springtails in bathroom

I was glad to find your website; I’m hoping you can give me some suggestions.  We bought a new house in April and two months later I noticed one night the bathroom floor crawling with what I now know are spring tails.  We have had Orkin pest control here countless times and the only thing it seems to do is knock down the numbers for a little bit.  I don’t know where to begin to look for where they are coming in.  I was hoping that putting down grass would help draw them out to the yard but I actually think it’s making it worse again.  The Orkin man said because we had more rain than normal, people are having springtail problems but he told us once it got hot out they’d go away…not so much.  They have emerged all over the house but are most prevalent in the master bathroom (sinks and floor), Kitchen (sink and floor), powder bathroom sink and bedroom window sills.  They are in the garage too. I’m at my wits end.  I’m ready to buy all the products you suggest but maybe you can make some recommendations and suggest where to start.  I do know the orkin man has not sprayed their stuff under the house yet.  I don’t get why our house and not the neighbors.

Thank you for your time
C., Kennewick, WA

If you read through our SPRINGTAIL CONTROL ARTICLE, you’ll learn this pest lives and thrives outside in the yard just under the grass, pine straw, mulch, thatch, grass clippings and basically anywhere there is dirt. From the dirt they will migrate when populations grow and hit certain levels. During the migration they’ll many times enter homes as they move around. If you’re home is built on a slab, they are no doubt coming up through the bathroom trap and would explain why you’re seeing them in the bathroom so much. But they can access slab homes through other pipe access areas (kitchens) as well as cracks/crevices and other normal structural designs which are not “flaws” but in fact quite standard design. The bottom line is trying to stop them from getting inside is a lot harder to accomplish compared to killing them outside which in turn will prevent the invasion altogether.

For now, I would recommend the BIFEN GRANULES and CYONARA RTS to be applied around the home. Treat all your turf, flower beds, mulch piles and pretty much any part of the yard around all sides of the home which has dirt. First apply the Bifen granules and then spray over the top with the Cyonara RTS. This process is both explained and shown in our springtail video which you can see in the article. If you do this treatment around the home every 1-2 months over a 6-12 month period, you’ll no doubt reduce their numbers so much that none will be around the house on the outside and by eliminating this population, you won’t have any getting inside.

Next, I’d treat all the cracks and crevices in the home with a good repellent type aerosol. This will help by both killing any present when you spray as well as provide a repelling type residual to help steer them back into the voids and spaces where you won’t see any. A good product for this is the AQUACIDE. It’s fast acting and can be used inside anywhere you’ve seen them active. Repeat as needed and if possible, treat into the wall where cracks and joints are visible.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Springtail Control Article:  http://www.bugspray.com/article/springtail.html

Bifen Granules:  http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page719.html

Cyonara RTS:  http://www.bugspray.com/item/cyonara_rts.html

Aquacide:  http://www.bugspray.com/item/aquacide_aerosol.html