Humans are a species that like to be indoors. Despite spending approximately 90% of our lives indoors, we know very little about the life that surrounds us – bugs, the most successful organisms on the planet. And they’re everywhere, so you’ll almost certainly have a couple in your house.
You can keep unwelcome visitors at bay if you know how to spot and avoid an infestation. The first step is to figure out which bugs could be a problem for you. Here are a few bugs to keep an eye on in your home.
The Pillbug
This roly-poly creature is a crustacean, not an insect.
Pillbugs have gills, similar to crabs, and breathe through them. When they’re threatened, they’re notorious for curling into tight balls. Their blood appears blue due to the presence of the chemical hemocyanin, which is a lesser-known characteristic of them.
Pillbugs require wetness to exist, therefore they’ll most likely be located in your basement, where they can escape being eaten by spiders. They’re also found in organic waste, where they eat rotting vegetables and aid in the composting process. They don’t spread infections or taint food, and they’re completely safe.
The general appearance of all types of roaches
To begin, be sure you’re dealing with cockroaches. Grasshoppers, beetles, and crickets are all insects that might be mistaken for roaches. Cockroaches have lengthy antennae and long hind legs, and their bodies are flattened and wide. Sensory hairs cover each of their six legs. Cockroaches have wings that fold flat on their backs as adults, but not all of them can fly. The majority of roaches are brown or black in color and range in length from 0.07 to 3 inches, depending on the species.
The shield-shaped pronotum, which is placed just behind the head, is one of the most distinguishing characteristics of a cockroach. If you see a roach in your house, it’s most likely a German cockroach or a brown-banded cockroach. These are the two most prevalent uninvited intruders in houses, structures, and buildings.
German cockroaches
In Australia, the German cockroach is the most common cockroach species. Because of their enormous reproduction capacity, they pose a direct threat to your family and home. To get entrance to your home, all it takes is one single girl. Mom and her offspring can produce over 30,000 cockroaches in a year, albeit many of them will not live very long.
Those that do make it are more than capable of causing sickness and revulsion. Each egg case (ootheca) may produce between 20 and 40 baby roaches, and unlike other cockroach species, the adult female carries the eggs until they are ready to hatch. This makes them exceedingly persistent and difficult to eradicate, necessitating casual German cockroach pest control.
The Silverfish
Since the Paleozoic period, this bug has been around. In truth, silverfish haven’t changed much in 400 million years and maybe found all across the world. They’ve been around us since the Stone Age, when we first started living indoors, according to research.
They are usually found in our bathrooms and can devour almost anything, even our dead skin. If there is adequate water, silverfish may go for up to a year without eating. They can run at high speeds, leap up to half a meter, and squeeze into small holes in walls.
All of this makes them extremely difficult to eliminate. They live for three to six years, which is quite lengthy for such a little creature.
They don’t carry diseases and are completely harmless, although they can damage clothing, books, food, and wallpaper.
The Cellar Spider
To catch their prey, cellar spiders prefer to create tripwires all throughout your basement. They flex and stretch their eight-long legs so quickly after catching prey that they become a blur.
We don’t have to be afraid of these spiny critters since their jaws are too little to bite humans.
They’re superb trappers, and, like centipedes, they get rid of a lot of household insects we don’t even notice.
Bugs that devour wood
Termites and carpenter ants eat away at the foundation and can only be removed by an expert. Although proof of their presence can be found, they are generally difficult to observe.
Subterranean termites build mud tubes, which are abundant in the Northeast. Look for black stains both inside and outside the house, paying special attention to the baseboards in the basement. Blistering paint, loose siding, heaps of droppings, or a material that looks like sawdust are all red signals.
You don’t want bugs in your house or around your family, no matter what kind they are. Insects can spread disease when they come into contact with filth crawling on floors, along drain pipes, or in other low locations. The same insects may be spotted roaming around on your clean dishes or on the meal you’ve been cooking only a few minutes later.
