The weevil is a pest that enters your apartment at lightning speed and literally spoils your food in a matter of minutes. These parasites can be found in every corner of our vast world. They can't fly, but that doesn't stop them from moving from point A to point B at the speed of light. How exactly, you will read in the article.
If you suddenly find a weevil in your apartment, then this is a signal that you need to immediately take measures to destroy it, since this pest lays a lot of eggs. By the way, you can only find and see adult individuals, since the eggs and larvae are in “seeds”, and it is completely unknown how many eggs are hidden there and what scale of tragedy awaits you after hatching. Therefore, this is a rather important issue that needs to be looked at “under a microscope.”
Weevils in the apartment: photo
Weevils in the apartment.
Tips and tricks
To prevent weevils from settling in your apartment, you need to adhere to the basic rules for storing food. So, in the cabinets where cereals, flour and pasta are stored, there should always be perfect cleanliness. We need to stop using paper and plastic bags. The best option would be plastic, tin or glass containers with a tight-fitting lid. They are specially designed for storing food.
Before pouring the cereal into a container, it must first be washed using a detergent or simply wiped with a towel soaked in a weak solution of vinegar. After this, dry the container well. The optimal level of humidity in a container for storing flour or cereals can be maintained by placing a natural fabric bag filled with salt on its bottom. Stocks of cereals in the house should not be too large. You need to purchase products on the basis that they will last for 2-3 months.
When purchasing flour or cereals, you need to pay attention to when they were produced and packaged. To prevent the possibility of insects forming in flour, certain preventive measures must be taken. If possible, you should store cereals and pasta in the refrigerator so that the temperature is no higher than 10 degrees.
Types of weevils in the apartment
The weevil beetle is very small, about 3 mm in size, light brown, but darkens as it grows. He has a powerful jaw and therefore he can even ruin packaging in order to get to his favorite product.
Residents of the apartment can be these species.
Danger to humans
A distinctive feature of the life activity of these pests is that they make unusable garbage from bulk food products.
In addition, the weevil beetle can cause allergic reactions in humans. The main problem is the appearance of allergic alveolitis. The fact is that the beetle leaves a chitinous shell in flour, which is a carcinogen. Baking from such flour can lead to gastrointestinal upset. And that's not all, beetles carry fungal pathogens and bacteria.
Methods for the appearance of weevils in an apartment
Weevil beetles in stock.
Beetles enter a person’s home only with the help of the person himself. This is together with products brought from the market, with cereals. It happens that eggs end up in grocery stores while still in the warehouse at the packaging stage.
Some individuals have wings. They can accidentally fly into a person’s home in search of new shelter or food. But if adult individuals are already noticeable, then they probably laid enough eggs and contaminated a lot of food.
What is a pest?
At home you can find several varieties of weevils; in total there are several thousand species. All of them are united by one external feature, which gave the name to the species - the presence of a long trunk-type tube on the head.
By the way, the second name for insects of this species is elephants.
Types of domestic weevils:
- The barn weevil is a beetle 3-4 mm long, dark in color, very voracious. Found in stores of flour, cereals, pasta, and snacks.
- The rice elephant prefers cereals, cereals, flour products and ready-made baked goods. Size 2.5-3.5 mm, color brown. The female pushes the egg inside the grain and seals the hole with excrement. The larva gradually eats away the pulp.
- The nut weevil is most often found in hazelnut kernels, but can also feed on other nuts. Light, gray-brown in color, up to 1 cm long.
- The acorn fruiter is rare at home and can feed on any nuts and beans.
- The beet weevil is also rarely found in the apartment. Size 1.5 mm, color gray-black. When it gets into an apartment, it can move into pots with house flowers and lay eggs in the roots.
The larvae of weevils living in the house look monotonous. Whitish body with a small number of bristles, brown leathery head. The average size is 3 mm. The larvae are incredibly voracious, eating three times more than adult insects. The emergence of new generations of pests in the warm and humid environment of the kitchen occurs continuously.
How to deal with weevils in an apartment
It is worth noting right away that the fight must be started even if you saw only one beetle. It is necessary to review all stocks:
- pasta;
- croup;
- tea;
- Sahara;
- dried fruits;
- spices.
With a slight manifestation of the disease
Here's what to do if you find several beetles in your home or kitchen:
- Throw away all contaminated products. Even those where it is not the elephants themselves that are seen, but their waste or spoiled food.
Weevil in stocks: how to get rid of it.
- Grocery items that may not have been contaminated, but have been near contaminated items, must be secured. Cereals, pasta, tea and sugar can be kept in the freezer for several days or, conversely, heated in the oven for several hours.
- After this, it is necessary to carry out general cleaning immediately. Wash kitchen shelves and containers well with soapy water and treat with vinegar solution.
Traditional methods
These are safe methods that will help remove a small population of weevils from a house or apartment.
- Mustard powder solution. 100 g per 3 liters of water is used to wipe all shelves and spray.
- Use of deterrent scents: mint, citrus, eucalyptus, lavender, bay leaf, tansy or cloves. You can spread these herbs or soak a cotton ball with essential oil and place them on the shelves.
- Ammonia, which is used not in its pure form, but in a solution with water, also repels weevils. All kitchen surfaces are treated with it.
Chemicals
If there is a large amount of weevil in an apartment or house, which does not happen so often, then ordinary traps or chemicals scattered on a shelf will not help. Complex processing is required. drugs help against weevils:
- Inta-vir;
- Fufanon;
- Spark;
- Fitoverm.
But all products that have been exposed must be thrown away! The treatment of premises must be trusted to people who do this professionally. You cannot be in the room during processing without protective equipment.
Apple flower beetle
The most famous and dangerous pest in our gardens, it has chosen the apple tree for life, and less often settles on the pear tree. A brownish-gray beetle about 4 mm long with a thin, curved proboscis overwinters in cracks in the bark, under the leaves.
In early spring, at an average daily temperature of 6°C, it emerges from its shelter and moves into the trees. At first it feeds on the kidneys, making punctures; as a result, “crying kidneys” can be seen on them - droplets of clear liquid.
Then the time comes to lay eggs; for this, the females gnaw holes in the flower buds and lay one egg in each bud. The larvae, hatching from the eggs, gnaw out the contents of the buds and fill them with waste products.
Buds damaged by apple blossom beetle. Photo by the author
Unopened petals dry out, forming brown caps under which larvae or pupae hide. A new generation of beetles feeds on the leaves, gnawing small holes in them, and spreads throughout the garden.
Particularly great damage from the flower beetle is felt in years with weak flowering of the apple tree; in this case, the apple harvest may not be expected.
How to secure your home
If possible, you need to follow a few simple rules that will help prevent infection.
- Do not make very large stocks so that the products are not stored for more than two to three months.
- If possible, freeze all purchased dry products, groceries or flour after purchase.
- Store all bulk products in sealed containers.
- Monitors the expiration date of even those bulk food products that are not used very often.
- Clean in a timely manner, wash cabinet shelves with soapy water and aromatic oils.
- You can place strong-smelling drugs or garlic cloves in the cabinets.
- To prevent weevils from getting into rooms from the street, residents of private houses need to treat the areas in a timely manner.
Professional pest control
If you can’t get rid of weevils on your own or they have infested your home too much, you should contact a special service. In this case, you can be sure that pests will be destroyed in all possible places of residence. The methods used by exterminators to combat insects are as follows:
After using any methods to kill insects, be sure to wash the cabinet shelves and dry them. The kitchen, and best of all, the entire home should be well ventilated so that foreign odors do not cause illness to family members and animals.
Food storage rules
To store cereals and pasta, it is recommended to purchase containers made of food-grade plastic, glass or stainless steel with tight-fitting lids. It is not recommended to use paper bags, as weevils can easily gnaw through them. Before reusing the container, wash it with a solution of salt and soda. To do this, dilute 1 tsp. in 1 tbsp. water. Mustard and vinegar, taken in the same proportions, help.
Bulk foods should be stored in dry containers in a cool, dark place, preferably on the bottom shelf of a kitchen cabinet. To repel insects, place dried orange peel at the bottom of the container.
