Are there fire ants in Townsville?

Don't go by where you live. Anywhere in Queensland, suspected fire ants are reported to Biosecurity Queensland, online or by phone, and our form doesn't take them as jobs.

Will a mosquito treatment protect us from dengue?

Don't rely on one. Health advice on dengue comes from Queensland Health, and the biggest thing a household can do is stop water sitting in containers, where the dengue mosquito breeds.

Do you cover the whole Townsville area?

You can send an enquiry from anywhere in Australia, Thuringowa side or city side. Give your postcode and what you've seen.

Pest control Townsville: termites, dengue mosquitoes, ants

What's different in Townsville

The giant northern termite

Business Queensland calls Mastotermes darwiniensis the most destructive subterranean termite, and it occurs in tropical northern Queensland. Its soldiers can reach 13 mm, against 3 to 7 mm for the usual subterranean kinds, which are here too.

The dengue mosquito lives with people

In the Townsville region, Aedes aegypti breeds around houses, in old tyres, pot plant bases and other containers. The Queensland Government says north Queensland towns with this mosquito are prone to dengue outbreaks. Wolbachia mosquitoes, which can't spread dengue or Zika, have been released in Townsville through the World Mosquito Program with Queensland Health.

Yellow crazy ants

These yellow to brownish ants, about 5 mm long with very long legs, have been recorded at Townsville industrial estates. Disturbed, they may spray formic acid that can irritate skin and eyes. They're restricted matter in Queensland, so contact Biosecurity Queensland instead of booking a treatment.

Asian honey bees at the port

Asian honey bees were found and stamped out at the Port of Townsville before. Sightings outside the known area around Cairns must be reported to Biosecurity Queensland within 24 hours.

The tropical year

The Queensland Government puts the Townsville and Thuringowa region's average temperature at 23°C, with summers around 28°C and winters around 18°C. Most of its 661 mm of average yearly rain falls between November and April, as short, intense storms.

Ross River virus cases occur year round in northern and central Queensland. Advice on dengue and Ross River belongs with Queensland Health, not a pest business. Around the house, the useful job is getting rid of standing water, every week through the wet.

Possums and bees

Possums are protected in Queensland. The Queensland Government says only a licensed commercial operator can catch one, and it must be let go within 25 metres of where it was caught. So the part that actually fixes a possum in the roof is sealing its way in once it's out; our possums page explains how that works.

Bees swarm naturally in spring and early summer in Queensland, and a resting swarm is usually placid; a local beekeeping club is the first call. Bees going into a wall or roof cavity are a pest job. Look closely first: Asian honey bees are about 10 mm long, smaller and less hairy than European honey bees, with sharp black or brown and yellow stripes.

Before the wet in Townsville

Tip out tyres, buckets, pot plant bases and anything else holding water, and keep doing it weekly.
Check that gutters and downpipes drain once the first storms hit.
Keep firewood, sleepers and building offcuts off the ground and clear of the walls.
Look at stumps and the slab edge for mud leads, and leave any you find for the inspector.

What we'd do in Townsville

Get a termite inspection before the wet season if it's been more than a year, and make the weekly container tip out a habit. Report crazy ants and unfamiliar bees to Biosecurity Queensland; for anything else, tap what you've seen and your postcode.

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?