Insects are a huge part of our planet’s ecosystem. They are by far the most easily accessible animals in the natural world. For many children, common bugs like ladybugs, click bugs and roly poly bugs are fun to play with and a way to learn about nature. Adults don’t really worry about insects unless they find their way into our homes. Once inside, they become a constant focus of desire — the desire to expel them back to the outside world.
Prevention
If you haven’t experienced an insect infestation yourself, you probably have heard stories from friends and family about crawling critters invading their home and repeated attempts to remove them. These stories sound pretty unappetizing — and they are. If you don’t have any insect invaders in your home yet, here are some tips to make sure they don’t get in in the first place.
Seal It Up
In addition to doors and windows, houses have many cracks and crevices that insects can use to get inside. Seal up as many of these openings as possible to deter common bugs from getting in. Use caulk to seal cracks and gaps both inside on walls and around doors, and outside on cracks in the foundation of the house. Use screens or caps to close larger openings like windows, pipe entrances, or chimneys.
Keep It Clean
Insects need food and water sources to survive, and they thrive on clutter. Keep your yard and house inhospitable to critters by clearing debris and keeping food sealed and out of reach. Remove items such as leaves, standing water and downed branches from your yard. Keep any wood piles at least 30 feet away from the foundation of your house. Keep trash cans covered and empty them regularly, and make sure any food not stored in the refrigerator is in an airtight container. Clean up any spills or water leaks immediately.
Recruit Natural Predators
Even with all your efforts to keep out those common bugs, you might still see them in your yard. If you want extra help to reduce the insect count, bring in the professionals – natural predators. Both birds and bats tend to eat many types of insects, and can help to reduce the insect population in your yard and around your home. Encourage birds and bats to visit your yard with bat houses, bird baths and feeders, and established trees where they can build nests.
Common Bugs and Proper Removal
All of these tactics will help discourage insects from making their way into your home. If these pests get into your house anyway, here’s a list of common bugs and insects and how to remove them.
1. Ants
Ants are usually black, dark brown or red in color. Their bodies are segmented into 3 main parts, and they have 6 legs. They live in large colonies made up of a queen, female ants and male ants, and they can carry up to 20 times their body weight.
Ants thrive in warm and moist areas. Natural ant repellents are cinnamon, white vinegar, peppermint, lemon and borax. The smell of all of these repellents is the deterrent itself, except for borax, which is toxic to ants. Synthetic repellents are ant sprays, ant bait, and ant gels. Sprays are generally effective for short-term control, in terms of eradicating ants outside the nest. Ant baits and gels are more effective at killing more ants, as the ants take the baits or gels back to the nest. The most effective way to remove ants is to find the nest and destroy it, but this can be difficult depending on where the nest is in your home (inside walls, etc.).
2. Bees and Wasps
Bees and wasps have a lot of common characteristics. They have similar colors and markings, they all fly and make a buzzing noise, and they all live in hives or comb-like structures. Unfortunately they also sting people and animals, though wasps are more aggressive towards people than bees. The yellow and black markings on their bodies are similar, but bees differ in that they have fur to collect pollen and wasps have no hair on their bodies. They make their homes either underground or hanging in trees or empty structures, and they love sweets.
Unless the bees’ or wasps’ nest is actually inside your home, it is best to leave it as-is to reduce the environmental impact. If removal is necessary, contacting a beekeeper to relocate the hive or waiting until the queen leaves and filling the hive with dirt are both options. Wasp nests can be removed while the wasps aren’t present and doused with soapy water. Store-bought wasp sprays are also effective in killing individual wasps.
3. Crickets
Crickets are distinctive insects both for their appearance and the sound their wings make. They are normally black or dark brown, and look similar to grasshoppers. When they rub their wings together, it makes a chirping sound called stridulating. Crickets may look harmless but they are very destructive. They ingest fabric, paper, drywall, and even other crickets.
One of the most efficient cricket repellents is a cat or a dog. Pets go after crickets and other insects as part of their natural instincts. Other ways to remove crickets are glue boards with bait, water with sugar or molasses, sprays containing soap or pepper, removing the cricket eggs (if you can find them), and planting species that repel crickets (garlic, cilantro, cloves, or sweet peas).
4. Fruit Flies, House Flies and Gnats
Fruit flies, house flies and gnats can be annoying to have in your home, both because of the buzzing noise they make and their incessant hovering. Not only are they a nuisance, but many species of house flies carry deadly diseases such as typhoid, tuberculosis and cholera, which gather on their legs as they feed on decaying material.
The most effective way to remove house flies from your home is to determine where the flies are leaving their eggs and clean up the area (probably somewhere near an open food source). After removing the eggs, there are a number of ways to remove the adult house flies. Add some syrup or other sweet substance to a water source to attract the flies, and make it nearly impossible for them to get back out. Use a paper cone or a narrow-necked bottle to capture flies. Fruit flies and gnats respond to similar traps – think rotten fruit in a bowl, apple cider vinegar, or a little bit of wine or juice left in a wine bottle. FlyPunch is a commercial, non-toxic alternative.
5. Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes are a bigger problem than many of the insects on the list because they carry deadly diseases and they regularly bite people and animals. Mosquitoes are visibly distinguished by their long, thin appendages – both their wings and legs are long and slender. They breed in standing or still water, and they feed on blood.
The best way to get rid of mosquitoes is to make your home and your yard as inhospitable to them as possible. Remove all standing water in your home and yard, keep doors closed, cracks filled and screens on, and use sodium lights to keep mosquitoes at bay. To kill existing mosquitoes, use beer in a beer bottle, dish soap and warm water, an electronic bug zapper, or an insect fogger. Coffee grounds can also be used to keep eggs from developing — just sprinkle them on any standing water and they’ll deprive the eggs and developing larvae of oxygen.
6. Cockroaches
Cockroaches are distinguished by their reddish brown color and their constantly moving antennae. Like mosquitoes, they carry deadly diseases. They also transmit bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella, and are the frequent cause of allergies. Roaches are nocturnal insects, so you may not see them unless you’re up late at night.
The most recommended natural way to remove them is with boric acid. Boric acid is a naturally occurring chemical compound that is toxic to cockroaches. Applying a thin layer of boric acid in areas cockroaches frequent will help to eradicate them. The cockroaches walk through the boric acid, which sticks to their legs. Cockroaches clean their bodies like cats – by licking themselves. They ingest the boric acid on their legs and die afterwards. Because cockroaches ingest dead cockroaches, it is pretty likely that other cockroaches will die as well.
7. Spiders
Spiders differ from other common bugs on this list in that they have eight legs, they come in various colors, and they produce silk to capture their prey. They are also beneficial for the ecosystem because they eat other insects and spiders. Spiders generally stay out of the way in areas of low traffic – corners, under furniture, and in or near cabinets. There are only a handful of known poisonous spiders in the U.S., including the brown recluse and black widow spiders.
To get rid of spiders in your home, make sure to vacuum regularly and clear away clutter, place sticky traps where spiders are most likely to be, and use peppermint, rosemary, lavender or citrus oils as a repellent. If you have difficulty eradicating the spiders or are just concerned about whether or not they are poisonous, a call to your local pest control company may be warranted.
Insects serve an important function in the natural world. Don’t let them become the rulers of your home’s ecosystem. The tips above will help prevent common bugs from entering your home. And if you do become the victim of an infestation, remember these different strategies for getting rid of those little critters.
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