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There's a certain thrill to sharing a home with other living creatures. Homecoming is sweeter with a wagging tail, odd noises can be accounted for and mealtimes are met with enthusiasm, regardless of which can you open.
But when housemates buzz up into your face or invite a thousand of their little friends to join them, the joy of the wild kingdom thins. Spring is one of the more annoying times because it brings insects indoors.
In a strange seesaw of creatures, the warm, balmy days that lure us outside awakens insects, which promptly creep inside to escape the weather. There they wait, usually for relatives to visit, before magically appearing in clusters around windows or launching a million-millipede march through the living room.
Insects move into our homes for the same reason we do: it's chilly out there, and a warm, dry home is better than a frozen crevice. Once inside they move lazily about, but most don't reproduce or bother our food.
Here's a quick look at some of the more common home invaders, and what to do about them:
Cluster flies - medium-sized, gray flies with a fringe of tawny-gold hair on their thorax - prefer sunny windowsills and are often in upper stories of houses. Unlike their garbage loving cousins, the blowflies, they don't develop in filth. Instead, they parasitize earthworms and develop as hitchhikers in the unfortunate worm's body.
Because part of their lives is spent within a worm, cluster flies don't lay eggs in our houses. And since the adults are nectar feeders, they aren't pantry pests. However, they annoy the heck out of us by gathering at the windows, dying off, and leaving their carcasses to pile up against the windowsill.
Control cluster flies by using sticky fly traps in rooms where they like to gather, or by swatting and vacuuming them up several times per day.
For such a tiny arthropod, small, orange clover mites cause big headaches. From late February through early May they crawl en masse up south or west sides of houses and into the home. Smaller than the head of a pin, they have no problem moving past screens and through cracks in caulking.
But don't be fooled into thinking you can swat and sweep these little critters. Squish one and it leaves an unsightly orange smear that's difficult to wash off and does not serve as a warning to others. Vacuuming is the best option once they're inside, but for prevention, nothing beats a line of talcum powder along the windowsill.
Baby powder, diatomaceous earth, or other fine powders laid from side to side in a quarter-inch wide line along the windowsill immobilizes then dries out the little mites. Vacuum up and replace the powder once per week or when it turns orange from the mites caught up in it.
In March, millipedes mobilize, trying to escape from the soggy conditions of thawing spring ground. But good intentions can lead to fatal mistakes, as millipedes learn when they enter houses to dry out a little. Our homes are too dry for them and they end up lasting only a day in the wasteland of our entryways or living rooms. Since they are no threat to humans, their food, or clothing, there is little to worry over if they come into your home.
Should you have repeated problems with millipedes, try removing garden debris from around your house, and check to be sure you don't have a chronically wet foundation.
Whether you choose to live with or without insects as houseguests, try to approach your controls with a bit of common sense and patience. Many of our insect migrations are short-lived and will subside once the weather warms.
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