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Pests: in your house or your bed?- Erakina

March 25, 2022 3 Mins Read
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Pests

  • Pests infestation has been a thing from ancient civilization as fossils confirm the presence of flies way ahead of humans in this world.[Pests]

Black ants on brown tree trunk Pests

 A colony of ants.

  • Ever since the implementation of agriculture in human lives, pests have been destroying our crops and invading our homes.
  • Ants also known as Lasius niger are attracted to food material, meat or oil, they build their nests in buildings and gardens. They also go about searching for water during dry weather.
  • Bed bugs also known as Cimex lectularius is a species of Cimicidae. They are the world’ most nuisance pest. They are small, elusive and parasitic in nature.[Pests]

Ants as pests

An ant and a water droplet on a leaf

 An ant.

  • Ants forage for newly planted seeds in the garden and take it to their nest reducing the growth of plants in a garden.
  • When ants find something of their use like sweets or meats, they recruit more ants to gather that and take it to their nest. This leads to a lot of ants appearing in a small time period.
  • Ants tend to find cavities for nesting purposes, they don’t attack solid structures but they use pre existing cavities for nesting purposes.
  • They can excavate soil for nesting purposes but unless it’s on a golf course it is not that damaging to a building structure.
  • Some species of ants are attracted to the magnetic field produced by electrical wires and this leads to the ants disrupting electrical circuits.
  • They tend to shift nesting ground with the amount of food source available and also according to the disturbance they face.
  • Some species of ants such as Myrmecia, and Odontomachus tend to sting and people are sensitive to it.
  • Some ants such as Monomorium, and Linepithema humile are carriers of diseases and disrupt hospitals and veterinary clinics. But these ants are found in Argentina.[Pests]

Bed Bugs

boxwood

                                                                                                                            ladybug insect boxwood

  • They are found in human dwelling, in bat caves and in bird nests as they look for a warm place and a host to feed on.
  • Bed bugs are found mainly in harborages in human dwellings in cracks and crevices of walls, furniture, wood paneling or under carpets.
  • They are active at night and they can be transported in clothing and in luggagees. But they can also feed on the host during daytime. 
  • They are mostly found in tropical, subtropical regions.
  • But they lack appendages hence can not cling on the host.
  • Adult bed bugs are oval and flattened in shape; they tend to swell up after feeding on the host.
  • Cimex lectularius, and Cimex hemipterus are the most common species of bed bugs found.
  • A female bed bug lays 12 eggs in a day which hatch into colourless nymphs in 17 days and they develop into complete adults by 10 weeks.
  • They are mostly active at night , hence not seen easily. So sanitation should be done properly and should be looking for brown spots in mattresses. 
  • Pesticides should be used only in severe cases, rest vacuuming, caulking and sealing with loose wallpaper should be done.[Pests]

Internal links:

Leafhopper – Erakina

Planthopper- the foe of the paddy field-Erakina

How To Control Pests In The Food Industries – Erakina

External links:

Read more about pest in your house or bed

By ANUSHKA ASH

Date: 27/12/2021

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