Why Can Bugs Access Homes So Easily?
Why Can Bugs Access Homes So Easily?
Not long ago researchers published a study describing arthropod diversity inside of people’s homes. The study was troubling to homeowners who fear insects and spiders, as it turned out that our homes are more populated with creepy-crawlies than we had thought. The study’s results should not have been surprising since the world’s population of insects compared to humans is two hundred million to one. This estimate does not even include spiders. Since insects and spiders are so small and abundant on this planet it should be assumed that we have quite a few bugs living within our own homes. We humans have also been living among insects and spiders for well over one hundred thousand years. So some bugs have become accustomed to the human population. Perhaps some bugs follow humans for the food scraps that we tend to leave lying around within our environments. So now that we know that our homes are full of different insect and spider species, how can we keep them out?
Keeping insects and spiders from entering our homes will be difficult if not impossible, since the structural design of modern homes makes insect intrusions likely. If you ever want to live in a big house then you should be ready to coexist with insects and spiders. Houses with many entry points, such as doors and windows, contain a relatively high population of bugs. If you live in an apartment, then try to secure a unit that is above the ground floor. Not surprisingly, the amount of spiders and insects is high on the ground floors of houses and apartment complexes. If you like hardwood floors then you are in luck. Insects and spiders are more numerous in rooms that contain carpet. Hardwood floors are less hospitable to bugs. The areas of a home that are well ventilated are likely to contain a relatively high bug population. The most surprising finding in the study may be of concern to clean-freaks. Apparently, the more clean and tidy a home is, the more populated it will be with various forms of arthropod life. So if you hate insects and spiders, then you want to live on the top floor of a dirty and windowless studio apartment with no air conditioning or heat, and it must have hardwood floors.
Does it disturb you to know that several different insect species fight over living space in the hard-to-spot nooks and crannies of your home?