Carpet bee-eater - a nondescript and dangerous pest for humans

Carpet bee-eater is a nondescript and almost imperceptible bug, which despite its small size can bring big problems to a person. Beetles live in nature in bird nests and hollows of trees, and in the summer they can get into human housing through open windows or with things brought into the house, often there are times when they end up in a house with a newly acquired flower pot. Few people know about this type of insect and heard that it is strange, because they are found in houses and apartments quite often.

A warning! A carpet bug living in a house or apartment is a serious danger to people and even pets, as these parasites feed on various types of waste and animal residues. On the body of such beetles are many dangerous bacteria and microscopic debris, therefore, they are carriers of dangerous diseases. In addition, the bee-eater painfully bites people and pets, causing discomfort. Therefore, having discovered such residents in your home, you must urgently take measures to destroy them.

Description of carpeted bee-eater

Carpet beetle - an insect from two to five millimeters in size, its color can be from light brown to black. This insect can survive in extreme temperatures and in adverse conditions.

Once in a person’s dwelling, the skin-beater chooses dark and soft places — wardrobes with clothes, upholstered furniture, carpets, and fur products — for its habitat and breeding. These insects are afraid of light and lead mainly a nocturnal lifestyle. If a bug accidentally finds itself in an unusual habitat during daylight hours, you will notice that its behavior is extremely slow, and when you touch it, see how skillfully it pretends to be dead, falling on its back.

Despite the fact that these parasites are called skin-eaters, they feed not only on the skin. The list of their food is very extensive, for them inedible things practically do not exist: glue, cardboard, synthetics, plastic, gypsum constructions, cable, rubber, wool, silk, fluff, fur products, felt, dried and smoked fish, meat, cheese, cereals , dairy products and more.

In addition to the fact that these bugs significantly harm household things, they are dangerous to human health, as mentioned above. Such "neighbors" significantly worsen people's living conditions.

How do skin eaters breed?

Kozheedy quite actively breed. During her life, the female lays from one dozen to several hundred eggs. A place for future offspring are fleecy and wool surfaces, upholstered furniture, and the remains of small insects. After laying eggs, the bug dies. Eggs develop 2-55 days, depending on conditions and temperature, then larvae hatch from them, causing enormous damage to human property. They can be in the process of maturation to an adult up to two years. The more favorable the conditions, the faster and faster it is. Unfavorable conditions for the insect are damp and cold.

The skin-bearer larvae resemble moth larvae, but if you look closely, despite the similarities, you can find many differences. The skin-bearer larva resembles a shaggy brown worm with stripes throughout the body with long hair-like tails.

Get rid of the carpet bug

If a carpet-cutter is wound up in an apartment or in a house, it is important to know how to get rid of it and what measures to take to quickly and effectively deal with uninvited guests. The destruction of these insects requires perseverance and patience from the homeowner, but it is quite real. To do this, you must perform a number of mandatory works and activities.

Identification of pests and source of infection

To get started, you need to make sure that it is a carpet bee-keeper who is operating in the house. Symptoms of his life are damage to things, fecal granules and discarded skin; on the carpets, furniture, and fur products, you can find the insects themselves.

A necessary and important stage in the fight against parasites is the identification of sources of infection and reproduction. If stuffed birds and animals are collected at home, there are products from down and feathers, fur coats and furs, not necessarily natural ones, carpets and rugs, upholstered furniture, fresh flowers, brushes, then these places must first be examined for the presence of beetles, their larvae and their metabolic products.

You also need to carefully check all darkened and inaccessible places where it is difficult to remove dust and debris, baseboards, crevices and corners behind furniture. View cabinets with clothes, foodstuffs, attics, ventilation ducts, pantries, bags with old things.

When confirming the presence of carpet beetles and identifying places of localization, immediate measures must be taken to destroy them.

Important! In the case of a pet living in the house, fighting with bugs and finding a site is much more complicated, because cats and dogs leave their hair everywhere, which is excellent food for skin-eaters, the animal moves throughout the apartment, so there can be many foci of pests.

Measures taken to combat carpet bugs

The main methods of struggle include:

Thorough cleaning of the room and foci of infection:

• vacuum the carpets, rugs, if there is an opportunity to carry them outside and thoroughly knock and clean;
• thoroughly wash the floors, paying particular attention to inaccessible places, spaces under the beds, behind furniture;
• treat upholstered furniture with steam once a day until pests are completely eliminated;
• take out and burn badly damaged things;
• wash clothes, bedding and furniture covers in hot water with detergents and dry in the sun or frost;
• Fur items must be dry-cleaned or disposed of if they are too damaged and unsuitable for further use.

You can try to apply an unconventional method - freezing. In frost from minus fifteen degrees, carpets and other damaged items should be removed. In winter, open the windows and doors of the house and leave for several hours. Beetles and its larvae cannot stand temperatures below minus ten degrees. To be sure, the procedure should be carried out at least twice. If this method does not help, go on the fight against the use of chemicals.

Processing the room with special tools and aerosols such as:

Chlorpyrifos, Alletrin, Bendiocarb, Diflofos, Raptor, Raid, Chlorophos and other drugs commonly used against insects.

Recommendation! Remember that these substances have toxic effects on the human body. Before you start processing the premises, you will need to take care of precautions. It is imperative to use personal protective equipment: a bathrobe, a mask, gloves to protect the body and respiratory organs from the drug.

All the space of the apartment, carpets and damaged things, skirting boards, crevices, corners behind furniture and all inaccessible places where pests can hide are subject to processing.For complete disposal of parasites, a single use of aerosols is often not enough.

For disinfection, you can use means in the form of solutions, for example, Supromit, Aero-anti-mol, to increase their effectiveness it is better to add PPH, the regulator of the insect company, which prevents their further reproduction. Solutions are best used on hard surfaces.

The use of a solution of boric acid, which is not toxic to humans and animals, but adversely affects the carpet beetle and its larvae. This is the safest method, but not as fast as using toxic aerosols. To destroy beetles, plinth, floors, cabinets, and proposed insect routes should be treated with boric acid solution. Particles of the solution fall on the legs of a skin-eater, from the legs - on food, and from there - into the body, as a result, the beetle dies from poisoning. You can also use boric acid in powder form. It must be scattered in places of localization of insects, on plinths, under carpets and furniture. But remember that this product has a whitening effect and can leave spots, especially on dark things and fabrics.

Another option is the placement of glue traps based on the hormone, which attracts insects around the affected things, in cabinets and other places where bugs were noticed.

Processing woolen and fur products with a weak solution of pyrethroid permatina is able to save you not only a skin-eater, but also a worn moth for a whole year.

In cabinets and other places attractive to pests, it is recommended to spread fumigants or Antimol tablets, they will not kill an adult, but the larvae will eat them and poison them with pleasure.

Outdoor processing at home. Treat the premises with an insecticide along the perimeter, along areas near the house and along the bottom of the foundation. If we are talking about a private house, procedures on the street are extremely important, since often infection occurs from a ventilation hole or a place connected to the street. For best results, 90 cm of the height of the house and 90 cm of the area around the perimeter of the house should be treated. Other potential entry points should also be processed: windows, doors, ventilation and utility pipes.

Remove nests of birds and bees around the house or in the yard, on the balcony of the apartment or on branches close to your window, since their presence increases the risk of infection of the premises with pests.

If carpet beetle infection has reached global proportions, hire professionals. Disinfectors with the help of powerful and effective chemicals will conduct more thorough processing and destroy dangerous parasites from your home.

Preventative measures

Prevention is always cheaper and easier than the destruction of emerging pests, therefore, in order to avoid problems associated with skin-eating beetles, the following measures should be observed:

• keep clothes in tightly closed cases;
• lay naphthalene tablets or with lavender smell in cabinets and in inaccessible places, that repel insects;
• close windows with a mosquito net;
• periodically inspect and sort out clothes and underwear;
• Maintain cleanliness in the room, systematically do thorough spring cleaning, and clean carpets and furniture.

If you monitor the cleanliness of the house and the state of things, then you can avoid such unpleasant neighbors as carpet beetles. Even if they accidentally got into the room, having discovered them on time and knowing how to get rid of the carpet beetle, you can independently remove these pests.