To ensure our safety, it is a good idea to know how to identify the most dangerous pests and how to protect ourselves from them. Because of these dangers, it is important to contact a pest management professional should you encounter certain pests or have an ongoing or serious problem.

While unique in their locations, habitats and physical characteristics, these featured pests are linked by one common thread - they are dangerous and may harm you. As a result, take the precautions described in this brochure and remember it is important to contact a professional should you have further questions.

On the below list, each pest is profiled and a perceived danger rating is asssigned. The "high", "medium" and "low" ratings are for general guidance only. they represent the danger level of each pest and the likelihood of contracting associated diseases or serious stings or bites. If you suspect you have been bitten or stung by one of these pests, and are having symptoms, consult your health care provider.

Danger : Bites can leave itchy, bloody welts on the skin and can cause allergic reactions, such as severe itching.

Description / Appearance : Flat, reddish-brown, oval insects about 3/16 long or the size of an apple seed. Swollen and reddish after a blood meal. Large infestations can be detected by a sweet smell like that of soda-pop syrup.

Habitat : Cracks and crevices including mattress seams, sheets, furniture, behind baseboards, electrical outlet plates and picture frames. Often found in hotels, where they can travel from room to room and in visitor's luggage.

Interesting Facts :Bed bugs are difficult to control, as they can live for more than a year without eating.

Danger : Inflick a painful, though rarely fatal, bite. The venom from their bite can increase a victim's body temperature and blood pressure, causing sweating and nausea.

Description / Appearance : Approximately 1/2 inch long or the size of a dime; jet black and shiny. SOme adult females have red markings often forming an hour-glass shape on the abdomen. Construct randomly-shaped webs in secluded, undisturbed areas.

Habitat : Can be found indoors and outdoors. Webs are typically built near the ground in dark areas, such as in firewood piles or between boxes.

Danger Prevention Tips :Black widows can hide in dark areas, so use caution when moving stored items. Using gloves, remove piles of lumber and other debris and stack firewood as far away from the home as possible.

Danger : Inflict painful bites, which can, in rare cases, cause tularemia, a disease typically found in animals, especially rodents, rabbits and hares. Possible symptoms include skin ulcers, swollen and painful lymph glands, inflamed eyes, sore throat, mouth sores, diarrhea or pneumonia, depending on the route of infection

Description / Appearance : Approximately 1/2 inch long, black or brownish in color with yellow or greenish markings. Often mistaken for a horse fly, but distinguishable by dark markings on their wings.

Habitat :Usually found outdoors in rural areas.

Interesting Facts :Male deer flies feed mostly on pollen and plant juices. Only females are blood sucking. Rasping, sucking mouthparts run up and down their victims in a razor-like motion to increase blood flow.

Danger : Bites cause irritation, blood loss and itching. Some species can spread diseases such as bubonic plague and murine typhus. Other species of fleas can be intermediate carriers of tapeworms and can infect humans if accidentally ingested.

Description / Appearance : Miniscule, wingless parasites about 1/8 inch long or about the size of a poppy seed. Covered in spines with piercing mouthparts. Extremely difficult to crush.

Habitat :Live and breed on host animal's body; often found near pet bedding; attracted to hair and fur. Often found on varmints such as rodents (including Norway or roof rats), and livestock. Of the approximately 2,500 species of fleas that infest birds and mammals throughout the world, people typically encounter only a few species, including the cat flea, dog flea, human flea, poultry sticktight flea and the oriental rat flea.E

Interesting Facts :Can jump 6 to 8 inches vertically, and 14 to 16 inches horizontally. Historically significant in that they carried and transmitted the bubonic plague (largest epidemic before AIDS), which killed a quarter of world's population in the 14th century.

Danger : Inflict potent stings that if repeated can result in hypersensitivity in two percent of the population

Description / Appearance : Up to 5/8 inch long. Covered with short, dense golden brown and black hair; striped abdomen.

Habitat :Around flowers and flowering trees. Can also make a hive inside a building or wall void. Important in agriculture to pollinate crops.

Interesting Facts :Honey bees are social insects, and they can only survive as a member of a community with a queen, drones and workers. A queen can lay 1,500 to 2,000 eggs in a single day. Honey bees play an important role in agriculture for the pollination of plants in UAE.

Danger Prevention Tips :Wear proper clothing and use caution when honey bees are foraging around your home on flowering trees and plants.

Danger : Inflict painful bites with rasping, sucking mouthparts that can result in visible, bleeding wounds.

Description / Appearance : Usually up to 3/4 inch or larger. Often mistaken for the smaller deer fly.

Habitat :Typically found near domestic and wild animals.

Interesting Facts :Although a rare occurrence, horse flies can be attracted indoors by dark shadows created by open doorways and open windows

Danger : Some species of centipede, including the house centipede, are capable of inflicting a painful bite similar to a bee sting.

Description / Appearance :Though the house centipede is usually 1 to 2 inches long, many other species of centipede can get as long as 6 inches or more. Have a worm-like body; long slender antennae protruding from head and 15 to 177 pairs of legs.

Habitat :Usually live outdoors in moist, protected areas such as piles of leaves, stones or wood. When indoors, closets and bathrooms and may be found near baseboards, doorways and windows.

Interesting Facts :Centipedes are predators and feed on insects and spiders. They can move very rapidly.

Danger : Contaminate food and surfaces through their feeding activity and urination. A protein in house mouse urine can cause asthma. House mice can also carry salmonella, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus and a disease called rickettsialpox that is transmitted by the house mouse mite.

Description / Appearance :5 to 7 inches long, from nose to end of tail. Typically dusky gray, moderately large and distinct ears.

Habitat :Extremely common in cities and towns, prefer indoors.

Interesting Facts :A house mouse can squeeze through an opening the size of a fills. In optimum conditions a female can produce 42-60 offspring in a year.

Danger Prevention Tips: To prevent house mice from entering the home, remove food sources and seal exterior entry points larger than 1/4 inch.

Danger : Mosquitoes also pose an important danger internationally where they carry and transmit the infectious agents that cause malaria, lymphatic filariasis, yellow fever and dengue fever.

Description / Appearance :Approximately 1/8 to 3/8 inch long or the size of a small shirt button; two wings, body and legs covered with scales; long beak with piercing-sucking mouthparts.

Habitat :Can be found anywhere associated with water, including gutters, ponds, old tires or plant pots.

Danger Prevention Tips: Reduce mosquito populations by removing standing water and thinning out vegetation from around the home. When outdoors, wear an insect repellent. Ensure that window screens fit tightly and securely, and keep doors and windows closed when possible.

Danger : Known to bite; along with ground squirrels, prairie dogs, deer mice and other rodents, can carry plague. Norway rats can also carry murine typhus. These diseases can be transmitted to people by the fleas living and breeding on the rat.

Description / Appearance :13 to 17 inches from nose to end of tail; weighs 7 to 18 ounces. Stocky, heavy-bodied rat, typically grayish-brown.

Habitat :Nest around buildings or in underground burrows.

Interesting facts:The Norway rat originated in Central Asia, not in Norway. Their teeth can grow between 5 and 6 inches per year, so they constantly grind them against each other to keep them sharp and filed down.

Danger Prevention Tips: To prevent entry into the home, remove food sources, eliminate attractive shelter areas and seal exterior entry points.

Danger : Inflict painful stings that can cause swelling, become infected easily and aggravate skin conditions or allergies. Some species aggressively defend their nest and will sting when disturbed. Others may be more docile.

Description / Appearance :5/8 to 3/4 inch long, varying in color from dark reddish-brown to orange with bright stripes in reds and yellows.

Habitat :Generally build nests that hang from horizontal surfaces, such as awnings, porches and decks, as well as in protected areas like gas grills or electrical outlet boxes.

Interesting facts: Are attracted to heat and light. Use light for direction, while heat warms their wing muscles to ease flying.

Danger : Can bite; along with ground squirrels, prairie dogs, deer mice and other rodents, can carry plague. Roof rats can also carry murine typhus. These diseases can be transmitted to people by the fleas living and breeding on the rat.

Description / Appearance :13 to 18 inches from nose to end of tail; weigh 5 to 9 ounces. Medium-sized rat with tail longer than its body, slender body and large ears. Black or brownish-black in color, with belly varying from grey to white.

Habitat :Exterior vegetation and inside buildings; often found in attics.

Interesting facts: Very agile and can enter a structure through a hole the size of a quarter. The roof rat was the most common rodent found in southern European homes during the outbreaks of plague known as the Black Death in the 14th century.

Danger : Inflict painful stings that can be fatal to those with allergies, and, with certain scorpion species, to small children and the elderly.

Description / Appearance :Some species can be as big as 2 to 4 inches long, or about the length of a standard business card; have large pincers and long, curled tails tipped with stingers.

Habitat :Prefer dark, protected areas – often in and around structures – in warm regions. They are able to enter homes in many areas.

Interesting facts: All scorpions glow under black light, making black light an effective way to inspect for scorpions at night or in dark areas. Scorpions have live births and carry babies on their backs.

Danger : Can carry and transmit diseases including Lyme disease, Colorado tick fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, babesiosis, relapsing fever and tularemia.

Description / Appearance :Adults have eight legs and are 1/8 to 5/8 inch long; smaller than a sunflower seed; color varies by species. Nymphal (immature) ticks are even smaller, less than 2 millimeters.

Habitat :In or near areas where they can hide in vegetation, including woodlands, fields and areas with shrubbery and tall grass, and drop onto animals that pass.

Interesting facts: Adults can live approximately three years without a meal.

Danger Prevention Tips: Always check your body and pets for ticks promptly after spending time outdoors in wooded or grassy areas. People can reduce the number of ticks near their home by clearing some shrubbery and grasses and working with pest management professionals.