Harm from the skin-beater and the fight against it

Kozheed is an insect that can appear in any apartment and country house. And the harm from it consists not only in damage to furniture and clothes, this parasite can be dangerous for humans. His bites are rather painful, and with special sensitivity, the consequences from them can be quite serious. Who is a skin-eater, where does he usually live and what are the ways to deal with it?

Characteristic

A skin-eater is a small-sized insect from the order of beetles. His body, whose length does not exceed 13 mm, is painted brown or black and has an oval or oblong shape. The body is somewhat convex above, flattened in the lower part. The integument of skin-eaters is strewn with dense short hairs. These insects have small antennae, which are attached at the edge of the forehead, black eyes are somewhat convex.

Appearing in the apartment, these pests begin to multiply quite rapidly and after a short period of time their number increases significantly. In one clutch, as a rule, there are several dozen eggs, of which, after a month and a half, larvae appear. With enough food, the hatched caterpillar beetle caterpillars can transform into an adult in a year. But under favorable conditions (dry, hot climate), 2-4 generations can develop over the same period.

Larvae

In residential premises, the female makes masonry in places inaccessible to the human eye. As a rule, these are cracks in the floors, sometimes such a place can be the surface of an object edible for these insects, which will subsequently become a source of food.

The maximum development period of a skin-eater in an egg takes 55 days, after which a larva appears. It looks like a caterpillar, its integument is rigid, the body is oval in shape and painted in white or light yellow.

The body of the skin-bearer larva is covered with small setae, which form a small tail at the end. If the surrounding conditions are favorable, then the caterpillar will survive about 6 molts. By the end of the final phase of development, the length of her body can reach 17 mm.

The skin-bearer larvae are active around the clock. They are quite mobile and voracious, which causes great damage. Adult individuals are less demanding on food and are able to lead normal life, saturated exclusively with plant juices.

On a note! Even in the absence of a constant food source, the larvae can live about 5 years!

The final stage of development is the pupal phase and lasts up to 20 days.

Habitat

Favorable conditions for the development and livelihoods of the leather-eater in the apartment are dry and warm places. These insects usually live near batteries and other heating appliances, in the floor under baseboards, in drawers of cabinets and cabinets. The latter zones are especially attractive for them, since it is there that their main food sources are located:

• fur products;
• genuine leather clothes;
• wool.

Carpets and various crops also attract larvae.Their taste preferences are quite diverse, which makes their habitat very extensive.

But with the advent of these parasites, not only clothes, fabrics and food supplies will suffer, skin-eaters are dangerous to humans.

Threat to human health

The skin-eater's diet consists of decomposed organics, and therefore it is able to carry a variety of diseases: from viral to parasitic. To date, this is just an assumption, which does not yet have scientific confirmation, but nevertheless, according to experts in the field of medicine, it has the right to exist. What is capable of harming this small insect?

• Due to its special taste preferences, the skin eater is dangerous as a source of helminth infection.
• Viral infections are not excluded, and at the same time, if their immediate cause is not eliminated, the infection will occur continuously.
• The skin-eater is not a blood-sucking insect, but at the same time its bites are rather painful and can provoke irritation on the skin, sometimes an allergic reaction.

Quite often, the bite of a skin eater is confused with the bites of bed bugs. As a rule, they cause discomfort and with severe scratching can turn into bleeding wounds. In this case, only larvae can bite, since it is they that remain active around the clock, adult individuals lead mainly a daytime lifestyle.

On a note! But even here there is no clear opinion: according to one version it is believed that the larvae do not bite, but only cling to the human skin with their bristles, and the latter experiences sensations similar to a bite. Moreover, the caterpillars can do this unconsciously - during a night's sleep, the sleeper turns over, and the larvae that are on the bed at this time accidentally stick to his body. And in the morning a person is lost in conjecture what caused irritation on the skin.

In any case, the bite of a skin-eater is quite a rarity. And for this to happen, there must be a lot of parasites, and this situation, in turn, occurs when the conditions change abruptly, for example, when the apartment becomes empty during repairs or when moving. Sometimes aggressive behavior provokes an unsuitable substrate for pupation.

Means and methods of struggle

So, if skin-eaters appeared in your apartment, then you need to take certain measures in order to get rid of them, and our advice will help you in how to do it right. But remember that the fight should begin immediately, because of their gluttony, these parasites can cause serious damage to your home.

Physical methods. When there are not many skin-eaters, then an ordinary vacuum cleaner will help to remove them. At the same time, you can freeze infected items, leaving them for several hours in the freezer.

But in the case of a large number of leather-eaters, the fight against them should occur using more serious means.

Crawling aerosols - with their help, you can destroy adult individuals and larvae. But such products do not work on eggs, so after a while the treatment will have to be repeated. Aerosol is sprayed in the infected room, paying special attention to cracks in the walls, floors and furniture, then close it for several hours. At the end of the procedure, the room is ventilated and wet-cleaned.

Hard dusts - These are, as a rule, tablet formulations, for example, “Antimol”, which relieve skin-eaters by means of their intense smell.

Important! Hard dusts do not spoil the fabric, but at the same time, their smell is quite strongly absorbed into the material. For this reason, people with allergies should use these drugs with extreme caution!

Chemical aqueous suspensions - they treat exceptionally hard surfaces. Gloves should be worn while handling such solutions. And to increase their effectiveness, an insect growth regulator is usually added to the composition, which will prevent their further reproduction.

Boric acid - It works well against an adult leather-eater and its larvae. Use this tool in the form of a powder, which is scattered around the perimeter of the room, and rubbed into the cracks and corners with a brush. An aqueous solution can also be used by treating all hard surfaces with it.

Important! Using an aqueous solution of boric acid for dark materials, remember that it has a whitening effect!

In places where parasites have been seen, you can place glue traps. When moving, the bugs and larvae will stick, after which you will only have to take them out of the apartment. But keep in mind that removing insect eggs in this way will not work.

Prevention

But in order not to think about how to get rid of skin experts, it is necessary to prevent their occurrence:

• two or three times a year, sort and shake clothes and bedding folded in closets, and throw away old things;
• put dry wormwood, tansy or tobacco on the shelves, as well as cedar shavings, which will scare away not only skin-eaters, but other domestic pests;
• Before storing winter items, clean and dry them well;
• make sure that there are no cracks in the floors, walls, window sills and window openings, and when they are formed, eliminate them immediately;
• Do not forget to regularly clean carpets and upholstery;
• walk as often as possible with a damp cloth on all surfaces in the apartment and do a general cleaning once every two months.

These simple tricks will help you prevent the appearance of skin-eaters in the house and their rapid spread. Remember that prevention is less time consuming than directly combating the pest.