Flying insect control in Johannesburg

Flying insect control in Johannesburg is about finding where the insects breed, not chasing the ones in the air. Flies, mosquitoes, wasps, pantry moths and flying ants or termites all start life somewhere specific. We identify the insect, locate and deal with that source, then treat the surfaces where adults rest so numbers fall quickly.

What's flying around, and where it comes from

• House flies and blowflies: bins, compost, pet waste, and a dead animal in the roof if they're big and metallic. See fly control in Johannesburg.
• Mosquitoes: standing water in gutters, saucers, ponds and pool covers. Our page on controlling mosquitoes covers breeding sites.
• Wasps: a paper nest under the eaves, in a hedge or inside the roof.
• Pantry moths: small grey-brown moths flying in the kitchen, breeding in flour, rice, cereal, nuts and pet food.
• Fruit flies and drain flies: overripe fruit, recycling bins, and the slime inside drains.
• Flying ants and flying termites: swarms after the first big summer rain, coming out of the ground, walls or paving.

Flying ants or flying termites?

This is one of the most common calls we get after the first heavy storm of the season. Both swarm in huge numbers on warm, humid evenings, and both shed their wings. A quick way to tell them apart: flying ants have a pinched waist, bent antennae and front wings longer than the back wings. Termite swarmers have a thick, straight body, straight antennae and four wings of equal length. A swarm in the garden is normal. Swarmers coming from inside a wall, a skirting board or a door frame point to a colony using the building, and that needs termite control across Johannesburg rather than a spray.

Why summer is so busy

Almost every flying insect pest in the city is linked to the Highveld's summer rains. Warm, wet weather speeds up fly and mosquito breeding, triggers termite and ant swarms, and gives wasps a long season to build. Winter brings a lull outdoors, though pantry moths, fruit flies and kitchen flies carry on indoors where it's warm. The months from October to March are when we see the most flying insect calls by far.

How we treat flying insects

1. Identify. The species tells us where to look. A photo on WhatsApp often settles this before we arrive.
2. Find the source. Bins, drains, standing water, a nest, a pantry shelf or a carcass in the roof.
3. Remove or treat it. Nests are treated and taken down, carcasses removed, contaminated food thrown out, and breeding water cleared.
4. Treat resting areas. An odourless, non-staining residual treatment on walls, window frames, eaves and other places adults land.

Normal treatments don't require you to leave home. Keep children and pets away from treated areas until they're dry.

Businesses and food premises

For restaurants, food factories, shops and hospitals, flying insects are a hygiene and inspection problem, not just a nuisance. We look at delivery areas, refuse rooms, drains and dry stores, treat on a schedule that suits your hours, and keep a written record of each visit. Dry goods stores and bakeries often have pantry moth or stored-product insect problems that need the stock checked and rotated, not only a treatment.

Signs the source is close

A few flying insects drifting in from outside are normal on summer evenings. These point to a source inside or right next to the house: flies or moths that keep appearing in one room with the windows closed; large numbers on one window every morning; insects gathering around a particular cupboard, drain or ceiling light; winged ants or termites coming out of a crack in the floor; and wasps flying in and out of the same spot under the eaves. Note where they gather and at what time of day; it shortens the inspection.

The mistake we see most

Spraying the cloud. A can of insect spray aimed at a swarm of flying ants, a mass of flies on a window or a few pantry moths kills what it hits and changes nothing else. Within days there are as many again, because the nest, the bin or the bag of flour that produced them is still there.

A Johannesburg tip

When the first big storm of summer is forecast, close windows and doors on the side of the house facing the garden before dusk and turn off outside lights. Swarming ants and termites are drawn to light, and that one habit keeps most of them out of the house.

What it costs and why

The cost depends on which insect it is and how much work it takes to deal with the source. Pantry moths in one cupboard might need nothing more than throwing out infested food and cleaning the shelves, and we'll say so. Wasp nests are priced on number and height, mosquito work on the size of the garden, and fly control on the size of the site and how many breeding sources there are. Food businesses on a contract are quoted on visit frequency. Our price guide shows the starting points.

The flying insect guide has more on life cycles and how each one behaves.

Combat Pest Control is run by Jason van Heerden, its owner and operator, with 25 years of experience, SAPCA registration and registration with the Department of Agriculture under Act 36. You can expect service within 24 hours, and if the treated insect returns within 3 months, we return too. Phone 084 200 2700, or WhatsApp a photo of the insect and we'll identify it.