Are sandflies and midges the same thing?

Yes. Livingstone Shire Council uses sandflies as another name for biting midges, so the council's midge information covers them.

Do I need to report unusual bees?

In Queensland, Asian honey bees seen outside the known area around Cairns must be reported to Biosecurity Queensland within 24 hours. If you're not sure, a photo and a call is the right move.

Do you cover Emu Park and the rest of the Capricorn Coast?

Yes. Tell us your postcode and what you've seen, anywhere along the coast.

Pest control Yeppoon: mosquitoes, sandflies and termites

What's different around Yeppoon

A council vector team

Livingstone Shire Council's Vector Control Unit monitors and controls mosquitoes, biting midges (sandflies), flies and rats. It's worth knowing what the council already does before you pay for a yard treatment.

Twenty-odd kinds of mosquito

The council says there are more than 20 common mosquito species in the shire, and the diseases they can carry include Ross River fever, Barmah Forest virus, dengue fever and Japanese encephalitis. The Queensland Government says Ross River virus is most common in northern and central Queensland, with cases all year.

Sandflies bite, but carry less

Livingstone Shire Council says biting midges aren't known to carry any human disease in Australia. They're a nuisance, not a health risk in the way mosquitoes are.

Dogs need protecting too

The council notes mosquitoes transmit heartworm to dogs. Ask your vet about prevention; a yard treatment doesn't replace it.

Mosquito-borne disease, in plain terms

The Queensland Government says towns in north and central Queensland that have the dengue mosquito are prone to dengue outbreaks. That's a public health matter: for symptoms, see a doctor, and for local alerts follow Queensland Health and the council. A pest business can reduce mosquitoes around a yard for a while; nobody can promise it prevents disease.

What helps most at home is removing breeding water: buckets, tyres, pot plant bases, bird baths, blocked gutters and unscreened tanks.

Termites on the coast

Business Queensland says the termites that do most house damage in the state travel above ground inside enclosed mud galleries. The QBCC advises an inspection and report every year, or more often where termites are more active. If you've found damage or mud, leave it alone: CSIRO says disturbing termites can make them harder to treat, because several options rely on finding them active.

Renting in Queensland

The owner or property manager must hand over a property free from pests, and keep it that way, unless the tenant caused the problem.
They can't make a tenant use a particular pest service or product, or pay a set pest control fee.
If pest control was agreed as a reasonable condition of a pet approval, the tenant should follow it.
Tell the property manager as soon as possible about vermin, damp or mould that turns up during the tenancy.

Our take on pests in Yeppoon

Tip out standing water every week, protect the dog, and get a termite inspection on the calendar once a year. If rats or termites have already shown up, tap them with 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?