Killing Collembola

Abiotic factors (lethal conditions): In Hypogastruridae, (which are Collembola from the USA).

the development is impacted as follows: 1. the lethal temperatures are -4°C (28 degrees Fahrenheit) and 28°C,(82.4 Fahrenheit)  2. the optimum temperature range is 9°C (48.2 degrees Fahrenheit)  to 12°C (53,6 degrees Fahrenheit) , 3. the hygrometric optimum is 98-100% relative humidity; 4. the lethal hygrometric minimum is 93% relative humidity (Thibaud, 1970:161-173).

This is gotten from this scientific description of Collembola. http://www.collembola.org/taxa/collembo.htm

This information means they can be killed with temperatures below 28 degrees Fahrenheit (colder than water ice but warmer than dry ice) or above 82.4 degrees Fahrenheit. They also can be killed by desiccation (drying) at under 93% relative humidity which means they require a very moist environment. If you put DRY (but not wet) clothes in a clothes dryer at high heat, that will kill them. If you take a hot bath that should kill them even under the skin except for your head. Your head will have to be heated with a hair dryer at high temperature for as long as you can take it. But you probably need to cut your hair as short as possible. I would guess that 15-30 minutes should do it. Since the gestation period is typically two weeks at room temperature, you will have to do this every day for 2-3 weeks to be sure of having eliminated the problem. Going in a sauna for half an hour per day should also kill them. This all assumes that the problem is Collembola. But I would guess this treatment will also eliminate any other form of skin parasite. They cannot survive off the body for very long because of the lack of moisture. They can only jump about 8 inches at most, so if you stay a few feet away from other people that should prevent them from catching collembola from you. Why? because in order to make that jump, the Collembola have to do it from a wet platform that they have constructed on the platform they are jumping from.. They cannot just jump from anywhere.

The article also says this:

Anthropological perspective: Collembola can be pests principally by virtue of their presence in the home. But in many cases, the Collembola are just annoying 'guests', a nuisance, rather than infestations causing a disease. The infestations are classified as domestic infestations (Collembola found in houses), incidental human infestations (infestations through pot plants in the bedroom, infestations by malfunctioning pooter (pooter is the device used to collect specimens - it looks like this

),

human infestations not associated with dermatitis and human infestations associated with dermatitis. In addition, one can also consider the delusional infestations (psychotic infestations) and the infestations due to 'sample contamination' (clinical errors, laboratory errors).