Hi, Guest
09-30-2005, 10:07 AM
First thing, relax. Maybe it's easy for me because i'm an old biologist but, in my opinion, most people are way more concerned about "bugs" than they need to be.
The vast majority don't bite and are harmless. People freak about earwigs but, in reality, they are just an annoyance.
To minimize the number of centipedes and "silver fish" etc... clean up damp, dark spaces and you will see their numbers drop. Sweet stuff and other sources of food for them will bring them in as well.
Spiders aren't "bugs" and, in fact, are doing you a favour by cleaning up other bugs. I like spiders but, I have to admit, vacuum up lots of cob-web spiders. We live in a swampy country spot and have lots of bugs.
Every year ants have a ritual emergence of kings and queens through our downstairs and, I have learned, the simplest (and perhaps most humane) thing to do is vacuum them up. If you use insecticides (which we don't) you'll get the ones on the outside but the others will just find another entrance place. Also, most insecticides attack the nervous system and ours is not that different from those of insects, although it would take a lot more to kill a human.
Easiest and best way of addressing bug problems is to remove entrance points (caulking etc...) and clean up potential habitat (dark, damp areas with books, food debris etc..).
Anyway, my 2 cents.
The vast majority don't bite and are harmless. People freak about earwigs but, in reality, they are just an annoyance.
To minimize the number of centipedes and "silver fish" etc... clean up damp, dark spaces and you will see their numbers drop. Sweet stuff and other sources of food for them will bring them in as well.
Spiders aren't "bugs" and, in fact, are doing you a favour by cleaning up other bugs. I like spiders but, I have to admit, vacuum up lots of cob-web spiders. We live in a swampy country spot and have lots of bugs.
Every year ants have a ritual emergence of kings and queens through our downstairs and, I have learned, the simplest (and perhaps most humane) thing to do is vacuum them up. If you use insecticides (which we don't) you'll get the ones on the outside but the others will just find another entrance place. Also, most insecticides attack the nervous system and ours is not that different from those of insects, although it would take a lot more to kill a human.
Easiest and best way of addressing bug problems is to remove entrance points (caulking etc...) and clean up potential habitat (dark, damp areas with books, food debris etc..).
Anyway, my 2 cents.
.