Little brown bugs in your apartment? Do they scare you by crawling in the closet, on the curtains and on the windowsill? Meet your roommate, this is a carpet beetle. This insect is not such a rare guest. You will have to fight the pest.

The face of the enemy

The carpet beetle is a coleopteran insect. They are black or brown in color, with a body up to 12 mm long and elongated or round in shape. The bug is covered with hairs or scales.

In nature, skin beetles play the role of a recycler of dust, wool, feathers, and bones of dead animals. These are natural cleaners. Because man is actively destroying them natural environment habitat, they have to move into apartments.

Carpet beetles are not at all harmless. They are harmful to human health. One bite little bug, and the household picked up some viral infection or become infected with helminths. A bite can also cause an allergic reaction - unbearable itching in the bitten area.

First of all, household members in the vicinity of small brown bugs should be wary of things made of fur, leather, wool, silk, felt, feathers, horns, fluff, etc. In the kitchen, the carpet beetle will stop at cheese, meat, milk powder, dried or smoked fish, some cereals.

A special treat for the bug is glue, which it finds everywhere, for example, in the binding of books. This list can also include asbestos, rubber, cardboard. Plastic cables are also at risk.

Living insects in the neighborhood

These insects love warmth and dryness. Therefore, you need to look for them in precisely these places: radiators, window sills, cabinet drawers, under mattresses and carpets, in sofas, etc. Of course, you also need to inspect the kitchen. Housewives often find lifeless bugs on the stove with their paws raised up.

Sometimes it happens that there is simply no specific focus. Here you will have to focus on the type of bug. Carpet individuals love places where dust and dirt accumulate, which are rarely cleaned. These include spaces under furniture and carpet. Their larvae feed on small particles various materials– dust, lint, hair, paper and other organic residues. Such food is available even in the cleanest apartment, as it appears a day after cleaning. But Smirnov’s leather beetles adore windows and lamp shades.

Carefully check the sofa upholstery and baseboards. Sometimes insects simply have nowhere to hide but there.

Types of skin beetles

There are more than 600 of them in nature, but only 7 of them are especially dangerous. And to get rid of unpleasant neighborhood, it is necessary to find out its “pedigree”. Apartment conditions are not suitable for all individuals, which is good news. Only five species will be comfortable at home, but they can do just fine without fur and leather.

1. Carpet beetle. These are dark brown individuals that feed on house dust. Often found in everyday life. Only the larvae are dangerous, since the adult beetle does not feed on anything; it uses up its previously accumulated reserves.
2. Ham bug. Loves human houses; this is the most common species in the European part. It can be distinguished by its elongated body shape with a black color and yellow areas above.
3. Carpet beetle Smirnov. This individual loves windows, window sills, and lamps. Brown bug 3 mm long.
4. Museum and house beetle. It is rarely found in residential conditions, despite its name. Hiding in flower pots.
5. Fur beetle. This is the most harmful type. In the apartment he eats mostly food. It is distinguished by its black spotted color.

The most common species are the Smirnov's leather beetle and the carpet beetle.

Risk area

Insect larvae require food. Some homes have more of it due to risk factors.

In terms of their purpose, carpet beetles are similar to moths. They have similar behavior, so the methods of dealing with them are similar.

Start with cleaning, vacuum the worst places. In winter, you can expose some things to the cold. It is advisable to freeze the entire house, but this is not always easy to achieve.

Clothing should also be sanitized. You can freeze it, boil it, or use pesticides. For each fabric, choose your own method so as not to spoil the item.

The beetles simply cannot withstand such a complex offensive on all fronts and will liberate the territory.

If you don’t want to do all this yourself, you can contact a special service. But it will cost money. But the pests retreat immediately after the first treatment. There is another plus - professionals give guarantees for their work.

The main thing is not to start a war with insects that have settled in the house for later. This is fraught with the fact that subsequently you will have to not only treat the apartment, but also make full-scale repairs to it. Save your belongings, nerves and health before the little brown bugs take over your entire territory.

In the warm season they begin to attack little brown bugs who sneak into apartments through open doors and windows.

The only reason many people don't notice them is that they live in dark and dusty places, such as window sills, closets, grocery bags, floor carpets, bran bags and many other places where they can meet an insidious beetle.

Nutrition is not particularly important for them, since they are omnivores (they feed on vegetation and dead tissue), but in an apartment they create a lot of trouble for humans. First, let's figure out who they are and where the little brown bugs in the apartment come from, what to do when they appear?

What kind of insect is that little brown bug in the apartment?

Life image in the nature of small ones brown bugs is that they act as orderlies and eat the remains of dead animals. Bug size about four millimeters, are dark brown or black in color, the coating is scaly and hairy.

Periodic temperature changes in the apartment cannot have a bad effect on adult beetles, since they can be found even in cold rooms (in the attic, in the basement). But they cannot stand sunlight in any way and try to avoid it.

The breeding cycle of the bug begins in the spring from April to summer period. At this point, carpets or clothing are chosen as a breeding site.

The life span of a bug goes through four cycles:

• The birth of an egg;
• Larval development in five stages;
• Transformation into a chrysalis;
• Imago.

The nutrition of adult beetles is somewhat different from that of larvae; the former can do without it at all, while the latter feed around the clock.

During the breeding season, beetles can have up to a hundred eggs. After laying eggs, adults die. The size of their eggs is approximately 2 millimeters. The offspring develop slowly, over the course of a month, but the larvae reach adulthood only after 1 year.

Flying little brown bug

A small brown bug, with its appearance and ability to fly throughout the apartment, creates an unfavorable phenomenon for a person. Adult leather beetles fly a lot, but only during the day: at night they hide in shelter.

The most favorable environment for the little brown bug is a well-humidified and furnished apartment. They can live in well-heated housing all year round.

Their movement is very slow, sometimes it may even seem that they are not in control of their flight; when they collide with a person, they suddenly turn over onto their back.

Little brown bug on the windowsill

If a small brown bug appears on your windowsill in your house, then you must immediately take measures to destroy the pest before it begins to multiply throughout the apartment, since in the future, removing it may not be easy for you.

Living on a windowsill usually does not depend on the season. Since their color is dark, it is impossible not to notice them on a white windowsill.

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Who are skin beetles?

Little brown bugs are called differently skin beetles. You can often find skin beetles even in a cleanly cleaned apartment. If, after all, there are small brown beetles in the apartment, then identify their location and carry out disinfestation.

They are considered dangerous even for such public places as a library, archive, museum. Adults reproduce very quickly, but the beetle larvae can be especially dangerous. They can develop in all rooms where it is dry. Older beetles are sensitive to odors, especially pungent ones, unlike the larvae.

What do skin beetles eat?

Since leather beetles are considered omnivores, they will find something to eat in any corner of the apartment (in the kitchen, bedroom, etc.). In any living space, the bug quickly adapts to all types of products, including wood.

There are different types of bugs such as:

• Flour eater (exclusively loves flour and cereals);
• The borer, small in appearance, feeds on wood, furniture, old materials; the borer is also found in baked goods;
• Carpet beetles are similar to moths in the same behavior: they can eat fur coats, fur and leather products.

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Why are small brown bugs dangerous in an apartment?

Not many people have encountered this problem, wondering if bugs are dangerous?

You shouldn’t be sure that the little bugs will leave your home sooner or later; believe me, they can multiply very quickly and live in different parts of your apartment. Bug bites can cause an inflammatory or allergic reaction in humans, and due to their omnivorous nature, they can be sources of viruses and helminths.

How to get rid of small brown bugs in an apartment?

The first step when getting rid of bugs is to identify their location and pay attention to food products. Bugs really like sweets and foods containing a large number of carbohydrates.

If bugs are detected, you should get rid of contaminated products; these could be cereals, crackers, dried fruits. It is best to get rid of small ones in spring or autumn, since at this time of year they are especially sensitive to chemicals.

Destruction in furniture

If furniture turns out to be the habitat of beetles, then it is necessary to thoroughly rinse not only the infected object, but also disinfect it special means for furniture without leading to its destruction.

Freezing the premises

Freezing a room is folk method, which helps get rid of bugs without any effort. To do this, the apartment is cooled to a temperature of -12 degrees and maintained at this temperature for 1-3 hours.

It happens that the problem is not eliminated due to the fact that the bug can hide in another secluded place, and you have to resort to more effective chemical modern means. Should be carried out general cleaning indoors and try to ventilate it as often as possible. IN winter time You can take things out onto the balcony and let them freeze well.

Cleaning the premises

Let's consider what to do if small brown bugs are crawling around the apartment:

• Vacuum everything thoroughly with carpet treatment;
• Check places where dust accumulates;
• Floors should be washed with the addition of vinegar, ammonia or detergent;
• All items should be washed in hot water, if this cannot be done, then it should be taken outside.

Disinsection of premises

If you find that small brown bugs have appeared in your apartment, what should you do? When solving this issue, you need to use chemicals or ancient folk recipes.

Let's look at some folk recipes:

• Boric acid. With its help you can cope with any bugs. It is necessary to rub the powder applied to the brush into the skin beetle’s habitat. If possible, the procedure should be completed 2 times a week for about a month. The next day, everything should be washed and disinfected, the clothes should be treated, either left outside for a while, or washed in hot water. Naturally, fabrics are different, so use your own processing method for this. After this kind of action, the bugs will leave the territory.
• Anti-bug remedy. Apply aerosols or gel to the site of infection and leave for two hours. But recently, as experience shows, the method is not effective due to the adaptation of bugs to poisons.
• Preparations containing chlorpyrifos and bendiocarb — good methods getting rid of insects that have appeared in carpets or paths. However, their independent use does not always give good result, so it’s better to call special pest control services.
• Add PRN insecticide to the cleaning solution, designed to reduce further birth rates of bugs when processing carpets and upholstered furniture.

Means that affect skin beetles:
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Prevention

It is necessary to move the furniture once a year and wash everything thoroughly. For the purpose of preventive control, after general cleaning, wash the floors with vinegar for another three days.

It is necessary to adhere to some simple rules for protection against bug penetration:

• When the warm season arrives, it is necessary to install a net on the windows, thereby protecting the house from the penetration of skin beetles into the room.
• Seal the cracks in the apartment with plaster or polyurethane foam.
• Seasonal items should be treated with permethrin before storing them in the closet. When the time comes to wear this item, you should wash it.
• Try to ventilate the room every day, even in winter.
• Treat fur products with a specialized aerosol and then place them in vacuum bags for things.
• Sometimes review things that have been stored in the closet for a long time.
• Place special tablets or herbs with a pungent odor in the closet, because strong odors leather beetles don't like it.
• Keep your kitchen clean at all times. Store flour and cereals in glass jars, put other food products in the refrigerator or plastic bags.

Conclusion

Remember that if a small skin beetle happens to get into your apartment, you must immediately take measures to get it out. Carry out general cleaning, go through all corners of your house, move furniture away, look through everything, even hard-to-reach places, use chemicals.

If a pest bite occurs, immediately disinfect the area with hydrogen peroxide or alcohol. In addition to things and furniture, pay maximum attention to the walls, because even on them you can spot a bug. The premises are disinfected thoroughly and several times.

It must be admitted that many have not heard anything about small black-brown beetles - leather beetles. Which is strange, because the skin beetle is not such a rare guest in the apartment.

"Carpet beetles - Coleoptera insects black or Brown 1.3 -12 millimeters long. The body can be either elongated or round. The integument is covered with scales or hairs...”

Wait, are you sure you are interested in reading this further? Let's leave the encyclopedic description for amateur entomologists. After all, in the end, skin beetles are unlikely to be interesting to most people in themselves. You usually have to look for information about them when pests make themselves known in the apartment, for example in the sofa or on the windows. But you also need to know about the weaknesses of the “enemy” in order to be a “winner”.

Who are leather beetles and what do they look like?

Are there little brown bugs in your house? In this case, a photo is necessary to find out what they look like and compare whether you really have skin beetles.

It seems that the name of these beetles speaks for itself. However, not all skin beetles respond to this and eat only the skin; their diet is too varied. To be more precise, the concept of “inedible” is not familiar to the skin beetle. Brown bugs feed on everything; they can equally successfully use both ordinary synthetic fabric and cardboard with glue as a substrate. Plastic or even plaster are also used (biting into the walls). And yet, the domestic leather beetle lives primarily on materials of animal origin. The exception is the fur coat beetle, which, contrary to its name, shows more interest in bread and oatmeal“Hercules” than to “fur coats”. Perhaps that is why the economic damage from it is not so great compared to its other relatives in the family.

For what materials is leather beetle dangerous?

Carpet beetles primarily pose a danger to products made of leather, fur, silk, wool, skins, felt, hair, horns, feathers, down, etc. The beetles will also not refuse the following foodstuffs: meat, cheese, dried and smoked fish, powdered milk , some types of grain products.

An alternative to natural food in the form of glue, including that contained in book bindings, seems very “tasty” to the skin beetle. Cardboard, asbestos, rubber or plastic from which the cables are made - all this can also be damaged if skin beetles appear in the apartment.

Where do the strange brown bugs come from, and how do they even get into the apartment?

The carpet beetle settles in in the summer, entering the room through open windows. They can also be brought in with books, things, and upholstered furniture from the affected premises. There are also frequent cases of infection with a recently purchased flower pot.

Where do skin beetles live in an apartment? How to find these beetles?

Adult beetles fly around the apartment and can unexpectedly and loudly “fly into someone’s forehead” without calculating their flight path. Until this happens, better first find those who replenish their fat reserves by destroying valuable materials. The beetle prefers warm, dry places; they can often be found near a radiator, on a windowsill, in a closet drawer, as well as under carpets, in and near sofas, in mattresses, etc. Skin beetles are often seen in the kitchen; for example, many people find beetles with their legs upside down on the kitchen stove.

There can be much more beetles than it might seem at first glance, because most of them are hidden from human eyes in the form of larvae that have gnawed into the substrate, which are actually engaged in sabotage of valuable materials, products, etc. Until you find out what attracts beetles to your home, it will be impossible to localize the source of their spread.

Carefully inspect your sofa, especially its upholstery, from all sides. This place is the most frequent stronghold of skin beetle larvae.

It also happens that there is simply no specific outbreak - clothes in closets, contaminated cereals, etc. For example, carpet beetles choose hard-to-reach places from which dust and dirt are rarely swept away, or where they accumulate most quickly. The larvae of these beetles feed on a layer of dust, small pieces different materials- paper, carpet lint, hair and various organic debris. This kind of residue appears in any apartment within a couple of days after cleaning, under cabinets, beds, etc. (even if no one lives in it).

“Where do skin beetle larvae most often like to settle? Under the baseboards. Trite? Maybe, but sometimes there’s just nowhere for them to hide like underneath.”

Adults of Smirnov's skin beetle, as a rule, crawl onto windows, lamps, they can be found between window frames or inside lamp shades.

Top 6 skin beetles by prevalence in Russia

The leather beetle family includes 600 species of beetles, many of them are morphologically similar to each other. However, out of all the variety of subfamilies and species, dangerous pests are only seven. They represent the most serious threat food, things, and in general - the sanitary and epidemiological situation of the apartment as a whole. And it’s not so easy to find out what type of skin beetle the uninvited guest belongs to. To get rid of them, by and large, you don’t need to know this, because the tactics for exterminating all skin beetles are approximately the same.

There are 4-5 types that are comfortable in a city apartment. It should be noted that they can get along just fine without fur and with leather.

1. Ham skin beetle- the most common on the Eurasian continent. It can start in a person's house. The ham skin beetle is found quite often in apartments. The beetle is oblong in shape, black in color, with a yellowish-gray (or brown) part at the top of the wings.

2. Carpet beetles- this is the customary name for a small group of 2-3 dark brown skin beetles, which are united by the fact that they are able to feed only on particles of house dust containing the smallest organic debris (fur coat, carpet, etc. skin beetles). Often found in everyday life. Only the larvae feed; the adult beetle goes without food, using up its accumulated fat reserves.

Most likely, having discovered several such strange individuals, it will never occur to anyone that it is a skin beetle, especially if you do not know that it grows in houses. They are most often called by what they look like - small brown bugs.

3. Kozheed Smirnova- a small brown bug reaching a maximum of 3 mm in length. It was brought to Russia about half a century ago, but during this time it managed to adapt to living in private houses and became a full-fledged synanthrope. It is this type of skin beetle that loves windows and window sills in apartments.

4. Fur coat beetle is a black spotted beetle with five small white spots on the back. It is not as harmful as other species, and is also quite rare in apartments. But if he gets into an apartment, he mostly eats food, but does not touch the products.

5. Museum and house leather beetles- can live in flowers in apartments and houses, but are practically not found in home life, despite the fact that the name of the latter is “brownie”.

6. Kozheed Frisch- a black oval beetle; in our practice, there have been no cases of infestation of apartments with this species.

The most common species of carpet beetles in the European part of Russia and Siberia are the carpet beetle and the Smirnov carpet beetle. These are the so-called “little brown bugs on window sills and plastic windows.” But it is not uncommon for both ham and fur skin beetles to appear in the house (the latter of which is black spotted).

Carpet beetles are classified as pests of supplies and materials; in terms of their importance for household and industrial farming, as well as biology and behavior, they are quite similar to moths in many ways. This leads to similar tactics of extermination and.

Are there any bugs? This means their larvae are somewhere. If you find these beetles hanging motionless on curtains, ceiling, etc. - these are also skin beetles. They may play dead by rolling over on their back, leading you to think they are not a threat. The constant presence of black or dark brown beetles (on plastic windows, frames, etc.) in an apartment tells us that some room is being damaged by larvae. This fact is an indisputable truth. This is similar to the conclusion that we are accustomed to making when we see moths flying, indicating that old clothes in a dusty mezzanine are certainly eaten by caterpillars.

Larvae. The presence of skin beetles can be determined by the hairy larvae with long, sometimes colored “tails.”

They are often confused with moth larvae in cabinets.

In an apartment, skin beetle larvae are often found in the sofa or some furniture. As a rule, larvae are discovered completely unexpectedly and by accident, while describing them as brown or striped. If there are worms in the sofa, this means that skin beetles have appeared in the apartment. The caterpillars in the sofa are the same larvae of skin beetles. Pulling back the edge of the blanket, you can see these slightly light larvae on the mattress.

12 facts: what you need to know about skin beetles

1. They prefer dry rooms, bite exclusively into dry substrates and generally cannot tolerate moisture in any form.
2. They prefer materials and products of animal origin.
3. They can appear in the apartment regardless of the time of year and living conditions, but most often the apartments are inhabited by skin beetles in summer months, getting through open windows.
4. Basically, skin beetles are widespread everywhere. In regions with a dry climate there are much more of them.
5. Adult leather beetles fly actively in an apartment, but they do this only during the day and hide at night. They often fly when the lights are on at night.
6. Like other pests with complete metamorphosis, they harm materials only at the larval stage. Adult beetles do not pose a danger to products and materials, but they can mislead people by turning over on their backs and pretending to be dead.
7. Before the larva becomes a beetle, it will spend about 2-3 months destroying materials and eating supplies.
8. The larvae of all types of carpet beetles do not like open places in the light, but prefer to hide in darkened areas (inside cabinets and drawers, or parquet cracks). But adult beetles, on the contrary, are drawn to light, and therefore are often found on windows or near lamps.
9. The larva of the leather beetle is self-resistant and much more tenacious than the larva of a moth.
10. The larvae of skin beetles are extremely mobile and equally active regardless of the time of day.
11. The warmer and drier the room, the faster and more the skin beetles multiply in it. If on the contrary, then the development of all stages of beetles slows down, the larvae molt more often, and cause more damage.
12. Carpet beetles are dangerous to humans. Both larvae and beetles can bite and thus spread infection.

Checklist for assessing the degree of harmfulness of infection

For larvae of skin beetles of all types, a nutrient medium is vitally needed that would supply them with keratin-containing elements - horny particles, hair, fur and all animals, plant and artificial, the like. In your apartment, pay attention to what can serve as such a source for skin beetles:

• Do you keep stuffed animals or birds at home, or maybe a collection of insects? Consider that a source has been discovered. If there is fur at home, but the leather beetles have not yet reached these things, it is quite possible that the conditions for the beetles are unsuitable, and the eggs develop slowly. This usually happens when the house is cold or damp.
• Do you have a rare collection of tomes, or do you just like to keep books at home? Take care of the safety of their bindings.
• Have you recently bought something special made from materials that the leather beetle happily eats? Find the larvae and all adult beetles as soon as possible and destroy them before they multiply and completely damage new things. Perhaps these materials served as a source of infection.

Little brown bugs that you spotted on your windowsill or kitchen cabinets– leather beetles, flour beetles or bread grinders.

Holders plastic windows in modern apartments, from time to time you may notice the sudden appearance of small brown bugs on your windowsill. This insect is somewhat reminiscent ladybug, only several times smaller. They do not pose any particular danger or harm to humans, but their appearance can cause a lot of other troubles. On a white background plastic window sill they are clearly visible, so they are difficult to miss.

Varieties

Before you take on the destruction uninvited guests, it is necessary to determine what kind of insects appeared. It may be that which feeds mainly wooden products and especially loves old furniture. It is also quite possible for a fish to appear that prefers cereals and flour. The size of the beetles is no more than 2-4 mm, and the color is brown or dark yellow.

In addition to wood, the grinder feeds on old books, which it grinds into dust and lays eggs there; later its larvae also live there. Flour eaters are slightly smaller than grinders and much more omnivorous. In addition to flour products and cereals, they also feed on books and wooden furniture.

In addition to the above-mentioned individuals, the carpet beetle can also move into an apartment. It is no longer considered as harmless as the previous ones, since it can cause a lot of harm, and is also unsafe for human health.

There are many species of carpet beetles, but not all are adapted to apartment conditions. The main varieties should be highlighted:

• Carpet. It feeds mainly on dust and is brown in color. In everyday life, only its larvae are considered dangerous, since the adult individual no longer feeds on anything, but only uses up accumulated reserves.
• Ham. It has an oblong body shape, black in color, with yellow antennae. It is considered the most common type.
• Kozheed Smirnova. The individual is brown in color, 3 mm in diameter. It lives mainly on window sills and lamps.
• Fur coat. One of the most harmful bugs among the above. It feeds mainly on food and has a black spotted color.

Bugs on the windowsill can appear at any time of the year. They enter the apartment through ventilation, an open window. Some species disappear by autumn, while others remain all year round.

Methods of disposal

You can eliminate such a problem as beetles living on the windowsill or elsewhere in the apartment without resorting to expensive chemicals. It is enough to discover the breeding ground and get rid of it.

You should move all the furniture and carefully inspect it for cracks, crevices, and rotten areas. Next, you need to go through all the books, and especially old copies. Conduct an audit of products: flour, crackers, dried fruits, etc.

Small bark beetles love sweets the most, so you should check there first.

Once an insect nest has been discovered, it should be eliminated along with spoiled food. Cereals, dried fruits, flour, etc. must be thrown away immediately. If bugs are found in furniture, the damaged area must be thoroughly cleaned of debris and treated with a special wood protection agent. It is also better to get rid of books or bake them in the sun if they are of value.

To eliminate pests, you can also use chemicals, for example, boric acid, which should be rubbed into the affected areas. There are other substances sold in stores in the form of sprays, aerosols, gels, etc. The procedure should be repeated several times a month, and the treated areas should be washed a day after each manipulation.

Prevention

Any cracks or chips found on furniture must be treated and sealed. Cereals should be stored in glass or plastic or well tied plastic bags. If food is stale, it is better to get rid of it immediately so that it doesn’t end up there later. The shelves on which food is stored also need to be periodically wiped and dried.

If you find small brown insects on the windowsill or anywhere else in the apartment, you should not panic. Most likely, these are carpet beetles or borers. They do not pose a serious danger to humans, but you should get rid of them as soon as possible so that they do not cause damage to furniture, books, clothing or food.

Do you know all your neighbors? Sure? Some of them are so small that you simply can’t see them. Insects live in almost every home. This is a fact: even if you don’t see them, this almost always means that the “roommates” are simply hiding very successfully. In some cases, insects in an apartment are absolutely harmless, but some of their species pose a serious danger not only to food and things, but also to the person himself. In general, get acquainted!

For thousands of years, people have sought shelter, starting with the first cave, then building shelters from tree branches and leaves, and making tents from animal skins. Time passed and developed additional tools, humanity began to build houses from strong wood and stone, houses appeared. And always, from the very first home, various insects lived next to a person. Today we see them as uninvited guests and prefer to live without them. But if you think about it, they were before us, and they will be after us. For your consideration, here is a list of 15 small creatures with whom you may share your home. They are also called synanthropes (non-domesticated plants and microorganisms whose lifestyle is associated with humans and their homes, for example, cockroaches, house flies, house mice, bed bugs).

15. Spiders

Spiders are probably one of the most common creatures with which we share our homes, and some of these arachnids will appear on this list more than once. There is a great variety of spiders in nature, more than 45,000 various types. Overall, modern spiders have spread throughout the world over the past 200 million years, which is largely responsible for their wide distribution and diversity. The spider does not do anything bad in the house, sometimes it even does good - it catches flies. Our ancestors had a huge number of signs associated with spiders, mostly positive. They say spiders are harbingers of good things to come. But, probably, if you trust signs too much, you will be completely covered in cobwebs.

14. Ground beetles

Just like spiders, beetles are very ancient and well-adapted creatures for survival. There are more than 40,000 species of ground beetles alone in the world, and these insects come to our homes uninvited. The most common is the bread ground beetle. They usually cause damage to crops in fields, but are increasingly found in ordinary apartments. The bread ground beetle crawls into the apartment only if it likes the living conditions. As soon as the insect gets into the house, when darkness falls, it goes to look for food (crumbs, food left on the table, cereals). Ground beetles interfere with sleep, rustle, fall from the ceiling onto the bed or directly onto you. And if they have found food, then the next step will be their reproduction. So, if a ground beetle appears in the house, you need to take immediate action.

13. Crickets

The wise cricket who gave advice to Pinocchio probably looked something different. And ordinary crickets are creepy insects, sometimes of enormous size. A folk sign says that if there is a cricket in the house, then this is a sign of happiness and prosperity. But people who have been visited by this “happiness” in large numbers do not share this point of view and are looking for ways to get rid of them. About 2.3 thousand species of these insects are known in the world, of which only about 50 are found in Russia. Most of them live in subtropical and tropical countries. Our most famous species are the field cricket and the house cricket. The house cricket in the southern part of the country lives both in apartments and in nature. In the central and northern regions, he lives only in houses near people, and gives preference to the old warm rooms With high humidity. These insects live and breed well in warm basements flooded with water. Sometimes crickets can spoil food and even things in the apartment, just like moths. Therefore, although popular wisdom advises against offending them, it is better to remove the crickets. Unless, of course, you like the “night concerts” that crickets usually organize.

12. Book louse

11. Carpet mite

Scientists have found more than 1,000 different species of house ticks, and all of them cause great harm to humans, all year round. Any carpet or carpet covering It collects dust perfectly, it accumulates in its villi and even daily cleaning will not give a positive result - dust and mites will still remain there. Ticks, unlike most insects on this list, are very harmful to humans. The ticks themselves are capable of leaving behind their waste products in the form of feces, which contain digestive enzymes, they destroy the cells of the human body and can cause severe allergies and asthma. The damage caused by carpet mites is not limited to allergies: conjunctivitis, allergic rhinitis, atypical dermatitis and others can develop. It's easy to deal with them - throw out all the carpets and upholstered furniture, Once and for all!

10. Dark-winged mosquito

The main harm is that they squeak and interfere with sleep! Thank God, humanity has invented many ways to get rid of mosquitoes. Mosquito net, repellents and fumigators are a whole industry. Place fresh branches of elderberry, bird cherry, Caucasian chamomile or basil in the rooms, and place a container with tomato seedlings or geranium in a pot under the windows and on the balcony. Mosquitoes do not like the smell of these plants, so they will want to leave your home as soon as possible. According to folk signs, these small, disgustingly buzzing bloodsuckers - mosquitoes - are capable of causing not only absolute harm, but also benefit, predicting the weather and future events. Clouds of mosquitoes mean good weather tomorrow. Painful mosquito bites and a particularly active buzzing of bloodsuckers - foretells imminent bad weather and night rain.

9. Spitting spider

As mentioned earlier, this list will feature more than one species of spider. Spiders of this species catch prey by spraying a liquid onto it, which neutralizes it by solidifying into a toxic and sticky mass upon contact. You can observe the habit of spiders swaying from side to side. They do this to wrap up their prey. Most spiders are only capable of producing silk, but Scytodes spitting spiders are an exception. Together with the silk, they release poison from their mouths, and silk strands soaked in the toxin, falling on the spider’s victim, bind it. These spiders are not dangerous to humans, do not weave large trap webs, and are unremarkable in appearance. But they still have one peculiarity - during the hunt they “spit” their prey. This may sound a little harsh, but it's accurate. This is why they got their name “spits”. Spitting spiders live in both warm tropical and temperate regions, including Russia - in human homes, where it is warm.

8. Clothes moth

Moths inhabit houses and are a household pest, whose caterpillars spoil fabrics by eating them and gnaw the silk upholstery of furniture. Damage to products is caused only by caterpillars, because imagoes are deprived oral apparatus gnawing type. In the dark at night, adult moths fly towards an artificial light source. According to some data, house moth caterpillars also feed on substances plant origin, namely grains of wheat, barley, oats, corn, flour and dry bread. House moths are widespread worldwide, this type Lepidoptera is a serious pest in human homes. They feed on clothing, carpets, blankets and upholstery, as well as fur, wool, feathers and miscellaneous items such as animal bristles used to make toothbrushes and piano fibers.

7. Woodlice

Generally speaking, woodlice are not insects (they are crustaceans), but they lead approximately the same lifestyle as cockroaches. When threatened, they curl up, simulating death.
In most cases, wood lice appear only in those apartments where it is constantly damp, for example, water leaks from pipes. These insects are excellent indicators of various plumbing breakdowns and depressurization of flanges. The appearance of woodlice in an apartment, first of all, should worry lovers of indoor flowers, because if measures are not taken in time and they are not removed, the plants will soon die. First of all, these insects harm moisture-loving tropical plants which have a thin and delicate root system(orchid, fern, cactus), hitting it specifically, so if you have just such plants, then you should fight more actively.

5. Ants

IN different time years and in different regions countries in an apartment, and even more so in a private house, you can often find representatives of various types of ants. Very often, ants in an apartment are random guests, carried on clothes or with things. Among them are insects different sizes and flowers. However, the only real pest in the apartment is the so-called pharaoh ant - independent species heat-loving small ants, which in our latitudes cannot live anywhere other than residential heated premises. These red ants in the apartment are a real problem: they are numerous, spoil food, and can carry pathogens various diseases, and besides, they are removed with great difficulty.
One colony of house ants can contain several dozen queens and up to 350 thousand workers. The reasons why red ants appear in an apartment, although not numerous, can be found in almost any home. That is why small red ants are successfully conquering more and more new areas and are likely to appear in any apartment, even the cleanest one.

4. Serebryanka (common silverfish)

You may have once seen them in the bathroom or toilet if you went there in the middle of the night (when the light is turned on, they quickly run away). Those thin, silvery, small things on the floor? Do you remember? They are called silverfish. Like most of the other creatures on this list, silverfish pose no real harm to us and they don't bite. Cases of contact did not reveal any negative impact on human health. They feed on products of plant origin containing starch or polysaccharides; but they may not eat anything for months. Their diet may include sugar, flour, glue, book binding, paper, photographs, starchy fabrics. From storage areas can be brought into the house through purchase toilet paper or cardboard boxes with paper napkins. They are harmless to humans and pets and are not carriers of diseases, but can damage damp paper.
Their scientific name is “common silverfish” (lat. Lepisma saccharina). It is believed that the silverfish is one of the most ancient living insects - its ancestors lived on Earth more than 300 million years ago, back in the Paleozoic era. Silverfish prefer damp and dark places; if the house is dry and light, then there will be no silverfish there.

3. Cockroaches

The remains of cockroaches are, along with the remains of cockroaches, the most numerous traces of insects in Paleozoic deposits. Additionally, cockroaches are the earliest known Polyneoptera, possibly descending from the ancestor of the entire subcohort. They have always been and will be on Earth. There are more than 4,600 known species of cockroaches; are especially numerous in the tropics and subtropics. There are 55 species on the territory of the former USSR. In recent years, there have been popular reports about a decrease in the number of certain species of cockroaches in the CIS (they say they have completely left apartments in St. Petersburg and some other cities - no one was upset, but the reasons are interesting).
A number of cockroaches live in human dwellings, being synanthropes, for example, the red cockroach (Prusak), or the black cockroach. Others are brought with tropical products to temperate countries and sometimes take root in heated rooms (American cockroach). Cockroaches can cause damage food products, leather goods, book bindings, room and greenhouse plants. Some cockroaches, feeding on various waste, including feces, are carriers of infectious diseases (for example, dysentery) and worm eggs.

2. Harvesting spider

Hay-making spiders that build trapping webs are ubiquitous. Hanging upside down on their jumbled, tangled, uneven web. Webs are built in dark, damp niches of caves, trees and under stones, in lairs abandoned by mammals, for example, in cellars and various buildings. In human homes, they love dry and warm places near windows. How dangerous are harvest spiders to humans? Suffice it to say that they spend the poison they have exclusively on their victims, inflicting a paralyzing bite on them. He is not enough for anything more. The main reason for declaring war on arachnids is arachnophobia. Some people cannot even stand them visually; for others, a creature that gets on their body causes panic. The problem is so serious that psychologists are working on it.

1. Flycatcher

The common flycatcher, also known as the house centipede, is often found in private houses and cottages, and is also found in apartments. Due to its significant size, repulsive appearance and the high speed of movement of this insect, suddenly appearing in the house, often inspires horror in the residents. But the house centipede is a peaceful and completely harmless insect. They usually appear in search of food from the street or from a neighboring apartment. If centipedes can find a constant source of food in the house, then there is a high probability of their appearance in this room. Centipedes are especially common in private homes, settling in basements, ground floors and underground floors, from where they go hunting, moving through all the rooms.