There are lots of insects that can be found around us, some of them like ladybugs; we don’t mind seeing them around us, but some are nasty and outrightly disgusting, and one of such insects is water bugs.
Waterbugs are a real nuisance because they can be found anywhere, but most especially in places where you never want to see them: in the shower and kitchen, but those places are their choicest place to prowl.
The good news is that there are many ways to get rid of this pest, including using home remedies like vinegar and pesticides. But your best bet is to prevent them from gaining access to your home in the first place.
Waterbugs
When we talk about water bugs, we refer to cockroaches, also called palmetto bugs and roaches. But waterbugs do not comprise all the many species of roaches that there are. But they are confined to just 3 roaches species which are :
1. Oriental roaches
2. American roaches
3. Smoky brown roaches
These species of roaches thrive where there is an abundant supply of water, and that is why they go by the name: water roaches. They take over a swamp place and start reproducing, and those roaches invade your kitchen and bathrooms.
It’s a fact that these pesky insects can survive without food for a month, but if they don’t get water within a week, they will die. Waterbugs are reddish-brown, can grow up to a length of 2 inches, and have wings with which they fly.
They have thin tentacles on their head and always clean themselves as cats groom themselves.
How Do Waterbugs Get Into The House
Like all living things, their basic needs drive them to different places. Water bugs are usually attractive Ted to a place that is a good source of food and water and a place they can live with little or no disturbance. Hence you find them in places like standing water, pools, lakes, and places that are damp and have a food supply.
Water bugs feed spectacularly: they use their tubular beaks, which are called proboscis, to inject an enzyme into their prey like smaller insects, small animals, and fishes from the outside, and the food gets liquified and then they suck the food from the proboscis.
You notice these bugs mostly in cold weather because they leave their abode near water bodies in search of a warmer place, and garbage attracts waterbugs because of the leftover food and the moisture found in the bags; this is how waterbugs get into your house.
They also love bright lights, so you can bet your last buck that they are water bugs where you have very bright lights and notice roaches.
How To Get Rid of Waterbugs in Your House
Even though water bugs can easily take over our space, the good news is that you can completely exterminate them in several ways.
Some of these methods are so fast that you will wonder why you ever tolerated those roaches for that long in your home.
If you are looking for the fastest means of dealing with water bugs, then you can use pesticides that you spray on areas where you suspect they are hiding because water bugs mostly stay in crevices that are not easily accessible.
Here are some pesticides that work well in eliminating water bugs:
1. BASF PT P.I. Contact Insecticide
This insecticide whose active ingredient is pyrethrin is a spray that kills water bugs on contact. They are best used for exterminating water bugs indoors. This product is a little pricey but is as efficient as it is expensive.
2. Syngenta Advion Cockroach Gel Bait
As the name implies, this pesticide which comes as a gel is meant to “catch” the water bugs while other pesticides are applied immediately to kill the roaches.
These roaches tend to invest in this pesticide, and by so doing, they get poisoned. You can easily finish off these insects using other pesticides like CimeXa insecticidal dust and Gentrol IGR.
3. Rockwell Labs CimeXa Dust Insecticide
This indoor pesticide is best used to eliminate the water bugs inside the house. It is fast-acting and can be used with the one in the 2 above.
4. Gentrol Point Source IGR
This will not wipe out water bug instantly; it will, however, interferes with roach reproduction, thereby ensuring that these water bugs do not reproduce and proliferate. It can be used together with other types of pesticides, killing water bugs before they even attempt to get inside the house.
5. Bayer Polyzone Suspend Insecticide
This pesticide is best used outdoors on walls, exterior foundations, and the like. This pesticide will keep water bugs from getting into the home; however, you must use it together with other pesticides for the best efficiency.
6. InTice Perimeter Insect Control Bait Granules
You can use this pesticide both indoors and outdoors, and they come as granular bait that should be used alongside other treatments for the best results
7. Chapin 1 Gallon Multi-Purpose Sprayer
This liquid pesticide is effective against water bugs and can be used indoors and outdoors. Still, you must ensure that you don’t use your regular sorry can for spraying this pesticide because it is too toxic.
The lists of pesticides that will kill water bugs or keep them away from your space are exhaustive, and most of them are readily available everywhere, while some are banned for use or unavailable in some areas.
How To Get Rid of Waterbugs Using Natural Means And Home Remedies
If you are opposed to the use of pesticides, then you might want to use other more natural means to eliminate water bugs in your home. These remedies have proven efficient but are not as fast-acting as most pesticides.
Here are some natural ways of exterminating or keeping water bugs away.
1. Diatomaceous Earth (DE)
Food-grade diatomaceous earth is a very good agent that is effective against water bugs and is quite common.
The fact that it is all-natural and safe to use around children and pets makes it best to be used indoors and in places where there are kids.
Water bugs ingest or at least walk through DE will gradually kill them. You should add a little sugar to the substance to attack the bugs to consume it.
2. Baking Soda
This is another natural remedy that will rid your home of water bugs. You need to apply some baking soda around where you usually find water bugs.
When they walk or ingest the baking soda, it will dehydrate them, and eventually, they will die. Baking powder is not fast-acting like pesticides.
3. Boric Acid
This natural pest killer is safe for your kids and pets. To get water bugs to consume or walk through it, you must mix it with something sweet like sugar. It will kill the water bug that consumed or walked through it after some time.
4. Gel Baits
These are insecticides hidden in a formula that water bugs love to consume. You apply this bait by spreading the gel where you suspect the bugs are hiding. You can use s bait stations that hold the gel in a compartment that you can discard later.
As they consume the bait, it doesn’t die Immediately but goes to their nest where it dies, and when other bugs feed on the dead bug, they also die afterward.
5. Vinegar sprays
Vinegar’s antifungal and antibacterial characteristics make them a good remedy against water bugs. While it will not kill the water bug, applying vinegar around where places water bugs hide and breed will create a toxic environment, and in hours, they die.
6. Alcohol
It is obvious that alcohol and pregnancy or fertility do not mix in humans; the same is the case with water bugs. If you apply alcohol to the best water bugs, it will kill them and damage their eggs. The problem is that it does not work as fast as many wants.
7. Essential Oils
Water bugs find the smell of essential oils like peppermint oil very repugnant and so if you mix some drops of such oil in a cup of water and spray it on the nests of water bugs or even in a crack where you suspect they are hiding, they will take off Immediately.
The problem with this solution is that it doesn’t kill them but only drives them away, and if you don’t reapply it within a few days, they will resurface.
8. Liquid detergent
If you have antibacterial detergent at home, you can use it to rid your home of water bugs. All you need to do is mix the detergent in water and pour or spray on the cockroaches and their nests.
The detergent will disinfect the area, and the roaches will shed their outer shell and subsequently die or at least leave your home.
How To Prevent Waterbugs From Invading Your Home?
There are several things you can do to prevent water bugs from getting into your home, and most of them are based on creating an environment that is not conducive for them to thrive and so they may die or leave your home.
Since water bugs love damp environments, you can cash in on this by keeping your environment dry all the time. Below are some tips for preventing water bugs’ invasion of your space.
1. Eliminate every damp area or standing water body around you because that is where they breed. So keep your gutters and pipes dry, fix any leaks around the dishwasher, washing machines, and your plumbings and maintain a dry environment.
2. Ensure enough ventilation in rooms where you don’t often enter, like storage rooms where they can hide undetected, lay eggs, and from there move to all parts of your house. The air movement in such places will reduce humidity and dampness.
3. Keep a clean environment: throw your garbage regularly, clean food containers, wash dirty dishes, keep your trash can lid on, and ensure there is nothing attracting water bugs to your space.
4. Check the entry points of these pests into your home and seal them; they are usually holes, crevices, and holes in your home.
5. Always use a disinfectant to clean most damp places in your home, like the kitchen and bathroom, because it will repel water bugs.
6. If you or your neighbors have a swimming pool, then you have to ensure that you check them all the time for water bugs, ensure that the Surroundings are always sanitary, and you must double up on all your other water bug prevention tips
Conclusion
Waterbugs are truly a menace in homes, not because they are destructive, but because they are a sore sight anywhere that gives off an idea that a person’s home is unsanitary, even though this night is not necessarily the truth.
However, the consolation is that there are a hundred and one ways of getting rid of waterbugs, and better still, there are simple things you can do to stop this creeping from making it into your home.
Helpful Links:
- How to Stop Ants Nesting in Plant Pots
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- How to Get Rid of Ants in My Flower Pots Naturally
- How Do I Get Rid of Little White Bugs in My House Plants?
We trust this article helped you learn more about how to get rid of waterbugs in your house. You may also want to check out How to Get Rid of Ants in Your Potted Plants Naturally.
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