German cockroachBlattella germanica
German cockroach
A small, fast-breeding indoor cockroach, the most common cockroach found in Ontario homes and restaurants.
Specimen index
Pests
Cockroaches 7
- German cockroach
American cockroachPeriplaneta americana
American cockroach
The giant of indoor cockroaches, up to 5 cm long, living in sewers, basements and steam tunnels.
Brown-banded cockroachSupella longipalpa
Brown-banded cockroach
The cockroach that lives high, on ceilings, picture frames and upper walls, not just under the sink.
Oriental cockroachBlatta orientalis
Oriental cockroach
The cool-climate cockroach, dark, slow and damp-loving, at home in basements and sewers.
Pennsylvania wood cockroachParcoblatta pennsylvanica
Pennsylvania wood cockroach
A native outdoor cockroach that wanders inside by accident, especially males flying to lights at night.
Smokybrown cockroachValidiblatta fuliginosa (syn. Periplaneta fuliginosa)
Smokybrown cockroach
A large, dark, strong-flying southern cockroach, included for identification, not an Ontario problem.
Turkestan cockroachShelfordella lateralis
Turkestan cockroach
A reddish-brown cockroach spreading through the southwestern US.
Ants 13
Carpenter antCamponotus pennsylvanicus
Carpenter ant
Ontario's biggest house ant, it doesn't eat wood, it excavates it, hollowing beams from the inside.
Pavement antTetramorium immigrans
Pavement ant
The sidewalk ant, tiny, dark, and famous for springtime turf wars between rival colonies.
Pharaoh antMonomorium pharaonis
Pharaoh ant
A 2 mm yellow ant that splits its colony when disturbed, the hospital and apartment-block specialist.
Odorous house antTapinoma sessile
Odorous house ant
Crush one and it smells like rotten coconut, the native ant that moves indoors every spring.
Thief antSolenopsis molesta
Thief ant
A 1.5 mm yellow burglar that nests beside other ant colonies and steals their food and young.
Acrobat antCrematogaster spp.
Acrobat ant
The ant that does a handstand, raising its heart-shaped abdomen overhead when alarmed.
Little black antMonomorium minimum
Little black ant
A 1.5 mm jet-black ant that marches in tight trails from lawn nests straight into kitchens.
Field antFormica spp.
Field ant
The mound-builders of lawns and fields, big, fast, and armed with formic acid spray.
Moisture antLasius spp.
Moisture ant
The yellow ant that smells like lemons, and only nests where wood is wet and rotting.
Crazy antParatrechina longicornis
Crazy ant
The ant that runs like it is panicking, long-legged, erratic, and unmistakable in motion.
Red imported fire antSolenopsis invicta
Red imported fire ant
The infamous stinging ant of the American South, not in Canada, included as the reference standard.
Argentine antLinepithema humile
Argentine ant
A small brown ant that forms massive supercolonies, dominant in California homes.
Ghost antTapinoma melanocephalum
Ghost ant
A tiny ant with a dark head and ghostly pale body, common in Florida homes.
Bed bugs & relatives 3
Bed bugCimex lectularius
Bed bug
The apple-seed-sized night feeder, hiding in mattress seams by day, feeding on sleeping people by night.
Bat bugCimex pilosellus
Bat bug
The bed bug's twin that feeds on bats, it only bothers people when the bats leave.
Swallow bugOeciacus vicarius
Swallow bug
The bird-nest cousin of the bed bug, it moves indoors when the swallows fly south.
Termites 5
Eastern subterranean termiteReticulitermes flavipes
Eastern subterranean termite
A pale, blind, wood-eating insect that lives in huge underground colonies and quietly hollows out the wood in your home.
Western subterranean termiteReticulitermes hesperus
Western subterranean termite
The West Coast's version of the subterranean termite, same underground habits, different coastline.
Drywood termiteIncisitermes spp.
Drywood termite
A termite that needs no soil at all, the whole colony lives inside a single piece of dry wood.
Dampwood termiteZootermopsis spp.
Dampwood termite
The giant of the termite world, a colony that only moves into wood that is already rotting wet.
Formosan subterranean termiteCoptotermes formosanus
Formosan subterranean termite
An aggressive subterranean termite of the southeastern US, not established in Canada.
Stored-product beetles 11
Sawtoothed grain beetleOryzaephilus surinamensis
Sawtoothed grain beetle
A tiny flat beetle that slips into packaged food and cannot fly, if it's crawling on your cereal box, it's probably this one.
Merchant grain beetleOryzaephilus mercator
Merchant grain beetle
The sawtoothed grain beetle's flying twin, slightly pickier about food, and it can cross the room on its own wings.
Red flour beetleTribolium castaneum
Red flour beetle
The lab rat of the beetle world, a flour pest so well studied that scientists sequenced its entire genome.
Confused flour beetleTribolium confusum
Confused flour beetle
Nearly identical to the red flour beetle, but it can't fly and prefers cooler pantries, the exam loves this pair.
Cigarette beetleLasioderma serricorne
Cigarette beetle
A tiny humpbacked beetle that eats almost anything dry, tobacco, spices, dog food, even books.
Drugstore beetleStegobium paniceum
Drugstore beetle
Named for old pharmacies it once raided, this beetle eats dried herbs, bread, books, and almost anything else.
American spider beetleMezium americanum
American spider beetle
A beetle that looks like a tiny spider, it can't fly, lives for over a year, and eats almost any spilled crumb.
Lesser grain borerRhyzopertha dominica
Lesser grain borer
A tiny cylindrical borer that drills straight into whole wheat kernels, and carries some of the strongest pesticide resistance in the insect world.
Granary weevilSitophilus granarius
Granary weevil
A flightless weevil with a long snout that lays its eggs inside wheat kernels, the larva grows up hidden in the grain.
Rice weevilSitophilus oryzae
Rice weevil
The granary weevil's smaller, flying cousin, with four pale spots on its back and a taste for warmer grain.
Bean weevilAcanthoscelides obtectus
Bean weevil
A beetle that starts eating your beans while they're still growing in the field, and finishes the job in the storage jar.
Fabric & structural beetles 9
Varied carpet beetleAnthrenus verbasci
Varied carpet beetle
Its fuzzy larvae eat wool sweaters and the adults visit flowers, the most common fabric pest in Ontario homes.
Black carpet beetleAttagenus unicolor
Black carpet beetle
Bigger, darker, and hungrier than its mottled cousins, the larvae can feed for nearly two years on a single wool rug.
Furniture carpet beetleAnthrenus flavipes
Furniture carpet beetle
The varied carpet beetle's yellower cousin, same wool-eating larvae, more orange in the wardrobe.
Larder beetleDermestes lardarius
Larder beetle
A 7, 9 mm beetle with a pale yellow band across its back that raids pet food, cured meats, and the dead flies in your attic.
Hide beetleDermestes maculatus
Hide beetle
The forensic scientist's beetle, it arrives at carrion on a predictable schedule, and museums fear its appetite for specimens.
Powderpost beetleLyctus spp.
Powderpost beetle
A beetle whose larvae turn hardwood sapwood into fine flour, leaving tiny shot-holes and piles of powder as their signature.
Old house borerHylotrupes bajulus
Old house borer
A longhorn beetle whose larvae can chew inside your roof beams for a decade, then emerge leaving oval holes the size of a fingertip.
Deathwatch beetleXestobium rufovillosum
Deathwatch beetle
The beetle that taps inside old church beams, its mating knock was once thought to foretell death.
Wharf borerNacerdes melanura
Wharf borer
An orange-and-black beetle whose larvae honeycomb the wet pilings of old wharves, and whose relatives can blister skin.
Flies 14
House flyMusca domestica
House fly
The familiar grey fly that breeds in garbage and can carry germs from waste to your food.
Cluster flyPollenia rudis
Cluster fly
Big, slow, golden-haired flies that crowd into attics each autumn, they don't breed in your house.
Blue bottle flyCalliphora spp.
Blue bottle fly
Big metallic-blue flies that arrive within minutes wherever meat or a dead animal is decaying.
Green bottle flyLucilia spp.
Green bottle fly
Metallic-green carrion flies, one species' sterile maggots are used in hospitals to clean wounds.
Flesh flySarcophaga spp.
Flesh fly
Grey flies with a checkerboard abdomen that give birth to live maggots instead of laying eggs.
Fruit flyDrosophila melanogaster
Fruit fly
Tiny red-eyed flies over ripening fruit, and the most studied animal in the history of genetics.
Drain flyPsychoda spp.
Drain fly
Tiny fuzzy moth-like flies that breed in the slime inside your drains.
Fungus gnatBradysia spp.
Fungus gnat
Tiny dark flies hovering over houseplant soil, their larvae feed on fungi in damp potting mix.
Phorid flyMegaselia scalaris
Phorid fly
Tiny humpbacked flies that run instead of flying, and can breed in almost anything moist and decaying.
Stable flyStomoxys calcitrans
Stable fly
Looks exactly like a house fly, but this one bites, hard, usually around your ankles.
Horse flyTabanus spp.
Horse fly
Big, fast, painful biters the size of a thumbnail, the females need blood to make eggs.
Deer flyChrysops spp.
Deer fly
Smaller cousins of horse flies with patterned wings, the classic early-summer woodland biter.
Spotted-wing drosophilaDrosophila suzukii
Spotted-wing drosophila
An invasive fruit fly whose females slice into healthy, ripening berries and cherries to lay eggs.
Black flySimulium venustum
Black fly
A tiny humpbacked biting fly, the scourge of Ontario cottage country in spring.
Mosquitoes 5
Northern house mosquitoCulex pipiens
Northern house mosquito
The common evening mosquito of Ontario cities, and the main carrier of West Nile virus here.
Asian tiger mosquitoAedes albopictus
Asian tiger mosquito
An aggressive daytime biter with white racing stripes, an invader marching north into Ontario.
Inland floodwater mosquitoAedes vexans
Inland floodwater mosquito
The 'after-the-rain' mosquito, floods hatch its eggs by the million and evenings become miserable.
Malaria mosquitoAnopheles spp.
Malaria mosquito
The mosquito genus behind malaria, present in Ontario, but malaria itself is long gone from here.
Yellow fever mosquitoAedes aegypti
Yellow fever mosquito
A dark mosquito with white markings, found in the southern US.
Wasps, hornets & bees 10
German yellowjacketVespula germanica
German yellowjacket
The picnic-crashing wasp of late summer, an aggressive scavenger that nests underground and in wall voids.
Eastern yellowjacketVespula maculifrons
Eastern yellowjacket
Ontario's native picnic wasp, nearly identical to the German yellowjacket, with an anchor mark on its face.
Bald-faced hornetDolichovespula maculata
Bald-faced hornet
Big black-and-white wasps in hanging paper footballs, fierce at the nest, useful predators away from it.
European hornetVespa crabro
European hornet
Ontario's largest social wasp, brown and yellow, active at night, humming around porch lights in late summer.
Paper waspPolistes spp.
Paper wasp
Slender wasps with open umbrella nests under your eaves, docile neighbours and caterpillar hunters.
Mud dauberSceliphron caementarium
Mud dauber
Solitary wasps that build mud tubes and stock them with paralyzed spiders, they never defend a nest.
Carpenter beeXylocopa virginica
Carpenter bee
Big bees that drill perfect round holes in your deck, the noisy males can't sting at all.
HoneybeeApis mellifera
Honeybee
The managed pollinator behind a third of our crops, a swarm is a beekeeper's call, never an extermination.
BumblebeeBombus spp.
Bumblebee
Big fuzzy native pollinators, including endangered species that need protection, not pest control.
Cicada killer waspSphecius speciosus
Cicada killer wasp
A huge black-and-yellow wasp that hunts cicadas; rarely stings people.
Ticks & mites 10
Black-legged tickIxodes scapularis
Black-legged tick
The sesame-seed-sized tick behind Lyme disease, check yourself after the woods, not your basement.
American dog tickDermacentor variabilis
American dog tick
The big ornate tick your dog brings home from the field, a spring and summer biter.
Bird miteOrnithonyssus spp.
Bird mite
The invisible biter that appears when the birds leave, if it itches after a nest was removed, suspect this mite.
Clover miteBryobia praetiosa
Clover mite
The tiny red dots marching across your sunny windowsill in spring, they don't bite, they just visit in armies.
House dust miteDermatophagoides spp.
House dust mite
The invisible roommate in your mattress, you can't see it, but your allergies can.
Scabies miteSarcoptes scabiei
Scabies mite
The burrowing mite behind scabies, a medical condition, not a pest-control job.
Stored-product miteTyrophagus putrescentiae
Stored-product mite
The 'mite dust' in your old flour, a sign the food went damp, not a sign of a dirty kitchen.
ChiggerTrombiculidae
Chigger
The itchy red welts from the tall grass, caused by a baby mite that doesn't burrow, despite the legend.
Lone star tickAmblyomma americanum
Lone star tick
An aggressive eastern US tick, the female carries a single white spot on her back.
Brown dog tickRhipicephalus sanguineus
Brown dog tick
A reddish-brown tick that infests homes and kennels in the southern US.
Spiders 8
House spiderParasteatoda tepidariorum
House spider
The cobweb spider in the corner of your basement window, harmless, and it eats other bugs.
Cellar spiderPholcus phalangioides
Cellar spider
The spindly spider that bounces in its web when startled, it hunts and eats other spiders.
Wolf spiderLycosidae
Wolf spider
The big fast hunter sprinting across your basement floor, frightening to look at, not dangerous.
Yellow sac spiderCheiracanthium mildei
Yellow sac spider
The pale spider sleeping in a silk sleeping bag behind your picture frames, blamed for far more bites than it delivers.
Jumping spiderSalticidae
Jumping spider
The tiny curious spider that watches you back, the friendliest spider in your house.
Northern black widowLatrodectus variolus
Northern black widow
Ontario's only spider with a medically significant bite, rare, shy, and almost never inside homes.
Hobo spiderEratigena agrestis
Hobo spider
A Pacific Northwest spider wrongly famous for dangerous bites, not found in Ontario.
Brown recluseLoxosceles reclusa
Brown recluse
The spider everyone fears and almost no one in Ontario has ever actually seen.
Occasional invaders 14
House centipedeScutigera coleoptrata
House centipede
The thirty-legged sprinter in your bathtub, it can't climb out, and it's hunting the real pests.
European earwigForficula auricularia
European earwig
The pincer-tailed garden visitor, it won't crawl in your ear, whatever the name suggests.
House cricketAcheta domesticus
House cricket
The midnight violinist behind your furnace, one male cricket, one very loud night.
Field cricketGryllus spp.
Field cricket
The big black singer at your doorstep every September, an outdoor cricket that got lost.
Camel cricketCeuthophilus spp.
Camel cricket
The silent humpbacked jumper in your crawlspace, it never sings, it just startles.
Asian lady beetleHarmonia axyridis
Asian lady beetle
The helpful garden ladybug that overstays its welcome, thousands of them, in your walls, every fall.
SpringtailCollembola
Springtail
The microscopic jumper in your potted plant, a sign of wet soil, not an infestation.
Western conifer seed bugLeptoglossus occidentalis
Western conifer seed bug
The long brown bug mistaken for a kissing bug, it wants your pine cones, not your blood.
SowbugPorcellio scaber
Sowbug
A land-dwelling crustacean, not an insect, that needs damp places to survive.
PillbugArmadillidium vulgare
Pillbug
The roly-poly that rolls into a perfect ball when disturbed.
MillipedeDiplopoda
Millipede
A slow, many-legged decomposer with two pairs of legs on most body segments.
Boxelder bugBoisea trivittata
Boxelder bug
The black-and-red bug that masses on sunny walls every fall.
Brown marmorated stink bugHalyomorpha halys
Brown marmorated stink bug
An invasive stink bug that invades homes in fall and crops in summer.
Spotted lanternflyLycorma delicatula
Spotted lanternfly
A showy invasive planthopper, first detected in Canada (Windsor, Sept 2026), spreading through the eastern US.
Silverfish, firebrats & booklice 3
SilverfishLepisma saccharinum
Silverfish
The silvery fish that eats your books, a humidity-loving relic that never grew wings.
FirebratThermobia domestica
Firebrat
The silverfish's heat-loving cousin, it lives where your furnace lives.
BooklouseLiposcelis spp.
Booklouse
The 2-millimeter alarm bell for damp books, where booklice gather, mold is growing.
Rodents 9
House mouseMus musculus
House mouse
The small, curious rodent that lives inside our walls and pantries.
Deer mousePeromyscus maniculatus
Deer mouse
The white-bellied woodland mouse that carries hantavirus into cabins and sheds.
Norway ratRattus norvegicus
Norway rat
The burrowing city rat, heavy, wary, and built for sewers and foundations.
Roof ratRattus rattus
Roof rat
The climbing rat, arboreal, agile, and at home in attics and rafters.
Meadow voleMicrotus pennsylvanicus
Meadow vole
The grassland tunneler, surface runways, winter bark-gnawing, and boom-bust cycles.
White-footed mousePeromyscus leucopus
White-footed mouse
The deer mouse's twin, and the main animal reservoir of Lyme disease.
Plains pocket gopherGeomys bursarius
Plains pocket gopher
A burrowing western rodent that pushes fan-shaped mounds onto lawns.
Eastern chipmunkTamias striatus
Eastern chipmunk
A striped ground squirrel that burrows under patios and raids gardens.
Southern flying squirrelGlaucomys volans
Southern flying squirrel
A nocturnal gliding squirrel that dens in southern Ontario attics.
Birds 7
Rock pigeonColumba livia
Rock pigeon
The cliff-dweller turned city-dweller, at home on every ledge downtown.
House sparrowPasser domesticus
House sparrow
The introduced sparrow that out-competes native birds for every cavity in town.
European starlingSturnus vulgaris
European starling
The 1890s introduction that became 200 million birds, master of the murmuration.
GullLarus spp.
Gull
The 'seagull' that nests on flat rooftops and commutes to landfills.
Canada gooseBranta canadensis
Canada goose
A large familiar goose, a noisy, messy nester on lawns and waterfronts.
Downy woodpeckerDryobates pubescens
Downy woodpecker
A small black-and-white woodpecker that drums on houses and trees.
Barn swallowHirundo rustica
Barn swallow
A graceful swallow with a forked tail that nests in mud cups under eaves.
Wildlife 10
RaccoonProcyon lotor
Raccoon
North America's masked urban survivor, clever paws, clever problems.
Striped skunkMephitis mephitis
Striped skunk
The black-and-white chemist, warns first, sprays second.
Gray squirrelSciurus carolinensis
Gray squirrel
The diurnal acrobat, plants forests by forgetting where lunch is.
Red squirrelTamiasciurus hudsonicus
Red squirrel
Small, loud, and fiercely territorial, the forest's alarm system.
Big brown batEptesicus fuscus
Big brown bat
The attic's silent beetle-hunter, eats half its weight nightly.
Little brown batMyotis lucifugus
Little brown bat
A 10-gram insect vacuum, and Ontario's most imperiled bat.
Virginia opossumDidelphis virginiana
Virginia opossum
North America's only marsupial, 50 teeth and a talent for theatrics.
GroundhogMarmota monax
Groundhog
The true hibernator, sleeps half the year, digs the other half.
Eastern moleScalopus aquaticus
Eastern mole
A burrowing mole whose Canadian range is a small corner of extreme southwestern Ontario.
Red foxVulpes vulpes
Red fox
A rust-red wild canid common in suburbs across Ontario.
Fleas 1
Cat fleaCtenocephalides felis
Cat flea
A tiny wingless jumping insect, the flea most commonly found on cats and dogs in Ontario homes.
Moths 4
Indianmeal mothPlodia interpunctella
Indianmeal moth
A small pantry moth whose larvae infest flour, cereal, and dry pet food.
Webbing clothes mothTineola bisselliella
Webbing clothes moth
A small buff-colored moth whose larvae chew holes in wool, silk, and fur.
Casemaking clothes mothTinea pellionella
Casemaking clothes moth
A clothes moth whose larvae carry a silken case as they feed on fabrics.
Mediterranean flour mothEphestia kuehniella
Mediterranean flour moth
A pale pantry moth common in flour mills, bakeries, and home kitchens.