does not have a heat regulation system, that is, they are not able to warm or cool their own body. Their vital activity largely depends on temperature. the environment.
They are the most ancient inhabitants on the planet. Today, their lives are going on at their usual pace, as they were many centuries ago. This indicates their excellent adaptability to the environment.
According to scientists, the most the best option for insect development is 20-35 ° C Celsius.
Therefore, they like to live next to people, settling in their homes, in which a fertile environment is maintained for them. Naturally, the question arises, at what temperature do bed bugs and their larvae die?
For larvae and eggs, the indicators are slightly higher:
- At + 48 ° C, they remain viable for a little longer than an hour.
- When the air drops to + 45 ° C, the egg clutch will die only after 7 hours.
- For the destruction of larvae, +55 ° C is considered ideal.
A lower air index has a detrimental effect on the life of small bloodsuckers:
- + 14 ° C - the female stops laying eggs.
- + 10 ° C - the embryo freezes, the development of eggs is suspended.
- + 5 ° C - the insect colony falls asleep.
Hot Air Destruction
Knowing about the vulnerability of bed bloodsuckers to intense heat, people successfully use this method to combat them, using different options:
Destruction with a steam generator
This mechanism generates steam, the temperature reaching +90 ° C instantly kills unpleasant tenants. The advantage of this device is that the steam coming from it has a low moisture content, only some 5%, which is very important when processing items that are afraid of dampness: parquet, furniture and other similar items.
There are a number of differences between a steam cleaner and a steam generator, but both mechanisms are ideal for exterminating insects, especially their eggs. The device is adjusted to the desired mode, ten-second exposure to steam + 70-80 ° C is enough to kill insects.
First of all, it is necessary to process the places in which the accumulation of insects is located, gradually switching to the processing of things: bed linen, clothes, soft toys.
Destruction of bedbugs by steam
When using a steam generator / steam cleaner, do not forget about safety:
The question often arises, at what temperature do bed bugs die during washing? The effectiveness of this method largely depends on the duration of the procedure itself. For example, if you soak your laundry in water for 10 minutes and then hang it out to dry, it is unlikely that all insects will die.
Machine wash 30 minutes warm water+ 40 ° C will also not give any effective result. Therefore, in order to destroy this living creature, you should adhere to certain rules.
Handwash
- Pour water into the container as soon as it boils.
- Immerse laundry in it for at least 20 minutes.
- Cover the basin with oilcloth or foil, thereby maintaining the high temperature of the water.
- Then add the powder and start washing.
Machine wash
To destroy bedbugs during machine washing, the water must be at least + 60 ° C
- The water must be at least + 60 ° C.
- The best option is at least + 95 ° C.
- Duration of washing - at least 60 minutes.
- After drying, things must be ironed with a hot iron and steam.
- Carefully handle seams, folds.
- When the linen is boiled, insects and larvae die instantly.
Destruction by frost
Therefore, although the freezing option is used, it is not considered effective compared to heat treatment, which has a more effective result.
This method is most suitable for the northern regions of the country. However, not all rooms can be freeze-dried. This option is acceptable for non-residential buildings: garages, sheds, chicken coops, country houses... Residential buildings with plumbing and heating systems, walls covered with wallpaper or plastered, may suffer from extreme cold. For example, pipes can burst, plumbing fail, wallpaper will fall off.
To avoid breakage household appliances, TV, computer, music center and other devices should be wrapped up or taken to another room.
Frost has a detrimental effect on general state bedbugs
Sub-zero survival temperature of bed bugs, like plus, it also affects them in different ways:
As practice shows, the simultaneous combination of several of the above methods gives from unwanted tenants. For example, washing strongly hot water, with further ironing, with the maximum heated iron with the "steam" function turned on. Good result gives a combination of cold and the use of a steam generator.
In contact with
Living in close proximity to humans, bedbugs have long lost their ability to survive in any conditions. Optimum temperature for them it is 15 - 40 degrees Celsius. Larvae tolerate cold or heat more easily. But eggs can remain viable even if they are frozen for a couple of days.
The larvae are flexible in terms of adaptation to critical temperature indicators. They can withstand both a decrease in temperature to -22 and an increase in it to +50. Already at -20 they die after three days. For the same phenomenon at +50, 2 hours will be enough.
Since it is almost impossible to get indicators of - 30 - + 55 in a city apartment, many residents prefer to get rid of insects with the help of household steam generators.
Bedbug death temperature
For the normal development of bedbugs, a temperature that is in the range of 22 - 25 degrees Celsius is considered acceptable. Their life expectancy in such conditions can be 1 year or more. From this period, a larva develops for a month and a half, the rest of the time the bugs actively reproduce. Bedbugs can even live without food for more than a year, being in a special state - suspended animation.
The principle is as follows - the steam burns the surface of the eggs, producing protein denaturation, and the developing embryos inevitably die. With the help of hot steam, it is really possible to fight pests on your own. This requires a steam cleaner. It is a surface cleaning device that works by means of water vapor.
Any type of device can be purchased. The main thing is that it can heat a stream of steam to more than + 60. It is not recommended to use some steam cleaners, which are based on the vacuum principle. Since steam is formed in them in the presence of low pressure and lower temperatures. And if it does not rise above the + 50 mark, it is pointless to use a device to destroy bedbugs.
The method of fighting insects using steam from a kettle will be ineffective. It is dangerous and can spoil soft upholstery furniture. Therefore, experts advise using a steam cleaner or steam generator. Remember the precautions when using it. Do not direct steam at yourself or other people. Do not use it on wooden, lacquered, wallpaper-covered surfaces.
When working with steam with a temperature above + 70, plastic should not be processed with it. In order not to spoil the furniture, it is not recommended to adjust the humidity of the steam generator to 20 - 30%.
The destruction of insects with a steam cleaner is possible on the bed and mattresses, back side carpets located on the walls, under things. The device should be set to a steam temperature of more than + 60, wrap the nozzle with a cloth so that the jet is wide. This method is laborious, and once processing will not be enough.
Hot Mist Application Video
The video shows the process of sanitizing a room using the hot fog method.
Freezing bedbugs
Besides steaming, one more true folk remedy bedbug control is freezing. Since the apartment is warm and comfortable, there is food, insects feel great. It is really possible to freeze them only in a room where there is no running water and heating system... It is best to use this method in a barn, garage, in the country, in a poultry house. Since hypothermia there will not cause damage to the pipes.
It is often unrealistic to carry out freezing in a dwelling. Even if you remove all the water from the pipes, temperatures below -20 degrees will have a bad effect on the condition of the plaster and wallpaper. And then freezing will cost several times more than calling a team of exterminators.
Another video in which professionals use hot steam to deal with bedbugs indoors.
Are bedbugs afraid of hot steam?
Hot steam is even more damaging to bedbugs than just high air temperatures. Under a stream of steam with a temperature of about 100 ° C, bugs die instantly, but under steam with a temperature of about 40 ° C (more precisely, this is already the so-called hot fog) they can stay without damage for a long time.
Bed bug eggs are just as vulnerable to hot steam as adult insects. That is why steam is more effective against eggs than many insecticides - most insect repellents have little effect on eggs, while hot steam simply physically burns bed bug eggs, denaturing proteins, and the developing embryos die.
On a note
Some steam cleaners work on the vacuum principle - in them steam is generated at a reduced pressure and a lower temperature. Accordingly, if the steam generator does not heat the steam above 50 ° C, it is pointless to use it from bedbugs - they simply will not die.
Should not be used against bedbugs in pairs from simple teapot... Not only is such a process extremely difficult, dangerous and ineffective, it can also lead to damage to furniture. Therefore, if you really start the fight against bedbugs with steam, it is worth using steam cleaners or steam generators.
We destroy bedbugs with a steam generator
Generally speaking, a steam cleaner or steam generator is unlikely to completely eradicate bed bugs indoors. If only because even a jet of steam cannot get into some places where - into the joints wooden parts the frame of the bed, for the baseboards, for the wallpaper. Therefore, the destruction of bedbugs with a steam cleaner can only be carried out where they are on open surfaces: on mattresses and beds, on the back of carpets hanging on the wall, under things.
Freezing bedbugs in a room is possible only where there is no water supply and heating system. For example, in garages, chicken coops, sheds, summer cottages, where temporary cooling will not damage the pipes.
Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to freeze living quarters from bedbugs in many cases. Even if you completely drain water from all plumbing systems, temperatures around minus 20 ° C can be detrimental to wallpaper and plaster, so freezing bed bugs in an apartment or private house can have more costly consequences than calling professional exterminators.
In other rooms, for freezing, it is enough to open windows and doors on a frosty day and leave them there for as long as possible. With a frost of minus 20 ° C, most of the bugs will die on the same day.
In addition to this, if possible, sofas, armchairs, mattresses, in the thickness of which the temperature can drop slowly, and therefore, the bugs in them, die for a longer time, are taken out into the street.
Safety rules for temperature removal of bedbugs
The main thing when fighting bedbugs with high and low temperatures- observe safety regulations during work:
Sometimes fan heaters (heat generators) are used against bedbugs - analogs of household ducks. They allow you to increase the room temperature for several hours to 60-65 ° C, and after such treatment, all bugs die out. However, such powerful devices are rather bulky, expensive and difficult to access, and therefore this way used only by very large companies specializing in pest control. The main advantage of such systems is that the bugs die during their operation, even without directed treatment of the nests.
There are several factors due to which bedbugs can appear even in a sterile apartment:
At temperatures from twenty to twenty-five degrees of heat, bugs live longer - up to fifteen months.
If the ambient temperature drops below the plus fifteen degrees, then the larvae stop developing, and the adults fall into suspended animation. In a similar state, they can spend up to eighteen months.
Critical temperatures are a means of dealing with bedbugs
High temperatures are fatal to bedbugs. But at what temperature does the bug die? Fifty degrees above zero kills him in minutes. The life of an individual is reduced to thirty minutes if it finds itself in an environment where the temperature reaches forty-five degrees. The maximum lifetime of the larva is a day.
Bed bugs are also sensitive to cold. Ten degrees of frost makes them go into suspended animation. Fifteen degrees below zero are fatal to bedbugs. But they die only when this temperature persists for more than three days. Minus twenty degrees - and the bug dies in a few hours. The larvae stay for two days and then die.
Steam and boiling water against bedbugs
When it is already known at what temperature the bug dies, you can proceed to the next step - their destruction. First you have to decide which of the two methods to use: exposure to high or low temperatures.
There are many advantages to using high temperatures against bedbugs. Among them:
- Harmless to the human body. Only clean water is used for disinfection.
- It is quite simple to treat surfaces with steam or boiling water; this is an excellent answer to the question "how to get rid of bed bugs in an apartment on your own."
- Water and steam help get rid of insects living in clothing and bedding without using insecticides.
Disadvantages of the method:
- Steam does not penetrate crevices.
- Unable to clear book bugs.
- Steam can damage electrical appliances.
Low temperatures and freezing
Having figured out at what sub-zero temperature the bugs die, you can begin to destroy them by freezing.
In cold seasons, bugs move closer to the warmth - to apartments and houses. You can freeze them only when the thermometer records fifteen degrees below zero. In such cases, it is necessary to open the windows wide open and leave the room in this state for several days.
Disadvantages of the method
- Suitable mainly for non-residential premises.
- During disinfection, the decoration of the apartment may suffer.
- Pipes may not withstand critical temperatures.
Safety precautions when dealing with bedbugs
- When using the steam generator, do not point it at people, varnished furniture or wallpaper.
- When warming up the room, it is better to take out all plastic items.
- Low temperatures to combat bedbugs can only be used in rooms where there are no sewage and heating pipes.
If you can't get rid of bedbugs on your own, then the only way out is to seek help from specialists.
When a certain level is reached, the temperature can destroy domestic bed bugs. If the zero or negative temperature lasts for a relatively short time, insects will tolerate it normally. However, prolonged exposure to negative temperatures will kill them.
The lifespan of a bug depending on the climate
Bedbugs are highly dependent on climatic conditions environment. The most comfortable conditions for them are “home” conditions. There are two factors in which pests will feel at ease:
- climate stability;
- constant access to food.
House bugs feed on human blood because they cannot penetrate the fur or skin of the animal. The most comfortable temperature for the life of a bug is 24-27 0 C, which corresponds to room temperature.
Myself life cycle these insects are directly dependent on the climate:
Eggs have a dense protective shell that protects embryos from the harmful effects of the environment. It is thanks to her that they are very hardy, including to temperature extremes. Embryos die only at very low temperatures (-30 0 C) or at very high temperatures (+ 55 0 C), in contrast to adults or larvae. However, in order to stop their development, it is enough and -7 0 C.
It is recommended to freeze bed bug eggs in a room that is resistant to subzero temperatures, and in the region where in winter time the air does not warm up above -15 0 C for a relatively long time. This "freezing" must be done at least twice: this guarantees the death of the entire colony, even the part that survived after the first frosts.
At what temperature do bed bug larvae die?
Adult bed bugs die from exposure to critical temperatures - below -20 0 C or above +45 0 C. Young larvae have more weak defense can die at -15 0 -17 0 C.
If the temperature is -17 0 C, the bug lives no longer than 24 hours, but, as a rule, death occurs within 2-3 hours. At + 20 degrees, they can live from 20 minutes to 2-3 hours. At + 50 degrees Celsius, at whatever stage of development the bug is, it almost instantly dies.
Bed bugs retain the ability to reproduce in the range from +10 to +35 0 C. However, there are precedents when successful breeding of bed bugs was recorded at a temperature of +9 0 C. This ability is possessed by bugs that have recently lived in caves.
In most cases, 10 degrees of heat is enough to stop the ability of eggs to develop, which makes it impossible for the colony to reproduce.
Knowing the temperature of death of domestic (bed) bugs, thermal control of them becomes possible. Despite the fact that this way of fighting is inferior chemical method, it is possible to achieve the desired result through it. Here are several options for thermal effects on bedbugs at home:
- Freezing the entire room. In winter, it is necessary to open air access to the room and bring the temperature to -20 0 C. This is a very effective method, but it cannot be used in rooms where water supply pipes run, as they can burst. In addition, the paint and varnish covering the furniture in the apartment may peel off.
- Freezing part of the interior of the room. A sofa chair or mattress can be taken out to the balcony or outside and left there for 2-3 days. This will most likely help, but some of the bugs may remain in the room, having escaped from the furniture.
- Steam generator (steam cleaner) or fan heater (thermal gun). The first is able to perform local treatment of the place where bedbugs live with a hot jet of steam, while the death of insects occurs instantly. The second one heats the air to the required temperature and maintains it for 2-3 hours, with a high degree of probability this method will kill bedbugs in the apartment.
- Boiling water treatment. This is not the most convenient way, because you cannot fill the room with water, and the bed linen may shrink after such exposure.
- Ironing. Set the maximum degree on the iron and carefully iron the things in which the bugs have settled on both sides.
All of these methods are inferior to chemical pest control, it is the most reliable way to get rid of bed bugs in an apartment.
Are bedbugs afraid of hot steam?
Hot steam successfully kills bedbugs, a jet of hot steam can reach a temperature of 90 0 C, which will not leave any chance for the pests. Such a jet can be achieved by using a household steam cleaner or steam generator.
The steam generator produces dry steam so you don't have to worry about damaging your furniture. The steam cleaner works on a similar principle, therefore, in the absence of a steam generator, it can also be used.
The disadvantage of a steam generator is that the steam jet may not reach secluded areas. Therefore, cracks or joints will need to be processed additionally in another way.
When using the steam generator, the following rules must be followed:
- exclude places where there are sockets and wiring from the steam spray area;
- do not aim at varnished surfaces, as well as on wood and glass surfaces;
- monitor the amount of moisture. It shouldn't be too high.
Can bedbugs be frozen at home?
Washing temperature for bedbug control
In addition to bed bugs, there are also so-called bed bugs. They can be killed by washing things in a certain way. The rules differ for machine and hand wash.
Handwash
At hand wash necessary:
- Pour boiling water into a bowl.
- After loading laundry into the basin, you need to cover it with a film to preserve heat.
- Add powder and start washing.
Machine wash
Rules for washing in washing machine:
- Wash at a temperature of at least 60 degrees.
- Better to set it to 95 degrees.
- Washing must take at least 60 minutes.
After the things are dry, you need to go over them with an iron with a steaming function.