Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from March, 2009

Bug control tips in houses and apartments

Which bugs invade homes/apartments and which need control? Most people believe there is a long list of insects that invade homes and can potentially damage our valuables or even hurt us. The truth is the list is very short and in modern society these species pose little real threat to us or our homes. Oftentimes the drastic steps we take to avoid these species are potentially more damaging than the insects themselves. In other words " the cure is worse than the disease ". I've been answering questions about insects from the general public for over 20 years (see my bio here ) and the following eight are the ones most often found in homes. These eight represent the vast majority of insects that ever enter homes and none pose a significant threat if reasonable levels of sanitation are maintained. The Big Eight Household Bugs ants carpet beetles cockroaches fleas (only if pet dogs or cats are housed indoors) house centipedes meal moths silverfish spiders

Small, tiny, little black bugs in homes

varied carpet beetle I am a volunteer in the "Entomology (Study of Bugs)" section at a site called AllExperts**. The site allows users to ask questions of volunteer "experts" in a variety of categories. As a volunteer I get a variety of interesting and sometimes funny questions but one category stands out because of how often it is asked, often using very similar words. The question starts out something like "I have [ small or tiny or little ] black bugs on the walls in my ____________. They crunch when I squish them. What are they?" Sometimes the question includes a picture but often it does not. While there are many insects that fit this general description the one that you are most likely to find in the typical home are dermestid beetles , commonly called carpet beetles (see photo above). Carpet beetle adults can be all black to mottled grey, white, and brown, and round to oval in shape. They are all fairly small. carpet beetle larva        

Regional pest information

We have launched a new series of articles at our 'Bugs site to encourage homeowners to do their own pest control rather than relying on professional exterminator services. We believe that in many, perhaps most, situations homeowners can manage pests more economically and with less environmental impact. New articles will be arranged geographically so that we can focus on just the most important pests in a particular region. Take a look a our first article that covers the most important pests in western Oregon (our first regional article).

Flea sprays for carpets and pet bedding

Fleas can be extremely annoying and even dangerous for you and your pet. Fleas are ecotoparasites that feed on blood and can transmit diseases and some internal parasites like worms when they bite. In fact, did you know that one of the deadliest human pandemic plagues in all history was spread by flea bites? This was the Black Death plague of the middle ages (1349-1352; click the link if you are curious). In modern times, however, fleas are more of a nuisance than a real health threat although flea bites can be so stressful and prone to infection from scratching for some animals that death has occurred. Fortunately, pet owners today have a wide variety of ways to combat an existing flea infestation and to pro-actively prevent fleas from gaining a foothold in the first place. Fleas can be controlled by treating pets directly with a variety of flea medications and carpets, furniture and pet bedding can be treated with very low toxicity chemicals that stop flea development. Twenty ye