Top 10 Signs of a Termite Infestation
Hollow-sounding wood, mud tubes, discarded wings. The ten things worth checking before a colony reaches the beams.
Advisories and guides
Reference pages on the pests in Central Luzon homes, in English and Tagalog, and five longer guides: what termite damage looks like before it is obvious, why rats pick a ceiling, what the rains change, and what to ask before anyone sprays anything near a child or a dog.
Reference
Do termites bite?
Soldier termites can, but termites are medically harmless. What to do about a bite, what else it might be, and the damage that matters more.
Kagat ng langgam
Aling langgam ang nangangagat o nanunusok, paano alagaan ang kagat, at kailan kailangan ng doktor.
Do rats have rabies?
Bitten or scratched by a rat: see a doctor or an animal bite treatment centre today. What WHO and the CDC say about rodents and rabies, and the other risks.
Itlog ng langaw
Itsura ng itlog at uod ng langaw, gaano kabilis ang bawat yugto, at saan sila nangingitlog sa bahay.
Flying ants
Young queens and males leaving to mate: how to tell them from winged termites by waist, wings and antennae, and what each means for the house.
Bed bugs
What they look like at every stage, drawn to scale, the signs on a bed, where they come from, and why nothing you can buy kills them at once.
Termites in Tagalog
Anay, and the other words around it: gamu-gamo, bukbok, punso and absík, what each means, and the Tagalog names of the other house pests.
Bed bug bites
What the bites look like and why they cannot prove bed bugs, what to check on the bed, how far from it they live, and how to ease the itch.
Mosquito bite
What a bite looks like, how to calm the itch, when to see a doctor, and the dengue signs to watch for, with this year’s cases in the provinces we serve.
Kagat ng daga
Unahin ang doktor, hugasan at takpan ang sugat, at bantayan ang rat-bite fever at leptospirosis hanggang tatlong linggo.
Kagat ng ipis
Nangangagat ang ipis pero bihira: saan ito nangyayari, paano alagaan ang kagat, at ang mas malaking panganib sa dumi nito.
Cockroach bite
Cockroaches can bite, but rarely: where it happens, how to look after a bite, and the bigger risk from their droppings in house dust.
Baby rat
How fast a baby rat grows, drawn week by week, how to tell it from a mouse, and why finding one means a nest close by.
Flying cockroach
Which of the four cockroaches in Philippine homes can fly or glide, why most never do, and what a flying one at night says about where it came from.
Types of mosquitoes in the Philippines
Aedes, Culex and Anopheles: how to tell them apart by the back, when each bites, where each breeds, and which one carries dengue.
Mosquito larvae
What the wigglers and tumblers in standing water are, where they breed around a house, and how to empty, cover or treat what holds the water.
Termite queen
Where the queen is in a subterranean colony, who is around her, and why treating the wood you can see does not reach her.
White cockroach
The white, albino-looking cockroach is one that has just shed its skin. Whether it is a baby, if it is harmful, and what it tells you about the house.
How to get rid of ants
Why spraying the trail does not end it, how bait reaches the nest and its queens, and the steps that stop ants coming back.
Soil poisoning for termites
What changes before and after construction, what to ask in the quote and why later building work matters.
Cockroach eggs and egg cases
Compare the cases, check likely hiding places and decide what to do after finding one.
Mouse vs rat
Size to scale, the head and feet, the tail, droppings, gnaw marks, the gap each needs and how far each goes from its nest.
Droppings identifier
Rat, mouse, butiki, bat, cockroach, termite or bed bug: nine kinds of droppings drawn to scale, with where each turns up and what to do.
Pest calendar for Central Luzon
Month by month: what the season brings to a house in Pampanga, Bulacan, Bataan, Tarlac or Olongapo, and the two jobs that head it off. Printable.
Termite checklist for house buyers
What to check for termites before you buy: outside, the ground floor, built-ins and the ceiling, and the questions to ask the seller. Printable.
Types of ants in the Philippines
Six ants found around Philippine houses, from the ghost ant to the hantik: size to scale, where each nests, which ones sting, and what gets rid of them.
Types of cockroaches in the Philippines
German, brownbanded, Australian and American cockroaches: size to scale, markings, which ones breed indoors, and what gets rid of each.
Kiti-kiti
Ano ang kiti-kiti, saan sila nanggagaling sa bahay, bakit kailangang kuskusin ang lalagyan, at ang lingguhang gawain laban dito.
Bed bug eggs
What the eggs look like, how to tell them from shed skins and droppings, where to look, and what kills them at home.
Cockroach poop
What the droppings of small and big cockroaches look like, why you find them with no cockroach in sight, and why they matter for asthma.
Dead rat smell
Where the smell usually comes from, how to find the rat, how to clean up safely, and what to do when you cannot reach it.
Centipede bite
Painful but not deadly: first aid at home, the signs that mean hospital, how long the swelling lasts, and keeping centipedes out.
Alupihan
May kamandag pero hindi nakamamatay: lunas sa kagat, kailan dalhin sa ospital, at bakit pumapasok ito tuwing tag-ulan.
Millipedes in the house
Why they crawl in after heavy rain, whether they are harmful, how to tell them from centipedes, and how to stop them at the door.
Silverfish
What they look like, why damp rooms breed them, the paper and cloth they eat, and how to dry them out of the house.
Surot
Bed bug sa Ingles. Totoong litrato, laki at kulay, paano makilala sa pulgas at garapata, saan nagtatago sa kama, at ang unang gawin.
Anay
Termite sa Ingles. Totoong litrato ng manggagawa at sundalo, paano makilala sa langgam at bukbok, saan nagtatago sa bahay, at ang unang gawin.
Ipis
Cockroach sa Ingles. Totoong litrato, ang malaki at ang maliit na ipis sa bahay, saan sila nagtatago, ang panganib sa dumi nila, at ang unang gawin.
Daga
Rat sa Ingles, at mouse ang bubuwit. Totoong litrato, ang daga sa kisame at ang daga sa kanal, paano makilala sa dumi, ang sakit na dala nila, at ang unang gawin.
Langgam
Ant sa Ingles. Totoong litrato, ang pulang langgam, hantik at maliit na dilaw na langgam sa kusina, paano makilala sa anay, at ang unang gawin.
Kagat ng ipis sa mata
First aid sa unang minuto, ang hindi dapat gawin, ang mga senyales na kailangan ng doktor agad, at bakit nakarating ang ipis sa mukha ng natutulog.
Tell us what you have found
Send the pest, the town and roughly how long it has been going on. That is enough for us to say what the treatment would involve and what it depends on.