In addition to the well-known spiders and cockroaches, insects of very interesting shapes and colors can often settle inside houses and apartments. Each species has its own living conditions. For example, small agile tadpoles and other strange silvery, white individuals appear in bathrooms and toilets. Their presence is always associated with certain microclimatic conditions inside a particular room. Bathrooms attract many varieties precisely because of the constant humidity and dampness, which are favorable for living and reproduction.
What is this strange beast?
The parasites that have settled in your toilet or bathroom are common silverfish. These are insects with a small oblong body, thin legs (short legs - 8 pairs, main ones - 4 pairs) and processes on the tail and head.
Silverfish belong to the order of crustaceans and resemble woodlice. These small white bugs move very quickly, penetrate into the narrowest cracks and hide if you turn on the light. They are quite tenacious and once settled, they will remain for a long time. It is useless to hope that the problem will resolve itself. Not only that, but these insects have a high reproduction rate, so the beetle population will grow larger over time!
Adult silverfish can take on different shades and be green, brown, yellow or silver. Light-colored individuals are most often found in apartments. To accurately identify them, look at these photos.
This is interesting! According to scientists, silverfish are the most ancient insects living on Earth. The structure of their body has rather primitive features that were characteristic of the ancestors of modern parasites.
The beetles are nocturnal - they crawl out to hunt in the evening, and during the day they prefer to hide away. Food products for silverfish are:
- Wallpaper glue;
- Natural fabrics;
- Molds;
- Leftovers;
- Wet paper;
- Garbage under rugs and bedding;
- Rags.
Most of all, these bugs love dampness and humidity, and they cannot stand bright light. The bathroom perfectly matches the tastes and requirements of silverfish, so most often the parasites settle there.
Why are they dangerous and harmful?
In essence, most of the possible inhabitants of the bathroom do not pose a real threat to humans, bringing only psychological discomfort. However, most of them can be carriers of various diseases dangerous to humans. A small part can also bite or sting, which is not only painful, but can also cause the development of allergies.
In any case, you should not ignore the appearance of such living creatures, as they are prone to rapid reproduction and can easily spread to other rooms.
Note! The appearance of insects also precedes the formation of another, not very pleasant problem - mold. It almost always spreads around the room following the living creatures.
The most dangerous is black mold.
Methods to combat silverfish
If you see these long insects in your own bathroom, take immediate action. There are several ways to remove silverfish. Let's look at each of them.
Method 1. Physical
To get rid of white bugs, create conditions for them that are unacceptable for life. Carry out a general cleaning in the bathroom - wash away the dirt and hard deposits that have appeared under the sink, toilet, bathtub and near the water supply. Add any product containing chlorine to the washing water. As soon as this layer dries, treat the surfaces with a solution of copper sulfate. After waiting a few hours, you can wash the floor again.
As for high humidity, you can reduce its level with special heaters or thorough ventilation (especially after taking a bath or shower).
Method 2. Insecticidal
To combat silverfish, chemical aerosols intended for baiting household parasites are also suitable. You will have to use them for at least a month, performing treatment once a week.
Advice! Carry out disinfestation not only in the bathroom, but also in the rest of the apartment, because these bugs can easily end up in the bedroom, living room or kitchen.
Some of the most popular and effective aerosols include the following:
- Raptor;
- Mosquitall;
- Combat;
- Antimol;
- Dichlorvos;
- Raid;
- Clean house;
- Armol;
- Extramit.
Important! When working with chemicals, be sure to use personal protective equipment - goggles, rubber gloves, mask or respirator.
When performing treatment, close the windows and doors, wait the time specified in the instructions, and then ventilate the room and carry out wet cleaning. Wash especially thoroughly those surfaces that come into contact with your hands.
Method 3. Lures and traps
If you are bothered by transparent bugs in the bathroom, use special traps against them. Ideal for these purposes:
- Wet birch brooms - just place them in the corners and leave them overnight. In the morning they must be carefully taken out of the room and thrown into a trash bin or burned;
- Glass baits. Wrap the outer surface of the jar with tape or paper - the rough surface will allow the insect to easily get inside, but will not be able to get out. To be safe, place a piece of sweet fruit, a handful of sugar or a couple of berries on the bottom;
- Paper. Dampen a roll of paper napkins or toilet paper and leave it overnight. Silverfish love moisture, so they will definitely climb into this shelter. In the morning, you need to burn it or throw it away without unwrapping it.
Wet paper serves as food for silverfish, so this bait is quite effective and can quickly rid you of insects
Method 4. Folk remedies
Small white insects have been known for a long time, so humanity has managed to find several recipes that will quickly and safely solve this problem:
- In dark corners, under baseboards, between floor tiles and in cabinets, sprinkle diatomaceous earth, a special food powder that kills crawling parasites;
- Lay a path of ground zest - silverfish cannot tolerate its aroma. After 5 days, update the protection;
- Dust the room with spices - especially white bugs do not like the smell of cloves;
- Wash all surfaces with water and lavender or citrus essential oil;
- Sprinkle a mixture of boric acid (1 part) and chalk (4 parts) near the pipeline, as well as around the toilet and sink. Leave them for a week and then update.
Advice! If silverfish have multiplied throughout the apartment and you cannot get rid of it, it is better to contact the SES.
Features of disinfection in the bathroom
Cleaning and disinfection in the bathroom should be carried out according to the following plan:
- Elimination of excess. Hygiene products are placed in a basin, a rug and towels are placed in the wash, and the curtain is soaked in a soapy solution.
- Washing tiles. Apply the detergent using a sponge to the dampened surface of the walls. An anti-mold spray can be used to clean tile joints.
- Pipe cleaning. A thick pipe cleaning gel is poured into the drain holes to remove dirt and blockages.
- Cleaning the toilet and bathtub. The cleaning agent is applied to the surface of the bathtub for a while and then washed off. Water is removed from the toilet, then the lid, walls and surface under the rim are washed. For disinfection, the product is left on the surface and then removed.
- Cleaning mirrors. Wash with detergent and wipe with a soft cloth.
- Washing the floor. The floor is washed with a disinfectant, then rinsed with clean water and wiped.
Note! For cleaning, you must choose products without abrasives.
Very often we just clean the bathroom, but forget about disinfection.
woodlouse
One such creature that prefers a humid climate is woodlice. You can see them if you suddenly look into a damp, dark room, as they are nocturnal. White woodlice occurs during molting. Usually this crustacean (which, by the way, many people mistakenly consider to be an insect) has a gray or brown color.
If the room is damp and warm, then this white “insect” will settle in the bathroom quickly and for a long time. Convenient conditions for living and development are the main reason why uninvited guests will choose this place in the apartment. Most often, they settle in places where moisture accumulates: in pipes, as well as where moisture is concentrated or where wet floor rags and rugs are stored.
Many, seeing these creatures, experience a feeling of fear and disgust. By the way, for good reason, because they can carry infections that are harmful to animals and humans. Therefore, when noticing a white insect in the bathroom, it is difficult to experience positive emotions.
How to remove insects
If you noticed silverfish in the bathroom, how to get rid of it immediately so that the problem does not become global in the future? It is believed that insects are very difficult to remove. But it is still possible.
Forced ventilation in the bathroom can help you with this. With it, it will be possible to regulate the level of humidity, as a result of which it will be more difficult for uninvited guests to stay without the necessary conditions.
Comfortable living temperature for silverfish is 21-27 °C. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the temperature in the apartment. This can be done through ventilation.
In this case, all hard-to-reach places must be cleared of dust, and wet corners and other damp areas must be thoroughly dried. In addition, the apartment should be cleaned using chlorine-containing substances to ensure disinfection.
Prevention of insects
To prevent the appearance of bugs in the bathroom, the following measures are taken:
- maintaining cleanliness in the premises;
- removal of dust and condensate on pipes;
- installation of high-quality ventilation and periodic cleaning of mines;
- eliminating cracks and holes in walls, on the floor and near baseboards;
- quick repair of taps in case of leakage;
- drying wet corners using a fan heater;
- treatment with chlorine and drying of places where mold has begun to appear;
- regularly checking cereal stocks and thoroughly removing crumbs;
- timely removal of garbage and food waste.
Good ventilation will ensure a comfortable microclimate in the room.
If insects appear in the bathroom due to dampness, then this is not a reason to panic. Getting rid of living creatures does not require serious effort, but a responsible approach to compliance with sanitary and hygienic standards will avoid such an encounter.
What you need to know for those who have white insects in their apartment
Before you start exterminating pests, you should know that depending on their stage of development, age and other factors, getting rid of them occurs at different speeds. For example, insects at the pupal stage practically do not react to insecticides and do not die, unlike adults. The larvae of some insects are highly resistant to chemicals. But individuals after molting, on the contrary, are vulnerable to any external influences, including insecticidal preparations. These are woodlice, whose shell has not yet become strong, and many other parasites.
Identifying white worms in the kitchen
White worms in the kitchen are the larvae of insects that live in the house. Many insects settle in human homes, since it is there that the most favorable conditions for their habitat are created. Suitable temperature and humidity, the presence of food and secluded places are what primarily attract pests to homes.
Sometimes you can find a caterpillar or beetle in an apartment, but they get into living quarters by accident and if they cannot get out soon, they die. Another thing is flies, moths or cockroaches. For them, living close to humans is the optimal way of existence.
What it is?
Small worms in the house can be one of the stages of development of several types of insects. Sometimes you can find fly larvae - maggots - in an apartment. This is an extremely rare situation. After all, flies most often lay eggs in rotten vegetables and fruits, rotten meat, manure heaps, and garbage pits. It is unlikely that anyone will bring their apartment to such a state that flies feel comfortable enough to breed in it.
Maggots
The second version is much more plausible and is confirmed in most cases. The small light-colored worm with a black head found in the kitchen is a food moth larva. These insects quite often find their way into human housing, feel at home there, easily find food and quickly begin to reproduce.
Where do they come from?
So, the tiny insects in the kitchen that resemble white caterpillars are moth larvae. But how they got into the house is a question that interests clean housewives. The moth itself does not start, which means it enters the apartment from the outside. Considering that the last stage of moth development is a moth, we can assume that the insect flew into the window from the street or from neighbors through the ventilation system. But the moth flyer is very mediocre, so this version, although it has a right to exist, is unlikely.
Most often, the pest is delivered to the apartment by the owners themselves. Eggs or larvae of food moths may be found in cereals or flour purchased in a store or market. Often, unscrupulous suppliers neglect storage rules, ignore mandatory fumigation and package products already contaminated with moths.
This is how pests end up on the counter, and then move with purchases to the kitchens. There, insects gradually spread, occupying the most convenient places to live. This is how white worms end up on the kitchen ceiling.
Why do they live on the ceiling?
Considering that moth larvae cannot fly, it is not entirely clear how and most importantly why they climb onto the ceiling. The fact is that insects act in accordance with their instincts. They try to find the most secluded place in the room, and also strive to obtain the most comfortable living conditions.
The warmest and most humid air accumulates under the ceiling, and this is exactly what the little white worms need. In addition, the ceiling is cleaned much less frequently than all other surfaces in the kitchen, which means that no one will disturb the larvae; they will completely go through all the necessary stages of development in order to eventually become inconspicuous gray moths and lay hundreds of eggs. And ceilings are convenient for existence, and especially for staying in the pupal stage.
That's why the worms move to the ceiling in the kitchen. The material from which the ceiling is made does not in any way affect the appearance of insects on it. They are equally comfortable on fabric and plastic.
Do they live in food?
Whenever possible, the female moth tries to lay eggs where the hatched larvae can easily find food. This could be the inside of a kitchen cabinet, a bag of cereal or pasta, or a bowl of cookies.
Moth larvae
If there is enough food for the hatched larva, it will not look for a new place, but will remain where it was born. That is why, if food storage rules are not followed in the house, caterpillars can be found in packages or bags of food. Thanks to their powerful jaws, the larvae can chew through paper and plastic packaging and move from one to another. Most often this happens when the pest colony is already very large.
What do they eat?
Adult moths, that is, those gray-brown moths that sometimes fly chaotically around the kitchen, do not eat. Their mouthparts and digestive system are underdeveloped. But the larvae - white worms - are very voracious and spoil many foods in the kitchen. Food moth larvae feed on:
- flour;
- cereals and grains;
- dried fruits;
- pasta;
- seeds and nuts;
- candies, chocolate, other sweets;
- biscuits, cookies, crackers.
Under the general name “food moth” there are several subspecies of insects. Each of them prefers certain products, but if they are not available, they will eat those available.
Are they dangerous?
The only danger of adult individuals is that they lay a large number of eggs, which leads to a rapid increase in the number of insects. But the little white worms cause a lot of damage. They not only eat food, but also spoil it, leaving waste products in it. If a person accidentally eats a dish made from contaminated foods, this can lead to unpleasant consequences:
- poisoning;
- indigestion;
- allergic reaction.
White worms on the ceiling spoil the appearance of the kitchen, and in addition, cause psychological discomfort to household members. It is very unpleasant to realize that disgusting insects are swarming next to your food.
