Pest control guides
What it is, where it lives, and what to ask before the job.
Begin with the thing you noticed: name the pest, or go by the room where it turned up, then read up on picking a business and keeping kids and pets clear.
Identify a pest
Seen the pest itself? Our pest identification pages run A to Z, each with a photo, the signs that set it apart and when it needs a pest business.
Where did you find it?
Pests go where food, water, warmth and shelter are. Scratching overhead points one way, droppings in a pantry another, and fine dust under a floorboard somewhere else again. A room gets you to the right page even if you never saw the animal.
In the roof: What's making the noise in the ceiling, which droppings to look for, and what to do next.
In the walls: Scratching, wasps, ant trails or mud in the timber: what each sign in a wall means.
In the kitchen: Cockroaches, ants, mice or pantry moths: how to tell which, and what to do first.
Under the house: Borer in the piles, rats and damp: what to look for in the space under the floor.
In the bathroom: Silverfish, booklice, cockroaches and white-tails: what's in the damp, and what helps.
In the bedroom: Bed bugs, fleas, clothes moths or a white-tail: how to work out what's in the bedroom.
In the garden: What to leave alone in the garden, and when wasps, bees, rats or ants need a call.
Which guide do you need?
If you're about to say yes to someone, read how to choose a pest controller first. It covers the qualifications, insurance and written details worth asking about.
If a visit is booked, what happens at a pest treatment and before and after a treatment cover the day itself, including children, pets and getting back into the house.
If you're renting or you own a rental, the end of tenancy flea guide sticks to what Tenancy Services says.
Is it even a pest job?
Sometimes not. A bee swarm is one for a beekeeper, and suspected termites are a report to MPI. Those two guides explain who to ring and what to leave alone.
Wondering whether what you're seeing is normal for the time of year? The pest calendar goes through it season by season.
How do we write these?
Rules and numbers come from official sources wherever we can find them, and each guide lists its sources at the foot of the page. Our editorial policy says how we check them. If you've already spotted something, the pest identification pages is a faster place to start.
Where did you find it?
Where you hear it says a lot about what it is
Thumping in the ceiling after dark is often a possum; lighter scratching, a rat. Small holes and fine dust on the subfloor piles point to borer. Here's what lives where.
Guides
Pest identification
Guides
Pests room by room
Rats in the ceiling and roof spaceWhat's making the noise in the ceiling, which droppings to look for, and what to do next.Read it
Pests in the wallsScratching, wasps, ant trails or mud in the timber: what each sign in a wall means.Read it
Pests in the kitchen and pantryCockroaches, ants, mice or pantry moths: how to tell which, and what to do first.Read it
Pests under the floorBorer in the piles, rats and damp: what to look for in the space under the floor.Read it
Pests in the bathroom and laundrySilverfish, booklice, cockroaches and white-tails: what's in the damp, and what helps.Read it
Pests in the bedroomBed bugs, fleas, clothes moths or a white-tail: how to work out what's in the bedroom.Read it
Pests in the garden and yardWhat to leave alone in the garden, and when wasps, bees, rats or ants need a call.Read itGuides
Before you book
How to choose a pest controllerWhat to ask about qualifications, insurance, products and re-entry before you say yes.Read itWhat happens at a pest treatmentWhat a technician does on the day, step by step, and what you should get in writing.Read it
Before and after a treatmentGetting ready, when you can go back in, and what to ask about children and pets.Read itGuides
Tenancies and seasons
End of tenancy flea treatmentWhat Tenancy Services says, who deals with fleas, and what to do before you move out.Read it
Bee swarmsWhat to do about a swarm, how to find a collector, and when bees need a pest business.Read itTermites in New ZealandWhat MPI says, the signs to look for, and why a suspected find is a call, not a job.Read it
Seasonal pest calendarWhat turns up in New Zealand each month, from wasps and swarms to rats in the ceiling.Read itRelated help