<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"We&amp;#039;ll just put it out there: Insects are creepy \u2014 with their speedy little legs and their beady little eyes. The ick factor jumps in the summertime, a.k.a. breeding season, when one (or many) may visit your home. But with these strategies, you can easily enforce your &amp;quot;no guests with six or more legs&amp;quot; policy. Four tactics for defending your home against insect invaders: 1. Don&amp;#039;t Invite Them In Prevent your home from being an insect haven: Don&amp;#039;t serve them dinner: In addition to regular kitchen cleanup, don&amp;#039;t forget to wipe splatters on blender bases or stove tops, and sponge off dribbles from syrupy foods like honey. Put out pet food on a schedule rather than leaving it for grazing. Dry up water sources: Repair leaky faucets and under-sink pipes; the droplets they leave look like watering troughs to a thirsty bug. Dim the lights: Moths and cockroaches are drawn to the glow. For door-side fixtures, switch to yellow bug bulbs, which critters aren&amp;#039;t attracted to and are available in newer CFL and decorative styles. Or put lights on motion sensors so they&amp;#039;ll turn on only when someone comes home. Cut outdoor attractions: Clean up leaf debris along the house&amp;#039;s foundation and put firewood piles at a distance. Drain garden hoses and repair pooling downspouts lest they provide love nests for mosquitoes, which can breed in just a bottle cap&amp;#039;s worth of water. Seal garbage cans and scoop up pet poop from the lawn ASAP \u2014 big draws for flies. 2. Boost Your Defenses Beyond the bug-barricade basics (like patching any holes in screens), check your house&amp;#039;s exterior for cracks around pipes or in the foundation where bugs can enter; caulk around them. Also try adhesive sweeps (find at hardware stores) at the bottom of exterior doors to thwart spiders. 3. Stop &amp;#039;Em in Their Tracks They&amp;#039;ve infiltrated! Attack with weapons that work:  A simple swatter is still the best anti-housefly tool. Clean it with antibacterial wipes or spray \u2014 flies can carry nearly 100 types of diseases. Simply vacuum up spiders and webs if they are spinning unwelcome homes within your house. Baits (which serve up poisoned food) are more effective than traps to solve an ant problem; the workers will bring the nefarious nibbles back to the colony. Some ants have a sweet tooth, while others prefer protein, so buy some of each type of bait \u2014 the uncovered gel or paste kind is better (though best not used around pets) than the enclosed hockey-puck \u2014 like type. Don&amp;#039;t freak out when you see more ants at first (if it&amp;#039;s working, they&amp;#039;ll swarm the baits), and try not to disturb them \u2014 they follow a scent to where others have found food. For roaches, try the double whammy of baits and sticky traps. Vacuum up spiders and their webs, emptying the vac into a trash bag and sealing it. 4. Call In the Pros Give up the fight: when DIY methods don&amp;#039;t work; you&amp;#039;re dealing with a destructive, formidable foe (think termites or bedbugs); or you&amp;#039;re just too grossed out. Next: Find out which bug-control measures are right for your problem  Worth the Effort?  Learn which of these bug-control measures are do&amp;#039;s \u2014 and which are don&amp;#039;ts: Don&amp;#039;t Use Home Sprays They get all over the place and may not be safe to use around kids or pets. Worse: They can end up dispersing the bugs throughout the house. Leave spraying to the pros. Do Squash Roaches There&amp;#039;s little truth to the oft-repeated tale that flattening a roach releases the eggs \u2014 especially if you scoop up what&amp;#039;s left with a tissue and flush it, and clean the surface with an antibacterial wipe. Don&amp;#039;t Plan on Plants Some, such as citrosa, claim to help repel mosquitoes, but science doesn&amp;#039;t support this. (You&amp;#039;d have to crush the leaves to release the plants&amp;#039; oils to get even a marginal effect.) "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/cleaning/tips/a18838/keep-bugs-out-of-your-home/>