About domestic bugs, cockroaches and even ants have heard many. But if silverfish begin to run up from under the feet, most ordinary people fall into a stupor. What is this creature and how to deal with it? Scientifically, it is called home thermobia. The appearance of an insect is, to put it mildly, repulsive. But despite this, you need to learn the methods of struggle and get rid of the intruder.
general description
This wingless insect is about 2 cm long. It has an oblong body and a small head with antennae located on it. The body ends with three processes in the form of tails. In total, there are about 600 species of these insects in the world. About 10 species live in Russia. But in apartments, home thermobia is most often found. Today we will talk about it.
It is characterized by a characteristic gray-brown body color. Unlike their relatives, who are very fond of wet places, these creatures are more thermophilic. Therefore, they will take up space in the kitchen, behind the stove. Therefore, they eat flour and other leftovers that wake up in the cracks.
It is amazing how long these insects can live. Thermobia home, if not involved in its breeding, will soon flood the entire apartment. The fact is that their life expectancy is at least 5 years. This greatly complicates the fight against them.
Ways to get into the house
Why should they seek closeness to man? Everything is simple, all conditions are created here. It is warm, safe and does not need to worry about food. That is why home thermobia will occupy hidden corners in which it cannot be detected. So she provides herself with the possibility of survival.
These creatures are looking for the most hidden corners and tiny cracks. Small size allows you to use them to breed offspring. Therefore, finding their villages will be very difficult. An insect can get into a living room through ventilation pipes, cracks in the walls. But tiny creatures will easily move around with old books, boxes, and other things. Noticing their presence is quite difficult. They become noticeable only when they breed. One laying of a female is about 40 future insects.
The main difficulties
Despite the fact that this is a fairly harmless insect, not everyone likes home thermobia. How to get rid of this insect, we will consider with you today. This is a very hardy creature. Even a cockroach does not survive in such extreme conditions as silverfish. She is able to live without food for 10 months. The insect breeds very quickly, so if you do not take measures, then the neighbors will soon face the same problem. That is why getting rid of them takes place in several stages.
What is dangerous insect
This is the first question that arises while a person is looking for ways to get rid of home thermobia. By and large, there is no harm from her. It is harmless to humans and pets, is not a carrier of diseases and, by and large, in every way avoids contact with humans. Only by accident, when you enter the bathroom at night, you can notice the creatures scattering.
But this does not mean that the insect is harmless. Since they quickly breed, it means they will eat very intensely. What is the danger of home thermobia? If a silverfish is wound up in the house, then you are guaranteed to get a lot of spoiled things, books and clothes. Yes, and being in the bathroom with them will be at least unpleasant.
There is another important point. If there are silverfish in the house, then there is some kind of problem. There is no guarantee that more serious pests will not come after them. Therefore, you need to carefully inspect the bathroom. It is best to call plumbing, which can detect water leakage and moisture accumulation.
Insect traces
Home thermobia, the photo of which you see today in the article, is the real enemy of all book publications that are on the shelves, be it books or archival documents. These insects have special digestive enzymes that allow them to process the eaten paper into nutrients. If silverfish gnawed books, then these places will be disfigured by a fungus, turn yellow or blacken.
These insects, like everyone else, leave their bowel movements. If there are a lot of them in the apartment, then you can see a real train of black grains. They can leave their bowel movements or eggs in flour, sugar, and bread. Agree, the prospect is not too bright.
Reasons for the appearance
If home thermobia has settled in the apartment, it means that she likes the conditions. And most often this indicates a disturbed microclimate, that is, increased humidity. And there may be several options. Either the apartment has poor ventilation, or there are places where water gets on the floor. In this case, you must definitely invite the plumbing. He will carefully inspect all the pipes and eliminate the leaks in the house.
Due to its small size, silverfish can go unnoticed in warehouses. At the same time, she easily climbs into bags and boxes and leaves for new places. Of course, if the environment does not suit her, then she will try to find herself a new home.
Prevention
Thermobia home, the genus Thermobia is not the most common insect. Even after seeing him at home, many will decide that this is a wood louse. But this insect is a completely different kind. In order to avoid an unpleasant neighborhood, it is enough to observe a number of simple rules:
- The house should be perfect cleanliness always. Regularly performed wet cleaning is not only a guaranteed disposal of insects, but also the creation of a favorable climate at home.
- Do not keep the bathroom door permanently closed. It must be ventilated regularly to maintain optimal humidity .
- These creatures do not tolerate very low temperatures. Of course, it is almost impossible to freeze an apartment. But, having gone to work, you can open all the windows. In severe frost, the decrease in temperature in the room will be very significant. Of course, returning to a frozen apartment is not very pleasant, but you should take this as a preventive measure.
We turn to a special company
This can be a good way out. Experts know how to bring home thermobia. Today, there are many companies in the services market that specialize in removing parasites, including insects. In large cities, finding them is not difficult. But you need to be aware that this is not the cheapest pleasure. Not everyone can afford to invite a team of professionals home who will easily clean your premises of any insects.
Do-it-yourself disinfection
Domestic thermobia (family of silverfish) should not live in your home. Therefore, if an unknown insect is noticed in the bathroom and it resembles this creature in the description, then you need to act immediately. We start with the bathroom, because this is where they usually live.
- The first thing we take out is everything that can be transported. This is an important point to provide access to all corners of the room.
- Clean all surfaces with a chlorine-based detergent.
- After that, the room is treated with a solution of copper sulfate and must be dried. Special attention to places under the toilet and behind the bathroom.
- To increase reliability, use multifunctional insect sprays (usually they are marked “against any crawling or flying insects”). Remember to ventilate the room after the expected waiting period has passed.
- Now the finishing touch. It is necessary to prepare a mixture of boric acid and chalk in a ratio of 1: 4. The mixture needs to be poured into the places of the most likely habitat of silverfish. In about a week, it will be possible to thoroughly sweep it together with dead insects.
Killing insects in the kitchen
Food is stored here, so the use of chemicals is highly undesirable. A description of domestic thermobia would be incomplete, if not to say that insects go out to feed at night. It is this time that we will use in order to catch adult insects.
Setting traps is an effective and safe way to deal with them. Moreover, they can be made from improvised materials without spending money on the purchase of similar materials in the store. They will not spoil the interior of your apartment, since they can only be displayed at night, and in the morning they can be checked. To do this, choose the darkest and wettest corners, where the likelihood of insects is highest. We must not forget that somewhere there may already be masonry with eggs. Therefore, traps alone may not be enough, disinfection of the room remains a prerequisite.
Varieties of traps
If you have experience in catching cockroaches or other insects, then we can say that the specifics practically do not change.
- Trap from the can. It is not necessary to take glass, metal or plastic will serve well. The point is very simple. Outside, the walls are wrapped with masking tape so that insects easily climb up. From the inside, the walls are slightly greased with sunflower oil, and bread or sugar is put on the bottom. They won't get out back along smooth walls. You can add a little water to the bottom, and lay the bait on a raised platform.
- Trap from the newspaper. A proven method that has been tested by thousands of people. The newspaper needs to be rolled up and pulled together with rubber bands so that it does not unwind. After that, it is moistened with water in which sugar is dissolved. Insects will gnaw at the layers and go for a walk through the mazes, in search of food. In the morning, the newspaper will need to be thrown out or burned.
- There are inexpensive Velcro-based traps on sale. They are universal and work against any insects.
Scare scents
Fighting insects should be conducted on two fronts. It’s one thing to deal with those individuals who have already come and settled in your home. And another thing is to prevent their entry into housing. To do this, you need to make repairs on time, regularly conduct general cleaning, but it also does not interfere with aromatherapy. Your task is to make the insects stay in your house unacceptable. Judging by numerous reviews, the regular use of oils can completely eliminate the need to buy poisonous sprays against insects. They will simply ignore your home.
You can use natural lemon or lavender oils. They are harmless, have a pleasant smell, but they repel insects very well. But you need to consider that the aroma should be quite strong. It is necessary to process typical habitats of silverfish. That is, the darkest and hidden corners. Kitchen and bookcases, too, should not be ignored. Here you can use clove and cinnamon oil, which are also completely harmless to humans.
Instead of a conclusion
Protecting your home from insect pests is the task of every owner. Therefore, consider all preventive measures. But if the silverfish nevertheless entered the room and bred in it, then more radical measures should be taken. Today we examined the most popular methods that will keep the house clean.