THE BUG LIFE
WHY DO BUGS LOVE YOUR HOME?
HOME SWEET HOME
Much like people, insectsโ primary needs are food, shelter, and sleep.ย Unwittingly you could be fulfilling all their needs and inviting them into your home.
Find out the reasons why bugs are attracted to your home and how to banish them permanently.
- White Light
If you are visited by insects at night, such as beetles, moths and crane flies. Insects that fly at night use the moon for navigation, and are often confused by intense, white artificial light. By changing your white bulbs outdoor bulbs to yellow, they will youโre your home without trying to get inside as they do not see yellow the same way that we do.
- Pot Plants
Before bringing potted plants inside be sure to check the underside of leaves, the soil surface as well as the bottom of them thoroughly first. Spiders, beetles, ants, centipedes, and pill bugs are known to hide in or around outdoor containers.
- Plumbing Leaks
If you have a slow drip in your plumbing under the toilet, kitchen or bathroom sink, refrigerator, washing machine or dishwasher this is an open invitation bugs such as cockroaches, centipedes, and silverfish.ย To prevent this make sure to check these areas on a monthly basis and fix ย leaks right away.
- Paper Bags
Having a pile of paper grocery bags that are stored in your kitchen is a creates the perfect spot for cockroaches to eat, hide and lay eggs in the creases of the paper bags. ย Sometimes the cockroaches gain access into your home because their eggs are already on the paper, but they may also stumble across the bags when searching for water. To prevent your paper bags from turning into a roach motel, always recycle, compost, or reuse them.
- Garden Debris
Pests such as spiders, beetles, fleas, earwigs, centipedes, among others love hiding in your backyard debris. ย Once established in the debris they are only a hop, skip and jump from getting into your home.ย Keeping your yard clean from overgrown shrubs, unmown grass, piles of fallen leaves, stacks of firewood, or forgotten kiddy pools or toys will help keep these critters at bay.
- Overripe Fruit
Fruit flies are attracted to overripe fruit, because their eggs hatch within 24 hours a small infestation can grow quickly.ย By ensuring that you store your fruit in the fridge or add it to the compost heap once past its prime you will be able to avoid an infestation of fruit flies in your home
- Cracks Around Doors and Windows
By having your home checked annually for cracks or gaps near windows, doors, pet doors, and chimneys and securing any openings.ย You will be able to prevent an unwanted infestation of spiders and insects who are capable of squeezing through very small openings, such as rips in a window screen or gaps between a door and its frame.
- Overripe Fruit
Have you ever spotted a solitary fruit fly early in the morning, and then come home later to find a cloud of them over the banana bowl? Fruit fly eggs can hatch in as little as 24 hours, so a small infestation will rapidly multiply. These tiny insects are powerfully attracted to decaying fruit, and theyโre able to enter your home through any small opening, such as a window screen. Deter the pests by storing fruit in the fridge, eating it before it becomes overripe, and adding it to your compost pile if itโs past its prime.
- Grains in the Cupboard
Pantry moths and the maggot-like larvae can get access to your home through groceries such as cereal, pasta, pet food, and flour.ย The reproduce very fast and can even chew through cardboard boxes to get to the food inside.ย ย To prevent an infestation, store all your grain products in airtight jars or bottles and keep rice and other grains in the fridge or freezer. Look out for small holes in cardboard food containers and throw out any expired grain.
- Mulch or Compost
If you have a compost heap, make sure to keep it as at least 6 inches from the foundation of your home.ย Compost piles can attract spiders, termites, and other insects.ย If your compost heap is too close to your home these insects will sense the water and food sources and find their way inside. Keep a clear zone of at least six inches between any organic mulch and the foundation of your home.
- Second-hand Furniture
Before buying used furniture, you must be sure to inspect it carefully for any sign of insects, eggs, droppings, or other tell-tale pest markings. Ensuring that you look underneath the furniture and inside all drawers as well. As pests can be sure to hitch a ride into your home.
If however you already have the pests inside your home then contact Sydneyโs Best Pest Control for all your pest control needs. Call us on 1800 819 189 or email us using our easyย contact us form.
