Does Nelson City Council deal with ants or wasps?

The councils' booklet says pest insects are no longer listed in the regional plan, so on your own property they're yours to arrange. The Biosecurity Officers can still help you work out what you've got.

Do bumblebees in the lawn need treating?

Usually not. The booklet describes bumblebees as relaxed, with small ground nests, and suggests living with them. Honey bee swarms go to a local beekeeper.

Pest control Nelson: ants, paper wasps and cockroaches

What's different in Nelson

Ants that arrived by sea

The Tasman and Nelson councils' insect booklet says Argentine ants came in accidentally at Port Nelson and were discovered in 2001. Darwin's ants were found at Nayland in the 1980s, before that. The white-footed house ant was first found in New Zealand at Nelson, in 1921.

Two kinds of paper wasp

The Asian paper wasp had established in Nelson by 1990, the booklet says, and the European paper wasp is now present too.

Gisborne cockroaches

The same booklet says they're present throughout Nelson City. They're wingless, come out at night on outside walls and prefer living outdoors.

Sunshine, and fewer frosts

NIWA puts Nelson City's average sunshine at approximately 2,400 hours a year, among the highest recorded in New Zealand. Frosts are quite common in the cooler months, but less frequent than in most of the South Island.

Insects and the regional plan

The booklet says no pest insects are listed in the Tasman-Nelson Regional Pest Management Plan any more. Nelson City Council's Biosecurity Officers can still help you identify one.

Ants: the smell test

Three ants feature in the councils' booklet, and a crushed one helps tell them apart. Argentine ants are honey-brown with no sharp smell, and DOC says they trail five or more wide and readily climb trees. Darwin's ants are similar in colour but give off a sharp, vinegary smell. White-footed house ants are black with pale feet and trail through houses in summer.

Argentine ants spread about 100 m a year on their own, the booklet says, but much further in pot plants, freight and rubbish. Spraying the trail can split a colony, DOC warns, so ant control here is better planned than improvised.

Paper wasps and German wasps

Paper wasps hang small, open nests off houses. German and common wasps hide theirs in the ground, in banks and flax clumps, or in a roof space reached under the iron edging. The booklet puts peak German and common wasp numbers at March to April. A nest near a door is a job for a pest business either way.

Past termite finds

MPI reported in 2014 that Australian subterranean termites found at Richmond in 2006 had been eradicated, and that elimination was declared for a 2009 incursion in Nelson. If you see mud packed into gaps in timber, or mud tunnels up a wall, don't disturb it and ring MPI.

A white-tail with Nelson roots

Te Papa says the white-tail Lampona cylindrata was once known in New Zealand from a handful of Nelson records, and has been widespread across the South Island since about 1980. One on the wall isn't a job worth paying for, and Health NZ says the bites don't cause ulcers.

Where we'd start with pests in Nelson

We'd identify before treating, because several lookalike species live here. We'd crush one ant on a paper towel and sniff it, photograph any wasp nest from well back, and then tap what we've seen. If it's something none of us recognise, we'd ring MPI first.

Want someone to look at it?

Tell us what you've seen and your postcode, and a local pest business that handles exactly that calls you to talk it through.

What have you seen?

Pest control in Nelson

Pest control in Nelson: what to know before anyone calls