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Can bugs live in your drains? They absolutely can. What’s even more unsettling? These drain bugs, which are technically “insects” can also breed inside your pipes, feeding on any available organic matter — such as grease, hair, food waste and even toothpaste — and laying eggs in the gunk that collects in your plumbing.But is there any good news?
How to Get Rid of Pantry Moths and Larvae in Your Kitchen Pantry moths may look small, but they can cause big problems in your kitchen. My pantry has been invaded by little worms and moths that appear to have come from a bag of birdseed.
Getting rid of these insects is relatively easy. The process begins with identifying the kind of insect that's taken up residence in your sink drain or shower drain.
Related Drain Fliesare sometimes called 'moth flies.' While they are members of the order Diptera — the true flies — their hairy bodies and wings make them.
They are dark in color (brown or black) and quite small, measuring one-sixteenth to one-quarter of an inch in length. Drain flies breed in drains, sewers, septic tanks and soil that has become contaminated with sewage. Fruit Fliesare year-round nuisances that are constantly foraging for overripe fruits and vegetables. They resemble (measuring about one-eighth of an inch in length) but some species can be distinguished from other small flying insects by their red eyes. Fruit flies lay their eggs in fermenting material to assure their young (larvae) have a consistent food source. Fruit flies are often also attracted to garbage receptacles and kitchen drains, or anywhere they might find damp organic matter.
Phorid FliesOften confused with fruit flies, sport a unique ' ' appearance. Another unique characteristic is that they tend to run before they fly. They’re also more likely to live in moist soil. In fact, phorid flies are remarkable burrowers and can dig up to six feet underground in foraging for their preferred environment.
That means that any organic material (especially backed-up sewage) that accumulates in your drains can become a potential phorid fly breeding site. Therefore, you definitely don't want these unsanitary flies in your home. Related Helping control bugs in your drainIf you can unclog and clean a drain, you can help rid your home of many of these insects.First, determine which drain or drains are harboring these insects. For example, adult drain flies love to feed and breed in slow-moving or clogged drains because they provide plenty of decomposing material in which to lay their eggs. If any of your drains are noticeably backed up, chances are those are the source of the problem.If your initial inspection isn't enough to identify the affected drains, make an “X” over each drain opening in your home using a strip of stickier than average tape.
Be careful not to completely cover the drain. Most insects found in drains are nocturnal, so leave your tape traps in place overnight. Check the tape the next morning for any insects that have become stuck in attempting to exit your drains.Next, clean out your problem drains once a month. Remove any sludge, hair, food waste or other buildups. When using products to clean the drains, be sure to follow the label instructions for use and safety precautions. Related To help prevent insects from making their way back into your drains, clean them once a month and consider covering them with drain stoppers, drain covers or metal drain screens.However, if you're seeing these insects in your home, you may have a bigger problem on your hands than just dirty drains. That's where a pest control professional can help.
Contact Terminix today to have a trained technician inspect your home for these and other pests and recommend a customized solution for you. Everyone has seen the cartoon mouse trap: A big wedge of cheese perched precariously on a small wooden rectangle, just waiting for an unsuspecting mouse to come along. Most modern mouse traps don’t use pieces of cheese, although they can still use food as bait.
One of the most popular baits, believe it or not, is peanut butter. There are still versions of the snap trap from cartoons, but there are also other kinds like electronic traps. Because these traps usually mean dealing with dead mice, plenty of people wonder if there’s a way to help get rid of mice without classic mouse traps. Although mouse traps are the most effective in helping to get of mice, you can also try the following natural methods to see if they help remove these pesky rodents. Itchy bites and illness may occur after exposure to some arthropods such as mosquitoes and ticks. The bites can cause discomfort and, in some cases, transmit pathogens (bacteria, viruses and protozoans) that can cause a variety of diseases.
Some examples of diseases that are of concern in the United States include: (mosquito) chikungunya, dengue, La Crosse encephalitis, West Nile fever, Zika; (tick) Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.The good news? There are many precautions you can take to help avoid bites from mosquitoes and ticks. Many insects, such as butterflies, have a lifespan that occurs in four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult.
Other insects, such as grasshoppers, do not have a pupal stage and instead go through three stages: egg, nymph, and adult. The length of each stage can vary based on many things, from the insect species to the temperature outside—but what some insects share in common is a very short adult stage. Keep reading to learn about five insects with some of the shortest adult stages in their lifespan. The change of seasons from summer to fall means many things: leaves changing colors, dropping temperatures, and—depending on where you live—stink bugs sneaking into your home. Stink bugs were named for their distinct ability to emit an unpleasant odor when they are threatened or disturbed by predators like lizards or birds. This also means that if stink bugs enter your home and feel threatened, you’ll be faced with dealing with their strong smell in your house.
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As we head into fall, you might find yourself with more active stink bugs than usual, so it’s important to know the basics about these smelly insects.
.Building a house from scratch, even a tiny one, is not for the faint of heart, but 14-year-old Sicily Kolbeck has proven she has what it takes to see her passion project through against overwhelming odds.Kolbeck, from Marietta, Georgia, started work on her diminutive dwelling, lovingly dubbed La Petite Maison, when she was 12.At the time, the girl was searching for an outside-the-box idea for a school project when she stumbled upon a sizable online community of DIY builders specializing in downsized homes.Scroll down for video. Labor of love: Sicily started work on her building project with her father when she was 12, but took a break after her dad's untimely passing last FebruarySicily had no construction experience beyond re-purposing a large TV box as a playhouse for herself, but her father, Dane, volunteered to help, reported.Her mother, who was also her teacher and the founder of her school, signed up as Sicily's project manager, but the girl was to act as the chief architect, builder and fundraiser on the project.Sicily got the project off the ground by launching an online fundraising campaign in January 2013. Within less than a month, the middle-schooler reached - and then exceeded - her $1,500 goal.' My decision to build a tiny house was partly economic, partly the desire to be free,' Sicily Kolbeck wrote in the description.'
Building a tiny house can give me stability, possibly for the rest of my life if I build the house well. Special helper: While Sicily was the main architect and builder, her father assisted her with blueprints and power tools'Building a house would give me the life skills that really matter, such as using tools for construction. Building the house I can know what labors go into a home and truly appreciate what I am living in.' ShareDespite her tender age, Sicily Kolbeck showed everyone that she was dedicated to the project and determined to see it to completion, putting in long hours, navigating challenges and problem-solving on the fly like a seasoned pro.‘It wasn't until later.
Probably these past couple months that I realized why I'm doing this,’ Sicily said. ‘I'm doing it to show him that I can do stuff, to show him that I am capable and he doesn't need to yell at me when I can't use the drill.’Last December, Sicily traveled to New Orleans to give a speech at a TEDYouth conference, talking to other teens about the joys and challenges of tiny-home construction - and healing. Home on wheels: When Sicily and her mother move to Maryland this summer, her house will be coming with themAround the same time, she was asked to pen a first-person account about her experiences for the‘Sometimes when people get a hard knock, they stay down. That's my claim to fame,’ she wrote. ‘I also wanted to show that when I was handed lemons, I not only made lemonade. I made a lemon cake.
And I ate it.
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