Top 10 Australian HouseHold Pests

Aussies love their homes, but so do some nasty invaders. We’re talking about household pests!

Seeing any sign of pests can send a chill down your spine. From cockroaches to wasps, it is always stressful when they make their way into the home. In this article, we will look at each of the top 10 most common household pests and provide recommendations on how to deal with them should they ever set foot in your home.

Remember when in doubt, or those DIY methods aren’t working you know what to do right? Call in a professional pest control company to help extinquish those bugs for good!

1. Cockroaches

These pests are some of the most notorious invaders of Australian homes. These creepy-crawlers come in various shapes and sizes, but no one wants them at home!

Common species: American and German cockroaches are the prime suspects.

Habitat: They love humidity – kitchens and bathrooms are their favourites.

Known for: Spreading diseases due to their filthy habits.

What they eat: Anything! Cockroach appetites include our food (or crumbs) and cardboard or paper products.

Telltale signs: Droppings or a strange smell? Time for pest control!

Recommendations: Keep surfaces clean & clutter-free to minimize cosy hiding spots for roaches on the prowl.

2. Ants

Ants are a common pest in Australia and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Small but mighty, ants can wreak havoc within your beloved abode!

Common species: Black house ants top the list as culprits you don’t want bothering you.

Habitat: Kitchens remain susceptible since that’s where food is plentiful!

Known for: Forming armies to get a superbly organized move on things – like your pantry snacks.

What they eat: Sugars seem irresistible to these critters; protein sources, too (beware pet

food bowls!).

Telltale signs: Spot a trail? Follow it to find their entry-point (and block it).

Recommendations: Keep food sealed, clean up spills ASAP, and employ natural repellents like vinegar or essential oils.

3. Fleas

Like other household pests, fleas enter our homes primarily through contact with animals like cats and dogs. These minuscule jumping trouble-makers can make your pets (and you!) miserable.

Common species: Cat fleas are the most common even though they bother dogs as well!

Habitat: Lurking in carpets and pet bedding; out for blood – yikes!

Known for: Feasting on hosts while leaving behind annoyingly itchy bites.

What they eat: Your furry friends’ blood!

Telltale signs: Pets scratching excessively? Comb them with a flea comb to check if fleas are hitching a ride.

Recommendations: Regularly treat pets, vacuum floors/carpets/bedding frequently, & wash pet beds often.

4. Termites

Termites (aka white ants) are responsible for whole lot destruction in Aussie homes. As they are attracted to wood and moist environments they tend build their nests around both materials found in homes like with skirting boards walls furniture etc.

Unseen but destructive; termites create slow chaos by devouring wood-based materials in homes/buildings.

Common species: Subterranean termites pose the highest threat due to population density and ability to cause damage swiftly.

Habitat: Prefer dark, damp spots near wood-based structures they can feast on or chew through.

Known for: Damaging buildings/homes undetected until significant damage becomes apparent (terrible surprise!).

What they eat: Cellulose found in timber, paper, cardboard – yummy for them, expensive for you!

Telltale signs: Timber sounds hollow when tapped, termite mud tubes on walls or foundations.

Recommendations: Regular inspections by professionals, reduce excess moisture, store firewood away from the house.

5. Rodents

Rats & mice can come in many different shapes and sizes from large rats to small mice. These opportunistic creatures often enter buildings through cracks in the walls or floorboards, or holes made by plumbing/wiring companies. They love to eat food scraps left around the home, but they can also scavenge food from pet stores, pantries, bins or anyting they can get their hands (or teeth!) on.

They cause havoc with their incessant gnawing and germ-carrying abilities.

Common species: Black rats and house mice are the ones to watch out for.

Habitat: Scavenging any available food and nesting material near warmth or shelter.

Known for: Sneaking bites of your food (and unsanitary droppings) while damaging structures/pipes/wiring – costly nightmares!

What they eat: Just about everything; think cheese moments from “Tom & Jerry.”

Telltale signs: Scampering noises in walls/ceilings or evidence of chewed items/droppings mean rodents are afoot.

Recommendations: Secure entry-points such as holes/cracks with steel wool/putty; hire a professional exterminator if necessary.

6. Bedbugs

Bed bugs are small insects that feed on the blood of humans while they sleep. They like dark corners such as mattresses, bed frames, carpets, wallpaper and furniture. Basically anywhere they can hide during the day time and set out at night when the human sleeps soundly unaware of their presence!

These tiny blood-suckers can hide in bedding & clothing, so keep an eye out on trips away!

Common signs include blood-like stains on sheets that could be excreted form bedbugs after feeding

Common Species:
It’s those sneaky Cimex lectularius that want to share your bed at night– yuck!

Habitat: Furniture seams, mattresses, bed frames & clothing piles are their homes.

Known for: Relentless nighttime bites (think itch-central) leaving you sleepless!

What they eat: Be prepared to squirm – human blood is the answer!

Telltale signs: Itchy red bumps on skin or dark spots/smears on linens could signal a bedbug infestation.

Recommendations: Wash bedding/clothing at high temperatures; employ professional help for persistent populations.

7. Flies

Flies thrive in hot humid climates and are drawn to areas with food residuals, such as kitchen counters, trash cans, drains etc.

These pesky, germ-ridden pests can meet their maker with simple yet effective solutions like fly swats or sticky tape!

Common species in Australia: House flies and blowflies (Flamin Blowies!) are often uninvited guests.

Habitat: Buzzing around kitchens, bins and just about anywhere food waste can be found.

Known for: Carrying diseases and seemingly stalking you in your own home!

What they eat: Decaying materials and waste – ick!

Telltale Signs: If flies have infiltrated your house significantly, chances are something in your yard has attracted them – investigate the source!

Recommendations: Dispose garbage properly & practice immaculate hygiene to eliminate hotbeds of fly attraction.

8. Ticks

Ticks are common nuisance pests throughout Australian homes and gardens and are usually brought into homes by pets such as cats or dogs who go outdoors regularly. These arachnid parasites latch onto pets and outdoor lovers, seeking a blood meal.

Common species: The paralysis tick can cause severe skin irritation or even paralysis in severe cases.

Habitat: Hiding & waiting for a host within tall grasses or bushland areas frequented by pets/humans.

Known for: Being determined to latch on and stay put while engorging themselves (eww)!

What they eat: Hosts’ blood (double eww).

Telltale signs: Check yourself/your pet carefully after walks in tick-prone areas; watch out for an attached tick!

Recommendations: Employ tick prevention measures like collars or sprays, promptly remove any found ticks & consult a veterinarian if needed.

9. Wasps

Wasps often build nests around siding cracks or porch’s or roofing due convenient location and easy access to treats and food during summer time months.

They can give painful stings found at the rear of these airborne pests mean serious business!

Common species: European wasps pack an unpleasant punch!

Habitat: Paper-thin nests often found high up under eaves or inside hollows – watch with caution.

Known For: Aggressively protecting their nest with stings that double as defense mechanisms – ouch!

What they eat: Cannibalistic tendencies include feasting on insects; also keen on sweet human food/sources!

Telltale Signs: Spot a nest? If it’s active, prepare to deal with feisty wasps or call a professional.

Recommendations: Remove any potential food attractants, take caution in close proximity to nests. If discovered, seek help if you don’t feel confident removing a nest yourself.

10. Spiders

Spiders are arachnids and some species of spiders can be considered a nuisance in Australian households.  Although many spiders are harmless to humans, some highly venomous species have Australia on edge.

Common species: Sydney funnel-web and redback are two dangerous ones.

Habitat: Dark corners & hiding spots within your home/garden – beware!

Known for:
Packing painful bites and injecting venom on occasions – keep an eye out for the nastier crew members!

What they eat
Sharing our disdain for flies/cockroaches by making them the daily special; spiders have their benefits as pest control!

Telltale Signs
Cobwebs cropping up indoors? Time to investigate further!

Recommendations:
Keep your place clean & clutter-free; practice caution when moving objects that have remained undisturbed outdoors (especially woodpiles) – as these may be spider homes!

Conclusion

So there you have it! All the info you need about Australia’s Top 10 Household Pests right at your fingertips. Keep these facts handy and steer clear of unwanted hitchhikers keen on invading your precious living spaces!

Top 10 Australian Artists

Music is often described as the gateway to the soul. Because of its deep connections to the brain, we intrinsically thrive off it. Music influences the brain to create a unity only a few other art forms can provide. For some, it drives our actions and emotions.

Like the rest of the world, music has been an integral part of the Australian community for as long as anyone can remember. Many stars have come and gone, each leaving a footprint of their genius – their creativity evident in their millions of listens and record sales. Let us examine some of the all-time Australian Artists by record sales.

How we chose

One of the most fascinating things about music is that it cuts across cultures and borders. Evidently, the all-time best-selling album in Australia’s history is “Bat Out Of Hell” by Meat Loaf. The album recorded more than 1,750.000 sales and 25 Platinum awards. But Meat Loaf is an American Singer and not an Australian.

To decide the best all-time Australian Artists by record sales, we turn to the ARIA Music Awards. The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards celebrates the best of the Australian Music industry. We have compiled a list of the best-selling albums by Australians that have been certified by ARIA as the best-selling albums in Australia.

Qualifications

Since the 1970s, ARIA certified album platinum for a shipment of more than 50,000 copies across Australia. It raised the number of copies required for platinum to 70,000 in 1973. As a result, any album released after 1982 must have sold 700,000 copies to win 10 ARIA platinum awards. Conversely, any album released before 1983 with 700,000 copies must have won 14 awards.

With that out of the way, let us get straight to our list.

Overview

Rank	Artist	Album	Award	Total sales
1)	John Farnham	Whispering Jack	24p	1,680,000
2)	Delta Goodrem	Innocent Eyes	15p	1,050,000
3)	Crowded House	Recurring Dream – The Very Best	13p	910,000
4)	AC/DC	Back In Black	12p	840,000
5)	Savage Garden	Savage Garden	12p	840,000
6)	Bees Gees	Saturday Night Fever (Soundtrack)	11P	770,000
7)	Cold Chisel	Chisel	10P	700,000
8)	Tina Arena	Don’t ask	10P	700,000
9)	Jimmy Barnes	Soul Deeper… Songs from the Deep South	9p	630,000
10)	Missy Higgins	The Sound of White	9P	630,000

 

All-time top 10 Australian Artists by record sales

1. John Farnham

John Peter Farnham is a British-born Australian singer. Born in July 1949, the teen pop idol is a contemporary singer whose career has been mostly as a solo artist. His solo single “you’re the voice” peaked at No. 1 on the Australian singles chart in September 1986. The associated album, “Whispering Jack” remained at the No.1 position for 25 weeks, making it the second highest-selling album in the country’s history. The single and album were also successful internationally, including No.1 in Sweden. Farnham is Australia’s only artist to have the number one record in five consecutive decades. As expected, he has been recognized by many awards and honours, including 1996 Officer of the Order of Australia, 1987 Australian of the year, 19 ARIA awards, and 2003 induction into the hall of fame.

2. Delta Goodrem

Delta Goodrem is an Australian songwriter, singer, and actress. Born on 9 November 1984, Goodrem signed to Sony music at the age of 15. Her debut album “Innocent Eyes,” released in 2003, is the second-best-selling Australian album of all time. The album topped the ARIA albums chart for 29 consecutive weeks. Goodrem has 17 top-ten hits and nine number-one singles on the ARIA singles chart. She has also sold more than 9 million albums globally and has won three World Music Awards, including an MTV video music award and 9 ARIA music awards.

3. Crowded House

Crowded House was formed in Melbourne Australia in 1985. The rock band featured founding members from New Zealand, America, and Australia. It included Neil Finn, Paul Hester, Nick Seymour, Tim Finn, Mark Hart, and Matt Sherrod. Crowded House recorded consistent commercial and critical success in Australia and New Zealand. It also extended its success to international charts, beginning with its self-titled debut album. The compilation album, recurring dream, won 13 platinum awards in Australia, Gold in Canada, 2 Platinum in Spain, and 4 platinum awards in the United Kingdom.

4. AC/DC

AC/DC is another Australian rock band that has been active since 1973 till date. Formed in Sydney by Scottish-born brothers Angus and Malcolm Young, their music has been described as heavy metal, blues rock, and hard rock. However, the band called itself rock and roll. The band went through various line-up changes before releasing their first album, and membership stabilized with a few other additions like Bon Scott to the group. They released their album “Back in Black” later in 1980 and dedicated it to Scott’s memory, who died in February 1980 of alcohol poisoning. The album is an influential hard rock and heavy metal album that has been hailed by some as a high watermark for heavy metal music.

5. Savage Garden

“Savage Garden” ties with “Back In Black” with 12 platinum awards. The band, which bears the same name as the album formed in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1993. It consisted of Daniel Jones and Darren Hayes. Both singers achieved international success from the mid-1990s to early 2000 with the No.1 singles “To the Moon and Back,” “I Want You,” “Truly Madly Deeply,” “I Knew I Loved You,” and “The Animal Song.” However, it was Savage Garden that went on to top Australia charts and peaked in the top 10 in both the United States and the United Kingdom. The group also won 10 ARIA Music Awards in 1997 and disbanded at the end of 2001.

6. Bee Gees

Bee Gees is a music group that features brothers Robin, Maurice, and Barry Gibb. Formed in 1958, the trio were successful as a popular music act in the early 1970s and late 1960s. Their “Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack” marked the turning point in their career as the film and soundtrack gained cultural impact throughout the world. For that alone, the group won five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. The Bee Gees have sold more than 220 million records worldwide and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.

7. Cold Chisel

Cold Chisel was formed in Adelaide in 1973 and are an Australian pub rock band. Although the group disbanded in 1983, they reformed several times and went on to become one of the best live bands that could fuse a combination of hard rock and rough-house soul’n’blues. Eight of the band’s studio albums have reached the Australian top five. Chisel is a compilation album that was released in September 1991. It contained a selection of their best songs from previous albums and peaked at number 3 on the ARIA charts. The album was certified 9 Platinum in 2000 and 1 later.

8. Tina Arena

Filippina Lydia Arena was born on the first of November 1967. Also known as Tina, she is an Australian musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and musical theatre actress. With more than 10 million record sales worldwide, Tina is one of Australia’s highest-selling artists. She sings live and records in Italian, French, English, and Spanish, and has a vocal range of a soprano. Arena has earned numerous national and international awards, including two World Music Awards, seven ARIA Awards, and a BRIT Award. In 2011, she became the first Australian to be awarded a Knighthood of the French National Order of National Merit. She was also inducted into the ARIA hall of fame in 2015.

9. Jimmy Barnes

James Dixon Barnes is a Scottish-born Australian musician, songwriter, and singer who has excelled as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel. As a result, he is one of the best-selling and most popular music artists of all time. He recorded a combination of 14 Australian top 40 Albums for Cold Chisel and 13 charting solo albums to earn the highest number of hits albums of any international or Australian artist in the Australian market.

10. Missy Higgins

Melissa Morrison Higgins was born on the 19th of August 1983. Professionally referred to as Missy Higgins, the Australian singer is a songwriter, actress, musician, and activist. Higgins was a support act on a 2003 Australian tour by folk-rock band until she travelled to the US to produce her first EP, The Missy Higgins EP. She released her first album, “The Sound of White” in September 2004 and debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums charts. The album, which was released while she was still in high school, won 9 Platinum, selling more than 660,000 copies.

Conclusion

The Australian music industry is rich and diverse, and these artists prove the point. If they could sell this much even without streaming technologies, we can only imagine what they would have achieved if a technology came earlier than it did. To these ones, we tip our hats.

 

Australian Music History in Brief

The Australia Music Industry has a rich and extensive history that has existed for more than 60,000 years. It formed an integral part of the culture, and the art itself has been passed down from generations, changing form in the process. 

Indigenous music 

Indigenous music in Australia refers to the music of Torres Strait Islanders and Aborigines. For them, music was a ceremonial, social, and cultural observance best characterized by the digeridoo – the world’s oldest and best-known instrument. The songs represent the distinct and rich oral tradition of each community, and its uniqueness dates back more than 60,000 to prehistory Australia

Although indigenous music played a significant part in shaping Australia’s contemporary music identity, there was a shift from it nonetheless. Cultural integration and international travels between countries saw the introduction of all genres of songs including folk, classical, rock, and more. 

Folk music and Folk Rock 

Australian folk music is traditional music adapted from different immigrant cultures and original Australian inhabitants. The first wave of European immigrant music was dominated by German, English, Scandinavian, and Celtic folk traditions. However, the indigenous Australian tradition included a mix of novel elements like new instruments. 

European settlements of Australia started transporting convicts from Great Britain during the convict era. These convicts brought back songs with them that were quickly adapted to Australian traditions and conditions. Notable songwriters of the era include Frank Macnamara, Yothu Yindi, and Eric Bogle. 

There are more than 50 folk festivals in Australia, and rich migrant cultures have improved the themes and traditions. 

Bush music 

The century after the European settlement of Australia saw the development of Bush music, especially among itinerant workers like shearers. Like it happened in the convict era, most bush music was a result of popular traditions and songs. However, the arrival of radio and recorded music marked the end of traditional Australian bush music. 

Children music 

Children music developed towards the end of the 20th century and remained a relatively small segment of the Australian music industry. However, the emergence of The Wiggles – a children’s group, in the late 1990s gave children music the popularity it deserved. 

Soul music and R&B 

R&B and soul music did not receive a warm reception at the beginning as anecdotal evidence suggests that racism was a key factor. Most people deemed it too noisy and black, and as a result, songs were pulled from playlists. However, despite many radio’s reluctances to play American soul originals, local performers adopted the styles until it was eventually accepted. 

Rock and pop 

American Rock and Roll spread across the world in the mid-1950s. Lee Gordon played a significant role in establishing the popularity of music in Australia with famous shows. The music style had to go through three waves before it was permanently adapted all over Australia. 

Reggae 

The early 1980s saw the introduction of reggae to radio charts in Australia. Toots and the Maytals was the first artist to use the term “reggae” in a song. Early reggae groups from Australia included The Igniters, JJ Roberts, and Larry Maluma.