How to Identify and Get Rid of Household Bugs

Having pests in your house is a frustrating and sometimes terrifying experience. Pests can hide in inappropriate places, can take over your kitchen and other living arrangements or pose a serious threat to the people living in your house. However you choose to exterminate the pests in your house, whether personally or with an outside service, identifying the household insect will be something you definitely want to attempt before taking action to exterminate.

First, it is best to use caution. You do not know most of the time after first glance what the creature in your house is. It could be completely harmless, however, you don't want to risk your safety and wellbeing by being reckless. It is better to be safe than sorry and not act in a risky manner. This means, keeping a safe distance while observing the creature. If you need to move the creature to a more visible area or fetch it out of a tight space, use a long stick or net. Do not touch the insect with your bare hands. You do not know if it is poisonous or venomous and you do not want to risk a and bite or infection. Observe the insect carefully before approaching it. Take note of its size, speed and mobility. If the insect is relatively slow, you might not have to worry about it lashing out onto you or biting you. It is also important to keep note of whether the insect can fly or not. The worst thing is trying to engage with an insect without knowing it can fly and then it unexpectedly flying towards your face with the potential to sting or hurt you in some manner. If you have a net, jar, gloves and other safe insect catching tools, attempt to catch the bug in an environment where it cannot harm you or escape.

However, if you are too afraid or believe catching the insect is a risky endeavor, you might want to consider observing the creature from a distance or taking a picture to refer to later. Stretch your hands out as far as you can to take a picture so you are not exposing yourself too much to the insect. If you are particularly scared while taking the picture, you can use a selfie stick to increase the distance between you and the insect while taking a picture. Whether observing the insect in person or on a camera, take note of the insect's attributes. Know its color, its size, the amount of legs, the marks or patterns, the mouth or pincers, anything that gives the insect distinction. It's always best to have help from others. Let your friends or family members observe the insect as well. They might be able to pick up additional features that you did not notice on the small critter at first glance. When you have a solid understanding and visual reference for the insect, it is best to refer to an insect identifying guide. There are many online and they are very useful. These guides allow you to narrow down the search selection based on attributes of the insect you have found and described. They show you a bunch of insects that might look like the bug you found. From there, you will have to search and compare all the pictures online with the creature you have found. This might take a little while because there are many insects that look very similar and precise comparison will be necessary. That is why it is best that you take a really clear picture of the insect or that you make a detailed list of what the insect looks like.

Once you have identified the insect, then you can decide how you want to deal with it. If you find the insect is relatively harmless and easy to exterminate, you might want to do this on your own. Home Depot, for example, carries a lot of self-administered traps and sprays to rid of these pests. However, if you find or believe the insect is dangerous or too complicated to get rid of, calling outside services to help get rid of your problem might be the way to go.