PEST CONTROL GUIDE - p

An organism that lives on the outside of (ectoparasite) or within the tissues of (endoparasite) another living organism.

A small tropical species of ant of increasing importance in the structures of large centrally heated buildings, especially hospitals and high rise blocks of flats where it can be a serious public health pest.

Feral pigeons foul buildings, creating unwanted “stained glass” windows and “decorated” architecture. All sorts of pests may migrate from their nests into buildings.

Originally descended from the wild Rock Dove, a cliff-face dweller, these birds find the next best thing is a block of flats, a bit of Victorian Gothic architecture or a railway arch. In the absence of natural predators, birds which fall sick survive to infect healthy ones with ornithosis and other diseases, some of which can be transmissible to man. Their accumulated droppings are also sources of disease.