If you’ve ever had a bedbug, flea, or cockroach infestation. You may have heard from your pest control Wales expert that you need to have multiple treatments across one or two months. Or specialist treatment that you can’t buy from a hardware shop.

 

Why is that the case? Because you’re dealing with insects that operate on life cycles. These lifecycles can span from a week to months, and can fool you into thinking a problem is gone from the first treatment. If you want an effective insect pest control regime, understanding the life cycles of insects and disrupting them at all stages is essential to keeping an insect-free environment.

The Life Cycle of Insect Pests

Not all insects have the same steps in their life cycle. Some, like cockroaches and bedbugs, do not develop a pupa or undergo metamorphosis and instead grow slowly to an adult, while moths and beetles have metamorphosis as an essential part of their life cycle. 

The Egg

All insects start as eggs. These can be as small as 1mm and very hard to spot. That’s before you consider the fact that insects will want to lay their eggs close to food, but as hidden as possible to avoid potential predators.

 

Getting rid of eggs and potential egg-laying sites is incredibly important in many insect pest control regimes. For example, cockroach pest control requires pesticides of sufficient persistence to kill the eggs. And special attention is taken to inspect for areas where they lay eggs. Just one female can produce over 20 eggs in one case!

 

It’s not possible to catch every egg in one go, which is why a robust cleaning or pesticide regime over a period of time is key to ensuring the insect population is tightly managed. The less eggs that survive, the less adults, the less eggs enter the next cycle.

Larva & Pupa

Pests that undergo metamorphosis and enter a pupa are often the most destructive in the larval stage of life. At this stage, larva will have a distinct head or mouth to ingest food, and a very simple worm-like body. 

 

Once they have fed sufficiently, they create a cocoon or hard shell and develop into a pupa, from which an adult will emerge once metamorphosis is complete. Larva and pupa are very susceptible to pest control techniques at this stage of life, as they are weak and lack the ability to move quickly.

Nymphs

For insects without metamorphosis they instead grow from an egg into a nymph, which resembles an underdeveloped version of the adult. These are smaller than the adult and lack features like wings, but get straight to feeding and causing damage.

 

They do not stop to pupate, but will shed parts of their exoskeleton or skin as they grow. These shedded skins are a common method of detecting pests in the home. Many bed bug and cockroach pest control guides will detail what these skins look like if you suspect an infestation.

Adults

Controlling the pest is important at this stage, but focusing exclusively on treating the adult stage makes it harder to contain an infestation. Did you know that many metamorphosing adults don’t eat, or eat less than their larva stages? At that point, the damage is already done, and the insect is ready to breed and start the cycle of destruction again.

 

If a single pair of pests at the adult phase escape, they can lay eggs and continue the infestation all over again. Targeting the earlier stages is key to managing insect pests before they multiply.

Choose Aderyn for Insect Pest Control in Wales

With a vigilant approach to monitoring and treating the early stages of the pest life cycle, you can curb infestations before they become worse. Preventative measures such as insect screens, inspections, and consultations are key to achieving this. With over 35 years of experience, we have the knowledge to provide the most effective solution if you live in South Wales.