Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Spotting Carpet Beetles

Sunday, January 16th, 2011

There are three species of carpet beetle that are the most common problem for homeowners. These are the varied carpet beetle, the black carpet beetle and the furniture carpet beetle. Larvae are by far the most harmful stage in the carpet beetle lifecycle.  Female carpet beetles lay anywhere from 50 to 100 eggs near food sources. An adult beetle can live four years, laying eggs once a year. Eggs are incredibly resilient. Once the eggs develop into cocoons and larvae, they stay in this stage nearly a year. The larvae is the most destructive stage of the carpet beetle. Both eggs and larvae are very difficult to detect since they tend to blend in with the fabric they inhabit. Once they mature, carpet beetles are scavengers and may be found in areas well away from food sources.

You may find one or two larvae crawling on surfaces. But the first sign of a carpet beetle infestation is usually irregular holes chewed in fabrics. They feed on the nap of fabrics and carpeting without eating the base threads. If you are finding holes in fabrics around your home, and think the damage is due to carpet beetles, look for fecal pellets and skins shed by the larva. They most often feed in dark secluded places, so do a thorough inspection for them in these areas:

  • Undersides of furniture
  • In areas around or behind furniture where pet hair may accumulate
  • Corners and bottoms of drawers
  • Along baseboards where carpet meets molding
  • Under area rugs and carpets
  • Inside closets – especially in corners
  • In basements and attics
  • Between walls and insulation
  • In and under storage boxes
  • On window and door frame moldings
  • In gaps alongside and above and below shelving
  • Outside your home where there might be dead rodents or birds

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Get Rid of those Carpet Beetles!

Sunday, January 16th, 2011

Because carpet beetles are active in multiple small hidden areas throughout your home, it can be very difficult to get rid of carpet beetle infestations. A qualified pest control expert is the best way to beat your beetle problem. However, there are some things you can do before help arrives to lessen the problem and damage:

1.      Use a vacuum to remove the carpet beetles you can see.  Immediately remove the carpet beetles with a vacuum. This includes the adult that look like typical beetles, as well as the larvae which look like tiny hairy caterpillars.

2.      While you have the vacuum out, suck up all the pet hair or fur hiding under furniture and in corners.

3.      Immediately seal and throw out the vacuum bag afterward.

4.      Since adult carpet beetles do not stay in one area very long and may have laid eggs in numerous places throughout your home, you will need to treat all of your carpets, area rugs, upholstery, draperies, linens and stored clothing.

5. Discard, dry clean or wash items that show signs of carpet beetle damage. Also include any nearby items that may be hiding tiny eggs and larvae you may not be able to see.

6.      Wash clothing and machine washable items using soap and the hottest water you can.

7.      You can also place items that cannot be washed in a dryer on the highest heat setting for at least 30 minutes.

8.      Have your rugs professionally cleaned, or rent a steam cleaner and do it yourself.

9.      Larvae are usually deep within fabric, so make sure to get into every nook and cranny of upholstered furniture.

To prevent future carpet beetle activity, vacuum your carpets regularly and thoroughly, wash area rugs and make sure to clean up pet fur as often as possible.

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Carpet Beetles Eat More Than Rugs

Sunday, January 16th, 2011

At first, you may think you have moths in your home. But if you are finding damaged clothes, carpet, upholstery and other items, it most likely is carpet beetles.  These little pests are more common than most homeowners realize. They can be very destructive, and to make it worse, they are quite difficult to control. You may find one or two beetles or the evidence they leave behind, but the problem can grow if not handled properly and quickly.

Besides feasting on your belongings, carpet beetle larvae shed small hairs which can cause allergies. Infestations of these pests have been linked to the spread of infectious diseases, like Anthrax.

Part of the problem with controlling carpet beetles is that they live in many areas of a home and eat more than carpet. They consume anything containing organic fibers and organic products. Here is a sampling of the preferred carpet beetle buffet:

Household Items

  • Carpets – Most synthetic carpets contain some organic materials
  • Rugs
  • Drapery
  • Furniture
  • Clothing – especially cotton, silk and wool
  • Household linens – tablecloths, dishtowels, sheets, towels

In the Pantry

  • Cereal
  • Corn
  • Flour
  • Grains
  • Nuts
  • Pasta
  • Seeds
  • Birdseed
  • Pet Food

Misc.

  • Hair (pet or human)
  • Animal Fur
  • Animal hides
  • Taxidermy animals
  • Dead animal carcasses

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Jiminy, I Think We Have A Cricket Problem

Tuesday, January 11th, 2011

You can hear them chirp. Every night. And you’ve noticed your wallpaper has been chewed. But finding and eliminating a cricket infestation can be quite challenging, since house crickets stay in hiding during the day. You may be familiar with field crickets found outdoors that look similar to grasshoppers. House crickets look the same but are a much lighter tan to light brown with three dark bands on their heads. Full-grown crickets are about an inch long.

A female cricket can lay hundreds of eggs, which take a year to grow into adults.  If one cricket finds its way into your home, usually in the fall, its hatchlings can quickly grow and scatter throughout your home undetected, especially since their natural coloring tends to blend into their surroundings. By the time cold weather sets in the following year, these houseguests will have settled in to your nice cozy house for a long noisy winter.

Finding and Eliminating Crickets

House crickets usually begin their lives outdoors, but may infest homes in large numbers. They search out warm places like heating ducts and the paneling behind heating installations. They also nest in moist areas and near areas where garbage is kept. Air conditioning units, downspouts, piles of mulch and wood chips are also popular nesting spots. Your compost pile actually provides a great source of food and heat.

Crickets often enter a home through crawl spaces, wall voids and basements. They will then move into living areas, to be found around and behind baseboards, furniture, window frames, door frames, electric outlets, switch plate covers and in closets. And of course, as the story goes, around fireplaces.

If you have pets such as lizards, turtles, snakes and fish that eat live crickets, make sure the meal doesn’t escape and hide under floorboards to surprise you later with a midnight chorus.

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House Crickets – Melodious or Maddening?

Tuesday, January 11th, 2011

“To find a cricket on the hearth is the luckiest thing of all.” This is according to Charles Dickens in his 1845 novella “The Cricket on the Hearth: A Fairy Tale of Home.” Having a cricket on the hearth has been a sign of luck for thousands of years all over the world. In China and Japan, crickets have been brought indoors to delight inhabitants for almost 1000 years! Valued for their song, crickets were kept in small cages of bamboo. House crickets are often associated with the new year and good luck.

But to many homeowners, a cricket on the hearth, or under the floorboards, is nothing but a nuisance due not only to the noise they make, but the damage they can do.

House crickets make a distinctive chirping noise. It is loud. It is continuous, often for hours at a time. And it occurs at night since crickets are nocturnal and do their feeding and singing when it is dark outside. Some say they sound like new born chicks.

The male cricket is the one that sings, doing so to attract the females. He sets up his own little home (on the hearth or another location of his choosing) and makes his sound by rubbing his wings together. Crickets become louder and faster as temperatures rise. In fact, scientists can measure temperature by calculating the frequency of cricket chirps. Male crickets also emit a sharp piping note when another male cricket attempts to enter his territory.

A love-sick cricket can sing for hours at a time, making as many as 10,000 chirps in one hour.  The larger the cricket, the more frequent the sound. In the Imperial Palace of ancient China, ladies kept crickets in small golden cages on their pillows, so that they might fall asleep to the song.

Crickets are a noisy house guest, but they are relatively harmless unless there is a large infestation in a home. Because they eat just about anything, crickets have an abundant supply of food in most homes. They prefer soft plant matter, but will also eat other live or dead insects, silk, wool, synthetic fabric, paper, wood, rubber, fruit, vegetables and other foods.

A favorite cricket delicacy is wallpaper. They love to eat the glue that holds paper to walls. They will then continue to eat the wallpaper itself.

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Whose Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf Spider?

Tuesday, January 11th, 2011

They’re hairy, ugly and have eight eyes. That alone will make homeowners want to keep wolf spiders out of their homes. The good news is they are not aggressive. The bad news is, they will bite if provoked. And although their eight eyes make them good predators for smaller insects, they may not be able to tell your finger from a cricket. Wolf Spiders are considered poisonous, but not lethal. Nonetheless, a wolf spider bite can be quite painful, especially for children and the elderly. Some people have strong reactions to these bites as well. If a wolf spider bite penetrates the skin, you may have pain, swelling and the bite location may itch. Most symptoms last only a few minutes, but in some cases a wound can take days to heal.

If you are bitten by a wolf spider, wash the wound with soap and water immediately. If there is swelling, use an ice pack. Do not put a bandage on the wound as that will hinder it from healing. A tetanus shot is recommended after a spider bite.

Distinguishing a wolf spider from other spiders is easy once you know what to look for. You will not find spider webs, as these spiders hunt their prey. Although they may look like tarantulas or recluse spiders, they are smaller, usually between ½” to 1.25” in length. They are dark brown and have bristles on their legs that make them look hairy. Two of their eight eyes are larger, and will reflect the beam of a flashlight. If you suspect you have wolf spiders in your home, set out after dark with a flashlight, since that is when the nocturnal pest hunts for food. But you have to be quick – a wolf spider can move two feet per second! You will most likely find them where they will find other insects to hunt such as door frames, plants, windows, and in humid basements and garages.

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