PEST NAME :  FIREBRAT  (Thermobia  domestica)

SIZE, SHAPE AND COLOUR :  15 to 20mm.  Body covered in brownish mottled patterned scales.  Taper carrot  shaped boy with three long bristly tails, very long thin antennae longer than body.

BIOLOGY :   Approx. 100 eggs laid in batches, as many as 60  nymphal stages/moults have been recorded.  Living up to  2.5 years.  17 to 20 stages more usual.  Eggs laid in cracks and crevices poor fitting coving and sometimes in machinery.  Very fast running.

PREFERRED FOODS :  Starchy food but can digest fats and proteins.  Flour spillage’s and deposits in bakeries. Omnivorous.

HABITAT :  Indoor locations mainly bakeries, around ovens and machinery.  High temperature  tolerant favouring 37oc.   Nocturnal.