Bugs to Look Out for This Spring
Spring brings about many wonderful things – birds chirping, flowers growing, days spent outdoors. It also is a time where we notice little creepy crawlers! Four common bugs that we find in our homes or gardens include bed bugs, ticks, grub, and aphids. You can alleviate critter concerns by learning a little bit about each and how to solve your insect problem organically!
Bed Bugs – The bed bugs that you find in your home today are descendents of cave dwelling bugs that originally fed on the blood of bats. When humans moved out of caves, the bed bugs came with and have been traveling with humans all over the world. Bed bugs have very few ways to get into your bed, and one of them is marching up your bedposts. Using Safer® Brand Diatomaceous Earth – Bed Bug, Ant and Crawling Insect Killer, place a cup of DE under your bedpost. Within 24-72 hours bed bugs will be attracted to the cup, ingest the DE and die within 24 hours.
Ticks – There are two types of ticks, hard ticks and soft ticks, although most of us will never come in contact with a soft tick. Both groups of ticks are capable of transmitting certain diseases to animals, while the hard tick is responsible for transmitting diseases to animals and people. Safer® Brand Mosquito, Flea & Tick Killer is a convenient ready to spray that attaches to your hose and should be sprayed on your lawn or garden. This formula kills on contact, and is also approved for use in Organic Gardening!
White Grubs – White grubs are the larval stage of many insects. They eat the roots of grass and plants. The most common are the June Bug, European Chafer, Masked Chafer, Billbug, Oriental Beetle, and Japanese Beetle, and they’re white and c-shaped. An increased presence of birds, dead spots on your lawn, or lawn or garden damage from tunneling of skunks, raccoons, and other animals is a giveaway that you have a grub problem. Get rid of grubs using Safer® Brand Grub Killer, Ready-to-Spray Concentrate, and apply it to your lawn or garden every 7-10 days.
Aphids – With a lifespan of about 40 days, a rapid reproductive cycle, and a passion to infest both gardens and landscapes, aphids are a problem for many gardeners. Safer® Brand Insect Killing Soap can be applied to your plants to kill aphids on contact and is compliant for use in organic gardening.
Preparing for spring bugs will help keep you healthy, as well as keeping your home and garden healthy. To learn more about crawling, flying, and beneficial insects visit the Safer Brand Insect Library!
