In the air, carpet, counter or cupboard, every home shares it’s resources with these tiny, often unseen invaders.

Bed bugs can cause a number of health effects, including skin rashes, psychological effects, and allergic symptoms. They are able to be infected by at least 28 human pathogens, but no study has clearly found that the insect is able to transmit the pathogen to a human being. Bed bug bites or cimicosis may lead to a range of skin manifestations from no visible effects to prominent blisters.

The diversity of beetles is very wide. They are found in all major habitats, except marine and the polar regions. They have many classes of ecological effects; particular species are adapted to practically every kind of diet. Some are nonspecialist detritus feeders, breaking down animal and plant debris; some feed on particular kinds of carrion such as flesh or hide; some feed on wastes such as dung; some feed on fungi, some on particular species of plants, others on a wide range of plants. Some are generalist pollen, flower and fruit eaters. Some are predatory, usually on other invertebrates; some are parasites or parasitoids.

When box elder bugs build up to large populations and invade a home they are usually pests only by their presence, although their piercing-sucking mouthparts can sometimes puncture skin, causing slight irritation.

When centipede and millipede habitats are near a home’s foundation, centipedes will wander inside where they may be found at floor level almost anywhere.

Cockroaches are attracted to warm, moist environments. They spend the daylight hours in dark, secluded sites under refrigerators, stoves, false bottoms in kitchen cabinets, in the backs of cabinets and in crevices between baseboards and floors or cabinets and walls.

While crickets are common outdoors, they may accidently enter homes. They enter buildings through open doors and windows, cracks around poorly fitted windows, in foundations, in siding, and spaces under doors, so it may be difficult to find the exact point of entry.

Earwigs like to burrow in gardens and basements, making them a real pest for homeowners. The can also devastate seedling vegetables or annual flowers and often seriously damage maturing soft fruit.

Fleas usually gain entry to your home through your pet or visitors’ pets. As many as 30 times the fleas you see can be alive in the pet’s environment.

Hornets have stings used to kill prey and defend hives. Hornet stings are more painful to humans than typical wasp stings because hornet venom contains a large amount (5%) of acetylcholine. Individual hornets can sting multiple times; unlike typical bees, hornets and wasps do not die after stinging because their stingers are not barbed and are not pulled out of their bodies.

The millipede's most obvious feature is its large number of legs. Having many short legs makes millipedes rather slow, but they are powerful burrowers. With their legs and body length moving in a wavelike pattern, they easily force their way underground head first. They also seem to have some engineering ability, reinforcing the tunnel by rearranging the particles around it. Their bodies have segmented sections which makes them move in a wave-like form.

Pillbugs are easily recognized by their flattened or round-backed profile, seven pairs of legs, and sharply-angled antennae. Some species are able to roll into a ball when disturbed, hence the name, pillbugs.

Mice and rats are remarkably well-adapted for living year-round in homes, food establishments, and other structures. Homeowners are especially likely to notice mice and rats during winter, following their fall migration indoors in search of warmth, food, and shelter. Once established inside a home, they can be extremely difficult to control.

Silverfish are considered to be nuisance pests that can feed on wallpaper pastes, natural textiles, books, and papers.

Under most conditions outdoors, spiders are considered beneficial because they feed on insects. However, they are undesirable to most homeowners when indoors, and the unsightly webbing spiders use to catch insect prey usually outweigh this beneficial behavior. From black widows and recluse spider to hobo spiders and all the rest, we’ll exterminate them.

Wasps and bees are beneficial insects, although they are generally considered to be pests because of their ability to sting. Wasps, in particular, can become a problem in autumn when they may disrupt many outdoor activities.