Tunnels Indoors: What Spins Them Read More »
Clumped grains and a silk mat inside a bag. The webbing is a larva feeding, and where the cocoons end up tells you how long it has been going on.
Moth Webbing in a Pantry: Silk in the Food Read More »
Three architectures, three hunting strategies. What the shape of a web tells you about the spider, without needing to see the spider at all.
Funnel Webs vs Sheet Webs vs Orb Webs Read More »
Split down the back with the claws still hooked in. Entirely harmless, strictly seasonal, and the animal that left it flew off within an hour.
Cicada Shells on Trees and Fences Read More »
Amber, hollow and translucent in five sizes. Skins show a population is reproducing, where droppings only show that something visited the room once.
Bed Bug Shed Skins: The Evidence That Proves Breeding Read More »
Open comb, enclosed sphere or a mud tube. The structure names the wasp, and it decides whether the nest can simply be left alone until autumn.
Wasp Nest Identification by Shape Read More »
Dusty and abandoned or clean and occupied tells you more than the shape does. Web architecture names the family, and not all indoor silk is spider silk.
Webs in Corners: Spider, or Something Else Read More »
A hollow, perfect, empty insect is a moult and not a corpse. Which species leave them, where they collect, and why they are better evidence than a sighting.
Shed Insect Skins in the House: What Left Them Read More »
Five kinds of trace, each with a short suspect list. What to look at when the insect has gone and all that is left is what it built or left behind.
Pest Evidence: Reading Skins, Webs, Nests, Stains and Smells Read More »
Finely shredded, tightly packed and hidden means rodent. Loose, papery and layered in a sphere means wasp, and the two are never confused a second time.
Shredded Paper and Nesting Material: What Built It Read More »
