In the animal kingdom, insects occupy the first place in terms of number of individuals. But it’s not really this characteristic that earns them the reputation we know them. Rather, they have a repugnant and repulsive image in the eyes of the majority of men. Earwigs do not escape this bad reputation. Their cohabitation with human beings raises many questions, the most important of which is that of their probable harmfulness to man. We will try to answer this question clearly in order to remove any ambiguity as to whether or not earwigs are harmful.
What damage do they do to man?
Physically and psychologically, one could logically think that earwigs are harmful to humans. So we’re going to distinguish two types of damage.
Physical damage
Seemingly very aggressive and dangerous due to the presence of pliers at the end of his abdomen, the earwig is actually completely harmless to humans. Indeed, his diet has nothing to do with human flesh and his tongs serve almost only to defend against its predators. This weapon is also ineffective against most predators in this family of insects, so it could be said that it is not useful to it. It’s not like thebee whose stinger can hurt a lot, or theanimal spider whose venom can cause health problems. Similarly, unlike the fly or mouse,the earwig does not specifically carry parasites. It is therefore totally harmless to man.
Psychological damage
In general, humans have a blue fear of insects, regardless of their appearance or harmfulness. This means that even if physically earwigs do not pose any danger to humans, psychologically, their presence is disturbing. It is this phobia of insects that causes humans to be wary of earwigs and to call on the pest management service to report an infestation. However, their intrusion inside is often due only to chance as they have no particular interest in being in your home. The same is true for other insects such as cricket, beetle, water flea and water bug that actually suffer only from their belonging to the insect family.
Appeler René Gélinas Votre exterminateur local, Expérience et intégrité dans la gestion parasitaire
Tel 514 830 2819
Hantavirus, definition and mode of transmission
Hantavirus is a severe lung syndrome caused by a virus. It is secreted in the urine, feces and saliva of infected animals. Most often these are rodents. When humans come into direct or indirect contact with these secretions, the virus is transmitted to them. Ditto when they are bitten by infected rodents.
However, the virus is not transmitted from human to human, only from animal to human. This type of disease is called zoonoses because they can only be transmitted to humans through an animal. It has been found that domestic animals (apart from the domestic rat) and livestock cannot contract hantavirus so there is every reason to believe that only rodents can carry it.
Symptoms of hantavirus
Being a lung disease, one of the characteristic symptoms of hantavirus is difficulty breathing. At the beginning of the disease, the infected person begins to feel fever, chills, headache and muscle pain.
It is about two weeks after the appearance of the first symptoms that they are usually accompanied by a feeling of shortness of breath. Nevertheless, this last manifestation of the disease can be observed after two days as after six weeks; it depends on the organism of the individual.
Hantavirus can also lead to kidney disease or infection. And although they are rare and very few people are prone to them, there is currently no treatment to combat these ailments. It is therefore better to be careful not to contract them.
Why keep them out of homes?
The harmless nature of earwigs does not mean that they should be allowed to proliferate in the house as if nothing had happened. There are reasons why you may want to get rid of it.
The unpleasant character
Earwigs are crawling insects. They manage to crawl along walls and roofs like carpenter ants to reach the interior of the house. Once there, they spot a damp place to take refuge during the day since it is at night that this insect activates to feed. Their discovery is therefore unpleasant most of the time since it is after raising an object or a blanket that they are discovered.
Moreover, falling on an insect at night is not desirable for anyone. However, they are more likely to be found at night than during the day. It is these reasons that lead man to get rid of the forficules permanently so as not to have to suffer these inconveniences. The same behaviour is observed against superior animals such as squirrels, raccoons, groundhogs,etc.
Proliferation and colonization
Like all insects, earwigs are very prolific. They multiply very quickly and can find themselves in excess. However, in this case, their action becomes harmful, almost as much as that of the mouse or rat in a dwelling. Instead of cleaning the garden by ridding it of the ladybugs they love, earwigs become fruit pests. We must therefore limit their proliferation by eliminating them completely from the house.
How do I get rid of it?
There are several ways to get rid of earwigs. Each of these methods is specific and employs a particular technique. There are essentially two forms of control against these insects. We have physical control and chemical control.
Physical methods
These methods consist mainly of using mechanical stratagems to eliminate insects. In Canada,it is this type of intervention that is preferred by technicians in order to preserve the environment. It is a question of turning the earth or drying it to expose the earwigs to conditions unfavourable to their development. This avoids moisture bebittes and inspects fruits and vegetables before bringing them inside so as not to let them in through inattention.
The physical method that works the most by directly targeting earwigs is the trap. It involves using fish oil to attract them. This is the method most used by animal alert in Montreal, which is mainly involved in the elimination of parasites such as:
- The rat;
- The moth;
- The cockroach;
- The black wasp;
- Wasp’s nests;
- The chip;
- Thered squirrel and lots of other disturbing animals.
Chemical methods
Keep in the end that this is the last resort in the fight against invading animals such as the earwig. It is when the physical struggle has proved unsuccessful that we can think of the solution of pesticides. It should be added that it is better to give carte blanche to this professional team to carry out the operation. Because it requires technical knowledge for better environmental protection.
