Kikimora
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Kikimora September 16, 2016Speciality: I love my home, I like to equip it, periodically change something, do it with my own hands. There are no special hobbies. I am the administrator of a small women's forum.
Invasion
For the second time this year, my mother-in-law called from Altai and complained about an invasion of forest bugs. Their first unexpected visit happened at the end of April, and now they came again, both times not one by one, but in a crowd. The first time she complained about the sanitary services, since people could not get rid of bedbugs on the balcony on their own, and they were not in a hurry to help.
Now the people have learned to deal with uninvited guests, and have realized that this phenomenon is temporary and does not pose a threat to health. And I began to wonder - why did they rush into the city? Here they live quietly in the raspberries, they don’t encroach on our territory. Here's what we found out.
Residents of Samara: “They smell like bedbugs, but they also fly”
Residents of apartment buildings fight swarms of insects unknown to them
..And in a cheerful crowd the animals rushed into battle,
but when they saw the barbel, the animals gave chase.”
With the onset of summer, all known and unknown representatives of the fauna crawl out into the light of day. Many of them are quite cute and are more likely to attract rather than repel. Others, on the contrary, seem disgusting to us. The creatures that we encounter for the first time bring the most problems. Especially if they allow themselves too much: they get into our homes, into our things and products. But who they are and whether they can cause harm remains to be found out. Not everyone has ethnology textbooks. And what kind of textbooks can there be when an unknown enemy is operating on your territory, under your nose?! “No time to argue, just strike”! As it turned out, many readers of Samara News are guided by this principle.
One of them is Samara resident Yuri Styagin. This week he called our editorial office and reported strange insects that had recently appeared in his apartment:
- This is a real invasion! – Yuri Vladimirovich shouted into the phone. “I lived in this world for sixty-three years, but I never saw anything like this before I retired.” They are similar to household bugs, only they are oblong and tough - you can’t just crush them. When you pick them up, they immediately release a protective smell - a stench like bedbugs. Only unlike those, they also fly.
At first, the story of the excited pensioner seemed incredible to us. But as soon as our correspondents arrived at the scene, it became clear that the reader was not deceived.
Face to face
Yuri Vasilyevich met us at his house No. 41 on the street. Maurice Thorez. Together we walked a few meters and stopped near the nearest entrance.
“Here they are,” the man pointed to the stone surface of the house. Small black dots ran across it. We took a closer look at them: dark brown insects with wings, not very pleasant to look at.
“I first noticed them three years ago,” said the pensioner, rising with us to his floor. – As soon as the heat starts, there’s no way to save me from them! They climb into closets, into linens, into beds, and most often into cracks between window frames, where they nest. The worst thing is that no one can explain to me what they are called and what to expect from them. I tried calling management companies, but they just laughed at me. All hope is now on you.
In the apartment, Yuri Vasilyevich clearly showed us his little “neighbors”. Flocks of winged insects lay dead asleep between the window frames. Styagin caught another part of their brethren before our arrival and gave it to us for identification in a glass jar.
Before leaving, we talked with other residents of the house on Maurice Thorez. The neighbor of our new acquaintance, Galina Eskova, on whose balcony we found a lot of these insects, and Oksana Borisova, who lives in the next entrance, complained about the brown “reptiles.” Two random apartments - two complaints. This meant that the problem was not local, and it was time to seek advice from entomologists.
Client identified
So, what are these vile creatures that breed in countless numbers and poison the lives of our readers? We hasten to reassure you - this is someone Arakatus elm (aka elm bug) from the family of earth bugs or ground bugs. Refers to pests of elm seeds.
— Distributed in Southern and Central Europe, optimal conditions for its development are in the forest-steppe and steppe zones of the Samara, Saratov, Volgograd, and Astrakhan regions. One generation develops per year. It feeds mainly on developing and ripened elm seeds on trees and fallen seeds. It reaches high numbers in urban areas and forest belts where there are elm plantations. In the Samara region, after wintering, adult bedbugs appear in the first half of May and lay larvae. Therefore, their mass migration occurs in July. This year they are experiencing high growth. They fly into houses and living quarters in search of a favorable microclimate, places for wintering, and light through open windows, vents, and balconies. Mainly in the evening and at night. They do not pose any danger to humans, they do not tolerate diseases,” concludes the entomologist, head. Department of Chemistry and Plant Protection of the Samara State Agricultural Academy, Professor, Doctor of Biological Sciences Vladimir Kaplin.
Where do the fears come from?
There is no danger, but there is hysteria due to the massive appearance of elm bugs. As soon as we raised this issue on our website, numerous reviews from desperate subscribers poured in in response. All of them have already encountered these insects and now they don’t know what to do next - they say, if you drive this bastard out the window, it climbs into the door. And dichlorvos does not take it, and other aerosols. But in general, there is no reason to poison the space around you.
“Most people have a disgusted attitude towards insects,” says psychologist Olga Derenko. – This is not a phobia, but a kind of borderline state between normality and pathology. Since childhood, we have been told that mosquitoes, bedbugs, cockroaches, etc. are bad. Over time, we get the impression that most insects are pests. And take the Buddhists: their culture has a caring attitude towards all living beings, so they are not afraid of any insects, even unknown ones. In many ways, we are driven by the fear of the unknown, when we don’t know how this creature will behave. And yet, when you see an unfamiliar insect, it is better not to panic, but to obtain information about this creature.
Comments
Irina Dyuzhaeva, zoologist-entomologist, associate professor of the department of zoology, genetics and general ecology of Samara State University, candidate of biological sciences:
— If you plant an elm in your yard, expect insects to appear that feed on it, including elm bugs. It’s normal that there are a lot of them this year. The outbreak in numbers is facilitated by favorable weather conditions: warm winters, hot summers with periodic rains. Recently, the weather has been consistently dry and hot, so they are more common, no surprise. You just need to wait it out; at the end of summer they will die naturally. I'm simply amazed at all this hysteria. People encounter a species of insects unknown to them before and panic. And all because of basic ignorance. If a person does not have the Internet, let him look at the library and look through gardening magazines. Moreover, nowadays give everyone chemicals and poisons. But in this way they poison, first of all, themselves.
What to do if there are bedbugs in your apartment
If, when you hear the word “bug,” you remember first of all garden insects painted in bright colors, and not bloody parasites that live under the bed, then you are a happy person. But if you shudder when you hear someone say: “there are bedbugs” or “the bugs bit you,” then our story will be useful to you.
Many people have pets. Cats, dogs, parrots and even various rodents often live in our homes. A pet is a friend who will not let you get bored and will give you a lot of positive emotions.
But it happens that completely different animals can appear in our house. They also live with humans, they run, jump, skip and crawl. They also attract attention, sometimes you just can’t help but notice them. They interact with other residents of the apartment or house. But the difference is that you did not invite these pets into your home and you need to get rid of them as soon as possible. Such guests may include: rats and mice, ants and cockroaches, mosquitoes and one of the most terrible domestic “predators” - bed bugs.
Variety of parasites
There are several types of bedbugs that settle inside an apartment or on a balcony. Often these are forest and bed ones.
They differ in appearance, size, and harm humans in different ways.
Forest bugs are considered quite common guests; they infect balconies, corners, baseboards, and interior spaces. The reasons for the appearance are:
Favorable factors for the reproduction of unwanted guests is heat. The total number of attacking parasites often reaches several dozen. They feed on the sap of plants, so the presence of flowers in the house promotes the settlement of parasites and active development. Otherwise, uninvited guests stay for a short time. The forest bug does not harm humans.
As for bedding insects, they pose a great danger not only to people, but also to pets, being blood-sucking.
A bite can transmit serious diseases:
Living creatures and lack of light are considered favorable factors for the development of bedbugs. They begin their activity in the evening, at dusk.
Their appearance is characterized by certain signs:
It is not uncommon to see bedbugs crawling, especially if you get up at night.
Where do bedbugs live?
House bugs do not ask your permission, they always come uninvited and can settle anywhere. They can be found in a village house, in a hostel, in a hotel, in a good city apartment. There are no barriers or boundaries for these insects; bedbugs are found all over the globe - in Moscow, Paris, Astana, New York; bedbugs are found even in hot African cities and in villages located beyond the Arctic Circle. Wherever people live, we can find bed bugs.
As you might guess, these parasites are called “bed bugs” for a reason - bedbugs live primarily where a person sleeps, that is, in bed. It doesn't matter where you sleep - in a bed, on a pull-out couch, or on a mattress on the floor, bedbugs will find a place to settle. Being secretive insects, they always choose secluded places for their nests, and thanks to their flat physique, almost anything can serve as a secluded place for a bug. Furniture bugs can settle in the folds of sofa upholstery or bed linen, in the joints of furniture - wherever there are small cracks, holes or mattress folds. You can see photos or videos on the Internet to see what bedbug nests look like.
If the apartment is infested with bedbugs, then most likely most of them live in the immediate vicinity of your bed at night, but they can be found in any corner. The bedbug happily establishes colonies in soft toys, behind wallpaper that has come off the wall, in apartment baseboards, even in sockets. Individual travelers can get into any corner of the living space, including household appliances and clothes, even if they are hanging in the closet on a hanger. It’s not for nothing that these insects are sometimes called body bugs, so you shouldn’t be surprised when you see them on your body.
Bugs on the balcony in summer: reasons for their appearance
Black bugs can appear on the balcony for several reasons. This is due to abnormal heat, as well as fires or floods in their natural habitat. They hide from these phenomena in the upholstery of the loggia.
Other options for their appearance are listed below:
If these are not blood-sucking bugs, but just midges on flowers, then they do not pose any danger to humans. Such small insects can only harm plants. As soon as it starts to get colder, they will disappear from the balcony.
Bedbugs in an apartment: how do they get there?
Finding out the origin of bedbugs in your home is not easy, and sometimes impossible. These insects lead a sedentary lifestyle, but do not be deceived - if necessary, they can quickly cover long distances. A bedbug cannot compete in speed with a cockroach, however, it moves quickly and agilely. Most often, bedbugs appear in two ways: they either come to you independently from your neighbors, or you can accidentally take “fellow travelers” with you after visiting an apartment infested with bedbugs. Entire houses can be infected in this way, especially for old wooden houses, Soviet “Khrushchev” buildings and panel buildings. First, one of the residents brings parasites into their apartment, then they can independently spread to all the neighbors.
Elimination of street parasites
In addition to forest insects, street insects cause significant harm to humans and domestic animals. They are often carriers of dangerous diseases, so when they are detected, certain actions must be taken in a timely manner.
There are special organizations to eliminate insects, and you can also kill bedbugs yourself with insecticidal solutions. The street parasite spreads quite quickly, as a result of which the entire area of the apartment, balcony, furniture and carpets have to be treated with toxic agents.
The main habitats of insects are:
The fight against bedbugs will be highly effective if all residents of the entrance join the process.
Features of life
Bedbugs are collective insects; they prefer to live in large and small colonies, making nests in any secluded places. The main condition for parasites to live is the availability of food and stable temperature conditions. The main food for bedbugs is human blood, and the temperature comfortable for life is the same as that of humans - approximately 25-30 degrees. Bed bugs are exclusively human parasites and live in the same conditions as their “breadwinner”. Wherever it’s good for you, it’s good for the bed bug.
If necessary, bedbugs can feed on other blood, but if there is a choice, they always prefer a person to a pet. The temperature regime also has a fairly wide range; at low temperatures, bedbugs do not die, but simply become slower. Bedbugs are not afraid of even sub-zero temperatures; in extreme conditions, they simply fall into suspended animation, in which they can spend many months. After the ambient temperature returns to normal, the bedbugs will “thaw out” and continue their activities - they will drink blood and actively reproduce.
At elevated temperatures, the life processes of bedbugs accelerate, they become more active, but in general they live a little less - about 8 months. At low temperatures, on the contrary, the lifespan of a bug can reach up to one and a half years, but it will be less active. Destruction of bedbugs using temperature is almost impossible; the eggs of these parasites can withstand street temperatures from -30 to +50 degrees.
Prevention measures
In order to prevent the appearance of bed bugs on your balcony (it is much easier to do this on a glassed balcony), you should take a number of preventive measures:
- install mosquito nets or stretch gauze on the opening parts of the frame
- foam or seal all cracks with sealant;
- hang bunches of wormwood, tansy or other plants whose smell repels bed bugs;
- get rid of unnecessary junk and regularly carry out wet cleaning.
Sealing cracks with sealant
How to get rid of bedbugs? Ways to combat bedbugs
Bedbugs lived on earth long before humans appeared. The vitality of bedbugs is simply amazing; getting rid of them is more difficult than the smell of cat urine. There are folk remedies for fighting insects, but not a single remedy for bedbugs gives a 100% guarantee of getting rid of this scourge. Temperature has no effect on bedbugs, and they also easily tolerate starvation - if someone decided that they would get rid of parasites by going on vacation in the winter and leaving all the windows open, this will not help. After your return, the bedbugs will not go away; on the contrary, they will attack you with renewed vigor, so do not try to remove the bedbugs in this way. Without food, these insects can live for more than a year. The ability of bedbugs to survive is evidenced by the fact that people driven to despair sometimes resort to such folk remedies as conspiracies. Naturally, the result of such “treatment” is zero.
Elimination of forest parasites
How to get rid of insects? It is very important to do this without harming yourself, family members, or pets.
To exterminate parasites, special methods are used, which depend on the number of “guests” on the balcony of the affected apartment. If a small amount is found, you can use a vacuum cleaner or wipe it off with a rag, throwing it away from your place of residence. Covering the window sill with a cloth soaked in vinegar and installing a mesh helps prevent the reappearance of insects.
When the number of bedbugs exceeds a hundred, they fill not only the balcony, but the entire room, more serious measures should be taken:
The main food of forest bugs is vegetation. Therefore, you should regularly inspect your indoor flowers. An effective defense is to scatter fragrant herbs on the balcony or wash the floor with wormwood.
Forest bugs are harmless to humans, so you can eliminate the parasites yourself using insecticides and folk remedies.
Neighbors have bedbugs - what to do, how to protect yourself and how to get rid of them?
Bedbugs from neighbors are coming into our apartment - what to do, how to protect yourself and how to get rid of bedbugs? – This is how 30% of all telephone calls to our service from citizens of St. Petersburg begin. Let's try to cover this topic and answer all the questions in this article.
Is it possible to get bedbugs from neighbors?
Using an example of a real request to our service: “Hello, it seems to me that there are bedbugs in my apartment. Over the past three weeks, I have noticed several strange red, bite-like lesions on my arms and neck. I know that the neighbor across the hall had bedbugs, but they poisoned them in his apartment a week ago. Could his bedbugs have moved into my apartment? What to do and how to get rid of bedbugs now?“
A simple and short answer to the questions - Yes, most likely the bedbugs came from neighbors, and you can get rid of bedbugs by treating them yourself or by entrusting this task to disinfectors.
More recently, we have already looked at the addiction of bedbugs to long-distance travel and travel in our article: “ 10 facts about bedbugs that everyone should know ,” where we revealed the secret of the way they walk around the entire planet.
Insect researchers have always suspected that bedbugs can travel between apartments in a house by following cracks and crevices, in walls, through vents, and along pipes and electrical wires. In fact, bedbugs move around the house the same way as cockroaches, only the size of adult bedbugs is much smaller than cockroaches, which means the cracks can be much smaller.
As a result of marking bedbugs in an infested apartment and tracking them inside an apartment building, it was discovered that bedbugs (if not controlled) can spread throughout the entire apartment building and infect every apartment in which people live. Bed bugs follow pipes and wires to neighboring apartments - above and below the floor, and they can also simply crawl under the front door and head down the corridor to other apartments on the same floor.
Bed bugs crawl from apartment to apartment in the dead of night
An adult bedbug can travel at a speed of 1-1.5 meters per minute. Bed bugs begin to move around neighboring rooms or apartments in search of food only when, during the next meal, they did not find a person in their usual place, or the population of bed bugs has become so large that it is time for them to conquer new places to live and eat .
Most often, the migration of bedbugs is initiated by adult females with eggs, ready to instantly give birth to a new family of bedbugs.
Bedbugs can get into purses, backpacks, bags and easily get from house to house
In most cases, when moving to a new place, bedbugs do not bother walking under their own power, but cleverly hide in people’s belongings. Like ardent hitchhikers, bedbugs can hide in wallets, backpacks, bags, etc., so the parasites can easily get into a new house next door or on the other side of St. Petersburg or Moscow .
If you visited your neighbor on the landing or your neighbors came to visit you, then it is always possible that a bug will end up in your apartment. If this bed bug was a female with eggs and she moved in with you a few weeks ago, then your apartment is now growing its own new colony of bed bugs.
How to protect yourself from bedbugs in your neighbors?
Until the thunder strikes. Most of us do not think about how to protect our apartment from bedbugs because there are no parasites at home and there is nothing to worry about. But in everyday life there are many opportunities to bring bedbugs into your home and become a victim of their bites. For those who have never encountered the problem of these voracious parasites in the apartment, it is not at all clear what it is and why everyone is so afraid of them.
If it turns out that your neighbors have bedbugs , then you should not take this issue lightly, but it is better to take all possible measures to protect yourself from these insects in advance so that the bedbugs do not move into your apartment .
The neighbors have bedbugs and they decided to treat them
This is great because they are trying to solve this difficult problem. The main thing is that the parasites do not have time to seep into your apartment, which is not prepared for the visit of unexpected parasites while the neighbors are poisoning the bedbugs . Therefore, it is recommended to carry out preventive treatment of your apartment in order to definitely get rid of bedbugs, or to apply a barrier. By the way, if you carry out the treatment together with your neighbors, you can save money and get a discount on such treatment of several apartments at once .
Bedbugs are crawling from drunk neighbors - what to do?
The neighbors have bedbugs , but they decided to let everything take its course. Unfortunately, a very common case is when irresponsible people live in one of the many apartments in the house and bedbugs from such drunk neighbors crawl into your apartment . What to do in this case?
In this case, there are two options for reliable protection:
- Carry out preventive treatment and apply a barrier that will last for many months of reliable protection;
Buy barrier protection products for self-treatment, for example, a dry barrier in the form of a powder - treat it behind the baseboards near the beds, electrical outlets and other favorite places for the development of a new colony of bedbugs in the apartment.
How to get rid of bedbugs in an apartment once and for all? Disinfection against bedbugs
Exterminating bedbugs in an apartment is the most optimal solution when detecting bites and other signs of the presence of parasites in the house. You can try to get rid of bedbugs in your apartment on your own and forever . To do this, you need to purchase a professional means for exterminating blood-sucking insects in a specialized store, for example, in ours - go to the Disinfectants store in St. Petersburg . To bait bedbugs yourself, do not forget to take care of personal protective equipment such as gloves, a mask and goggles.
How to get rid of bedbugs in an apartment forever - contact a specialized SES
To get rid of bedbugs 100% and not waste time on numerous attempts to independently combat tenacious parasites. The most reliable way to exterminate bedbugs is to contact the specialists of a professional SES service and order pest control in the apartment. At the moment, there is the most proven and effective method - extermination of bedbugs with fog , which uses special professional equipment to guarantee the destruction of all insects in the apartment.
Precautionary measures
When black bugs appear, first of all, it is necessary to clear the space as much as possible from unnecessary things. It is recommended to carry out all manipulations wearing protective gloves. You cannot bring anything infected into the apartment from the loggia, otherwise the insects will spread throughout the apartment.
Blood-sucking small bugs multiply exponentially, so it is best to pack unnecessary items in airtight double or triple bags and tie them tightly. Then they need to be thrown into a trash can on the street. If there is an armchair or sofa on the balcony that you are not going to get rid of yet, it is best to treat it with steam or insecticides.
Steam generator treatment kills bedbugs
At the last stage, it is necessary to vacuum all areas of the loggia, then do wet cleaning. It is advisable to add ammonia to the water for rags. You will need two teaspoons per liter of liquid. Before closing the door to the balcony and going into the apartment, you should treat the entire space with “Executioner”, “Raid” or other drugs.
You can enter the loggia only the next day. At the same time, it is necessary to re-clean with a vacuum cleaner and treat with ammonia. To accurately get rid of insects on the first or last floor, it is recommended to spray all possible corners and places where uninvited guests gather with special means.
Black beetles that appear on the balcony can cause a lot of unpleasant moments. Some of them are absolutely safe and cannot cause any harm to humans. And other small bugs, such as bed bugs, are very dangerous to humans. You can deal with them on your own, spending just a few days destroying them.
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