First, some apologies. Most human domestic pests have become cosmopolitan, spread throughout the world by trade and exploration, but each region also has its own peculiar specialities. I’ve tried to include examples of all typical household visitors here, but I realize that this offering is decidedly skewed towards insects. As an entomologist, I’m biased, obviously, but also insects are the dominant creatures when it comes to invading our houses. Actually, they’re the dominant creatures all over the Earth, but that’s another discussion, in another book. Insects are, however, very important because there are so many of them, and they are so diverse. And by virtue of their unfamiliarity to most people, insects offer some of the most unusual and interesting associations with humans down the years that we’ve been building shelters to keep them out.
I live in England, and this book is also decidedly Anglocentric. This is mainly because I’ve tried to lace the text with some of my own personal experiences of the household pests and guests that have come my way. I hope, though, that the biological lessons are international, and that householders all over the world will be able to put aside some of the revulsion they feel at the unwarranted intrusions they suffer, so that they, too, can marvel at the wondrous adaptations of their myriad trespassers.
I’ve been helped on my way through this book by many hands. As ever, my late father, Alfred Jones, was always happy to lend me many of his old books and came up with anecdotes from his own domestic pest-ridden past. I’ve also roped in my daughters: Lillian Ure-Jones, who proof-read the text, and Verity Ure-Jones who took time out from GCSE studies to paint some pen-and-ink portraits of several of the animals mentioned in the book. Many helpful correspondents have answered obscure questions and contributed their own ideas, facts and figures, including: Christie Bahlai, Viktor Baranov, Max Barclay, Roger Booth, David Clements, John Dittes, Scotty Dodd, Michael Geiser, Stefan Harrison, Tony Irwin, Dafydd Lewis, Keith Lugg, Crystal Maier, Joseph Parker, Matt Smith and Claudia Watts. My grateful thanks go to all of them.