Why do Spiders, Centipedes and Earwigs Love the Bathroom so Much?

You know that moment when you’re in the shower, mid-shampoo and you look up to see that creepy crawly just hanging out on the wall of your shower. A quick debate runs through your head: Should I move? Yes, move. Wait, no. Hold still, maybe it won’t notice me. I’ll quickly get the shampoo out of my hair and everything will be fine. After “calmly” talking yourself through that situation, you start to wonder why insects seem so determined to ruin your shower. The simple truth is that living in your bathroom makes for a pretty easy life for spiders and other bugs.

What Makes the Bathroom so Enticing for Bugs?

Bathrooms are magnets that attract a variety of creepy, crawly pests because they provide an ideal environment for a couple of reasons.

  1. Hair, mildew, mold provide unlimited food sources, yummy!
  2. Soaps made from fats are another delicious food source.
  3. Pipes provide excellent travel paths.
  4. Plumbing leaks and dampness provide the moisture needed to survive.
  5. Cracks and crevices offer hiding places and places to establish nests.
  6. The high humidity and moisture environment is desirable.

Which Bugs are Most Common?

According to Operations Managers at Batzner Pest Control, these are the most common bugs they come across in the bathroom.

  1. Centipedes: The main reason centipedes are present in bathrooms is for the availability of other insects to feed on.
  2. Earwigs: Drawn to bathrooms because they prefer damp, dark environments.
  3. Springtails: They thrive in high humidity and will feed on whatever is available.
  4. Silverfish: They prefer dampness, but their nocturnal habits keep their pest profile low.

Why is it so Hard to Control Bathroom Pests?

Eliminating bugs in the bathroom can be a challenging task. And darn it, if there’s one thing you deserve at the end of the day, it’s a peaceful shower without being traumatized by the possibility of unwanted company. Do-it-yourself treatments only provide temporary solutions to the problem, and they don’t tackle pests at the source. The best way to remove insects from your bathroom starts with a call to Batzner Pest Control at 866-591-3519 or by contacting us online. We’ll identify and eliminate the problem, so you can get back to enjoying your personal space without unwanted company.

5 Tips to Prevent Fall Invaders, Including Spiders, Centipedes and Earwigs

Those of us in the pest control industry consider occasional invaders to be some of the creepiest of the crawlies. You’ve probably seen them scurrying across your bathroom or living room floor at one time or another. Most commonly, occasional invaders include centipedes, millipedes, earwigs and Asian lady beetles, among others.

These pests are referred to as occasional, or fall, invaders because they sporadically enter homes or businesses through cracks or crevices, most commonly in the fall. They’ll usually seek shelter indoors when the weather becomes too hostile outside for them to survive. You’ll typically find them by themselves or in small numbers near food sources, in basements, or other cool, damp places.

Occasional invaders aren’t necessarily a health or structural concern, however, they are definitely nuisance bugs; biting, pinching, eating houseplants, damaging fabrics. The main concern for a home or business owner may be food contamination, so be sure to take proper precautions if you believe one of these pests has taken up residence in your food.

Here are Batzner’s five tips to prevent occasional invaders:

  1. Caulking and sealing entry points such as windows and doors. This eliminates some of the most common entry points for occasional invaders.
  2. Don’t forget to vacuum! You can use your vacuum in two capacities here: to clean up any dead bugs which may be attractive to pests, or to clean up any occasional invaders you spot in your home. Just be sure to clean out the vacuum right away!
  3. Make your landscaping less pest friendly. Remove leaf piles, overgrown bushes or trees, and mulch around the perimeter of your home. These are great places for these pests to live.
  4. Repair screens on windows and doors. Similar to caulking and sealing, these are also common entry points for occasional invaders, so it’s a good idea to make sure there is no damage to your screens.
  5. Seal all food containers. It seems obvious, but if a pest has no access to food, they are less likely to stay.
  6. If you believe you’ve spotted some of these occasional invaders, utilize the prevention tips above to limit the infestation. However, if you’re continually noticing these pests, it’s a good idea to consider Batzner’s year-round pestfree 365 program to keep pests at bay.

Call Batzner at 866-591-3519 or fill out a form online for more information today!

How to Prevent Pantry Pests in Your Home – Tips for Bug-Free Holiday Baking

Holiday baking season is underway, which means plenty of houses will be full of breads, cookies, pies, and other tasty treats. Your family members aren’t the only ones who find these goodies delicious, so watch out for every baker’s worst enemy – pantry pests.

What are Pantry Pests?

Pantry pests, which include ants, earwigs, weevils, pillbugs, Indian meal moths, and merchant grain beetles, like to infest almost all major baking ingredients. Some of their favorites are flour, dried fruit, nuts, and chocolate, but some pests will also target cake mixes, grains, seeds, dog food, and candy. All four stages of beetle and moth development (egg, larva, pupa, and adult) may be present in the food, though eggs are rarely seen because of their small size. Most people don’t notice the infestation until the insects have reached the adult stage, though most damage is actually done while they are in the larval stage.

Most Common Pantry Pests

The Indian meal moth is the most commonly encountered external feeder and the most common pantry pest in homes. This moth is easily recognized by its two-toned forewings that are tan on the front third and reddish-copper on the back two-thirds. If disturbed, adults fly in a very irregular zigzag pattern. The larvae feed upon a wide variety of foods, including seasonal favorites like chocolate, dried fruits, crackers, nuts, and just about any other dried foods we line our tables and shelves with during the holidays.

Sawtoothed grain beetles, and its nearly identical cousin the Merchant grain beetle, are tiny brown beetles that have saw-like projections on either side of the thorax. They tend to feed on fine pieces of damaged or milled grain products. This pest can be a real menace to your holiday food; they feed upon a wide variety of our festive goodies, including dried fruits and meats, sugar, chocolate, various nuts, seeds, and items of similar character. Their small size permits them easier access into packaged food items and allows them to squeeze into the smallest cracks and crevices going unnoticed for long periods, leaving ample time to build up large populations in a short span.

In the flour beetle family, the red and confused are the most commonly encountered. These two reddish colored beetles are frequent scavengers of flour and grain meals which we commonly use to make our favorite seasonal cakes and pastries, as well as spices, dried fruits, and cereal products. They can easily penetrate into sealed food because of their small size.

Where do they come from?

While some pantry pests enter a house through cracks and crevices like other pests, it is much more likely that the original infestation took place at the food processing plant, storage facility, delivery vehicle, or retail sore. Because of this, inspecting baking ingredients before storing them is extremely important! Additionally, because a few eggs can be hard to catch, products that aren’t used very frequently should still be inspected on a regular basis.

What can I do about them?

Pantry pests can infest an area in a very short period of time, and can become a major nuisance very quickly. Here are some ways to avoid having your holiday baking season ruined by these pests:

Before Baking

  • Plan ahead and buy sealed glass or plastic containers to store your final results and their ingredients.
  • Inspect all the ingredients you will be using, both at your house and at the grocery store. Signs of infestation include visible pests and damaged packaging.
  • Check all expiration dates on ingredients before adding them to a recipe.

After Baking

  • Store finished baked goods and ingredients properly. Use glass or plastic containers with tight-fitting lids.
  • Add a bay leaf to canisters of dry goods before you put them back in the pantry or cabinet. The herb’s strong smell is a repellent for many pantry pests.
  • Clean up all crumbs and spills from counters, floors, pantry shelves, cabinets, and sinks as soon as you are done.
  • Dispose of garbage in sealed receptacle and take outside in a timely manner.
  • Since baking ingredients will be out of the cabinets, take the opportunity to vacuum and wipe down the interiors with soap and water.

Check out our pest ID for more information on individual pests, and if there is any sign of an infestation present in your pantry, cabinets, or anywhere else in the house, please don’t hesitate to call 866-591-3519 or contact us online!