Introducing the Pest Partners characters…

We are pleased to introduce the newest members of the Pest Partners team – these animated creatures which will be used in some of our future Pest Partners resources:

Three animated insects representing the Pest Partners project - a beetle holding a clipboard, a woolly bear holding a magnifying glass and a moth holding a spray bottle

 

 

 

 

 

 

We haven’t decided on names for the creatures yet – keep an eye on our Twitter account when we will give you the opportunity to have your say!

Data update

We now have more than 1400 data entries, with significantly more moth activity reported and a greater number of beetle larvae seen. Sadly, spiders are still getting caught in the traps – we haven’t found any way to prevent them being attracted to prey already stuck on the sticky surface. The high numbers of woodlice, booklice and silverfish are a worrying indication that collection areas are suffering from high humidity and a few wood-boring weevils, plaster beetles and fungus beetles have added weight to this.

Pest Partners will be adding in their final trap data in the next few days and we will be working with them to consider the results and plan protection for the collection ready for the spring emergence next year.

Chart showing latest Pest partners data: Other spiders 1026, woodlouse 301, booklouse 246, silverfish 177, case bearing clothes moth 112, webbing clothes moth 77, furniture beetle 73, woodlouse spider 60, brown house moth 34, grey silverfish 30, shiny spider beetle 25, varied carpet beetle 22 (larva 82), brown carpet beetle 17 (larva 22), firebrat 17, death watch beetle 16, white-shouldered clothes moth 12, wood-boring weevil 10, australian spider beetle 10 powder post beetle 7, plaster beetle 7, pale backed clothes moth 6, golden spider beetle 6, hide/leather beetle 4 (larva 4), fungus beetle 3, 2 spot carpet beetle 2 (larva 1), biscuit 2, larder beetle 2

To view the data from the above table in another format – download the table in an excel document.

Look out for interesting data about the pests of the South West early next year, and news of more useful resources for everyone.