Is it true that cockroaches eat bedbugs and their eggs?

About bed bugs

Bed bugs settle in close proximity to humans.
Insects feed exclusively on blood. Even the female will not begin to lay eggs until she has drunk enough of this “life-giving moisture.” An adult consumes up to 7 ml of human blood, which is twice its own weight. The process of reproduction of bloodsuckers can occur at any time of the year. Life expectancy on average is about 1.5 years. Excessively low (-17 degrees) and high temperatures (+45 degrees) are harmful to insects.

Bed bugs - their larvae and eggs

Interesting!

The night image is the only similarity between bedbugs and cockroaches. “Hunting” for both takes place mainly at night. Only severe hunger can force a bloodsucker to crawl into the light.

The presence of bloodsuckers in the house can be determined not only by bites on the body, but also by characteristic signs: a specific smell, as well as dried blood stains on the bed.

More about bed bugs

Bed bugs prefer to live in a person's home and choose sleeping quarters to live in order to be closer to a food source. These parasites feed only on animal or human blood. The female bedbug does not begin laying eggs until she drinks blood. An adult insect drinks up to 7 ml of blood in one night, which is 2 times its weight.

The reproduction of these vampires does not depend in any way on the season and occurs continuously if there is enough food. Under normal conditions, an adult bedbug lives for one and a half years. Bloodsuckers die in frosts of minus 17 degrees and below, and even in heat, when the thermometer shows +45 degrees.

Bedbugs and cockroaches have only two things in common. They go for prey at night. They crawl out into the light, driven by severe hunger.

The presence of bloodsuckers in a home can be detected by the following signs:

• characteristic smell;
• bite marks on the body;
• blood stains on the sheet.

Are cockroaches and bedbugs able to coexist peacefully?

Cockroaches and bedbugs are quite capable of getting along in the same apartment, as they have different lifestyles and spheres of influence. Moreover, the statement whether cockroaches eat bedbugs can also be answered in the negative. You shouldn't sit around waiting for insects to exterminate each other. Cockroaches and locusts do not eat bed bugs. These household pests have a variety of diets and habitats. If cockroaches can settle in the kitchen, feeding on crumbs and leftover food, then bedbugs live closer to humans, since it is he who is the source of food for them.

The only threat cockroaches pose is to bedbug eggs, eating them when there is a lack of their usual food. But such a phenomenon is quite rare; pests coexist quite friendly, increasing their populations and thereby complicating the life of apartment owners.

But the combination of bedbugs and ants is dangerous for bloodsuckers. Also, enemies of parasites include centipedes and spiders.

Treatment against cockroaches and bedbugs is carried out by specialized services. There are also various control methods that differ in their degree of effectiveness and safety. You can get rid of bedbugs by freezing, heat treatment, as well as using pesticides and folk remedies. The key to a successful result is timely adoption of measures.

How to prevent cockroaches and bedbugs from appearing in your home?

Many people associate the appearance of insects in the house with unsanitary conditions. This is correct, because the risk of bedbugs or cockroaches in the house is significantly reduced by regular cleaning, timely removal of garbage and ventilation. However, cleanliness is not a 100% guarantee that insects will not enter the home, because they can enter the apartment from neighbors, or get into the grates along with old things or furniture.

To minimize the risk of cockroaches and bedbugs appearing in the house, repairs should be carried out in a timely manner, sealing cracks and cracks, special filters with a fine mesh should be placed on the ventilation holes, and bunches of herbs can be placed in the ventilation shafts themselves, the smell of which repels insects. Such simple but effective measures will significantly reduce the likelihood of such unpleasant neighbors as bedbugs and cockroaches appearing in the house.

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Briefly about cockroaches

Common people believe that cockroaches (red cockroaches) are not as dangerous to humans as bed bugs. In their opinion, there is no particular harm from the Prussians, except that they cause a feeling of disgust and disgust.

We should not forget that on their paws they introduce a pathogenic infection into the house, and their secretions cause severe allergies in some people.

For the normal life of these baleen arthropods, three conditions are needed:

• warm;
• food;
• water.

Since they find these conditions in the kitchen area, they settle there. You can find them during the day in secluded places, cracks, crevices. They crawl out of their shelters exclusively at night in search of food.

Identifying cockroaches in the house is not difficult. If you suddenly turn on the light in the bathroom or kitchen at night, you will see a cockroach quickly running away.

The fact that there are cockroaches in the kitchen will be indicated by insect feces and chitinous shells left during the molting process.

Differences between bedbug baiting and cockroach baiting

Bedbugs and cockroaches are difficult to remove insects because they are resilient and capable of rapid reproduction. Only disinfestation allows you to completely get rid of them. However, it is problematic to destroy these pests using the same method, since they lead different lifestyles and feed differently. Below we will take a closer look at the main differences between bedbug baiting and cockroach baiting.

Where do cockroaches live?

Bedbugs and cockroaches may well coexist in the same apartment. Only cockroaches, unlike bedbugs, which settle closer to humans, prefer the kitchen and bathroom, that is, places where there is moisture. Cockroaches are easier to kill because they can eat anything. Their jaws are quite strong, which allows them to consume dense food. These insects eat paper, glue and other organics that are inedible for the human body. For this reason, cockroaches are able to live even in the absence of humans for a long time. Cockroaches do not pay attention to bedbugs, so the claim that they feed on them is a big misconception.

How to kill cockroaches

These pests love warmth and die at temperatures as low as minus five degrees and are not able to survive in a poorly heated room. So they can be frozen in non-residential premises or where, at low temperatures, there is no threat of damage to heating systems and water supplies. Of course, the procedure should be carried out during seasons when the outside temperature is below twenty degrees Celsius. For baiting cockroaches, products that have the taste and smell of simple products are well suited. Naturally, they must contain poison. For example, you can use boric acid dough balls. Other baits are made based on this acid, after which they are laid out throughout the apartment. In its pure form it is useless, as it repels parasites with its smell. Complete destruction of cockroaches is ensured by professional preparations that meet the requirements of Gosstandart. Brands of such products as Taran, Sichlor, Foscon are especially popular. Such drugs are allowed to be used in private homes and public places. They are harmless, do not emit unpleasant odors and guarantee a long-lasting residual effect. To more effectively kill cockroaches, you can use several drugs at the same time. It should be borne in mind that insufficiently high-quality chemical treatment of the premises will not make it possible to eliminate insects. When disinsection, it is imperative to deprive parasites of access to moisture. You need to check if the pipes in the house are leaking, and also wipe the sinks and surfaces in the kitchen dry.

Where do bedbugs live?

Bedbugs have a fairly flat body, ideal for camouflage. The structure of the insect does not make it possible to swat it with ease, unlike a cockroach. Insects feed on human blood and for this reason often settle in the bedroom. After drinking the blood, the pest’s body swells and acquires a reddish tint. It is at this time that the bug is very vulnerable, but it is careful, and it is very difficult to identify it in the light of the sun on your own. During the daytime, bedbugs hide in secluded places, for example, in cracks behind the baseboard, inside the mattress, in the housing of household appliances, books or under carpets.

Features of bedbug disinfestation

A bedbug cannot be eliminated like a cockroach using boric acid pellets, since the poison will not cause any harm to it. These pests do not consume such poison. To eliminate bedbugs, insecticidal substances of the fourth hazard class are usually used, which are highly effective and are absolutely safe for humans and pets.

When disinfesting, experts often use pyrethrum powder, which has the properties of a potent poison. It is scattered in the habitats of parasites, and then, using a special device, is blown into the cracks and cracks in which bedbugs hide. Another popular drug for eliminating bedbugs is called karbofos. This substance is released in the form of a powder or concentrated solution. It smells quite unpleasant, but disappears instantly. Preparations for baiting bedbugs, as a rule, contain three active elements - permethrin, cypermethrin, as well as a substance that enhances their effect. Treatment with such means ensures the elimination of parasites. True, repeated disinfestation may be required due to larvae hatching from surviving eggs.

Who to turn to for help

Getting rid of bedbugs and cockroaches on your own is extremely problematic, especially when they are widespread. It is best to call specialists to your home who are guaranteed to eliminate the problem in a short time. For example, our company has extensive experience in exterminating domestic insects. We use only safe, proven, high-quality drugs that allow you to completely get rid of parasites.

Can bedbugs and cockroaches live peacefully in an apartment?

Due to the fact that cockroaches and bedbugs have different food supplies and, by and large, have nothing to share, they easily get along in the same house. At the same time, cockroaches take over the kitchen and bathroom, and bedbugs take up residence in the bedroom. They have no need to run into each other’s territory.

For those home owners who have both bedbugs and cockroaches, we hasten to inform you that you should not sit idly by and wait for the cockroaches to eat the bedbugs. Cockroaches are not interested in bed bugs. These parasites have different diets and habitats.

Only bedbug eggs can be damaged by cockroaches, but this happens rarely when the food supply is poor. However, such a nutritional deficiency is rarely observed, since the kitchen contains a large supply of various products suitable for cockroach consumption.

The fight against cockroaches and bedbugs is carried out simultaneously, since there are commercial preparations that exterminate both insects. Another method used is freezing or high-temperature treatment, which also achieves the desired result. In exceptional cases, contact a special service for exterminating domestic insects.

Remedies to get rid of cockroaches

The most popular means of exterminating cockroaches in an apartment or house is boric acid. Based on this drug, a wide variety of baits are prepared, including eggs, potatoes or jam, mixing these products with boric acid and placing them in the favorite habitats of cockroaches. Boric acid itself repels cockroaches with its smell, so it is used extremely rarely in its pure form. But when it comes with food, it becomes elusive to cockroaches, and they therefore stop feeling it.

Currently, a wide variety of cockroach repellents are available on the market, available in the form of aerosols, sprays and gels. In addition to such means, traps, which can be of several types, are very popular:

It is worth keeping in mind that if cockroaches have access to water, then all measures to destroy them will be ineffective. In part, when treating an apartment with insecticides or placing poison in the corners, it is worth blocking the insects’ access to moisture by wiping the sinks dry and making sure that the pipes in the apartment are not leaking. Only in this case will it be possible to achieve good results in the fight against insects.

Advice! To make the fight against cockroaches as effective as possible, it is best to use several means at the same time, for example, by treating the apartment with an aerosol, you can place traps in it, which will catch any accidentally surviving insects.

Why are bedbugs needed in nature?

Bedbugs are the name given to a large taxonomic division of insects - a suborder, uniting into it all representatives with a similar feeding method. Representatives of the suborder have a piercing-sucking mouthparts, with which they pierce the integument of the victim and feed on the liquid components of the body (blood, plant sap, etc.).

Appearance of a bug

Human parasites include the only type of insect – the bed bug. In addition to it, there are about 100 more species of blood-sucking representatives that parasitize animals, but pronounced synanthropy is characteristic only of Cimex lectularius. It is believed that bed bugs have accompanied humans since the times when people lived in caves.

Until the 19th century Bedbugs were credited with medicinal properties (for example, against hysteria), but now they are recognized as harmful parasites adjacent to humans.

Carpet beetles

Such an insect is practically impossible to see with the naked eye, since adults reach 3.5 mm in length, and larvae - 2 mm. In nature, carpet beetles usually settle in a place where there are large quantities of organic remains of birds, animals and other insects. But at home, these insects feed on wardrobe items, book bindings and plain paper.

If you have carpet beetles at home, you should remember that they not only harm food and household items. It has been found that such household pests can infect humans with helminths and some infectious diseases, so they must be destroyed in a timely manner.

Exposure to low and high temperatures

Among modern methods of exterminating household pests, freezing and “roasting” are popular. The first option involves exposing insects to low temperatures. Suitable for use in winter, when the temperature outside is sub-zero.

Open the windows for several hours so that the temperature in the living room drops to 10 °C or slightly lower. The downside is that in apartments such a sharp temperature jump can cause heating systems to fail. Therefore, it is ideal for private houses, where it is possible to protect engineering structures by draining water.

Another method is hot fog. It is used by SES specialists, since its operation requires expensive equipment - a steam generator. It converts water into steam as a result of heating the heating element. The method is safe for people and animals, since no insecticides are used. A hot jet released under pressure from a nozzle is sprayed onto the affected objects in the room. Insects die from this instantly.

Migration of bedbugs from neighbor to neighbor

However, the leading method of spreading bedbugs in an apartment building remains migration from neighbor to neighbor. Due to the structural features of its body, the bug crawls through even where at first glance there are no cracks. In addition to cracks, bedbugs will still find a way to get into your home. This could be sockets, ventilation, or simply through the street door. And in the summer, in general, there are practically no obstacles, the bug will simply crawl along the outer wall, then through an open window left overnight, or a balcony. And he will be happy to get to know you and your home. Therefore, in apartment buildings the question is “Where do bedbugs come from at home?” almost not worth it, most likely they crawl to you from your neighbors.

Another factor that contributes to the spread of bedbugs from neighbor to neighbor is the destruction of bedbugs in the apartment, for example, disinfection, when the bedbugs have nowhere to go and they scatter in all directions.

It is important to note here that they, as a rule, move alone and it is not at all difficult to notice them at first, until they have finally settled in your house. However, if the destruction of bed bugs is carried out professionally, then the bedbugs, due to their low mobility, will not have time to hide and leave the apartment.

Where do bedbugs come from and how to fight them?

Cockroaches are annoying, mice are scary. But the most unpleasant neighbors can be bedbugs, which, due to their lifestyle, will bite you at night. They especially love to drink the blood of women and children, those whose skin is thinner and easier to bite.

Photo: Shutterstock.com

Most often, house bugs move into your apartment with purchases. This could be a brand new sofa that they got into at a furniture store or warehouse. But bedbugs can come from any item purchased at a flea market. Also, bedbugs can get into your apartment with clothes that you stayed in at a hotel or in a rented apartment. It may not even be your clothes, but the clothes of your relatives, loved ones or just friends who came to visit you. Also, bedbugs can move from neighbors who have begun to fight them.

Article on the topic

How to get rid of bed bugs in an apartment?

Even detecting bedbugs will be a problem. You should pay attention if suddenly in the morning you find slight redness on yourself, similar to small insect bites. It is better to consult a dermatologist who will help you determine the cause of these marks. If these are bedbugs, then you need to immediately start fighting them.

There are a huge number of ways to combat bedbugs. But there are two most effective ones. The first is to get rid of all things that you suspect may be infested with bedbugs. But in this case, you may need to take almost all the furniture from your bedroom or living room to the landfill. The second is to call an exterminator and treat the entire apartment. Other measures will not work, since bedbugs quickly spread throughout the room and begin to multiply at lightning speed.

Silverfish

There are different types of insects in an apartment, and perhaps the most harmless inhabitant is the silverfish. She prefers darkness, moisture and warmth. This insect prefers to feed on various organic matter found in dust, bread crumbs, and sugar on the table. Silverfish never reproduce in large numbers and catch the eye of a person most often in the evenings, when he turns on the light. It is worth noting that she has great speed and quickly hides in a saving shelter.

If there are insects in the apartment, such as ants, then it is necessary to fight them with the help of slow-acting poisons. Boric acid is one such agent. This is a strong poison to which the ant does not become accustomed and with its help all ants in the nests and all the queens are destroyed. A week after using this product, these insects can be poisoned with chemicals such as “Combat”, “Dichlorvos”, “Ride”, etc.

If there is an insect like silverfish in your apartment, how to get rid of it? The first step is to check bookshelves, built-in closets, and basements and place duct tape traps there. This insect loves high humidity, so you need to make sure that the room is dry. The apartment should always be kept clean, paper should be stored in a special place, cereals and flour should be placed in sealed containers.

After the silverfish disappears from the apartment, it is necessary to use preventive measures, which include combating high humidity and ensuring good air circulation in the apartment. Thus, the answer to the question became clear: “If there is a silverfish, how to get rid of it?

Insects feeding on bed bugs

There are many predators that eat bed bugs. Let's look at whether they might be useful to you.

Red cockroach

Domestic cockroaches mainly feed on leftover human food. They are not predators, so they do not consume bed bloodsuckers. If a person carefully removes the crumbs left after eating and hides food in places inaccessible to cockroaches, then these insects have to feed on the bloodsucker.

Cockroaches are selective and consume only the eggs of bed parasites or their chitinous shells, which the latter shed during molting. This rarely happens, since the habitats of the species are different. Cockroaches mainly live in the kitchen, and bedbugs live in the bedroom.

House ants

Red ants are omnivores. But they prefer to eat sweets. Ants will not eat adult individuals, but in special cases they can feed on eggs. Red insects live mainly in the kitchen, so it will be difficult for them to encounter bed pests.

Pharaoh ants are capable of reclaiming their territory. If red insects accidentally stumble upon parasites, they will bite the latter. The ant's saliva contains poison that is fatal to the parasite.

Flycatchers

Representatives of the species belong to the order of labiopods. These predators mainly feed on spiders, cockroaches, flies, ants and bedbugs. Flycatchers live in residential areas, since their food is synanthropic insects.

Centipedes love dark and moist places. In the apartment they can be found under the bathroom. It is difficult for flycatchers to reach a person's sleeping place. But if the centipede finds out about the existence of bedbugs, it will get out for easy prey.

House spiders

There are harmless arachnids in our apartments. Even though they may scare some people with their nasty appearance, most types of spiders will not bite or bother you.

They have a varied menu including flies, butterflies, moths or mosquitoes. Most spiders prefer to wait in their hidden places, weave webs and attack potential prey when it is close enough to them. Some spiders are fast enough to catch up and capture unwary prey.

Spiders are not gourmets; their diet includes bed bugs. Spiders are natural predators and will enjoy pet bedbugs!

Ticks

Mites, also called Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, feed on bed bugs, as these common household dust critters tend to live near bedding areas. This close proximity to bed bugs makes them the most accessible type of food. There are also types of mites that are very small and usually live on the larvae and directly on adult pests, obtaining food from their biological fluids.

Centipedes

Centipedes are quite interesting creatures. They are avid insect hunters and readily eat bed bugs. They can also feed on other types of insects such as spiders, moths, crickets, and cockroaches.

The problem is that you probably won't have enough millipedes naturally living in your home to eat all the bed bugs.

Even if you could order a huge number of centipedes by mail, after a while you would probably find them, too, unpleasant neighbors. After all, they will bite if provoked.

Other types of bedbugs

No, bed bugs do not eat other bed bugs, and there are many reasons why. First, members of a given species generally do not eat other members of the same species.

This will mean that the overall population will become smaller, eventually leading to the extinction of the species. This means that most species that regularly cannibalize other members of the same species will not survive for long. Bed bugs don't even eat dead bed bugs.

In addition, bed bugs' mouths are designed only to suck blood. They have a small mouth opening and a long tube through which they suck blood. They don't have teeth to bite, just another small tube that is used to scratch a hole through which they can suck blood. Thus, their mouths are not capable of eating other bed bugs anyway.

Can a bug feed on a fellow bug that recently fed on you? Sneaking up and biting before the diner has a chance to react?

It doesn't happen like that! Bed bugs are attracted to carbon dioxide and body heat. Bed bugs are cold-blooded, so they don't produce their own heat and emit almost no CO2 compared to us. Thus, even if the second bug cannot prevent the first one from feeding on it, it still has nothing to “lure” a hungry fellow tribesman.

Who and what are bed bugs afraid of?

Many people are afraid to use synthetic insecticides to control the voracious bloodsuckers in their home. This is understandable, because most of these substances are poisons.

Therefore, in today’s article you will learn what bed bugs are afraid of, meaning both natural repellents and the insects that feed on them and can also live in your home. Some herbs, essential oils, and other natural repellents will be covered.

I would like to note right away, with all the love for natural and safe remedies, if there are bedbugs in your house, this will only bring temporary relief, but will never rid your apartment of these insects. This requires careful preparation and a combination of several methods.

Who eats bed bugs

Perhaps you think that if a colony of cockroaches or ants appears in your house, you will definitely get rid of bedbugs. On the one hand, you are right, these insects really eat bedbugs, and they, in turn, are very afraid of them.

But on the other hand, are you sure that this will be a good solution to this problem? Do you want cockroaches, spiders or ants crawling on your bed? Important! Now you will recognize the natural enemies of bed bloodsuckers. They are not even deterred by the unpleasant odor that the parasites emit. Let's look at who eats bed bugs. Let's consider those insects that can live in your home. Natural enemies:

1. A dirty predator, the same applies to the type of bedbugs. But it has a fairly large size of 15-18 mm. It got its name from its love of hiding in dirt, sand and dust. He loves old buildings, where there is a lot of dust. Active at night, can fly into light through an open window. At the same time, he looks for a secluded place to attack insects. If he grabs his victim, then it is no longer possible to escape. He instantly injects poison into the victim's body, and she dies. A person can also suffer from a bite from a dirty predator. But this happens accidentally if it was, for example, on your clothes. The bite is similar in strength to a wasp sting.
2. Cockroaches. Yes, this is surprising for many, but since the 11th and 12th centuries it has been noted that cockroaches eat bed bugs. These are the Oriental and American cockroaches (family Blattodea) and the German and brown banded cockroaches (family Blattellidae).
3. Ants – Pharaoh ants (or house ants) have been documented to eat and prey on bed bugs. But they are not a good way to get rid of them since ants are disease carriers.
4. Spiders of the genus Thanatus flavidus purposefully hunt bedbugs. They live precisely in Russia and Ukraine. They do not harm or attack people.
5. Dust mites live in the same place as bedbugs and prey on them. In humans, these mites cause severe allergic reactions.
6. Centipedes - feed on all insects in the house, including bedbugs, cockroaches, spiders and ants.

Folk remedies - how to repel bedbugs so they don’t bite

The primary task, if you find a parasite in the house, is not to let it bite you at night. If they have nothing to eat, they will not be able to reproduce.

These are the folk remedies that will be effective.

• Oils – tea tree, orange, lavender, rosemary, eucalyptus, cedar, oregano and clove. Mix 10 drops of oil with a glass of warm water (it is advisable to add 10 ml of alcohol to the liquid), shake well and spray around the house, on the bed, under the bed. You can also treat your body with this solution to prevent the bug from biting you. All these oils repel with their aroma.
• Herbs: mint leaves, wormwood herb, lavender. Hang them in bunches around the house, put them under the bed, their smell will act as a repellent.

Smells that repel bed bugs - how effective are they?

Those odors that drive away bloodsuckers are described above. As a rule, these are essential oils and some strong-smelling herbs.

It is enough to spray these substances in the room where you sleep, or apply a couple of drops on your bedding, and this will protect you from bites. Many people also simply rub exposed areas of the body with repellent essential oils.

But there are significant disadvantages of these funds:

1. Essential oils evaporate very quickly and lose their properties. Therefore, it is necessary to constantly treat the room and your skin;
2. A very hungry bed bug will not be scared by the smell of essential oils; it will still drink the blood of its victim;
3. High concentrations of these substances indoors can cause headaches and allergic reactions, especially in children.

Folk methods of struggle

In the age of technological progress and the development of the chemical industry, we still do not forget about the natural and safe products that our ancestors used. Let's find out whether they are effective against bedbugs and how to use them correctly.

Herb against bed bugs

Smells of herbs that they cannot tolerate:

• Chamomile or chrysanthemum contains the natural insecticide pyrethrum, which actually kills bedbugs. It is recommended to grind freshly dried flowers and leaves into dust, mix with water and spray around the house. The disadvantage of this method is that the solution very quickly loses its effectiveness and a new one must be prepared.
• Wormwood grass was used by our grandmothers to repel bedbugs and fleas in the house. It is the spicy, sweet smell that frightens them. The most effective is freshly harvested grass spread throughout the house. As soon as it fades and dries out, it has to be replaced with a new, fresh one. In winter, wormwood is difficult to find, but tinctures and oils based on wormwood are sold. Their effectiveness is slightly lower, but it also saves you from bites.
• Tansy grass repels bedbugs and acts as a repellent on them. Although tansy itself contains toxic substances, it is not capable of killing bedbugs, since they do not eat it.
• Marsh wild rosemary - grows in marshy areas and has a fairly pleasant smell. The herb itself contains a fairly high concentration of essential oils. In large quantities, it causes drowsiness and dizziness in people. In ancient times, wild rosemary was used to fumigate rooms to kill house bugs. You can also dry it and spray the decoction throughout the house.

Alcohol for insects

Getting rid of bedbugs using alcohol is quite difficult. Most likely, this is an auxiliary means for disinfecting the premises. Of course, it should be noted that if alcohol gets directly onto the body of a bug, it will die.

Alcohol denatured alcohol

It has an unpleasant and pungent odor and is toxic to humans. The legs of the bed on which one sleeps are treated with it. It should be noted that it is destructive both for bedbugs and their eggs and larvae.

But for it to work, they need to be doused with it in the literal sense of the word. Also remember that denatured alcohol is highly flammable.

Ammonia

Another name is ammonia solution. It also has an unpleasant odor, which is detrimental to insects. It is recommended to pour a small amount of it into containers and place it around the house where bedbugs are located.

Another way to use it is to add it to water and wash floors, baseboards and furniture with this solution. After treatment, the room should be ventilated.

Ethanol

Many people recommend pouring it into a spray bottle and sprinkling it around the house. Do not add it to a steam cleaner under any circumstances; this is a fire hazard as alcohol is flammable.

Vinegar against bloodsuckers

It is recommended to wipe contaminated surfaces with a solution of vinegar and water. It is effective against both bedbugs and their larvae. Its advantage is that vinegar is not as toxic as the above-mentioned products.

How to use kerosene

The smell of kerosene is detrimental to both bedbugs in the house and people. Therefore, if you decide to treat surfaces with it, be sure to wear a protective mask and then ventilate the room.

How to use turpentine

Turpentine is obtained by distilling coniferous plants. At the same time, it contains a large amount of essential oils, which bed bugs do not like. Attention! It is recommended to use the following recipe: mix turpentine and kerosene in equal quantities, and then treat the floor and other surfaces where bedbugs are found. Many people mix turpentine with alcohol. But this is dangerous, since alcohol is volatile, and evaporating essential oils are very toxic.

Also, traces from the use of turpentine are difficult to wash off, especially if the solution gets on the carpet or bedding.

What are bed bugs most afraid of?

Is there really no universal remedy or insect that will make a bug run away from the house like a mouse from a cat? Unfortunately, there is no such substance. Moreover, experienced chemists and biologists have not yet come up with a single universal remedy to combat them.

There is a constant search for new means or a combination of several. But don’t despair, with the help of an integrated approach, removing them is not so difficult. But let's look at a few more real ways to combat these blood-sucking insects.

Are bedbugs afraid of bleach?

Chlorine or bleach is used in households to disinfect premises. It has a very strong toxic and suffocating odor, and if it gets on the skin it can cause severe burns.

Naturally, if a bug comes into contact with bleach, it will die. But with this treatment you will only achieve temporary results. To completely eradicate a house from bedbugs, you will have to use combined treatment methods.

There are two ways to use it:

1. Use a bleach solution from a spray bottle to treat all contaminated surfaces;
2. Sprinkle the powder around the house and leave it for several days.

Are bedbugs afraid of the cold?

Many people recommend the freezing method to get rid of bed bugs. Indeed, at a temperature of minus 18 degrees Celsius, bedbugs die within 4 days. Tip! This way you can process small objects: books, clothes, pillows. To do this, they should be placed in the freezer for 4 days and the temperature should be set below 18 degrees Celsius. A shorter duration and higher temperature will not kill insects. Many people believe that by turning off the heating in the house and leaving it for a few days, they will get rid of parasites. But this is a misconception.

Bed bugs are afraid of light

Yes, they do not like bright light and prefer to come out of their shelters and bite at night. When the light is suddenly turned on, they scatter in different directions.

conclusions

All of the above remedies are temporary solutions. Or if you find yourself in a situation where there is nothing else, but you need to protect yourself from bites at night.

To solve the problem with bedbugs, contact specialists or do it yourself, but with the help of chemical insecticides.

Animals that are enemies of bedbugs

There are many animals known to eat insects.

Jerzy

Hedgehogs are generalists and have a wide range of dietary choices. Crickets are one of their favorite foods. They may also eat bed bugs and other beetles, wax worms, centipedes, grasshoppers, worms and grubs.

They have three options for consuming insects: live insects, freeze-dried insects, and canned insects.

Amphibians

Many species of lizards are predators of a long list of living insects as a food source, including bed bugs. Geographic regions where there are high densities of wild geckos have smaller populations of the insect. Although lizards are harmless for the most part, it would be inappropriate to use them in place of appropriate bed bug pest control. In addition, they also require special climate conditions to survive and thrive.

In fact, most lizards prefer live insects as their primary food source, so if presented with bed bugs, they will likely eat them. Again, you will need quite a few lizards to neutralize an entire bed bug infestation. The upside is that lizards are mostly harmless, and they're even cute.

You probably don't want to spend money to buy a bunch of domesticated lizards?

But people who live in gecko habitats note that geckos tend to keep the insect population in check. Unfortunately, many lizards require fairly specialized living conditions, so unless you are in the area they belong to, it will be difficult to maintain a free-ranging population of lizards in your home.

Birds

When you see or hear a bird in your yard, you can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that they are on your side, helping you keep your garden healthy. Cardinals, orioles, sparrows, and tits feed on beetles, including bedbugs.

Rodents

Mice feed on seeds, small fruits and berries, beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers, larvae and underground fungi. They prefer to eat insects when they can find them.

Pets

Cats and dogs are not guests of our home, but members of it. If you have a cat or dog at home, you may be wondering if they can help you fight bed bugs.

Cats eat bugs and they really like it. They love to eat spiders, crickets or grasshoppers. But we're not talking about cats that eat bed bugs! No, they will not eat bed bugs because bed bugs are small and will not attract the cat's attention.

Dogs won't eat bed bugs either.

There are no animals that kill bed bugs without wanting to eat them.

There is only one animal that kills bed bugs but does not eat them. And that's us.

Where do cockroaches come from and how to fight them?

Despite their apparent harmlessness, cockroaches are considered perhaps the main enemies of human civilization, against which we are constantly waging an unequal battle, at least in terms of the number of “warriors,”. We are tormented by two eternal questions: where do cockroaches come from and how to get rid of them? Let's try to answer them at least briefly.

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There are a huge number of ways for cockroaches to enter an apartment. But the most popular is escaping from neighbors. Cockroaches can begin to change their place of residence for two reasons. Firstly, their neighbors could become too crowded - a growing colony requires more space and food. Secondly, they could start to run away if bullied by your neighbors. In this case, you provide them with “political asylum”. Rarer variants of cockroaches appearing in your apartment are also possible. They could have ended up in your home, having climbed up the garbage chute, in which case they were attracted by the warmth of the apartment. You yourself could have brought a cockroach into your house, hidden in purchases, parcels, purchased furniture and an endless number of other things that end up in your apartment from the outside.

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Down with the occupiers! How to get rid of cockroaches

Now let's try to figure out how to deal with cockroaches. First, it is necessary to create living conditions that are unbearable for them. Cockroaches need three things to live: food, water and a comfortable temperature. If we can’t do anything about the latter, then the first two factors are completely within our control. To deprive “your” cockroaches of food, you need to securely hide all food at night, regularly throw out garbage without leaving it in a bucket in the evening, and regularly clean the room to get rid of crumbs on the floor. To deprive cockroaches of water, it is necessary to tightly shut off all sources of moisture in the apartment and wipe up any, even the smallest, puddles in sinks and bathtubs. A cockroach won't last long without water. But you must be alert, because a cockroach can quench its thirst even from watered soil in a flower pot. So don't water your plants at night during your war on cockroaches.

The most popular are the countless cockroach repellents sold in stores: crayons, pencils, powders, traps. Such remedies will help overcome the attack only if a small colony of “redheads” has settled in your apartment, and provided that they did not come from neighbors. Otherwise, these remedies will not help in eliminating numerous insects.

If you have a real breeding ground for cockroaches in your apartment, then only drastic measures will help - disinfection. Today there are a huge number of offers on the market for disinfecting apartments. All you have to do is choose the service that suits you. After disinfection, it is important to prevent the cockroaches from returning. To do this, it is necessary to maintain cleanliness and order in the apartment, avoiding unsanitary conditions even in individual places, such as the garbage bin.

Who eats bedbugs in nature?

Bugs that live in forests, fields, gardens and ponds also have their own natural enemies.

Water bugs

Water striders, which themselves are predatory water bugs, are hunted from the air by birds, and by amphibians from the shore. Water striders are also threatened by a parasite - a water mite, which, gradually exhausting the insects, leads to their death.

Greblyakov, also living in water, are eaten by larger ones - smoothies.

Harmful turtle

Of interest to humans are the entomophagous (those who eat insects) pests of bugs. Scientists pay a lot of attention to the biological control of harmful bugs, the main threat to grain crops.

Some species of spiders that do not weave a trapping web feed on the larvae and adults of bedbugs. Namely, representatives of the family of side-walking spiders (Thomisidae), oxyopids (Oxyopidae) and wolf farts (Lycosidae). In laboratory conditions, a female of one of the species of side-walking spiders destroyed up to 50 first-instar larvae or two adults.

Ground beetles of some genera willingly eat harmful turtles at all stages of its development. Ants, hunting bugs and lacewing larvae are the ones that eat the eggs and larvae of these bugs. Phasian flies destroy the imago.

Telenomines, representatives of the order Hymenoptera, play a major role in the fight against grain pests. These insects are parasites of cereal bug eggs.

Other types of bedbugs (cannibalism)

In the fight for territory, house bugs can eat each other

Individuals representing the same species can attack their fellows. This phenomenon has a name - cannibalism. The reason is a war for territory, and it is waged by more predatory individuals. They destroy bed parasites and attack humans.

Shield insects

Telenominas parasitize eggs and other bugs from the stink bug family: berry, Italian, tree and others. The larvae of other representatives of the same order (Trissolcus viktorovi Kozl., T. festivae Vikt.), as well as the larvae of the phasia fly, destroy the eggs of cruciferous bugs.

In addition, stink bugs become victims of interspecific cannibalism, as predatory species of bugs feed on them. The species of spiders mentioned above also pose a threat to them.

Let us also include here the cannibal of the horsefly family, Stethoconus cyrtopeltis FI., which is the enemy of the pear bug (or pear laceworm).

Toy soldiers

Intraspecific cannibalism is also observed among soldiers from the red bug family. Especially during the wintering period, when a large colony is compactly located in natural shelters, hungry soldiers can eat each other.

Representatives of fauna that feed on bedbugs in the wild

A number of enemies are noted that attack smaller pests. Moreover, the eating habits of different representatives of the flora do not change. They feed on one type of bug, such as water bugs or soldier bugs.

Harmful turtle

It is characterized by a light brown color and has a pattern on its back. Externally, the insect resembles a turtle. The food source is grains and cereals. In nature, the sidewalk spider, wolf spider, as well as oxyopid spiders and ground beetles help control their populations. Moreover, eggs and adults (adults) are more attractive.

The pest bug is eaten by ground beetles and some types of spiders.

Spiders can eat several mature bedbugs, as well as up to 50 larvae, in one meal. Ground beetles are not picky; they consume young and adult individuals. Ants, hunting bugs and lacewing larvae all prefer the eggs and nymphs of the turtle bug.

Toy soldiers

During power outages, soldier bugs can eat other soldier bugs

In the absence of food, such pests begin to attack fellow creatures of their own species. This phenomenon is observed in winter. Living in large groups during the cold season contributes to its manifestation.

Water striders

Smoothie bugs are not shy about attacking water striders

These are representatives of the hemiptera family and are considered predators. Despite this, they can be destroyed by other inhabitants of water bodies. The main enemies of such pests are smoothies. They also kill raking bugs. The water strider is attacked mainly by water bugs.

Shield insects

Telenomus flies eat the eggs of almost all stink bugs.

There are different types of such insects. All of them are attacked by other pests. For example, insects such as telenominas are agricultural pests; they eat the eggs of berry, tree, and Italian stink bugs. Cruciferous insects are destroyed by the offspring of the phasia fly. Spiders can also attack stink bugs. Eggs and adult bedbugs are considered suitable food for these enemies. Cannibalism is also common among shield insects.

Pear lacemaker

Horsefly bugs easily eat other bugs - pear lace bugs

Such insects are often attacked by pests of another type of bug - horseflies. This behavior may be mistaken for interspecific cannibalism. Horseflies are attracted to adult individuals, as well as offspring at the first stage of formation - eggs.