Little brown bugs in the apartment - who are they and how to deal with them

Hello! Grandmother phoned recently, and for a long time lamented that they supposedly got some bugs in the apartment.

And they are everywhere, wherever she goes. On the curtains, on the table, on the floor - everywhere.

Moreover, they eat not only what is by definition edible, but also what is clearly not intended for consumption. For example, the same curtains, clothes.

In general, I decided to help her, and immediately went to her home. When inspecting the apartment, I was convinced that there really were a lot of bugs. Also, "lucky" to see the results of their stay in the apartment.

Then it became clear that you can’t sit idly by. Therefore, we began to draw up an action plan. Of course, for a start it was necessary to find out what kind of insects they were. After which we immediately began to fight them. And we still managed to get rid of these pests.

Want to know what these little brown bugs in the apartment are? Where do they come from, what do they eat and how to deal with them? Then read on.

Who is he

If you have ever met a small black or brown bug in your apartment, and more than one, you should definitely read this article carefully. It is likely that a beetle eater has settled in your house. If you hear its name, you decide that this small insect eats exclusively on the skin, then you are very mistaken.

With the same success, they will not disdain with products from wood, plastic and even concrete. Therefore, if you suddenly found such a "little animal" at home - you need to get rid of it urgently.

Appearance and nutrition

Bugs are known not only because of omnivorousness, but also due to their very small size: on average, the length of the body is from 1.3 to 3 mm. Color - brown (from light to dark shades of this color). The shape of the body is slightly elongated, rounded.

Upon closer inspection, villi are noticeable. Reproduction occurs quickly, after a month, larvae of the skin eater appear. In one cycle, the female lays several dozen eggs.

One female reproduces offspring once, in extreme cases - two times. The skin beetle larvae develop for a very long time: from 1 to 4 years, which is affected by the quality and quantity of food.

Eggs are characterized by white color, have an elongated shape. Toward the end of the incubation period, they turn yellow. After emergence from the eggs, the skin-bearer larva goes through several stages of molt.

The source of food for the skin-eater: carpets, clothes, furniture, interior items, decoration materials, and also vital products. Natural materials prefer pests, however, in the absence of such materials, they also destroy synthetics.

Insect features

The skin-beetle beetle is the smallest of pests, the body length of an adult does not exceed 12 millimeters. It is difficult to notice one insect, a strong brown shell perfectly masks the parasite.

New individuals of the skin-eater appear at the end of May: during this period, pests mate, lay eggs. Insects settle in secluded, darkened places (often cellars, closets, warehouses serve as dwelling places for pests).

The lack of suitable nutritional conditions becomes the reason for the resettlement of skin-eaters into human apartments. Three weeks after laying eggs, red caterpillars appear.

They gnaw all things from natural materials, do not disdain to bite a person. The pest is able to do without food up to five years (during this period, the insect slows down its growth, activity).

Useful information

Why is getting rid of pests difficult enough? Skin tanners have several features that contribute to their survival under adverse conditions:

There are several types of skin-eaters, and all of them are dangerous to humans and household property.

1. Ham. The most common species for our continent. The beetle is black in color; when it enters the room, it immediately begins to lay many eggs.
2. Carpet. The brown adult insect does not exceed 4 mm. Larvae eat small fragments of organic compounds, the imago does not feed, lives off of the accumulated nutrient reserves.
3. Fur coat. Black beetle with 5 white dots on the back. It feeds on crumbs, food and waste.
   Kozheed Smirnova has a brown color, likes to live in wooden window blocks.

Thanks to the miniature size of the insects, it is easy to get into any apartment. You can close all the cracks, install a dense mesh on the windows and ventilation grilles - the beetle will still find a way to penetrate the home.

You brought a basket of greens, a bouquet of flowers from the cottage, picked mushrooms in the forest, and pests hid in plants, lurked in folds of clothes or shoes. The owners purchased and brought into the house second-hand furniture, and along with it bugs moved to them.

Do not wait for a flying brown bug to hit you directly in the nose or eye, periodically inspect the room. Kozheedy in the apartment especially like to settle in upholstered furniture, where they are dry and warm. Carefully inspect the upholstery of sofas and armchairs.

Check the cracks under the skirting boards, air bubbles under the wallpaper, details of window blocks, indoor plants.The insects will like lamps and other objects with a huge number of curls and small details, from which mistresses rarely dust.

The easiest method is to trick insects. Adult bugs fly only during daylight hours. At night, stand up and turn on the light in all rooms. The bugs will think that the day has come and fly to the lamp.

You can find out that the bugs live near you by the following signs:

Stages of development of skin-eaters

When a fertilized female gets into the apartment, she begins to lay eggs in any secluded places. Further development depends on the indoor climate. In a dry and warm place, a new generation can hatch after 2 days, and if the conditions are unfavorable, the process sometimes drags on to 1.5 months.

The insect needs to grow, develop, and even accumulate nutrients, because an adult will be unable to digest food.

The larvae have no time to sleep; they constantly eat everything possible to collect the maximum amount of food reserves before pupation. The doll should lie for a while in safe conditions, and the larvae at the end of development gnaw passages in different materials, spoiling furniture, walls and other building structures.

Insects eat wool, fur, skin, food. When the colony grows, they will begin to nibble books, wooden structures, wallpapers. Then comes the turn of plastic insulation of wires and cables.

Where do they come from

Brown or black little bugs in the apartment are leather-eaters. Insects enter the room through windows, cracks in the wall, floor, ventilation hatches. Frequent occupation of apartments by bugs is observed in multi-storey buildings. In addition, a skinneer can get into the house on clothes, hair, shoes.

Kozheedy are considered the most dangerous enemies of museums, archives, libraries, paper storages. They cause significant harm to natural fabrics, carpet, fur and leather products. The life cycle of an insect includes: Egg Larva of 5 ages; A chrysalis; Imago

The body shape of an adult insect is oval, not exceeding 5 mm. The color is brown or black. The imago lives less than the larva at all stages. The female chooses places for laying eggs with a pile or rough surface.

It can be carpets, fabric, fur, wool, folds of products. The breeding period lasts from April to June. Kozheyedov love bright light therefore often in the infected room they can be found on window sills or in lamp shades.

A fertilized female lays eggs in portions for 2-10 days. For 10 days, the maximum number of eggs is 100 pieces. After completing the breeding mission, the bugs die.

Eggs are oblong, white and very small - about 2 mm. The duration of embryo development directly depends on the ambient temperature. May last from 2 to 55 days.

A characteristic feature of all beetle eaters is that they love dryness. Bathroom, bathroom they are not attracted. The brown bug does not move much; during touch, it turns upside down with its paws. It freezes during danger. After laying eggs, adult beetles die.

Larvae of skin-eaters

Larvae begin to search for food and eat intensely, immediately after they were born. Before growing up, they need to go through 5 stages of development. To undergo a molt, to turn from a caterpillar into a bug. The length of the caterpillar at the last stage of development is about 7 mm.

Attagenus larvae live in dry bulk food. They can be found at the bottom of boxes, packages, on carpets, under parquet.

Unlike adult skin-beetle bugs, the larva does not like bright light. She lives in shady areas, poorly lit or in the dark. The number of molts and the total duration of larval development depend on nutrition, humidity, and temperature.

The pupal phase lasts from 4 to 20 days. Young bugs, having got out of the chrysalis, remain in the "cradle" for several days. Then begin the search for a mating partner. In a year, 1 generation of beetle eaters has time to appear.

Why is a small bug dangerous?

There were bugs in the apartment - all residents lost their peace. Unknown creatures catch up with fear, it is not clear what to expect from them. The harm from bugs in the apartment is the damage to property and food. They can spoil expensive interior items, books, nibble carpets, fur products.

The fur coat is especially affected. Sacks, bags, poorly closed cans with cereals, flour, drawers make their way in the kitchen. They can live in lockers, bread bins, on shelves. Of course, cereals can be cleaned of bugs, remove larvae. But the eggs remain.

Of particular danger is the excrement of bugs for humans. Getting inside with food causes allergies. It is difficult to foresee the reaction. This may be ordinary redness, a rash on the skin, or attacks of suffocation, coughing, signs of poisoning. You should not be afraid of bites of small bugs.

Human skin is not of interest to them. Although, judging by the name, this can be suspected. Larvae spoil natural things in the same way as moths. Gnaws holes, shears villi. Without seeing the adult bug, you might think that the mole is operating. Control measures are similar, but have their own characteristics.

Pest hazard to humans

A leather-beetle beetle loves to feast on objects made of leather, wood, and other natural materials. Pest larvae are able to feed on animal and vegetable juice.

The danger to humans lies in the ability of pests to bite a person, transferring various viral, infectious diseases, first of all, skin-eaters infect humans with helminths.

The bite of a skin-eater in most cases is harmless, do not cause much discomfort. If a person has sensitive skin or a tendency to allergic reactions, then there is a high probability of the appearance of huge red spots, severe allergies.

For what materials is a skin-eater dangerous?

Kozheedy primarily represent a danger to products made of leather, fur, silk, wool, skins, felt, hair, horns, feathers, fluff, etc. Beetles also will not refuse from the following food supplies: meat, cheese, dried and smoked fish, milk powder some types of cereal products.

The cardboard, asbestos, rubber or plastic of which the cables are made - all this can also suffer if skin-bugs appeared in the apartment.

Neighboring Insects

It often happens that no one notices the presence of parasites until the bug during its flight crashes into someone's forehead by mistake. It is better to detect insects before they destroy things. These insects adore heat and dryness.

There are actually much more of them than it might seem at first glance. Most of them are still in a state of larvae. They gnaw valuable things. To lime the parasites and destroy the focus, you have to smash your head, what kind of nutritional value attracts them to the house.

Sometimes it happens that there is simply no particular focus. Here you already have to focus on the type of bug. Carpet individuals love dust and dirt that are rarely cleaned. These include spaces under the furniture and carpet.

Their larvae feed on small particles of various materials - dust, pile, hair, paper and other organic residues. Such food is available even in the cleanest apartment, as it appears a day after cleaning.

But the skin-eaters of Smirnov love the windows and shades of lamps. Carefully check the upholstery of the sofa, baseboard. Sometimes an insect is just nowhere to hide, except there.

How to find these bugs?

Adult bugs fly around the apartment and can suddenly and loudly “fly into someone’s forehead” without calculating the flight path. Until this happens, it is better to be the first to find those who replenish their fat reserves due to the destruction of valuable materials.

The beetle prefers warm, dry places, often they can be found near the heating battery, on the windowsill, in the cabinet drawer, as well as under carpets, in and around sofas, in mattresses, etc. The skin-beetle beetles often catch their eye in the kitchen, for example, many find bugs with their legs up on the stove.

Until you find out what beetles are so attractive in your home, it will be impossible to localize the source of their spread.

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

It also happens that there is simply no concrete foci - clothes in closets, infected cereals and other things. For example, carpet beetles choose inaccessible places from which dust and dirt are rarely swept out, or where they accumulate most quickly.

“Where do the larvae of the skin-eaters most often like to settle? Under the skirting boards. Trite? Maybe, but sometimes they just have nowhere to hide, as under them. "

Adult skin-eaters Smirnov, as a rule, creep into windows, fixtures, they can be found between window frames or inside lamp shades.

Got bugs? So somewhere there are their larvae. If you find these bugs fixedly hanging on the curtains, ceiling, etc. - these are also skin-eaters. They can pretend to be dead, turning over on their backs, prompting you to think that they are not dangerous.

This is similar to the conclusion we are used to making when we see flying moth butterflies indicating that old clothes in a dusty mezzanine are certainly eaten by caterpillars.

Larvae. The presence of skin-eaters can be determined by furry larvae that have long, sometimes colored “tails”.
They are often confused with moth larvae in cupboards. Larvae of a leather-eater in an apartment are often found in a sofa or some furniture.

As a rule, larvae are found completely unexpectedly and accidentally, while describing them as brown or striped worms.

If there are worms in the couch, this means that leather-eaters appeared in the apartment. The caterpillars on the couch are the same larvae of the leather-eaters. Having moved the edge of the blanket, you can see these slightly bright larvae on the mattress.

Checklist for assessing the degree of harmfulness of infection

For larvae of skin-eaters of all types, a nutrient medium is vital that would supply them with keratin-containing elements - horn particles, hair, fur and the whole animal, plant and artificial, like that. Pay attention in your apartment to what can serve as a source for leather-eaters:

1. The houses are kept stuffed with animals or birds, or maybe a collection of insects? Consider the outbreak detected. If there is furs at home, but the skin-eaters have not yet reached these things, it is quite possible that the conditions for the beetles are inappropriate, and the eggs develop slowly. This usually happens when the house is cold or damp.
2. Are you the owner of a rare collection of folios, or just love to keep books at home? Take care of the security of their bindings.
3. Have you recently bought something special from materials that a leather-eater enjoys eating? As soon as possible, find the larvae and all adult beetles and destroy them until they multiply and damage new things permanently. Perhaps these materials served as a source of infection.
4. Do you have a cat? Is she also long-haired? Perhaps it will not be easy to get skin experts away. The fact is that in the apartment in which the cat lives there is always a lot of wool gathering on the floor, it falls out regularly, and therefore it is necessary to remove it from the surfaces often, at least every other day. Otherwise, skin larvae will always be provided with provisions.

Whatever the reason for the appearance of skin-eaters in the apartment, it is important to start getting rid of them as soon as possible.

Destruction of bugs in furniture, clothing and interior items

The popular method that allows you to get rid of pests without much effort is freezing. Bug heat-loving creature. However, tolerates a fairly low temperature. To kill bugs with frost, you need to cool the apartment to -11 degrees. At this level, maintain the temperature for 3 hours.

The method is effective, but has several nuances. A bug can hide in an apartment anywhere. Keep warm and stay alive. You will have to carry out the procedure several times.

The product is placed in a spray bottle or in a container with a spray. Processed at a distance of up to 20 cm from the surface.The tool will destroy the small brown bugs and prevent their reappearance. You can get rid of small brown bugs with anti-milking agents.

Apply insecticidal aerosols. For example, Raid, Raptor, Antimol, Armol, Clean house. You can get rid of bugs in 2 hours. But there is a slight nuance. Experts have found that small bugs are capable of developing immunity to poisons, and they show resistance to some insecticidal agents.

If the drug does not work, after a few days you can try another. Apply dusts and powders. You can get rid of small brown bugs and black larvae. Usually rub the product into the furniture, cloth, sprinkle under the floor, along the baseboards.

Such drugs are available to kill moth larvae. You can use Molemor, Antimol, Nimol. Arrange on top of clothes or in cabinets on shelves. From small insects that appeared in the carpets, you can get rid of insecticides based on chlorpyrifos, allethrin, bendiocarb.

Substances do not spoil the appearance of carpet products, do not leave spots. Initially, vacuum the product, then treat it with an insecticide from a spray bottle. It is recommended to add PPH insecticides to the solution. Such substances reduce the birth rate of bugs.

Also come in case of prophylaxis. Only after processing do without airing. Usually, when bugs appeared in the apartment, they begin to examine everything that is in the house. Sometimes a thorough general cleaning can save from pests and the use of insecticides is not required.

Breeding sequence

I would like to pay special attention to pest control. Despite the simplicity of the procedure, the procedure is quite complicated and requires compliance with the rules. First of all, you need to protect yourself with a protective suit, mask and gloves.

If the concentration of aerosol is not so strong, then in solutions it is significant. If used improperly, poisoning and damage to the skin can be obtained.

Furniture needs to be moved away from the walls. Since you have to handle skirting boards, window sills and places where there are cracks and crevices.

No one should be in the house. Send children to relatives, animals for a walk.
Close doors and windows. Provide a confined space. Insects will seek a way out and try to escape in every possible way.

After processing, you need to leave the room and leave it to act for 2 hours. During this time, the product is evenly distributed and begins to act. This is enough to destroy beetles and larvae.

If you are not sure that everyone was destroyed, you can re-process after 2-3 weeks. When using a spray, this is mandatory.

Physical Remedies

There are several options for how to bring out skin-beetle bugs. First of all, you need to try to get rid of them physically, for example, to process all suspicious places with a vacuum cleaner.

This should be done at least twice a day for 7-10 days. The vacuum cleaner bag needs to be thoroughly shaken out each time, and even better - replaced with a new one.You can also use the unit with a water filter - this will guarantee that the beetles do not crawl back.

To increase the effect, the procedure must be repeated several times. Also, all problem areas can be processed using a steam generator, such treatment of skirting boards and hard-to-reach spots is especially effective. The procedure is also worth repeating several times.

Chemical exposure

What else can you do if you are overtaken by such a disaster as a leather-beetle bug in an apartment. How to get rid of this misfortune if the previous methods did not help? In fairness, it is worth noting that a simple physical elimination can only help if the insects have settled in you recently and have not yet had much time to breed.

In the remaining cases, the use of chemicals is most likely indispensable. Here are some recipes. After thorough cleaning, sprinkle boric acid powder in all accessible places, especially under the carpet and near skirting boards. Also, the Borax preparation is suitable for these purposes.

There are also aerosol preparations that destroy both adults and larvae. Since insect eggs are not damaged during this treatment, the procedure should be repeated 2-3 times with an interval of 10-14 days. As an example of aerosol preparations, Difox or the good old Dichlorvos can be cited.

Also, preparations for fighting moths are suitable for removing skin-eating beetles, but it is better to use them as an additional tool. It is worth remembering that antimole drugs have only a short-term effect, but at the same time they are endowed with a strong smell, by the way, which is not always pleasant.

How to poison a skin-eater

Sometimes, to remove numerous hordes of beetles, one cleaning is not enough. And then you have to use more serious pest control.

1. Insecticides. These are chemical compounds aimed at the extermination of various insects in the house. You can buy them at the hardware store. Usually insecticides are sold in liquid or bulk form. Special tools aimed at combating a skin eater include chlorpyrifos, alltrin and bendiocarbs.

   During processing, thoroughly spray the carpet, all crevices and hard-to-reach spots, as well as the outside of the house. After all, a leather-eater most often comes from the street.

   If you add PPH, the insect growth regulator, to the main insecticide, then you can influence the growth and development of beetles. Females treated with this compound will no longer be able to reproduce offspring.

2. Boric acid. This is an excellent insect control product, because it is not only effective, but also safe for humans and animals. Boric acid in the form of a powder is simply scattered in the main places of accumulation of the skin eater.

   The beetle eats acid, which affects its nervous system, and then inevitably dies. Boric acid can be bought at a pharmacy, but a more concentrated form of the drug is sold at a hardware store.

3. Traps. This is a special adhesive paper with an attractive smell for a bug. With the help of such a trap, you can not only mechanically catch a skin-eater, but also understand the scale of the problem. Sometimes we see only a few insects, when most of them are hidden from us in the crevices. And such a trap will show how large the colony of skin-eaters is.
4. Antimole. Special tablets are placed in a closet near the fur and wool items, in the gap, under the baseboard.A small piece of poison is enough to kill a whole colony of insects.
5. Steam generator. This is an excellent tool for the physical extermination of beetles. Thoroughly steam all cracks, skirting boards and corners of the room with steam. After this treatment, not a single insect will survive.

When treating the premises with insecticides, protective equipment - gloves and a respiratory mask should be worn, because many compounds are quite aggressive and toxic to humans.

Tablets

This series of drugs is designed not only for beetle, but also for the destruction of moths. You can use Antimol tablets. To destroy an adult, it is better to use other means. Because they feed on juices and liquid foods. The larva will be porous and hard.

The process will be lengthy, and more suitable as an additional tool. Due to the fact that such drugs have a strong odor, this must be taken into account. Things and furniture upholstery are saturated with aroma. The skin-beetle beetles in the apartment - an unpleasant phenomenon, how to get rid, you need to solve quickly.

Since the elimination process can be delayed and can be very costly. Any insect in the house should not go unnoticed. The brown coloring of the pest allows it to skillfully disguise itself as furniture and home decoration. But with a large infection, they become mobile and clearly visible.

You can stumble upon them while watering flowers, sitting on carpets, chairs, a sofa. And you can also suspect something was wrong by spoiling furniture and interior items. Small holes are formed on the windowsills, on the worn carpets, on the upholstery of roughness, roughness and holes.

Room cleaning

To get rid of adults and larvae, you must vacuum everything thoroughly. View all places where dust, trash is collected. Bugs in the apartment can be everywhere - from skirting boards on the floor, to bookshelves and flower pots.

Eggs may remain on it. Small items that black bugs can catch on can be taken out in the cold, or sent to the freezer. After 3 hours they get it. Everything that is possible is washed in hot water, then ironed with steam. Especially pay attention to the seams and folds.

If everything is done with special care, you can get rid of 1 cleaning. For prevention, wash the floor with the addition of vinegar for a few more days.

Contact the pest control service

If the population of insects has reached that number of individuals that it is impossible to cope with them at hand and with chemical means, there is only one way out - to call the specialists of the pest control service.

Never despair in the fight against hostile neighbors, there is always a solution how to solve this problem once and for all.

Skin-bite bites: how to treat

Despite the miniature size of the skin-eater, the beetle bite is quite painful for small children, women. The pest carries infections, so treat the bites immediately with a disinfectant, even hydrogen peroxide will do.

Use antihistamines, such as diazolin, to relieve allergy symptoms. Moisturizing creams will help accelerate wound healing (provided there is no infection of the bite site). Adhering to special rules, you can easily prevent the occurrence of complications after "meeting" with the bugs.

What apartments do not like leather-eaters

It is very difficult to deal with skin-eaters and their larvae.If they have bred plentifully, you risk not coping on your own - you often have to call the pest control service for help. It is much easier to prevent the appearance of pests and immediately destroy single individuals accidentally caught in the apartment.

Preventive measures will not take much time, you will not need to use hazardous chemicals, you can put a reliable barrier to parasites without risk to health.

Beetles love heat and dryness, dampness is contraindicated for them. Do wet cleaning more often, try to walk with a wet rag in all secluded corners. If you add periodic treatment with a steam generator to this procedure, the parasites will leave the inhospitable apartment.

Add soda, liquid ammonia or wormwood infusion to the water for dusting and mopping. When restoring order, inspect the skirting boards, the joints of the wallpaper and the passage of communications. If you notice cracks and cracks, immediately seal them with sealant.

No one will disturb them with a wet sponge, in centuries-old deposits of dust it is cozy and safe. Think: Do you like living in a museum interior? If you cannot get rid of things sweetheart, once a week put them in a basin with soapy water and clean each piece with a special brush.

How to protect your home from a skin-eater

After you have managed to clean the house from a skin-eater, you need to follow some rules that will prevent re-infection of your home. One of the first is to store seasonal items in an airtight container.

Even if bugs start up in the closet, they will quickly leave it - such insects are afraid of sunlight. At least a couple of times a year, sort things out, throw out unnecessary ones, do not allow stagnation.

Leave a linen bag with mothballs, sprigs of lavender or wormwood in the closet. These smells scare away the bug, and it will not harm your property.

It is very important that you close the beetle's access to your home. If the windows in the apartment are constantly open, you need to put a fine mesh through which the insects can not get into you. Coat all cracks and holes, put the mesh on the ventilation shaft.

Do not forget that the bug also eats cereals. Store sugar, flour, peas, millet and other products in glass jars so that the skin-bearer cannot reach them.

When uninvited guests appear in the house in the form of unpleasant insects, you need to throw all your strength into the extermination of these pests. If you are unable to cope on your own, call a specialist who will perform the pest control. Do not put up with such a neighborhood, remember - it can be dangerous!