Pest identification
What is this bug?
Start with what you've seen: pick the pest below if you know it, or read down the signs if all you've got is droppings, dust, bites or a noise at night.
A nest near people, or a bad reaction?
Keep children and pets away from any wasp or bee nest and leave it alone. If someone has swelling around the lips and eyes, wheezing or a tight throat after a sting, call 111.
Seen a sign rather than a pest?
- Round holes in timber with fine dust below: borer.
- Scratching in the ceiling at night, or droppings in the pantry: rats and mice.
- Scratch marks and fur around a gap in the weatherboards: possums.
- A line of small ants across the bench: ants.
- Itchy bites after a night in bed: bed bugs.
- Bites around the ankles, especially with pets: fleas.
- Small holes in wool carpet or clothes: carpet beetles.
- Slow flies massing at the windows in autumn: cluster flies.
- Webs that keep coming back: spiders.
Where are cockroaches, birds and mosquitoes?
Some pests live on their job page, since that's where the useful detail is: cockroaches, bees, birds, flies and mosquitoes. Everything else is listed below, drawn rather than photographed so you can look without flinching.
What if it looks like a termite?
Termites aren't a job for a pest business here. If you think you've seen one, or mud packed into gaps in timber, don't disturb it and call MPI. Our termite guide explains why.
Still can't place it?
Take a photo from a safe distance and note where you found it. Room by room guides can narrow things down, and Not sure what it is is a perfectly good answer when you tell us what you've seen.
Identify a pest
Know what you're looking at
Photographed up close, the way a field guide shows them. Each one says how to tell it apart, what it means for the house, and when it's a job for a pest business.
Borer
A small brown beetle. Round holes and fine dust in soft timber give it away.Anobium punctatumGerman wasp
Black and yellow, in large colonies. The nest is grey and often in the ground.Vespula germanica
White-tailed spider
A cigar-shaped body with a white spot at the tip. Wanders indoors at night.Lampona species
Bed bugs
Flat, oval and reddish brown. Bites in a line, specks on the mattress seams.Cimex lectularius
Roof rat
Long tail, big ears, a climber. Scratching above the ceiling at night.Rattus rattus
German cockroach
Small, light brown, two dark stripes behind the head. Lives in kitchens.Blattella germanica
Brushtail possum
Heavy thumping in the ceiling after dark. An introduced pest here.Trichosurus vulpecula
Cat flea
Tiny, dark and a jumper. Bites around the ankles, often after a pet leaves.Ctenocephalides felis
Identify a pest
Wasps
German waspsHow to spot a German wasp, where its grey nest hides, and how large a nest can get.Read it
Paper waspsAsian or Australian, how the pear-sized nest looks, and when it needs dealing with.Read it
Wasps and wasp nestsNew Zealand's four wasps, how their nests differ, and who deals with one on your place.Read itIdentify a pest
In the timber: borer
Identify a pest
Bites: bed bugs
Identify a pest
Silverfish, beetles and flies
SilverfishHow to recognise a silverfish, why it's in your bathroom, and what it does to paper.Read it
Carpet beetlesThe tiny beetle on your windowsill, the hairy grub in your carpet, and what to do next.Read it
Cluster fliesWhy flies crowd your windows in autumn, how to tell them from house flies, and what helps.Read itIdentify a pest
Outdoors: centipedes, earwigs and more
CentipedesHow to tell a centipede from a millipede, New Zealand's giant one, and what to do about a bite.Read it
EarwigsHow to spot an earwig, why it hides in damp gaps, and whether it helps or hurts your garden.Read it
Stink bugsThe shield bugs you'll see in the garden, and the one Biosecurity New Zealand wants to hear about.Read itRelated help
More on pest identification
Pest control guidesPlain guides on choosing a business, treatments, tenancies, bees, termites and the seasons.Read it
Pest control servicesEvery pest job in one list, what a pest business does, and what to ask one.Read it
Seasonal pest calendarWhat turns up in New Zealand each month, from wasps and swarms to rats in the ceiling.Read itTermites in New ZealandWhat MPI says, the signs to look for, and why a suspected find is a call, not a job.Read itWhere this information comes from
- Health New Zealand (Te Whatu Ora) Bee and wasp stings, checked 3 November 2026
- Ministry for Primary Industries Have you seen signs of termites? (brochure), checked 3 November 2026
- Settled.govt.nz (New Zealand Government home buying guide) Learning about the property, checked 3 November 2026
Rules and advice change, so check the source before you act on anything here. How we write and check these pages.