Antipest Blog

You might wonder why this particular beetle is named by a store that sells pharmaceutical products.  It acquired its name as it can be found infesting prescription drugs.  However, these nasty beetles do not only eat drugs but also stored products such as seeds, dry mixes, spices, flour products, bread, dried herbs and grains which contaminate them.  That is not only it.  They feed on leather, wool, tin, aluminium and the book bindings too.  That is just simply horrible.

Luckily, they do not harm humans or pets.  Nevertheless, they can be rather difficult to control as they can infest a wide range of products.

Drugstore beetles are tiny, brown insects that are around 1/8 inches long and are oval in shape.  They can be identified by their 3-segmented club antennae and their wing covers have rows of pits.  They live worldwide but are mainly found in countries with warmer climates.

Controlling drugstore beetles can be a tiring ordeal.  The main thing is to locate the source of infestation but this can be quite difficult.  Once you have found infested products, dump them into thick plastic bags and throw them away.   Items that you are unsure of should be placed in your freezer for a few days to kill them off.

As drugstore beetles are usually found in humid places, using a dehumidifier in infested areas is a good idea.  Any cracks or openings that are infested can be dealt with a vacuum cleaner too.  Insecticides can also be used but make sure to carefully follow the instructions on the label.

To prevent re-infestation, always shop carefully and inspect food products that you are about to purchase and bring into your home.  Store food items in airtight metal, plastic or glass containers.  Make sure no exposed food is left around the house and clean your pantry regularly.

There have been increasing cases of people contracting the dreaded leptospirosis, or widely known as rat urine disease in the recent years.  How does queerly named disease actually affect us? For instance, there were 55 deaths in 2011 and 48 deaths in 2012 due to leptospirosis.  Once we are infected, we will experience muscle aches, fever, migraines, redness in the eyes, and joint pain.

If you don’t think that is bad, people in severe cases will suffer from liver damage, bleeding in the intestines and lungs, kidney failure, vomiting and heart failure.  Some have horrible cases of diarrhoea and we all know what that is like.  Symptoms surface 2 to 10 days after being exposed to this disease.

This deadly bacterial infection can be spread through mainly rats and mice but they can also be passed on by cows, sheep, dogs, rabbits and some marine animals.  It is transmitted through the urine of the above-mentioned animals.  Skin contact or swallowing of contaminated water results in contracting leptospirosis.  Open wounds exposed to infected water produce the same results.

For treatment, penicillin and antibiotics such as ampicillin and doxycycline should be consumed.  For complicated cases, the infected have to be hospitalized for dialysis or salt solution infusions.

There are a few ways to prevent getting infected.  For instance, always wash your cutlery and cups before eating and drinking.  Make it a habit to rinse the top of carbonated cans before gulping it down.  Avoid areas with stagnant water and constantly clean up after doing outdoor activities.

You might have heard of the sawtooth sword or even found it while playing Assassin’s Creed 3.  This particular beetle obtained its name from six sawtooth-like projections from its midsection, much like the serrated edges of the aforementioned sword.

They are brown, small and 2.4 to 3 mm in size.  These ghastly insects feed chiefly on grain-based products, cereal, dried fruits, spices, flour, pet goods, nuts, tobacco, drugs and chocolates among other stored food products.  Furthermore, they contaminate more food than they actually eat.

Using their flat, slender bodies, saw-toothed grain beetles crawl into cracks of broken kernels of grain.  They do not feed on whole grains.  They will then proceed to lay their eggs into the food. It will take approximately 2 months for the eggs to become mature adult beetles.  Thankfully these insects do not harm humans and cannot fly.  I would freak out if swarms of these beetles flew around the house from my pantry.  They also do not spread diseases or damage furniture in your house.  However, they can chew through cellophane, plastic, cardboard and foil to reach their desired food.

To detect these beetles, grab a torchlight and examine all your food products closely.  They will be in your pantry products or crawling across the shelves.  Empty your pantry, dump infested foods in heavy plastic bags or sealed containers and throw them away immediately.  Vacuum your pantry shelves and counters to remove any remaining beetles and food remnants.  You could also scrub your emptied pantry with soap and water to sanitize it.  Thoroughly dry your pantry afterwards.  If you have pets, make sure that the pet food is kept in sealed containers.

When purchasing food, make absolutely certain that the packaging is not torn or damaged and check the expiry date.  Stored food products should be placed in tightly sealed glass or heavy plastic containers.  Stowing them into the refrigerator or freezer is a good idea too.

Using insecticides is not recommended and do not spray them on or near your food as this will contaminate your food.  Furthermore, insecticides are useless on insects that are in food packages.  If non-chemical procedures stated above have been performed, the usage of insecticides should not be needed.  Insecticide application is always the last resort if the infestation becomes severe.

1. A termite queen can live up to 45 years, captive in her huge mound where she lives.  She can pump out around 20000 to 30000 eggs per day which will amount to a huge number of offspring!
2. When the termite queen’s life is at its end, her children gather around her and lick her to death by drawing fluids out of her body.  Such ingratitude.
3. Termites are insect workaholics.  They work 24 hours-7 days a week without stopping and do not sleep.
4. In Singapore, termites are considered an exotic delicacy.  The termites are preserved in rice wine or served live to intrigued customers.  It is said to be tough on the outside but cool and creamy on the inside.
5. When there is a breach in their termite mound, the dutiful soldier termites will bang their large heads against the walls to attract other soldier and worker termites for defense.
6. Almost all the worker and soldier termites are blind as they spend all their time in their dark, dusty mound.  Reproductive termites, however, possess functional eyes as they need to fly in search of new nesting grounds.
7. Some above-ground mounds can go as high as 9 meters!  That is higher than a single-storeyed house.  Typical mounds are around 2 to 3 meters.

Short of grinding a snail under the heel of your shoe when you encounter it, here are a few other ways to eliminate snails in your garden :

1.  One of the ways that I have personally used is the beer method.  Yes, I said beer.  Dig a small hole in your garden and place a plastic cup in it, with the rim at ground level and fill it with some beer.  Snails are attracted to the yeast fermentation of the beer and will slide as fast as they can towards the sparkly gold mine.  Most will drop into the cup and drown.  Simply throw away the beer and refill it every one or two days.

2.  Sand can also be used to line the perimeter of you plants as it tears their delicate bellies apart.  It is like walking barefoot on crushed glass on the sidewalk.  Thus, they will steer clear of your beloved plants.

3.  If you have a lot of money to spare, you could purchase copper strips and lay them around your plants with each end being connected to the other.  When snails try to cross the copper strips, they receive a delightful shock as electrical charges are stored by the copper.  They will definitely stay away after that.  Like the saying goes, once bitten, twice shy.

4.  Furthermore, if you could always opt for the manual way which people who have a lot of time on their hands seem to do.  Grab an empty bucket, slip on a pair of rubber gloves and pick snails from your plants who are happily chewing away.  After collecting a bucketful of the slimy creatures, fill it with water.  Leave it overnight with a lid on top to prevent any snails from getting out.  Simply throw away the drowned snails the following morning.

5.  Another way is to alter the time when you water your plants.  As snails are nocturnal and they like dark, damp places; they usually appear around dusk, ready to munch contentedly away at your plants.  Thus, instead of watering in the evening, water your plants in the morning so that the ground will dry out by the afternoon.

Reference : http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Garden-Slugs

These slimy, clammy creatures reproduce extremely quickly and in large volumes.  Some snails are asexual, which means they can breed by themselves and do not need to find a partner to mate.  This allows them to reproduce whenever they like.  These snails can easily ravage your plants in your garden that you have been nurturing for years in a matter of days.  Many backyard gardeners are devastated when they find their plants ruined by a horde of snails.  It can make your blood boil seeing all your hard work go to complete waste.  Thankfully, there are a number of ways to get rid of these pesky creatures.

1.  Crush a handful of eggshells and lay them around the plants that you want to protect from being chewed by the snails.  What do the eggshells do?  It basically takes loads of time for the snails to overcome the sharp obstacles and there is a chance of them ripping their mucous membrane when they slide over the jagged eggshells.

2.  Another effective way is to sprinkle coffee grounds around the perimeter of your plants.  Coffee grounds act as a strong deterrent to snails.

3.  If crushing eggshells and sprinkling coffee grounds are not your preferred choices, you could rear some predators for the snails.  They include toads, ducks and chickens which will gobble up the snails at a moment’s notice.  However, not everyone wants a chicken clucking and clawing in their backyard or toads hopping freely around in your garden for that matter.

4.  You can lure snails by leaving a plate of cat or dog food where the snail infestation is rampant.   Place a lid on top with a small opening to allow the snails to slip inside as they prefer dark places.  Leave the plate overnight and in the morning you can throw a plateful of snails and half eaten animal food away.  Snails supposedly love cat and dog food but this technique might attract rodents into your garden.

Reference : http://practicalpermaculture.com/2011/07/eleven-ways-to-get-rid-of-slugs-and-snails/

Some people are of the opinion to leave caterpillars alone as they transform into beautiful, colourful butterflies sooner or later.  However, during the time period before they make the magical alteration, they wreck total havoc onto any plants they crawl across, defoliating shrubberies and hedges overnight.  Their chewing power is amazing.  Here are a few odd facts about caterpillars for you to digest.

1. Caterpillars are like bodybuilders.  They have around 4,000 muscles and no skeleton whatsoever.  Humans only have about 650 muscles.  They are also picky eaters.  For example, the Great Purple Hairstreak caterpillar only eats mistletoes, the Zebra Longwing eats solely passionflowers and the Monarch caterpillar consumes only milkweed.

2.  When a caterpillar breaks free from its egg, the first source of food it will usually go for is its eggshell.  This is because the eggshell contains protein which will provide it energy to search for some tasty leaves to munch on.

5.  They undergo moulting, which is shedding of their skin, just like snakes do.  This happens when they grow really fast, and their current skin becomes way too stretched and tight.  Before they turn into butterflies or moths, they would have moulted around 5 times and their final form usually looks different from their initial look.  Many would have produced hairs, spines and become a different colour.

6.  Certain species of caterpillar are poisonous.  Some plants contain toxins that are poisonous to certain animals.  However, these crafty caterpillars consume these plants and store the toxins inside them without any damage done.  Thus, predators such as birds will avoid these caterpillars as they can secrete the toxins at will.

Humans that come into contact with stinging caterpillars may experience itching, burning and might even get a nasty rash.

For example, the saddleback caterpillar possesses hairs that secrete venom which cause nausea and rashes.

Being in contact with the puss caterpillar results in burning, and a pain that lasts for a few hours.

http://www.iggybiggybuggy.com/funfacts.html