Working out what an insect is from what you can actually see: colour, location, movement and look-alikes.
The C-shaped white grub under turf is a chafer or Japanese beetle larva. Raster pattern and depth separate them from the harmless soil dwellers.
Grubs in Soil and Lawn: Which Beetle Larva Is It Read More »
Maggots are a location problem rather than a pest one. A bin, a drain, a wall cavity or something dead, and the species points at which of them.
Maggots: Which Fly, and What They Are Telling You Read More »
Only two of them actually live indoors. Droppings, gnaw marks and the size of the entry hole separate mice, rats, voles, shrews and squirrels.
Types of Rodents in the House: What Got In Read More »
Time of day and habitat separate these better than appearance does. No-see-ums at dusk, black flies by water, horse flies in open sun on a hot day.
Types of Midges and Biting Flies: What Bit You Outdoors Read More »
Four are environmental and stop on their own once the source is gone. One needs a prescription, and telling them apart decides who you should call.
Types of Biting Mites: Chiggers and Four Others Read More »
Colour is the weakest clue because one species varies. The host plant and the feeding position do the work, and root aphids hide below the soil.
Types of Aphids: Colour, Plant and Where They Hide Read More »
The larva builds silk as it feeds, and that webbing is the diagnostic. The moth that fluttered out of the wardrobe eats nothing at all, ever.
Clothes Moth Larvae: Webbing, Cases and Holes Read More »
The bristly stage does all the damage and gets blamed for bites it cannot inflict. The shed skins are easier to find than the larvae themselves.
Carpet Beetle Larvae: What They Look Like and Where Read More »
Translucency usually describes a life stage rather than a species, which changes what it tells you: whatever you found was probably born nearby.
Translucent or Clear Bugs in the House Read More »
Red narrows the list to five, and where you found them decides which. None of the common answers damages a house and only one of them bites.
Tiny Red Bugs in the House: What They Usually Are Read More »
