Crawling Insect Control

Most of the calls we take arrive under a single heading — insect treatment — but there is no single job behind it. Cockroaches, ants, fleas and silverfish harbour in different places, feed differently and breed differently, and the treatment changes with them. So the survey begins by establishing what we are actually dealing with.

The species and its harbourage set the method

The German cockroach (Blattella germanica) wants warmth and damp. It harbours behind kitchen units, in the motor housing of a fridge, under a dishwasher, inside electrical panels and in narrow cracks. For this species the work is done inside the kitchen, in the gaps you cannot see into.

The Oriental cockroach prefers cool, damp places: basements, drains, inspection chambers and service ducts. Both can be present in the same building, yet the treatment points have almost nothing in common. With Orientals, nothing holds unless the drainage runs and the outside of the building are dealt with as well.

Ants are a separate matter again. The ants on the worktop are a fraction of the colony; spraying the trail kills the foragers in front of you and leaves the nest intact. Ant control is done with bait — the workers carry it back themselves.

Targeted work rather than blanket spraying

Spraying every surface in an occupied room achieves little. Crawling insects spend most of the day in voids and gaps a surface spray never reaches, while the product ends up on the surfaces you put your hands on. Applied badly, a general spray can also scatter a cockroach population and push the problem into neighbouring flats.

We work with gel bait and crack-and-crevice application instead: small deposits, placed out of sight, on the runs the insects genuinely use. Every product we use is a biocidal product licensed by the Turkish Ministry of Health.

Flea work is different again. Floors and soft furnishings are handled separately, and pet bedding and carpet edges are the points that matter.

Eggs mean a second visit

Cockroach eggs sit inside a hard case, the ootheca, which the treatment does not affect, and flea pupae are similarly protected. New insects therefore hatch after the first visit and you will see activity for a while. That is the expected part of the cycle rather than a failed treatment, which is why we plan a follow-up and re-treat where it is needed.

What we need from you

The outcome rests on a few practical steps before and after the visit:

• Clear the worktops and put open food and utensils away or into sealed containers
• Move pets out of the area for the treatment and cover any aquarium
• Ventilate afterwards, then leave the gel points untouched for the period we specify
• Hold off washing skirtings and cupboard interiors with detergent for a while
• Note what you see between visits — it tells us where to look next

Cockroach droppings and cast skins are a recognised indoor allergen and can trigger asthma symptoms in people who are sensitive to them. In kitchens and food areas in particular, it is not a problem worth leaving to run.