Insects bug all of us, but extension experts say there’s a way to fight back with cleanliness.

“Insects affect all Mississippi citizens. It doesn’t matter if you live on a farm or in a high-rise apartment in downtown Jackson,” Dr. Blake Layton, an extension service professor and entomologist said during a recent Quick Bites video conference at the Warren County Extension Office.

A deep, thorough round of house cleaning can clear out most infestations of spiders, roaches, and other creepy crawlers, Layton said.

“It does work if you’re meticulous enough to do it carefully,” he said.

Perhaps the most dreaded pest of the South is the cockroach. With six spiny legs, a shiny, slick body and wiggling antenna, the roach is a pervasive pest with six species living in the Magnolia state, Layton said.

Roaches measuring in at inch or longer are members of outdoor species, and most of the year they only come inside for quick visits, Layton said.

“They really become problematic in the summer when they come inside and stay and build up their numbers,” Layton said.

Clearing outdoor bush and leaves close to the home can eliminate help eliminate these roaches, Layton said.

“That’s really good harborage for cockroaches,” he said.

The really bad boy of the cockroach kingdom is short, measuring in at about half an inch, Layton said. The German cockroach cannot survive outdoors and thrives in dwellings like duplexes and apartment buildings.

Spraying doesn’t work in getting rid of them; neither does fogging.

“By far the most effective tools that have been developed are baits,” Layton said.

Baits aren’t enough. For German cockroaches to die off and not return, every square inch of a home needs to be cleaned and vacuumed, he said.

Layton recommends the same tips for getting rid of spiders and fleas and stored food pests. Fleas are especially tough to track down.

“Adult fleas live on the host, but immature stages do not. For every adult flea you see, there’s a whole lot more immature fleas. It’s like only seeing the tip of the iceberg,” he said.

Flea larvae reside wherever a pet typically rests, he said. This can be on top of the refrigerator or a blanket tucked far away in a bedroom closet, so a good scrubbing is the only way to really eliminate them, he said.