Small stinking bugs appeared in the apartment. Length: 2-3mm. They look like ants in appearance. Black color. They move quite quickly. The body is capable of bending. Small wings are visible at the back of the abdomen.
The main feature: if you crush them, they emit a disgusting putrid odor
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Bugs have appeared
Appeared for no apparent reason. First they appeared on the windowsill in the kitchen. Then from time to time they crawled out on the walls of the kitchen and even in another room. I can’t say it’s a lot: about 15-20 in a couple of weeks.
What do bugs look like?
This is something that looks like an ichneumon ichneumon, shaped like a wasp or an ant. The antennae are made up of many segments and are bent in a “ring”. They are just too small for an ichneumon rider, and there is no ovipositor.
Bugs are stinky
But every bug has such a stink. An insect emits a smell not only when it is killed. So, I put it on the tape and didn’t crush it. The smell of rot came immediately. From a distance of half a meter the aroma is noticeable. Apparently a defense mechanism.
Stool smell
They smell like shit! Just natural shit! It’s actually incomprehensible how such small insects can produce such a stench!
How do bugs appear?
The house is neither homeless nor a barracks. Everything is as it should be, clean and tidy. Where are they from? Maybe someone brought it in from the street, and they multiplied?
Defensive reaction
Once you pick them up with your fingers to throw them away, then your fingers cannot be washed off. Even after washing with soap, this terrible stench remains on my fingers! Who had this? So what should I do?
But don't be alarmed. These insects are quite harmless to you. And the way to get rid of them is not at all complicated.
Despite all the usefulness of these guys for large-scale farming, they have no place in our apartments. And we must learn to fight the betilids. Moreover, it is not at all difficult.
Where do small flies in the kitchen come from?
The small midges you see in your kitchen are called fruit flies .
Or in other words, fruit gnats. Appearing on food scraps, fresh plant products or in sink drains, they cause a lot of trouble for people. They seem to appear completely out of nowhere. There is a logical explanation for this. They occur only when vegetables or fruits are left indoors and gradually rot. After the mating process, the flies lay many of their embryo eggs on all available products that are in the house. Then the larvae wait for conditions favorable for their development.
In order for the process of degeneration of an egg into a fly to begin, only one condition must be met - the presence of the process of rotting plant food or fermentation in the room. And then the flies really become active to capture first the rotting product, and then the entire house.
In what places in the house can they appear?
Popular places where midges can appear:
- pots with plants and flowers;
- flower bouquets in vases;
- fruits and vegetables, both raw and thermally processed;
- organic waste;
- open sewer pipes;
- basement;
- a neighbor's room, from where it will not be difficult for midges to move into your home.
Drosophila reproduce at lightning speed , and before you know it, they will take over the entire apartment space in a matter of days.
All the plants in the house, the trash can, prepared meals on the table, and leftover food will attract small pests. And dealing with them will not be as easy as simply taking action and preventing their occurrence. In addition to food midges, you may encounter the following types of new residents in your apartment:
- Water midges . They often breed in places with high humidity (bathrooms - bathtubs, showers, near aquariums or in sink drains). Midges do not live long, but they successfully lay eggs.
- Body midges . They increase their number exponentially in damp, undried things. Especially in summer and in hot, humid climates.
- Sciriades . They multiply well and grow in the soil of flower pots when fertilized, especially with organic fertilizers. It is also not recommended to overfill the flowers with water, so that a stagnant swamp does not form there.
How to find out about the presence of a stink bug in the house
In the life of various types of insects, the sense of smell plays an important role.
This sense helps them find food, navigate in space, signal to relatives and mate. Scent glands are especially active at the time of approaching danger and during the mating season. What do house stink bugs smell like? The smell of bedbugs is reminiscent of spoiled almonds or rotten raspberries. With a small infestation, this specific aroma can be mistaken for the smell from the street accidentally entering an open window. However, with a large concentration of parasites, the stench intensifies and becomes part of the apartment.
If your house suddenly smells strongly of raspberries, you need to urgently start searching for bedbugs . Since the stench of these insects most often intensifies during mating, after 1–2 weeks we can already talk about the development of offspring.
How to get rid of fruit flies?
Midges are quite unpleasant and dangerous insects that should be gotten rid of immediately when they are noticed. They can not only spoil your food and cause visual discomfort, but also cause various infections, as they carry dirt and bacteria.
What can you do to kick out uninvited guests once and for all? First of all, find the source of their constant appearance, gradually check all potential places in the house one by one. Food storage areas, sink drains, flower bouquets, plant pots. Did you find it? Now throw away the sources without regret.
After such manipulations, you will only have passive pests in the form of their eggs or lone agents hiding in the corners. The best way is to poison them with dichlorvos. Also below in the article are other, less toxic options for exterminating midges.
To prevent the situation from happening again, follow these simple recommendations:
- Always clean the kitchen thoroughly;
- Throw out the trash from the bin every day, and wash the bucket itself well;
- all food should be stored in the refrigerator, in airtight containers;
- Pay special attention to cleanliness in the kitchen sink area.
Important! Many people make the mistake of simply storing fruits and vegetables indoors, in boxes. You shouldn’t do this - it’s better to set the appropriate temperature in the refrigerator and move the supplies there.
Reason for the smell
On the abdomen of the bug, behind its front legs, there are odorous glands. They produce a special liquid secretion that easily evaporates in the air. This liquid contains cimicic acid, which emits a sharp, unpleasant, sickly-sweet odor. Many substances emit a similar aroma:
- bitter almond and its essential oil,
- cilantro - coriander greens (a garden herb similar to parsley)
- fermented raspberries or wild berries,
- Vietnamese balm “Star”.
It is often said that cognac also smells like bedbugs. This is also partly true, especially when it comes to elite, expensive varieties. Of course, these smells are only vaguely similar to bedbugs, but it helps to get an idea of what these insects smell like.
The glands of parasites can work either at full strength or produce a low-concentrated aroma, depending on the reasons for the odor release:
- When an animal or bird suddenly approaches an insect, a strong stench is a sign of fright; it is intended to emphasize the unappetizing nature of the bug and thereby frighten off the predator.
- Increased secretion production occurs when a dangerous insect is seen. In this case, this liquid is intended to serve as a weapon; it has an acidic reaction and is deadly for insects, as it destroys their chitinous cover.
- In low concentrations, the bug smell plays the role of a pheromone, helping to attract a female for mating, scare off a competitor, and identify an individual of its own species.
It is interesting that this caustic secretion is not capable of harming its owner, since the reservoirs for it are lined with a special protective layer, and when released, pressure is created and the poison does not fall on the insect’s abdomen. Such perfect protection makes bedbugs practically invulnerable; not a single predator would dare to feast on this stinky thing.
The most pungent odor is produced by a crushed bug, and not only adults, but also larvae smell. In order not to spoil the air in the room for a long time, it is better to carefully throw the insect out of the window without causing damage to it.
How to remove onions?
The onion midge breeds and multiplies inside the onion. This happens if you store supplies incorrectly, for example inside a bag, packing it tightly. In such an environment, the onions become damp and begin to rot. If you notice that midges are swarming around your onions, carefully sort through your supplies. Spoiled vegetables must be disposed of immediately.
Onion midge is well destroyed with the help of pine aroma . Soak the cotton wool in pine ether, place it near the vegetable storage area and wait. The midge itself will leave this place due to the discomfort it feels.
If there are too many midges, household traps will help you, which will be discussed below.
How to deal with insects in cereals?
Brown midges infest the cereals and lay many of their eggs and larvae. How do they get there? This is possible even at the packaging stage at the manufacturer, as well as if the products are in open containers on store displays. If such pests are detected:
- Review every can and bag of cereal.
- Determine the source of the midges and throw them in the trash.
- If the area of contamination is too large, try disinfecting supplies.
This method will also help - place the food in the freezer for several days. During this time, all the larvae will freeze and will not be able to hatch.
The video describes how to combat cereal bugs:
Methods to combat betilides
Find where flour beetles (flour bugs) have grown. For example, a forgotten bag of cookies in the far corner or a bag of cereal that has fallen behind the stove. It is very likely that there will be a couple of dozen bugs there. Throw away this find and clean the surrounding area of crumbs. In a week, all your betilids will disappear.
Look for beetles. They are found in flour products, cereals, and seasonings. You definitely have a cluster of them somewhere. You can be as confident as you want that you have searched through everything and everything is clean. Well, there are no beetles anywhere on which betilids could parasitize. You are wrong. Search more carefully. By chance you will find a bag, and all the facts will converge.
Don't pay attention to the betilids themselves. Let them crawl. They will rest when you deal with the bugs. It's very smelly to crush them. And if you really want to slam them down, then just carefully, without crushing them, apply a piece of tape to the sitting betilida. And in the trash. They are not fast enough to escape from under the tape. They will stick tightly and will not have time to stink much (although they will still give in a little). At least your fingers and surface won't become stinky.
So, good luck getting rid of these stinkers! And how to deal with flour beetles - there are a lot of different recommendations on the Internet.
Everything about “pets”, why you will find the “spool” below
