DIY Earwig Trap

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Earwigs aren’t the type of bug that usual invade your home, however I seem to be a bit unlucky there because that’s exactly what happened. On Monday night I was sitting on the couch in the basement watching TV when I saw an earwig crawling across the floor, I stopped to squish it with a tissue and went back to my show. Only a few minutes later I saw another one crawling by, so again I paused the show and killed it, and again I saw on a few minutes later. As the evening went on I continued to kill more and more of them. They were crawling up the walls and looking for any little nook or cranny to hide in. As far as I could tell they were climbing under the sliding glass door in the basement and then back up on the otherside, probably drawn in by the cool air from our air conditioner.

One of the first tricks I discovered was using a piece of masking tape to kill them was much easier than a tissue. Just rip off a piece, stick it on top of them, and they’ll stick to it instead of trying to run away. One piece of tape can easily trap several of them before you need to toss it in the garbage and grab a fresh piece of tape. But enough about that, if you’re looking to trap a large amount of them and in a much more passive manner then this next method is the one you’ll really want to use.

Start off by finding yourself some disposable containers, something you can punch some holes in the lid of, or don’t mind the whole thing going in the garbage after. For me I’ve used anything from the little plastic soy sauce containers you get when ordering sushi to margarine containers. Use what you have around that house, I’m sure you’ll find something that works! Next you’re going to take any kind of cooking oil and then you’re going to add soy sauce to it. That’s it! I wouldn’t even stress much about trying to mix it up, as it’s basically oil and water and will just separate again.

Now place them somewhere dark and at ground level. The earwigs will be drawn to the smell of sweet and oily and when they climb in to take a sip they will just fall in and drown. You’ll also want to leave it out overnight as that’s when they are most active. And of coures if you have any small pets or children make sure it’s not somewhere they can get into it, although everything in it is edible it can still stain or make quite the mess if spilled. I personally put some under the couches and in the corner behind the entertainment cabinet. I also put some outside in the garden under some bushes as there was obviously a much bigger earwig problem outside than in.

After that just sit back, relax, and wait for it to do it’s trick. If there are earwigs nearby they will be drawn in for a treat and will ultimately meet their demise. From there all you have to do is check the traps once a day and refresh them, which can mean throwing them out and making a new one, or just dumping out the dead earwigs and adding fresh oil and soy sauce. You should also notice the amount trapped diminishing each time, and once you’re no longer catching any you can stop putting out traps because the problem has been solved!

Citronella – You’ve Been Using it Wrong

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For as long as we’ve been together, my fiance has always insisted that we buy a citronella plant or two each spring to help keep the bugs off our porch and deck. From there we did what I think many people do, and set them up around the places we like to hang out and then kept them watered and expected that to somehow keep that mosquittos at bay.

Turns out we were wrong.

It was one of those things you stumble upon by mistake but once you realize it, it makes a lot of sense. But while researching how to propagate cuttings it made mention of how you had to rub the oil on your skin to make it work. Yes that’s right, you need to break a branch off and then rub the oil on yourself in order to ward off the bugs.

So there you have it folks, if you’ve been expecting the plant to passively repell mosquittos… well, you’re wrong.

How Long Can Bedbugs Survive?

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A popular question regarding bedbugs is how long they can survive without a host, or some sort of feeding. The truth is there are a several factors that contribute to the answer of this question, but generally speaking you should assume they can live upwards of a year without feeding.

That’s right, one whole year.

This means that simply moving out of your bedroom and into a spare bedroom or couch and trying to wait it out isn’t a good strategy. The sad reality is not only are they able to play the waiting game better than you are but eventually they will start exploring in search of a new host. This means they may find their way into that spare bedroom or onto that couch and you’ll be back to square one.

What’s that Bite?

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Have a mysterious bite on you and you’re wondering what caused it? Well, it turns out that it’s not as straight forward as you might hope to identify what bit you. When it comes to bites, everyone’s body reacts differently. A mosquito bite may cause little to no reaction in one person, and a major reaction in the next. It all depends on your immune response to the bite.

With that being said, here are some general guide lines for identifying what has bitten you:

  • Bedbugs typically leave a small bite mark on the skin that is red and itchy and can cause a serious allergic reaction. It is not uncommon for these bites to appear in a line formation on your skin. They may be inflamed and itchy for several days.
  • Bee stings cause a red skin bump with white around it. A bee sting will have a persistant stinging sensation rather than an itch. You may often see part of the stinger still embedded at the center of the bump.
  • Flea bites leave an itchy welt on the skin, often on the ankles, shins and legs.
  • Mosquitoes leave a raised, itchy pink skin bump or in rare cases a severe allergic reaction.
  • Spider bites cause minor symptoms like red skin, swelling, and pain at the site or very serious symptoms that need emergency care.
  • Ticks bites can range from hardly noticeable to leaving a rash that looks like an expanding bull’s-eye. If you see this bull’s-eye rash seek medical attention promptly as it may indicate lyme disease.
  • Chiggers will leave small itchy red welts on your skin that will feel hard.
  • Scabies will burrow into your skin causing an intense burning/itching sension and if you look closely you may see small tunnels caused by their burrowing.
  • Kissing Bugs typically do not cause a reaction when they bite. However in some people it may cause mild itching and redness in a small, tight cluster.

Again, when it comes to identifying bug bites by analyzing the reaction on your skin you may find it’s an imperfect science. For that reason, if you are dealing with persistant bug bites in your home I highly recommend setting up sticky traps. Only then can you be sure of what is biting you.

Bed Bugs and their Seasonal Cycles

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Something you don’t often hear mentioned when discussing bed bugs are that like anything else they have their cycles. And here I’m not referring to the various stages they progress through from egg to adult, but rather peak periods of activity depending on the time of year. As with anything else, they are affected by their environment and will often reach their worst at the peak of summer, only to decline as the winter months set in.

Think about how ever summer you have to deal with flies breeding in your garbage or fruit flies breeding in your kitchen. That extra ambient heat sends all insects into overdrive, speeding up their breeding cycles and reducing the time it takes for eggs to mature and hatch. And guess what, bed bugs are insects too and as such will be affected by the seasons.

Let’s take a look at Google Trends for the last 8 years. You’ll notice a clear pattern in when people are searching for bed bugs:

Each of those peaks you see there are July and August, with each valley being December through February.

I found this to be rather interesting, as with bed bugs primarily living indoors I did not expect a huge discrepency. So I did some further digging and found a study called Spatial and Temporal Patterns in Cimex lectularius (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) Reporting in Philadelphia, PA” published by the Journal of Medical Entomology which found the same conclusion.

Of course one must be mindful of the fact that this is going to be dependant on what part of the world you are in. For example when I search for trends on chinches in Argentina, which is the spanish word for bed bug I found the inverse to be true. They appear to peak in Janurary of each year, and their lowest in July.

However I found some interesting results when searching for percevejos, which is the portugese word for bed bugs, in Brazil. While there were definite peaks and valleys in when they were most active I could not discern a clearn pattern when it came to seasons. It almost seemed to me like they were most active in both the middle of summer and winter, which is quite unexpected. However I was specfically looking at São Paulo where the winters tend to be rather mild.

So how does this information affect you? And how can you use it to fight or avoid bed bugs? To me the most obvious is that if you are traveling to an area in its summer months then you should be aware that bed bugs are going to be in their peak season and you should take extra steps to protect your luggage and clothing. Personally, as a Canadian who is used to the cold we often travel to hot countries in their winter months, as their winters are like summers to us. So this gives me comfort knowing that bed bugs will be less active when traveling to those places.

In addition to that it is the start of November as I write this article. So here in Canada that means it is the start of winter and that tells me I can expect a decline in bed bug populations. As someone who just had a resurgance of bed bugs two months ago I know that they are going to a period of dormancy which means I won’t be fight so much of an uphill battle. For the next several months at least I have the weather on my side, but I also know that I need to have this problem completely dealt with by April or May or else we will have a very unpleasant summer.

Do Glue Boards Work?

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When it comes to glue boards you need to be aware of what it’s main purpose is in order to be able to determine how successful they are. A glue board is not going to control an infestation, there just isn’t enough incentive for them to crawl into one. But every now and then one will, and that is how you’ll confirm that they are in fact there. That is their true purpose, for monitoring, not controlling numbers.

Bed bugs are like little ninjas. They’re hard to find and often the only sign of them is the red blotches on your skin the next day. So how do you figure out exactly what’s biting you? Glue traps are you answer.

Glue trap are relatively cheap, you can get them for as little as $1 a board. From there some can be spit up into thirds, costing you about 33 cents a piece. I highly recommend setting several around your room. I put them under the bed, under the dresser, in drawers and any other spot I think they might want to crawl and hide. I even put them under the couch coushins. I also like to keep them out of sight in case visitors stop by, but it just so happens that bed bugs also like to stay out of sight.

If you’re lucky, one will crawl across a glue board and become insnared. Then, finally, you’ll know what’s biting you.

For me, that was what finally confirmed our problem. My wife had been getting bites for quite some time. We had first suspected fleas. We treated our cat, even took him in to the vet for an inspection. There was no sign of fleas. Eventually one of the glue traps caught an adult bed bug in our master bedroom. Until that happened, we would have continued to live in denial. So for that alone, I will say that yes they do work. I will continue to use them and check them frequently.

I’ve also managed to catch many other things in glue traps. I’ve caught several mice in the garage. I’ve caught crickets, spiders and even centipedes. So even if you don’t manage to catch any bed bugs, they’ll definitely help you keep an eye on what creepy crawlies are in your house.