By Keith Perry and Scott MacLeod
The nippers of the animal world and their creepy-crawly colleagues are lapping up the muggy autumn and making life a misery for North Islanders.
Fleas and mosquitoes are enjoying a late-season breeding frenzy, leaving humans and their pets scratching themselves raw.
Bug-busters from pest control firm Rentokil
are doing 20 per cent more work than normal in offices and homes.
And beetles that blanketed Hamilton and Waikato towns in a thick wave this week are likely to return, says a bug expert.
Millions of South African black beetles rose from their breeding grounds and flew into the towns on Wednesday night. The influx, of biblical proportions, was even bigger than Hamilton's notorious chirping cricket raids.
Hardest hit were late-night shops in Hamilton, where the buzzy bugs banged on
windows and formed piles 3cm thick against doorways.
Bruce Willoughby, a bug scientist at AgResearch Ruakura, yesterday said the
invasion was "quite an entomological [insects] event" and the biggest by the beetles in 15 years.
Two dry summers had made them breed rapidly. The onset of rain and a lack of food had forced them into the city.
He said smaller raids could be expected in coming weeks, and another wave was possible in spring.
The beetles in their larval stage are a big problem for farmers. They eat the roots of grass and other plants, laying waste to paddocks.
Rentokil spokesman Tony Poulsen said the mosquito and flea problem was severe.
"The rain and humidity are ideal for both insects and will prolong the misery.
Our staff have never been busier," he said. Fleas would normally be going into hibernation as winter approached but because it was so warm, they were thriving.
Mr Poulsen said spray treatments were effective against fleas and the best way to control mosquitoes was the plug-in pyrethroid repellers sold by supermarkets.
Entomologist Gene Browne said the humidity was to blame, adding that relief would come only with cooler weather.
"Because you have more water available it gives them more breeding grounds for egg-hatching.
"The warmth also helps prolong their activity."
