The numbat is unique among marsupials as its diet consists almost entirely of white ants: it is therefore almost a form of natural white ants control. Perhaps due to this unique diet, the numbat is, uncommonly among marsupials, a diurnal or day active creature. White ants are a very soft and easy food to consume, and for this reason, while the numbat does have as many as fifty teeth, it does not generally need to use them for any purpose. It also has an extremely long and flexible tongue, and produces an adhesive spit which it can use to capture white ants from their nests in their wild. An adult numbat must consume a considerable number of white ants in order to meet its daily energy requirements: as many as twenty thousand white ants, on average. At night, a numbat will return to its nest, usually built in a hollow log, and which it will line with soft plant materials such as grass and bark.
Unfortunately, even if numbats were not now limited to only a couple of sites in Western Australia, they probably would not make a particularly effective means of white ant extermination for white ant infestations that exist in buildings. However, luckily, there are arange of other forms of building and termite inspections in Perth available on the market, including many that were actually developed in Australia. The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, or APVMA, strictly regulates the types of chemicals that can be used in the extermination of white ants because of the potential for harm arising from their misuse. For this reason, in order to conduct a white ant extermination, it will be necessary to call a reliable and experienced pest control services firm. Australian and New Zealand Standard AS NZS 4349.3 (2010) suggests that property owners have a competent inspection for white ants
carried out annually as a minimum, and depending on the nature of the property and the conditions of the surrounding region, perhaps more frequently than that. This inspection should in turn be carried in accordance with the provisions of Australian and New Zealand Standard AS NZS 3660.1 (2000) for preventative white ant treatment, and Australian and New Zealand Standard AS NZS 3660.2 (2000) for remedial white ant extermination.
A termite bait system is today the preferred method for white ant extermination in many situations, because of its effectiveness and efficiency of use. It is worth bearing in mind that even a building that has had preventative measures taken against white ant infestation is not guaranteed to necessarily remain free of a white ant infestation, and for this reason it is recommended that a white ant inspection be carried out on all buildings on a regular basis, even if a chemical or physical white ant barrier has been installed on the property previously.
