Although we are not used to thinking it, the domestic environment is a ecosystem Like many others, within which some creatures have managed to adapt very well. What and how many animals share our beds with us, the sofas on which we relax by watching a TV series and nest in our rugs? From the harmless (allergies aside) mites of the dust and silver fish up to the annoying bedbugs of the beds and ticks brought by our animals, however we also have unaware allies: i domestic spiders he is Millepiedi Pigliaoscheriharmless to man, are however fearsome predators For dangerous insects and parasites that can attend our homes. Many of these animals have made our homes a second home using the similarity of some home characteristics with their natural environment origin; others take advantage of the large amount of food present, a level of optimal heat For their metabolism, or greater safety from bad weather and predators who would find outside.
The insects that hide in the sofas
The animals most present on the surface of a sofa, by number of species and individuals, are certainly the powder mitesin particular Dermatophagoides Pteronyssinus And flour . These are arachnids remotely related to spiders and ticks, with a globular shape and just sketched appendages. Large just between 200 and 400 microns, The mites of the dust are barely visible to the naked eye and so many are that a mattress can host up to 2 million. Their diet, as can be understood already by the name Dermatophagoidesliterally “leather eaters”, is based on fragments of dead skinours, which we release continuously: 1 gram and a half of skin is sufficient to feed a million mites.
Of a dead leather diet (but also of hair and hair, pieces of cotton, paper, carcasses of other insects and mites, even synthetic fabric fibers, bread crumbs, sugar grains …) also feeds the Lepisma sackarinathe so -called silver fishwhich every now and then looks for shelter from the light under sofas and other furniture. It has a very simple, flattened and almost primitive body shape, with a typical metal color, no wings and long antennas with which the surrounding environment probes. Another very similar insect, belonging to the same order as silver fish, Thysanura, is the Home thermobiaa little bigger but without silver color. Even if harmless (except in the case of allergies), you can keep the number of mites and herbal teas under control dusting regularly.
Bedbugs and ticks
Not all animals that can live on sofas are so harmless: if we are more unfortunate, our house can also host the bed bedbug (Cimex lectularius) a insect that feeds on blood and whose bite causes annoying itchy red bubbles. Like many forms that have specialized in parasitism, the bedbug has lost some typical characteristics of adult insects: has no wings And it meets an incomplete metamorphosis, maintaining a simplified body plan. Eliminating a bug of bedbugs is complicated And expensive: where there is one, usually, there are many others. Blackish dirt (coagulated blood excrement) mixed with eggs hatched inside the stitching of the bed or sofa are the signs of a probable infestation.
If we also have pets, on the sofa they can also nest ticks (Usually Rhipicephalus Sanguineus), dogs of the dog and cat (genre Ctenocephalices) and lice (Trichodectes Canis And Felicola Subrostratus). Even if they prefer to spend time on their four -legged guests, these animals can occasionally use the sofa as a place of passage, punishing us too and causing annoying skin reactions or allergic. Special pesticides help to maintain these creatures away from your pets (and from you).
The beetle larvae in the rugs
Among the fibers of a carpet (or if your sofa has a long -haired fabric) find refuge le larvae of the beetle of rugs (Anthrenus Verbasci). No more than 3 millimeters large and with the hairy body, as an adult it becomes stained with white and brown and goes to swarm near the open windows.
Among the fibers of the carpet there is also the caterpillar of the moth Tinea Pellionella: in addition to feeding on cotton fibers, wool and even synthetic material, he uses them to create a sort of hairy case in which he slips the back of the body like protection. It can therefore happen to meet gods small white -headed white caterpillars who drag themselves behind a lacinous tube. It is as if, after having lit your sweater, the larva has made a sweater of its own with the waste fibers. Always on the carpet we can find other tarme larvae such as the Trichophaga Tapetzella, which can cause many damage digging through the fabric fibers.
Credits: Patrick Clement from West Midlands, England, CC by 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Spiders and centopies: because it is better to keep them
The biggest and more frightening invertebrates are, paradoxically, those most useful to us human beings. Many domestic spidersas for example the spider folide (Pholcus Phalangioides) or the spider of the houses (Domestic pan) can be found in the corners of the walls or behind a sofa, and they feed on many of the animals mentioned so far, as well as harassing flying insects or parasites of the foodstuffs that populate the kitchens. Their presence at home is a benefitbecause they free us from other potentially harassing species. Recognizing if we are faced with an harmless spider or (in very rare cases) a poisonous species for us is quite simple, thanks to identification sites and dedicated forums of experts always ready to help.
Very useful also the Scutoro Coleoptrata: This centipede up to three centimeters long is in all respects theApex Predator Of the house, terror of all the other creatures who live there, capable of chasing its prey quickly thanks to fifteen pairs of long legs. Despite the appearance, it is completely harmless to us: its bite would not be strong enough to hurt us, it is not poisonous and above all tends to disappear from the circulation behind the battiscopa as soon as she sighted.
Even if for many people, especially for those with the phobia Of spiders and insects, the idea of leaving these creatures undisturbed makes horror, try to make an effort: it is a natural and efficient method for keeping really harassing parasites.
