Yellow spotting, dark smears and rusty specks are three different animals leaving three different substances. Colour and height narrow it quickly.
Stains on Walls From Insects: What Made the Mark Read More »
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 »
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 »
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 »
Talc-fine and it drifts, where termite pellets stay put. Whether the powder is fresh decides whether the infestation is active or finished decades ago.
Powderpost Beetle Frass: Fine Powder Under Furniture Read More »
It crumbles to glitter because the diet is insects, and that single test separates it from rodent droppings. What it means legally and what it means for you.
Bat Guano: How to Tell It From Mouse Droppings Read More »
Damage is slower evidence than a sighting but far more reliable. How to read wood, fabric, paper, food and wiring, and date the activity while you look.
Pest Damage Identification: Reading What Was Left Behind Read More »
Size, shape and end profile identify droppings faster than guessing the animal. A chart covering ten household pests, and the smear test that settles it.
Insect and Pest Droppings: An Identification Chart Read More »
THE SHORT VERSION Tiny black bugs indoors are usually carpet beetle larvae, fungus gnats, springtails, foreign grain beetles, or one of the small pantry beetles. Which one you have is decided almost entirely by two things: where in the house you found it, and whether it flies. Nothing on that list bites people, and nothing
Tiny Black Bugs in the House: What They Usually Are Read More »
