How to get rid of book lice in an apartment

The appearance of pests of any type in the house is a real problem that must be dealt with as soon as possible and in the most categorical ways. In order to successfully perform such manipulations, it is necessary to understand the reasons for their appearance and methods of struggle. If a book louse has been noticed, it is urgent to start planning methods with which you can rid the house of pests.

Insect description

Book lice - These are small (0.1 cm long) insects with a flattened body from light gray to white, wingless, characterized by rapid active reproduction by parthenogenesis. Photos of book lice are presented below.

A book louse that harms old books is very mobile, you can detect its presence by the characteristic ticking sound that will come from where the insect has settled down.

Habitat

Book louse can be found in all corners of the world, but the tropical and subtropical climate is most preferable for it; it successfully reproduces in a warm humid climate. It is precisely with her preferences that her habitats next to humans are explained - old book depositories, ancient archives, ancient libraries, granaries, decrepit houses with a disturbed ventilation system.

On a note!

Book louse begins active and continuous reproduction at a temperature of 16 to 35 ° C, high humidity, the absence of drafts and the influx of fresh air.

Reasons for the appearance

At home hayed, as this pest is also called, appears due to the lack of regular cleaning of the premises, imperfections in ventilation, violation of the thermal regime, and increased humidity. The same applies to storage locations.

With increasing air temperature and humidity, bookworms begin active growth and reproduction. Within a year, one female book louse can produce six generations of offspring. It is easy to imagine what dominance of insects can be expected if no measures are taken to remove their colonies.

The hay caused by hay

By its vital activity, this pest is not capable of harming human health. However, it can cause certain inconvenience and damage property:

• the book louse feeds on starchy compounds, that is, it damages the germ of the grain if it settles in grain storage tanks;
• gnaw through the roots of documents and books, eating the remnants of glue, impregnating the junction of the sheets;
• destroy herbaria and collections of insects and their photographs in entomological museums and laboratories.

Book Lice Control Activities

Destroying the book louse in storage and at home will not be difficult, adhering to the necessary rules. To do this, you need to contact the pest specialists who will deal with the treatment of the affected area by chemical methods, which can be divided into three types:

• Wet disinfection with peritroids - means that are safe for human life, but harmful to insects. At present, there are some herbal preparations infused with kerosene or white spirit (Flitsid, Akarin, Vertimek) that are actively used by professionals.This method can be used independently, using liquid insecticides available for purchase, having a hazard class of groups III and IV.
• Cold fog generation is used in cases when the pest has chosen places that are large in size: hangars for storing grain or dried herbs, large libraries, warehouses and archives with documentation.
• Hot mist generation - exposure to hot steam containing insecticide molecules. This method is used only by professionals, since the device itself is quite large and difficult to use.

To get rid of book lice in the apartment without involving specialists, you can use aerosols and flea control sprayssuch as Cucaracha, Get, Flea executioner. They are non-toxic, easy to operate and quite effective, odorless.

Important!

When working with these drugs, safety precautions must be observed: wear a respirator and protective clothing covering the skin before processing.

Pest Prevention

In order to avoid problems with the presence of book lice, preventive measures are needed - quite simple to comply with, requiring no special skills.

The most important thing is not to neglect the regular cleaning of the premises. This applies to residential premises and large storage areas. Observe a constant normal temperature regime, regularly ventilate the premises, monitor air humidity, not allowing it to increase. Hayworms will not tolerate dry, fresh air, so such simple methods can protect property from damage by these insects.

Important!

To understand what are the indicators of humidity in the desired room, you can use special gauges.

In granaries it is necessary to maintain a constant temperature regime, regularly review the grain, visually assessing its safety, if a damaged batch is found, it must be removed immediately. In archives and bookstores, it is necessary to get rid of dust accumulation in a timely manner, to conduct cleaning and inspection, which will help to notice the appearance of uninvited guests in time.

Having considered the problem of dealing with book lice, we can say that it is always easier to prevent its occurrence than to get rid of it, despite the fairly simple and effective methods that can be applied in a short time without special skills.