35 Things You Could Be Doing To Attract Bugs To Your Home

Some folks can’t catch a break. Despite their best efforts, they’re constantly swatting flies, smashing or spraying spiders, or shooing stink bugs away. And here at RiddaBugs, we’re happy to be a resource for getting rid of those bugs, but we’re also big believers in preventing them from ever getting in. That’s why we put together this list of things you could be doing to attract bugs to your home that you might not even know you’re doing. 

If some of the following bad habits apply to your lifestyle, don’t fret! A few adjustments to these behaviors and you could be on your way to a bug-free home!

Note: As of the publishing of this article, there are NO affiliate links. RiddaBugs does not have any affiliate partnerships at this time, so any links are purely for your information. As we add affiliates, we will update these posts.

35 Things You Could Be Doing To Attract Bugs To Your Home

No one wants to see bugs crawling across their floors or clinging to their windows, but sometimes, we cause our own problems. The following includes some of the most common ways that folks are attracting bugs to their homes without even realizing it.

Open Food Bags and Boxes

Open your cereal cabinet and have a look inside some of the boxes. Are the bags rolled down? Were the flaps secured? Also, take a look at your grains, flour, dried fruits, beans, nuts, and even some spices. Are there lids all tightly secured? If not, you could be attracting pantry moths, cockroaches, spiders, sugar ants, and stink bugs.

It’s worth noting that you could also be encouraging the spread of drugstore beetles, should they come home on stored food items. We suggest switching to airtight containers (a trend you’ll see pop up many times throughout the article). 

Not Cleaning Carpets

Carpets can be nasty places, and many bugs like them that way. For instance, the varied carpet beetle will lay its eggs on the carpet, and when the eggs hatch, the baby larvae feed on the fibers. If a homeowner isn’t cleaning their carpet well enough, these things can happen. 

We suggest using an application of diatomaceous earth sprinkled on the carpet to kill any organisms that may be living. After a day or two, remove the diatomaceous earth and dead bugs with a good vacuuming.

Not Cleaning Drains

Most folks think drains are magic black holes where food waste and water disappear. In reality, there are pipes under there, and they get bogged down with organic materials and sludge. Certain bugs, like the drain fly, lay their eggs in that sludge and start a long repetitive life cycle.

There are plenty of ways to clean a sink, but we cover most of them in this guide on how to get rid of flies in the drain. 

Allowing Standing Water 

Standing water is a very big problem for folks looking to avoid unwanted pests. Insects like mosquitoes and midges can lay eggs in these water sources, allowing the species to complete several generations’ life cycles and even infest the house. Also, warm, moist spaces can attract silverfish, termites, cockroaches, carpenter ants, and other insects as well. 

These sources could include: 

• A bucket underneath a leaky pipe
• Driveway potholes full of water for weeks at a time outside 
• Not maintaining proper chemical levels in the pool
• Clogged gutters

If you’re noticing a ton of mosquitoes in your backyard, and you want to get a handle on them quickly, this guide on the best mosquito foggers will help.

Composting

Here’s what we’re going to say about composting: If you love your compost pile and the fresh, nutrient-rich soil it gives you, keep composting. But, if you’re not sure where beetles, flies, and other insects around your property are coming from and you need it to stop, start with your compost pile.

The act of composting requires insects to break down the organic matter. Worms, slugs, mealy bugs, maggots, and grubs need to get in there, chew up those food scraps, and poop out that beautiful, rich compost. But, if there are too many flies and beetles around your property for your liking, consider abandoning that compost pile. 

Not Encouraging Drainage

It’s probably pretty clear that standing water is a real problem when it comes to bugs, but it’s not just buckets and gutters you need to think about. Yards and driveways that don’t drain well can be just as likely to harbor mosquitoes, midges, and other bugs, so it’s important to encourage drainage.

In many cases, you can discourage standing water by filling in driveway holes with blacktop or gravel. The better option is to have a drain installed by a professional, as it can collect the water and shuttle it off to parts of the yard that can handle it. For yard puddling, consider removing limbs on trees that are blocking sunlight from hitting the yard. You can also dig a creek bed, french drain, or drywell in the wet soil. If you’re in the mood for new landscaping, consider adding a weeping willow tree to the yard. 

Any of these options can reduce the amount of standing water around the property and lower the chances of mosquitos, midges, and other bugs from thriving. 

Not Maintaining the Grass

Everyone’s busy, and we aren’t here to shame you like an internet-based HOA, but cut that grass! Tall grass is an invitation to a large variety of bugs, such as gnats, chiggers, beetles, chinch bugs, webworms, billbugs, and beetle grubs.

Taller grass will retain moisture better and provide shelter from predators like birds and small animals. Keep that grass long enough not to burn in the midday sun, but short enough not to attract bugs.

Not Cleaning Appliances

Show of hands: How many people reading this article are proud of the cleanliness of their oven? Not me, but it could be a problem when it comes to bugs. Greasy, dirty appliances are likely to attract bugs looking for food. Also, since so many appliances produce heat, bugs like cockroaches may choose to hang out in them in the cooler months. Be sure to pull these appliances out and clean them often. 

Not Washing Clothes After Being Outside

You can bring in a lot of different bugs by simply not washing your clothes soon enough. When we’re outside, bugs like chiggers and ticks can attach themselves to our clothing. As we head inside and hang out in our dirty clothes, we’re giving these pests the opportunity to crawl across couches, kitchen counters, and other places. 

Instead of inviting a host of insects home, be sure to take your clothes off and wash them as soon as you get home. 

Piling Wood Against the House

A wood pile on the porch may give rustic vibes, but it can also bring bugs up close and personal with your house. Wood destroying insects like termites and carpenter ants, as well as spiders, and beetles all call piles of firewood home, and they’ll make short work of getting into the house if they’re placed close enough. 

Instead of piling the wood right up against the house, place the piles at least 20 feet from any structures. We know, this will suck when the temperatures drop and you need another armful of oak, but it’s better to keep those pests away from the home than invite them in.

Not Dusting

Things are about to get gross, but it’s important to understand something: dust isn’t just dirt. It often contains skin cells and dander from humans and pets (which you should keep away from bugs). And, as a result, it attracts bugs like dust mites (which eat this skin-filled dust), and they are at the very bottom of a long food chain that leads to much larger pests like spiders. So, make sure you’re dusting at least once a week. 

Leaving Food in the Sink

This one might be obvious to some folks, but for those that don’t know this is a problem, it could be the root cause of their bug issues. Leaving food in the sink is a surefire way to attract bugs and other pests. These little creatures have strong senses of smell and can detect the presence of food from outside. This can include sugar ants and odorous house ants (both of which can invade a car for the same reasons), drain flies, fruit flies, and even roaches if they’re present in the house. 

Instead, make sure to clean the sink every night and treat the drain once every two weeks to prevent food buildup.

Leaving A Dirty Grill

We love greasy burgers, bratwursts, and steaks as much as the next red-blooded American, but that grill could be ground zero for infestation. Certain bugs actively seek out proteins, such as wasps and yellow jackets, and leaving small chunks of meat in the grill is a sure way to feed them.

More than likely, these pests won’t infest the grill as they already have nests that they call home (in most cases). But, no one wants a face full of yellow jackets as they’re heading out to throw some chops on the bbq. A good degreaser and routinely cleaning the grates and grease trap is usually all it takes to keep that grill pest-free. 

Leaving Pet Food Out

That’s right: Fido’s food could attract insects to your home. Leaving a rolled-down bag of dog food in a cabinet is a bad idea.

This food has a strong odor and can attract a variety of pests, including cockroaches, Indian meal moths, warehouse beetles, grain beetles, drugstore beetles, and weevils. We suggest an airtight dog food container instead. 

Not Controlling Moisture in the Basement

Wet basements are havens for tons of bugs. We’re talking about camel crickets, silverfish, roaches, termites, carpenter ants, earwigs, and so many more. Regardless of whether it’s caused by a slab leak or sweating pipes, it’s important to get that basement moisture under control right away.

Too Many House Plants

Bugs love plants for a variety of reasons. Plants offer shelter, and many can provide bugs with food. They also raise the humidity in the home, and insects love that. In some cases, certain flies species burrow into the dirt to find overwatered roots and lay their eggs. 

There are ways to combat this: You can get fly traps and stick them in the plant’s pot. You can also let the plant dry out a bit by skipping watering. These bugs will hit the road as soon as the plant dries up. You can also simply get rid of some of the house plants to lower the overall humidity and opportunity. 

In fact, your real Christmas tree could be bringing bugs inside this holiday season. But, we’re not bah-humbugs here! Keep those real trees coming!

Keeping the Home Too Warm

Most bugs prefer heat and humidity, so keeping a home too warm or too humid will certainly attract bugs. These species can include ladybugs (and their Asian lady beetle doppelgangers), stink bugs, boxelder bugs, fruit flies in houseplants, and termites.

If you’re keeping your home too warm (above 68 degrees, usually), consider lowering the thermostat. Also, control the humidity with a dehumidifier. Ideally, humidity levels in a home should be around 30 to 50 percent. Many bugs can thrive in 40 to 60 percent humidity (though 80 is ideal) so try to keep under that 40 percent mark.

Inside/Outside Pets

We hate to blame Fido for bringing bugs in, but the truth is that dogs that spend more time outdoors have a higher chance of bringing bugs into the home. This can include ticks, chiggers, mosquitos, and other pests that hitch a ride on the canine’s (or feline’s) coat.

Your pooch still needs to go out, though. Simply avoid tall grass and vegetation and you’ll be able to side-step this issue. 

Bird Seed

We love birds, and encouraging them to visit your yard could actually cut down on the number of insects around the home. However, bird seed can also attract bugs, particularly when it’s sitting in a lazily-rolled bag in a garage, basement, or kitchen cabinet. This includes food moths and beetles, but even roaches and flies can be attracted to some of the ingredients in bird food.

We suggest storing your birdseed in an airtight container, just as you would your own food. Place that airtight container in the garage rather than a kitchen cabinet, as well. Also, make sure your bird feeder is far enough away from the home to prevent any bugs from calling your porch their paradise with an all-you-can-eat buffet. 

Not Cleaning Gutters

We touched on it before but it’s important to realize that not cleaning gutters can cause them to clog. Once they clog, they can collect rain and become standing water. And who loves standing water? Lots of bugs, that’s who.

Be sure to clean your gutters twice a year: Once in the spring and once in the late fall. Make sure that water flows well and leaves aren’t causing a dam. That standing water is ideal for mosquitoes and midges, so being laid back about gutter maintenance can lead to some unwanted guests. 

Not Taking Out the Trash

We’re all for being thrifty here at RiddaBugs, but waiting until that trash bag is completely full is a recipe for pests. As we mentioned earlier, ants, roaches, and stink bugs (among many other nasty bugs) have incredibly strong scent receptors and can sniff food out, even if it’s in a closed cabinet. 

Instead, we suggest throwing out the trash at the end of every night. And don’t cheap out on the quality of the garbage bags. Bags that rip will leave residue in the trash can and attract bugs regardless of how often you change the bag. 

And that brings us to our next point…

Not Cleaning Trash Cans

Your garbage cans are ridiculously disgusting. Like, awful. There is so much bacteria and filth in those garbage cans that you might as well hang a vacancy sign on the front for every bug passing through. You need to clean them, or else you risk flies laying eggs and maggots infesting the bins.

Cleaning them is messy, but it’s not rocket science. Be sure to give them a wash every month or so, but keep in mind that it doesn’t take long for bacteria to grow if just one bag rips, so more frequent cleaning may be necessary.

Eating on the Couch

You might be binging some Netflix, but if you’re popping Cheez-Its like there’s no tomorrow on the couch, you’re asking for trouble. Those crumbs will attract insects, and these bugs will be happy to crawl up next to you on the couch for a snack. 

With that said, we’d be lying if we said we never eat on the couch during a movie or a game. But, the idea here is to vacuum right away and clean up any spills before they can attract bugs to your home.

Cracks Around Doors and Windows

Gaps around windows and doors aren’t just bad for your home’s efficiency and energy consumption, they’re also super highways for bugs. Many bugs seek refuge indoors during the cold weather, and if they’re able to sneak in under that gap in the front door or through the window moldings, they’ll be snug as bugs in rugs (quite literally) all winter long.

We suggest sealing any gaps around windows with silicone caulk. For gaps around doors, consider upgrading or replacing the weatherstripping and installing floor sweeps. For a potentially small investment, you could restore the barrier that separates man and bug. 

Torn Screens

A small hole in a window screen might not seem like a big deal. But, if you consider that a window screen’s entire reason for existence is to keep bugs out, that hole seems like a much larger problem. Large bugs can make it through small holes, and before long, you’ll be sharing your home with an entire food chain of bugs, some of which could carry diseases. 

There are two options: One is that you can fix your window screens (which is generally pretty easy and affordable). The other option is to upgrade your windows with replacements, ensuring that bugs and pests aren’t able to sidestep these barriers and set up shop in your home.

Outdoor Lighting

This might be a no-brainer, but you might not know that there is a solution. Outdoor lighting attracts a wide range of bugs, including moths, mosquitoes, no-see-ums, and more. If you’re using this light around your patio for evening get-togethers, you’re literally inviting insects to the party.

But not all light bulbs are equally as attractive to bugs. Soft yellow lights and sodium bulbs are much less likely to attract insects. These lights are known as bug bulbs, and replacing your current lights with these can send bugs to your neighbors’ houses instead of yours. 

Cool-Toned Indoor Lighting

You might prefer the way those cool-colored bulbs highlight your wall colors or furniture, but they could also be highlighting your home to bugs. While no lighting source is entirely without a degree of attraction, studies have shown that cool-colored bulbs attract more bugs than any other color light. 

Luckily, this is a relatively easy solution: simply swap those cool bulbs for warmer colors. If you’re using smart LEDs with tunable colors, set the color temperature to between 2000k or 3000k, or simply activate your home assistant and say “set the lights to warm white.” 

Boxes and Newspapers

Stacks of newspapers and boxes are well-documented refuges for certain bugs. Cockroaches, mites, termites, booklice, bookworms (no, they’re not really a thing but they’re the larvae of a variety of species), firebrats, and silverfish (and their larvae) all feed on books, paper, and cardboard. This is especially true when the moisture content in the food source or home is high.

Be sure to clear out those stacks of paper goods and maintain a regular recycling schedule. This will cut down on not only the bugs we’ve mentioned but also the bugs that eat the bugs we mentioned, like spiders. 

Letting Kids Feed Themselves

Look, raising kids is tough, and sometimes we’re too busy to help them get that cup of juice or grab some snacks from the cabinet. But, the truth is that letting kids feed themselves could be causing some of your bug issues.

Kids move too quickly to pay attention to what they’re doing, and they simply don’t understand the consequences of crumbs on the counter or sticky juice stains on the floor. Even if they clean these messes up, they rarely get the entire mess. But, that’s parenting for you, I suppose.

Drinking Alcohol

Hey, we like to kick back with a beer or glass of wine as much as the next blog, but that alcohol could attract bugs. Some alcohols, like light beers and wines, contain sugars. Those sugars attract a bug with a sweet tooth, such as ants, honeybees, bumble bees, carpenter bees, yellow jackets, fruit flies, and stink bugs. Also, some studies suggest that consuming alcohol makes a person more likely to be bitten by a mosquito.

We don’t have an answer for you on this one. We’re not giving up our glass of wine with dinner just to keep a few bugs away—that’s what they make fly swatters for.

Leaving Overripened Fruit on the Counter

Whether it’s forgetting that orange at the bottom of the food bowl or purposely letting bananas go to increase their sweetness for banana bread, over-ripened fruit will attract bugs. Fruit flies and other pests are attracted to the scent of rotten fruit, and they will lay their eggs on these snacks. When the eggs hatch, their larvae don’t have to go anywhere for their first meal. Make sense?

Not Cleaning Up Pet Waste

A dog’s gotta do what a dog’s gotta do. But, if a dog’s gotta do a doo-doo, it’s best to clean it up right away. The proteins and bacteria in pet waste are ideal for flies to lay their eggs on, and within no time at all, a pile of poo could be teeming with maggots, all stealing nutrients from the poo.

Ain’t that some crap?

Bringing in Dirty Luggage

Airports and airplanes are gross, and there’s no way of knowing what bugs might be flying in the cargo area of a plane. Whether the plane is infested or someone’s suitcase is full of insects, these bugs could easily target your suitcase and hitch a ride. 

We’re not saying don’t travel, but there are some things you can do about this:

• Use hard-sided luggage. It’s easier to clean and harder for insects to work their way in.
• Leave the suitcase in the garage or outside. Shake the clothes out before you bring them in, and then spray the suitcase with homemade bug repellent.

A Dirty Recyclable Bin

We often think recyclables are harmless and innocuous, but the truth is that their bins can get just as disgusting as a garbage bin. A trash can with wine, sauce, and tuna can residue inside is the perfect place for pests to feed and lay eggs. 

The trick here is to clean the recyclable bin just as you might a garbage can. Bleach or other all-purpose cleaners are great, but vinegar and baking soda work, as well.

Wearing Outdoor Shoes Indoors

Think about everywhere you went today. Every floor you walked on, every sidewalk you used, and every bathroom you went into. The bottoms of your shoes have collected a wide variety of substances, some of which are prime meals for bugs and mites. 

Instead, kick off your shoes at the door and wear slippers throughout the rest of the house. This will reduce the mess, the amount of dirt, and gross bacteria that you’re bringing into the home, which will, in turn, reduce the number of bugs you’re attracting to your home.