springtails in basement

Hi. I found your website while researching springtails. We recently noticed these nasty boogers in our 7 month old dream home. 🙁   We aren’t noticing a huge infestation and we’re keeping our fingers crossed it will stay to a minimum but we want to prevent this from happening again. Now we live on a 2 acre lot and on one side we have a stream and we also live on a lake. What products do you recommend we get? I was considering the organic alternative given the fact that we live by so much water, but is the organic solution as effective as the bifenthrin? Also, do you recommend we use Phantom inside? Unfortunately, we’re mainly noticing the activity in the basement where our two baby boys have bedrooms so I’d like to not use anything inside the home.

As explained in our Springtail article, outside treatments will generally take care of most springtail problems because reducing the amount of this pest outside means there will be that many less not available to migrate inside. So to start, you can try using just the outside treatments and see if that does the trick. But since the springtails already inside can start nesting around windows, baseboards, doorways, etc., you may end up needing to do some inside treatments as well. You just never know when problems are first identified.

So at this time, getting the outside treated with either Bifen Granules or Essentria Granules would be the way to start. In fact both products are equally effective on springtails; apply the granules first and then spray over the top to get them activated. So the traditional option listed in our article would be the Bifen Granules and Cyonara RTS seen here:

Bifen Granules: https://bugspray.com/catalog/insecticide/granule/bifenthrin-g-25-lb

Cyonara RTS: https://bugspray.com/catalog/insecticide/liquid/cyonara-32-oz-rts

The organic equivalent would be the Essentria Granules and the Essentria IC:

Essentria Granules: https://bugspray.com/exempt/granule/eco-exempt-org-g-22-lb

Essentria IC3: https://bugspray.com/exempt/liquid/eco-excempt-gal

Apply either of the granules monthly and spray over the top of the treatment monthly too – even when you’re not seeing springtail activity. And if they come back strong after just 2 weeks following a treatment, don’t wait another month to treat again; do another treatment as needed to make sure you’re not seeing any.

Now after 2 applications outside if you’re still seeing some inside, you’ll need to treat with with either Phantom Aerosol or ECO aerosol in the basement (to start). The Phantom goes on dry and is odorless and won’t pose a hazard to people inside once dry. More on how safe it is to use can be learned in our safety video found at the bottom of it’s product page here:

Phantom Aerosol: https://bugspray.com/catalog/insecticide/aerosol/pt-phantom-14-oz

The organic equivalent would be the ECO KO Aerosol seen here:

ECO KO: https://bugspray.com/exempt/aerosol/eco-exempt-org-ko-aero-14-oz

For more complete information on springtails, review our entire article found here:

Springtails:  https://bugspray.com/article/springtail

Give us a call if you need more help. Our toll free is 1-800-877-7290 and we’re open 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM Mon-Thur, Eastern Standard Time.