Black insects are small pests of the insect group that can be disconcerting in your house. They can get into your stored food and sometimes scare your kids, although they are not harmful at times. Their presence is somehow considered normal, but many wish to eradicate them. When many parents notice small and black insects with the hard shell in the house, pesticides are the first eradicating plan that comes in their heads. But with kids in the house, use of pesticides is never a good option. Ingestion of pesticides can result in death, leukemia, or lymphoma. There are better and safe natural ways to get rid of these small and black insects without using pesticides.
What Are the Black Insects in the House
There are types of these small and black insects. Below are explanations of insects you might be seeing.
1. Carpet beetles
Carpet beetles also are known as little black beetles and are most common around the house carpet. They feed on cloth fiber, pet foods, or cereals. It's somehow hard to notice these insects due to their slow reproductive nature, but you will find them in most homes. They do not cause diseases nor bite human beings.
2. Grain insects
You have to worry about grain insects. There are different types such as the red flour beetle, rice weevils, or flour beetles. They are most common in stored food and can get into your food store through bought grains or flour products. They feed on your stored food lowering its quality. Adult beetles can live for a year. You will find their eggs and grains on flour containers, boxes, and sacs.
3. Centipedes
If there are house black insects that can scare you or your kids, house centipedes come at the top. They are insects with about 15 legs and can be very scary to see them crawl. Catching them is close to impossible, as they can move about 1.3 feet in a single second. Although house centipedes are creepy, they help to kill other unwelcome house insects or pests like termites, moths, silverfish, cockroaches, and flies. They use their forward legs which are packed with venom to kill them. The decision on whether to kill them or not is yours.
4. Fleas
Fleas are among the most unwelcomed black insects. They get into your house through pets. What makes them the worst of all pets is the fact they do bite. They are small insects, but during warmer months like the summer, they do bite people a lot. You need to think of how to get rid of these insects.
5. Cockroaches
You will find more cockroaches in areas where you store your food and water. They live in areas where you store flour, cereals, sugar or in the refrigerators where you store your veggies and fruits. One annoying thing about cockroaches is they are hard to get rid of. When noticed, they will run and hide in some dark places. To help get rid of them, remove all old newspapers, magazines, cartons or debris. Those are the places they hide most.
6. Pill bugs
Other types of small and black insects with the hard shell in the house are pill bugs. They love to live in moist areas. You will see them around stones and flowerpots at night. During the day they hide and at night they get out to feed on decaying veggie matter and house flowers.
How to Get Rid of Bugs in the House
In case black bugs have become a concern in your home, there are perfect ways to get rid of those insects without making a call to the pest control expert or using pesticides. Below are the main ways.
- Use peppermint oil
Are mosquitoes, ants or even spiders a nuisance to your home? Peppermint will not only get rid of such insects but also make your house smell good due to its sweet fragrance. Mix about eight ounces of water with eight drops of natural peppermint oil in a hand spray, shake and then spray around vents, doorways, and windows.
- Use diatomaceous earth
Diatomaceous earth (DE) is made from single-cell algae which have been fossilized and crushed. If stink bugs, flies, bed bugs, earwigs, beetles, and spiders have invaded your house; DE is the way to go. It is not harmful to human beings but deadly to small and black insects with the hard shell in-house. It takes only 48 hours after this black insect's exoskeleton gets into contact with DE for them to dehydrate and die.
- Use neem oil
Neem oil, a product from the neem tree, does act as a powerful pest and insect killer. Neem oil kills more than 200 species of pest and insect. Yes, it is deadly to them but not harmful to wildlife or human beings. Are aphids, thrips, or whiteflies disturbing you? Try neem oil.
- Clean the pantry
Most insects and pests live in your home because there is something they can to feed on. Those cabinets, pantries, garages, basements, or any storage places you have are some of the places black insects live, breed and feed around. By cleaning those shelves and areas, you will get rid of shed skin and larvae thus stopping the reproduction. If your flour, grains, cereals are affected, you have to dispose of them to get rid of the insets entirely.
- Clean out closets and dressers
Little black insects like cockroaches and carpet beetles that live in and around carpets, wardrobes, and furniture drawers. By cleaning these areas well without using pesticides, you will get rid of shed skin from these insects, larvae and even those insects themselves.
- Get rid of standing water
Some flies, gnats, and mosquitoes breed best in dumpsites and places with stagnant water. Any glass containing stagnant water or garbage should be well covered, or just get rid of any stagnant water.
Take Home Message
When some of these insects are left to breed, they can increase to unimaginable numbers. If you feel they are irritating you or your family, use the above-explained reference info. You will succeed in getting rid of them without even using a single type of pesticide.
