Few things spoil the joys of home faster than a pest problem; rats, roaches, ants and mice can take over faster than you can call an exterminator. Read over the following tips and tricks that can nip the pest problem in the bud quickly. The sooner you take action, the sooner you get rid of the pests.
If you are concerned that you have bed bugs, do not try to remove your mattress from your home. Dragging it through the house is likely to spread the infestation. Instead, keep everything stored in that one location. You can add a "bed bug cover" to the mattress to try and contain the problem, although you will need to be seen by a pest control specialist.
Know what pest you are dealing with. You can't combat what you don't understand. Not every pest control method works for every type of bug. You need to choose the right weapon to face your foe. So do your research. Search the internet for bugs that look like your pest, and see what types of methods work best.
You should always fix any leaks in the plumbing of your house. You will also want to look for any other sources of water lying around. A place people often look is under their houseplants. Bugs tend to go places in which they can find water so they can drink and breed.
Mice enjoy eating grains and cereal. This is something you have to make sure you don't leave lying around in your kitchen. Mice will sink their teeth into almost anything! If having mice in the home is common for you, remove the food supply and place them in high cabinets and use sealed containers. They have a fantastic sense of smell, so don't underestimate these little critters.
Did you know that bugs and pests can get into your home through cracks or holes in your walls? Inspect the outside of your home for any cracks or holes. Depending on the type of material your home is made of, fill them with caulk to keep out the bugs and pests.
You should under no circumstances tolerate pest into your home. If you do not take action right away, the situation will get worse. An pest-infested home will lose its value, the pest will damage the home and some pest can actually transmit diseases to pets and in some cases to humans.
Seal any leaks. Whether you're dealing with ants or other pests, one way to stop them is by sealing off an entry point. For smaller pests, a tiny amount of silicone caulk can accomplish this. If you're dealing with rats or mice, you need to stuff some steel wool into that hole, then cover it up using wire mesh.
One effective pest control method is the use of electronic pest repellents. They can be plugged in each room and let off a noise that repels rodents. Even though humans can hear it, it does not cause any harm. Rodents hate the noise, keeping them away.
If you have many mosquitoes in your yard, and possibly even infiltrating your home, try to eliminate any standing water. If there is a high population of mosquitoes on your property, they are breeding somewhere, and they can only breed in standing water. Dump anything that collects rainwater, dump kid pools and do whatever you can to eliminate breeding grounds.
Regardless of what your home looks like, it should never have unwanted pests. Take what you have learned from this article, and use it to rid your home of pesky pests. No one should have to live with pests in their home. You should be able to get rid of this issue in no time.
Further Perusing - Find Report Down The Page
In a Cannibalistic Society, It’s Not About Survival—It’s All About Recycling
In this spooky time of year, there are many examples we could draw from insects to give the heebie-jeebies to non-entomophiles. We could talk about mosquitoes, the most dangerous animals on the planet, or ticks, which vector a variety of diseases, but these are not so much spooky as they are dangerous, seeing their dramatic impact on human health worldwide. Let’s keep this post on the light-hearted side, please.
Zombie Insects
So, spooky bugs. Let’s start with zombie ants. It’s a classic dive into zombie culture while exploring the amazing biology of a host-manipulating fungal parasite. Next in line would be parasitoid wasps, as their gruesome life cycle rips through the host’s organs from the inside while keeping it alive the entire time. Another favorite: the Nicrophorus burying beetles lay their eggs on a decomposing carcass and display extensive parental behavior to their growing larvae as they chew through the putrid flesh of the roadkill. Gruesome, yet full of love. It’s the pinnacle of cute. Halloween could definitely use insects as core material for “horrific†displays in our front yards (with all the classic anatomic fails of course, but this is another horror story). By the way, I was very disappointed when nothing came up from a “parasitoid wasp Halloween display†Google search (someone should do something about this, please).
Termite Cannibals
Another spooky example, often forgotten, is cannibalistic insect societies. I bring your attention to termites. Termites have evolved away from their Cryptocercus-like wood roach ancestor and reached the highest level of social organization while exploiting woody material. The evolution of their biology was therefore constrained by a significant dietary restriction: wood is carbon-rich but notably nitrogen-poor. Termites have therefore perfected a recycling strategy toward nitrogen conservation over evolutionary time: cannibalism.
It also has been suggested that cannibalism could have an essential role in helping a group of termites survive a period of starvation. Workers would cannibalize their nutritionally-dependent nestmates to alleviate their trophic burden. This strategy would therefore reduce the metabolic footprint of a starving group of termites to increase their chance of survival, Ã la Soylent Green.
However, all previous studies on this topic subjected small groups of termites to starvation. In a recent study, I revisited this concept, but instead subjected full termite colonies to starvation. To make a long story short: termites are terrible in their survival strategy during starvation events because, in fact, they don’t really have a strategy.
Unlike honeybees that store months-worth of honey, termites have a carpe-diem approach to food safety, as they have no internal reserves. Instead, subterranean termites such as Coptotermes gestroi will relentlessly forage for new food sites to prevent food shortage in the first place. But if starvation of the termite colony actually occurs, give it about 30 days.
As the metabolism of the colony progressively ran out of fuel, nutritionally-stressed individuals started accumulating in the colony. Unfortunately for termite larvae and workers, who are hemimetabolous insects stuck in a permanent juvenile molting cycle, the time to molt eventually comes, and the younger the instar, the faster the molting cycle. Have you ever tried molting while completely starving? I would not advise it. These termites failed in their attempt to molt, leading to their death and subsequent cannibalism from nestmates.
We are very focused on Termite Inspection and I'm hoping you appreciated the entire entry. Sharing is good. You never know, you might be helping someone out. We thank you for your readership.