As November approaches, it’s time to start thinking about sprucing up our homes for summer and Christmas celebrations or just relaxing. But before you get stuck in those dusty corners, give a thought to spiders or moths hiding there. It turns out we need them.
We don’t have to love all insects, some are pests and some, like wasp wasps, are downright disgusting. But some annoying insects can also be found in New Zealand and, together with other small creatures, are crucial for functioning ecosystems and our own food security.
Insects make up more than half of all living animals in the world and, along with bees, play crucial roles in nature such as B. pollinating plants, mixing nutrients into the soil, and providing crucial food sources for birds and frogs. Meanwhile, insects like cute ladybugs help gardeners by feasting on pesky aphids.
Many of our native insects are surprisingly special. There are thousands of different insects in New Zealand, including some with unique characteristics. Because of our country’s isolation and temperate climate, more than 90 percent of our insect species are found nowhere else in the world.
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Local scientists agree that insect numbers are plummeting around the world, and without all the bugs and spiders, beetles and butterflies, we would have been really miserable. Here in New Zealand, the steady decline in local insect numbers has been a concern for some time.
This year, it’s more important than ever that we get a handle on cleaning up without also killing all the bugs.
Viktor Talashuk/Unsplash
Insects like cute ladybugs help gardeners by feasting on pesky aphids.
10 tips for bug-friendly house cleaning
1. Clean the surfaces
Dirty dishes and take-out containers lying around in the kitchen, living room, and bedroom are attractive food sources for pests. Leaving out dirty dishes can quickly attract unwanted flies, ants, cockroaches, and silverfish.
2. Create a healthy home
Limit the use of fly sprays and harsh, potentially toxic cleaning products. Choose eco-cleaning products for yourself and the waterways.
3. Spy on a spider?
Before you vacuum that corner of cobwebs, be bold and use a plastic container and lid (get one that’s recycled) to pick it up and tip it into some greenery outside.
4. Clean cleaner
Use the vacuum, duster, and eco-friendly cleaning supplies to remove the dust and dirt that attracts moths and other insects into your home. After each use, empty the vacuum (it sucks better, too) and toss your dusters in the laundry to remove dirt or other picked-up substances.
KYLIE KLEIN NIXON/stuff
It’s easy to make a compact version of a ’40s Nana flytrap to keep the bad guys out of your food.
5. Be smart like a nan
Make your own simple, effective fly trap using a jar or bottle and a piece of fly bait.
6. Go cheap and effective
Buy old-style sticky fly strips to hang in warm, still areas where flies congregate. These are available at hardware stores for little money and can be very effective. They’re easier to hang if you warm them up in your hands before dissolving them, and you can always toss them in the trash before friends drop by.
7. Use aroma power
Try scented essential oils like citrus oil, tea tree oil, lavender, neem, or peppermint to deter spiders. Add a squirt of white vinegar to the spray (the cheapest kind works well) and spray into cracks and crevices, e.g. B. around window frames where spiders could enter.
8. Get herbaceous
If you know someone who has a bay tree or lavender shrub, or can plant one yourself, hang cuttings in closets as a natural repellent against moths and silverfish.
9. Spying on a cockroach?
Dare to pick up the next cockroach you see, put it in the sink and pour boiling water over it. Boiling water kills all insects – including cockroaches.
10. Be aware
Take a moment to figure out which is which. is it a bee Use a soft broom to take him outside. Or is it an invasive wasp? This is the moment to grab a fly swatter or fly spray.
