This is topic Mommy Bugga Bugga in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.


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Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Post all your insect questions here! Mommy Bugga Bugga is ready and able to take you on her knee and tell you all about the fascinating world of insects!
 
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
 
SOMEONE's been watching Dora the Explorer, perhaps?
 
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
OK, Jenny, I will post my next bug question here.

In my garden, in a sandy area, are little indentations in the earth, about 1.5 inches in diameter. I have tried to dig up the bug I know is beneath, but have never been able to find it. There are many of these little indentations. Once, I saw movement of the sand, and waited hopefully for an emerging creature. Nothing. Sometimes, there are little dead bug bodies near the whole.

An underground spider? Another personal plague?

Please help, Bugga Mum

[ June 17, 2003, 09:18 AM: Message edited by: Elizabeth ]
 
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
 
::steals Jenny's thunder::

Ant lion. You'll never see it. But poke a little dirt into the indentation, and in a couple seconds, the dirt will start getting tossed out.
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
Ant lions are incredibly cool little insects with enormous (for their size) mandibles. I don't remember exactly how, but I used to catch them as a kid. I think I'd knock an ant down into their well, and when the ant lion nabbed it I'd get both of them with a jelly jar. I'm not positive that that's how I did it though.
 
Posted by zgator (Member # 3833) on :
 
If you scoop up enough of the dirt around one of those depressions, you'll get one.
 
Posted by Diosmel Duda (Member # 2180) on :
 
Not an insect, technically, but . . .

Why was there a five-legged spider in my shower this morning? And why couldn't I kill it, no matter how much I wanted it dead?
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
I think you must have a pretty healthy backyard ecosystem. Ant lions are predators, and if there are plenty of predators around, chances are your bug populations are in balance.

I don't have ant lions where I live, so I am jealous. Be careful, though. I believe ant lions can pinch!

Ooo- fun factoid! The ant lions are really the larvae form of an insect that resembles a tiny damselfly/dragonfly with short antennae. Your ant lion is also called a "doodlebug".
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Five legged? All the critters I know have legs in multiples of 2 unless they have been damaged. Something tells me you've attacked this spider before!

It was in your shower because the bathtub/shower is a water source. Poor thing was in much danger, and not just from you. Spiders and insects breathe through spiracles, which are holes in their sides. If the spiracles get plugged up by water, then they drown.

You had a hard time killing it, probably, because it wanted to live. Myself, I'd let the poor bugger climb onto a washcloth and release it outside of the shower. And if it doesn't go hide in a dark corner, I'll catch it again and release it outside.

Be wary of killing things in your home that might actually help you by eating the flies and gnats and cockroaches that also invade your living space. Bad karma, etc. if you believe in such.
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Ants and Plants

Someone asked me if having an ant nest in the garden is beneficial or detrimental to plants. The answer is both! Ants are wonderful for opening up and loosening the soil, creating places for water to spread out, beneficial bacteria to move in, and new seeds to come up. Ants sometimes move seeds around and they can be pollinators, too. Some ants "farm" aphids and possibly? treehoppers. You'll see these farms on the young tips of plants - ants swarming around brownish or reddish or yellowish or greenish tiny insects.

The farms can be trouble for your plants, because the "cows" suck plant juices. However, if you have mature, healthy plants, it usually does not present a problem. There are plenty of aphid and ant predators in a healthy garden to keep them in check. You can also squirt them off with a hose or squish the aphids. Or, you can watch for free something that people pay their cable companies to put on Discovery Channel.

Overall, ant homes in a garden are a sign of good ecosystem health. If you are lucky, sometimes you'll see them move their eggs and larvae to a new area. Ants can provide hours of fascinating entertainment. Where are they going? What are they doing? How do they coordinate their activities?

Do be careful, though. Ants, when their homes are disturbed, will swarm to find the creature that harmed them. And for such tiny beasties, they have a painful bite!

It sounds like you have a lovely garden, Elizabeth. I hope you enjoy getting to know your tiny neighbors.

(edited to add)And no, they probably won't hurt your beans. Ant farms tend to be placed at the tips of plants where they get a lot of sun. I am lucky to see them on the ivy that grows around my kitchen window. I've also observed them on sunflowers and weeds. But I haven't seen them on beans at all.

[ June 17, 2003, 10:44 AM: Message edited by: Jenny Gardener ]
 
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
 
What's the best solution for mosquitoes?
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Female mosquitoes prefer blood. Males prefer the nectar of flowers.
 
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 619) on :
 
This one has been driving me crazy, Jenny. About two years ago, these strange creatures appeared on my garage wall (the one attached to the house, with possible access to the crawlspace). They are about a centimeter long, shaped something like an oval leaf (long and thin, but with a litle bit of swelling in the center). Gray in color, with no legs. They move up the wall using a retractable probiscus at one end, and some sort of sticky "foot" at the other. Completely smooth, with no antenna or any other sort of protusion from the body.

What are they??? [Eek!] Did my house get invaded by leaches???? (I worry about it because I saw that movie on late-night TV.)
 
Posted by Avadaru (Member # 3026) on :
 
Stay inside. [Razz]
 
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
 
Storm- Not sure if you want to do this-- but to keep mosquitoes away during the warm, wet, northern Italian summers, we used to eat some toast with raw garlic scraped over the top. We'd add a tomato, on occasion, and some olive oil. . .mozarella cheese balls. . .mmmm. . . bruschette. . .

But apparently, the garlic keeps the little bloodsuckers away.

[ June 17, 2003, 11:16 AM: Message edited by: Scott R ]
 
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 619) on :
 
That's the problem, Avadaru...they are inside... [Eek!]
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
I've got a question. According to this article, the insects in question are half a centimeter long. How wide are they?

[Eek!]
 
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
 
EWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!! O_o
 
Posted by Olivet (Member # 1104) on :
 
Mosquitos don't like the taste of heavily garlic-ed people, that's true. You have to eat enough of it for the smell to start oozing out your pores.

My favorite mosquito/bug repellant, Jungle Juice, actually contains garlic oil and other natural repellants, like peppermint oil. Doesn't smell bad either.

My mom never gets bitten by mosquitos anymore. She's been on lots of meds since her kidney transplant, and I think her blood has more chemicals in it than blood. That's not a suggestion, though. Just an observation. [Big Grin]
 
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
 
quote:
Mark Fradin and Jonathan Day of the University of Florida tested 17 nationally marketed mosquito repelling products under laboratory conditions. They asked 15 volunteers to stick a forearm coated with repellent into a cage containing 10 mosquitoes and observed how much time elapsed before the first bite. Products containing DEET repelled best, and the more DEET they contained, the better they worked. Off! Deep Woods, which contains 23.8 percent DEET, provided the longest-lasting protection: 302 minutes on average. By contrast, Avon Skin-So-Soft Bath Oil failed after 9.6 minutes, on average.
http://www.snopes.com/spoons/oldwives/skeeters.htm

quote:
I’m sorely tempted by one of those propane-heated machines that put out carbon dioxide, like human breath, which draws the biters in and traps them in a filter. These things are the only wide-area mosquito catchers that really work.

They’re also ridiculously expensive. If you don’t go outside much, stick to the Off!. But if you intend to use your yard a lot, and you figure you’re amortizing the cost over many years of mosquito-free yard use, you might want to check out the Mosquito Magnet machines offered at www.frontgate.com. You can spend $1,000 or more on a big machine that keeps a whole acre mosquito-free. But if your needs are more modest, they have a $300 half-acre machine.

It takes a few weeks of continuous use (and you have to replace the propane tank and the filter every couple of weeks) before you’ve broken up the life cycle of the local mosquito population. But then your yard belongs to you again

http://greensboro.rhinotimes.com/osc1.html

Okay, how do I stop the invasion of the roly-poly? They are everywhere!
 
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
Mosquitos:

Don't eat bananas if you go camping! They love banana-tasting humans, apparently.

Liz
 
Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
 
Why did you start this thread after I finished my nearly-impossible ecology block????
 
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
Cool about the ant lion. Or doodlebug. Thanks.

As for the ants, they were quite maniacal when i was planting the beans. They were definitely gunning for me, as they carried their little white egg things around. It was amazing to watch.

Did anyone read THE POISONWOOD BIBLE by Barbara Kingsolver? I wll never forget the scene where the army ants move through town. Yikes.

Liz
 
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
Jenny,
I am generally OK with the insect world. However, last summer, my insect tolerance was tested. Our kitten had a terrible wound in her neck. It looked like a hole poked with a chain link fence(same size)Then, it became infected. We took her to the vet. The vet said "watch it." (We know why she said that, now)

Well, it got terribly infected, so we took her back. Turns out, it was a botfly.

Oh my, oh my. They lay their evil eggs at the entrance to rodent holes. The rodent(or cat chasing the rodent) sucks in the eggs. The eggs travel through the body, find a lovely place to grow, and then burst forth through the skin of the poor animal.

The vet said, after she knew it was out, "You should see how gross it is when we have to remove them." She knew what it was all along, and just didn't want to remove it.

UGH.

Liz
 
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
 
quote:
Why was there a five-legged spider in my shower this morning? And why couldn't I kill it, no matter how much I wanted it dead?
It sounds like you need a guy around to squish spiders for you.
 
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
 
Kayla, I saw his most recent article. My thought is that there are a lot of animals that eat mosquitoes for food. Dragonflies. Some birds. I don't think a CO machine would be very nice for them. [Frown]
 
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
 
You could get some bats. [Wink]
 
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
 
You laugh, but bat houses are way cool. If I wasn't really lazy, I would do it. [Smile]

Though, that, too, is not without peril. I've been hit in the head about three times in the past by a dive-bombing bat. Apparently my head must give off the same kind of radar signature as a tasty bug or something. [Frown]
 
Posted by T. Analog Kid (Member # 381) on :
 
<cough> Sonar <cough>
 
Posted by ginette (Member # 852) on :
 
I don't know if this is exactly an insect, but I'll mention it anyway, because I would really like to know what it is.
I was on holiday in France and I found this stone in the mountains with crystals in it and a lot of holes. When I was looking with my loupe in one of the holes, I saw this tiny animal. It had a house like snails have, only this one had the shape of the point of a hat and was made out of very tiny stone slices and pieces of crystal.
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Dora the Explorer: Yes. What can I say? The name seemed to fit.

Mosquitoes: Learn to live with them. Adapt. The more we try to kill them off, the closer we get to creating Super Mosquitoes. Some things you can do to lower the population without damaging the environment: do not allow standing water on your property. This means make sure the kids' toys don't stay outside collecting water, dump anything that does collect water on a regular basis, and put fountains in your decorative pools. Natural predators of mosquitoes include bats, birds, fish, dragonflies, damselflies, the larvae of the aforementioned insects, and water striders. There are probably many more. Spraying poison on the mosquitoes is not such a good idea; the mosquito predators are much more susceptible to the poisons, and the mosquito generations that survive your kill spray are the ones that are breeding the next generation. Attract mosquito predators if you can. More about mosquitoes later, depending on your future questions.

"Leeches" in the garage: I have no clue at this point. No legs? Where do you live? Can you find or take a picture of one? Does it move like a caterpillar or like a slug? A slug is my best guess at this point. That or some sort of larva. See if you can observe more and give me more description.

Rove beetles: I don't know for sure, but rove beetles tend to be longer than they are wide. What a bizarre story! Most rove beetles are scavengers or predators. I cannot imagine how they would have gotten into the boy's body. Wild.

Rolie-Polies, also known as Pillbugs, Sowbugs, Wood Lice...: Believe it or not, these little critters are actually crustaceans! They need dampness to thrive. They are part of nature's clean-up crew, feeding on rotting vegetation. However, they are only primitive-eyed critters that don't know the difference between a very soft strawberry and the mushy rotten leaves in your garden. They are usually not a problem unless you have plants you care to keep healthy lying in wet stuff. Don't do anything about them - there's not much you CAN do. Just keep things dry if you can, and be happy you have beasties to help turn all that used-up plant matter into rich soil!

THE POISONWOOD BIBLE was a fascinating book. Most anything Barbara Kingsolver writes is thought-provoking and ultimately life-affirming.

Botflies: YUK! I can't believe your vet wouldn't relieve your poor kitty! Just because it's gross? I thought that vets had to deal with gross stuff all the time!

Mosquitoes Part 2: I am an incredible mosquito magnet. Even when wearing the highest allowable DEET formulas, I get bitten. I've given up on trying to keep the buggers away. Even so, I would hate to use a fogger and mess up my backyard ecosystem that I have grown to love.

Ginette: Perhaps you found a relative of the caddisfly. Was the stone wet? Caddisfly larvae live in running water and make themselves homes from bits of sand and pebbles from the bottom of the stream.
 
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
 
I have nothing wet. No plants, nothing. And they keep crawling across the patio and under the back door into the house!
 
Posted by Polemarch (Member # 3293) on :
 
Dealing with mosquitos: use higher concentration DEET sprays on your clothes, and the normal repellents on your skin. Try not to touch your clothes. [Smile] Only use this in an emergency (you're in agony). The last time I used this I was out in the woods and had been for several days. It was right after a pretty heavy rain, so there was standing water everywhere.

Question: what's effective for dealing with large contentrations of Green-headed flies?
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Green-headed or greenbottle?
 
Posted by jexx (Member # 3450) on :
 
Carpenter ants. Boo. I live on the second floor, but I think that the carpenter ants are coming up through the foundation and up the walls somehow. They scare the beewhozits out of the Boy. I know that a chalk line will confound an ant, but where do I draw it? They are already IN THE HOUSE! (sorry, freaked out a little bit there)

Also, what are the little teeny tiny red bugs (bright red!) that are all over the cement and sidewalks here in the Northeast? I grew up in the Southwest, and I don't think we had them there. They don't bother me, I was just wondering what they were. They are all over the place at the motorpool where my husband works. Why? Do they love the grease? So odd.

And I love roly-polies. Me and my brother used to make them race on little race tracks we made from paper. Big fun! Once we kept some in a jar with a potato in it for them to eat (because they are potato bugs). Mom made us let them go because she said they turned into maggots. I know that isn't true, now, but it sure made us empty that jar in a hurry!
 
Posted by jexx (Member # 3450) on :
 
*bump*
 
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
Carpenter ants: if you can find some tansy, an herb, and plant it around the foundation of your house, the ants won't like it. You can also lay it down, maybe with your chalk line, and they will avoid it.

The little red things are spider mites. They might be in your garden and on your houseplants, if you look close.

Liz
 
Posted by Theca (Member # 1629) on :
 
I used to love playing with roly-polies. And with ant lions. I didn't know they could pinch! Ant lions never pinched me. Lizards are great fun, too.

I don't have any buggie questions. Other than, will fire ants and/or killer bees make it up to the Chicago area, eventually. And I hope the answer is no!
 
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
Theca, do you mean army ants? They are the ones that eat villages. Fire ants are nasty, but I don't think they seek out new territory. If you disturb them, they get mad. They are probably in your area.

There are killer bees in Arizona, I know that, because my parents live there. I don't know how much farther they have traveled.

Jenny?

[ June 19, 2003, 08:40 AM: Message edited by: Elizabeth ]
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Carpenter ants: I'd never heard that about a chalk line. You really don't want the boogers in your house. Carpenter ants can do lots of damage to the structure of your home. Are you sure they are carpenter ants, as opposed to other types? 6-13 mm, light red to brown or black, an area on their abdomens covered with ashy grey hairy stuff, 12-segmented antennae without clubs on the ends (details from Simon and Schuster's Guide to Insects). They emit a strong odor of formic acid. When ants in general invade my house, I use Terro if they are really bad. Before that, though, I do a thorough cleaning of my home with essential oils that they don't like - strong stuff like peppermint and lemongrass and citronella and pine. And I make sure to leave all kitchen spiders unmolested for a time. And I cripple any ants I see and feed them to the turtle and the gerbils. Only then, if their numbers are disturbing, do I resort to antkiller. If you really do have carpenter ants in your woodwork, you may have no choice than to call an exterminator.

Tiny red bugs: Yep, they're spider mites. They are incredibly tiny, and resemble tiny pieces of bright red lint with legs. These particular mites are predators, so they're probably out hunting. I've seen them most often on concrete on a sunny day. I think they like concrete for some reason.

Rolie-polies: They are not potato bugs! They are not insects at all! While eating a potato would keep them healthy with plenty of moisture and nutrien, they bear no relation to the beetles called potato bugs. And, as you probably know, maggots only come from eggs. Maggots are larvae that develop into flies.

Fire ants and killer bees: I don't know. They're not in Indiana yet, so I haven't collected them. I played with a nest of fire ants once in Florida, stirring up their nest and springing away in terror lest they discover me. Killer bees, poor things, are so misunderstood. They operate by chemical messages, and when one of their number kills herself defending the hive, a message is released that says, "sting this target; it's dangerous". So don't make 'em mad.
 
Posted by Tstorm (Member # 1871) on :
 
quote:
Be careful, though. I believe ant lions can pinch!

I have yet to be pinched by an ant lion. I must profess, I kept a couple as pets last fall, too. Even if they did pinch, I doubt it would scratch the skin, let alone break it. Sure, they've got large mandibles, but they're all the better for sucking the juice out of ants.
 
Posted by Polemarch (Member # 3293) on :
 
Green headed flies. Y'know, the big ones with the extremely painful bite (much worse than a mosquito's bite- a green head's just doesn't leave a welt afterwards).
 
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
Polemarch,
You must mean the greenheads that make going to the beach on the North Shore of Massachusetts a living hell? If so, I know NOTHING to stop their attack. They are tough. There is no soft landing, like a mosquito, no "preparing the food." Nope, they dive, and they are out for blood. I find they are the worst later in the summer.
Liz
 
Posted by Polemarch (Member # 3293) on :
 
Exactly. I have all sorts of problems with them on Nantucket. We go there every summer.
 
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
Polemarch,
I can't even imagine any kind of repellent would work, because they are so fast. Do you find they are worse as the summer progresses? It always seemed like August in Rockport when they were the worst. They are so nasty I get nervous taking the kids to the beach.

Those biting flies aren't very nice, either. You think a gentle housefly has landed, and then, BANG, you are bitten.

The only thing that really helps is a good, strong breeze.

Liz
 
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
 
quote:
Rolie-polies: They are not potato bugs!
In some parts of the country (Utah, for instance), that's what they're called. Either potato bugs or pill bugs, but usually potato bugs.
 
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
So much for my August comment.

"Biting Flies: Hoards of biting flies swarm and chase people from the tundras of Alaska to the game preserves of East Africa. They are all big, bad and unpleasant. Each locale has it's own. For instance, horrid greenheads often ruin visits to the glorious East Coast beaches in July. They come from the salt marshes, where they live, to molest with their painful sting. Then sometime in early August they just disappear until the next year. Use DEET, protective clothing or stay out of their way."

http://www.bobvila.com/ArticleLibrary/Subject/Lawn__and__Garden/Lawn_Care/BitingBugs.html

Polemarch, I wonder if your beach is near a salt marsh. I know the one I go to in Rockport is right next to one. Obviously, there are tons of salt marshes near oceans, but I wonder if it would be better in areas farther away from them. Do a study for us, OK? Lie on a whole bunch of beaches on Nantucket, and make a scatter plot of how many bites you get compared to the beach's proximity to a salt marsh. I will stay in the country and battle the ticks and skeeters, and my nemesis, the squash vine borer. You could publish a pamphlet for people, telling them the beaches that are the least populated by greenheads.(actually, I really think this would be a good experiment, without the part about being bitten)

Liz
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Thanks, Liz and Jon Boy! I had no idea that the creatures I learned to call "sow bugs" had so many names! I apologize for the mistake. And I am not terribly familiar with green-headed flies. They sound nasty! Are they similar to the deer flies we have in the woods?
 
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
Jenny,
Yes, greenheads are like deer flies, but I would say they are even faster. Even horse and deerflies have at least a millisecond before the bite, but the greenhead is a dive bomber.

In the salt marshes in Rockport, there are these black boxes that are some kind of bug control.

Polemarch, do you know those black boxes? Are they for greenhead control?

As for my little treehopper, I have become quite fond of it. I swear there is only one, sometimes, and that it is following me. The other day I went out, saw only one on the tomato plant, and then a few minutes later, one landed on my arm. They really are quite cool.

We have had no luck capturing the ant lions, though. Any tricks? The kids are fascinated by the whole thing.

Liz
 
Posted by Theca (Member # 1629) on :
 
My method of catching ant lions was just to scoop all the dirt under the base of the sand funnel into my hand and slowly sift away the dirt. The ant lion would more often than not be left in the palm of my hand, running in little circles. I suppose if they really do pinch you could use gloves or something.
 
Posted by ak (Member # 90) on :
 
What is the right name of the things here in the South that are up in trees in the evenings making a very loud noise like "weeeeeeeee-oooooohhhhhh-weeeeeeeeee-ooooooohhhhhhh" over and over?
 
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
 
Cicadas.
 
Posted by KEGE (Member # 424) on :
 
Jenny,

Do you field (no pun intended) garden plant questions too?

[Smile]
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Sure! Start a garden thread, and you'll find me there! Also, we have many other good gardeners at Hatrack that might come to your aid.
 
Posted by xnera (Member # 187) on :
 
*bump*

I have seen a few bugs in my house this year that I don't recognize. Usually we get silverfish and maybe a few small spiders.

These new guys are about a centimeter long (maybe a bit larger), black, with round, substantial bodies. It appears to be some kind of spider as it has eight legs, but I suppose it could be a beetle as well. Both times I've seen it, it's been in my library -- once crawling up the wall near the window, and the other time crawling on the open floor beneath my desk. Now, the library is where Raina's food and litterbox are, but I haven't seen the bugs near either of them. But that might be what's attracting them. Have not seen them in other areas of the house. Any ideas what they are?
 
Posted by filetted (Member # 5048) on :
 
arachnids or no?
 
Posted by Sopwith (Member # 4640) on :
 
Recent rains have driven tons of ants into our house. What's a good all-natural, non-chemical way to get them to go away?
 
Posted by filetted (Member # 5048) on :
 
ants?

pour sugar in a place you don't want them to be...
 
Posted by filetted (Member # 5048) on :
 
err... (flish makes an ass out himself even giving good advice)
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Eight-legged beasties about a centimeter long? Probably a spider you haven't seen before. There are many body types in the spider world. There are even spiders that mimic insects.

Ants: Flish - actually, your idea might be valid. By giving the ants an out-of-the-way feeding station, you will be keeping them away from other areas. Of course, you would then want to accompany this tactic with anal cleanliness in all the other areas of the house.

The first step in getting rid of ants (or at least reducing their numbers) is to thoroughly clean the areas where you have seen them. Use vinegar or a strong-smelling cleaner. I often put essential oils (lemongrass, citronella, mint) in my cleaning water. Ants use scent to lay down their trails and communicate with each other, so putting down something smelly disrupts their normal patterns. Next, be careful to not leave any food out. If the problem gets really bad, try putting Terro (poison) traps out - or make your own with borax and sugar water. Diotomaceous earth is another "natural" but harmful substance. Read up on diotomaceous earth or borax carefully before you use them!!

I, too, had an ant invasion earlier this year. I cleaned but didn't really do a very good job about maintaining the level of cleanliness it usually takes to get rid of ants. However, I have a healthy population of house spiders and centipedes (they come from my crawlspace at night). I just made sure not to clean my corners. And the problem took care of itself. I try to maintain a reasonably clean kitchen, and I don't go ballistic over a few ants here and there. And I did ask them to find their food outside (Hey, people talk to their pets and claim they understand. Why not try talking to insects?) Ants really aren't unclean animals, and they do help get rid of food wastes that might otherwise rot and grow bacteria.

Good luck! Let me know if any of these ideas work for you!
 
Posted by KEGE (Member # 424) on :
 
Jenny,

What can I do about the Japanese beetles that are turning the leaves on my Morning Glory vine in the garden to skeletons?

Why does this happen every June the past couple of years? Where are these bugs coming from? (and don't say Japan anyone [Roll Eyes] )
 
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
 
I need the best method for getting rid of a yellow jacket nest in the ground - there is one right by my bridge that leads to our property across the creek and the kids use it to get to our play center back there.

Also, if you're allergic to one type of wasp are you allergic to all kinds? I've had allergic reactions to wasp stings but I don't know if that means I'm also allergic to yellow jackets, hornets, and bees.
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Japanese beetles - They're actually quite pretty, but they do indeed have a fondness for flowers. They like to eat roses and hibiscus, too. They arrive in your yard the same time every year because that is when they are all grown up. They've spent the last year in your lawn as white grubs eating grass roots. Last year and this, I haven't had any problems with them, although my neighbors have been raided. First and foremost, never buy those Japanese beetle traps! They release pheromones, which lure all the Japanese beetles to your yard. Then the bags fill up with dead bodies which stink and liquefy and are generally nasty, and there's no more room for all the beetles you've attracted. The best thing you can do is to have a diverse backyard habitat with many predators. Also, I have read that the flower called "4 o'clocks" is poisonous to Japanese beetles. I do have this flower in my garden.

Yellow Jackets - Ooh, Belle, I've never had that problem before. Thank goodness you know where the nest is! Are the bees aggressive, defending their nest? If so, you may have to get rid of them with poisons. I think that you'd better check with your doctor on the allergy thing, but be extra-careful, just to be on the safe side. You might have to carry an Epi-pen if you are severely allergic. Most of the time, stinging insects are content to leave you alone, but they will defend their homes and babies. If a stinging insect comes near you, hold very still and think "tree". The stinging insect will usually realize you are not a threat and go about her business. Sometimes, she will land on you, but will not sting unless you make a sudden movement or otherwise make her feel threatened. The exception to this scenario usually occurs when you are too near a nest.
 
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
 
Or you sit on said bug.

Ow.
 
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
 
I hate bugs. I think they're really creepy - especially beetles. Especially beetles that fly around with all their appendages hanging out, standing upright in the air and clicking menacingly at you.
My mom's house gets infested by pine beetles (it's a log house), and not only do I find their poky little carapaces in the sleeves of my sweaters, but they give off a distinctly sweet odor and I can tell when there's one in a ten-foot radius. My mom thinks I'm paranoid, but I know they're there - just waiting to jump out and fly directly at my face.

They've even started infesting my dreams. How do I properly fumigate my subconcious?
 
Posted by xnera (Member # 187) on :
 
*is reminded of the Northern Exposure episode with Maggie and the dust mites*

*wanders off to see if Northern Exposure has ever been released on DVD, and if so, add it to the Netflix queue*
 
Posted by KEGE (Member # 424) on :
 
I agree with Annie that beetles are mostly creepy. True the Japanese beetles DO have an irredescent shell which in the bug world is probably the equivalent of a 1950s Dior ballgown - but once you remember how CRUNCHY they are .... then being from South Louisiana you start thinking ROACH. And then crunchy, flying BIG roach and then it's all downhill from there!

(at this point you're thinking - HER dreams obviously need fumigating TOO).
 
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
 
I keep finding these little tiny black bugs with wings (close to flies, but not huge and icky) all OVER the lampshade next to my bed.

What gives?!
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
I've used a method similar to what flish suggests to control ants for 3 years or so, and it's always worked wonderfully. cut down a yogurt cup, pour in a fair amount of honey, and set it right next to wherever the ants are coming into the house. With such delicious, high energy food available right there, they rarely bother going any further. Of course, quite a few of them drown themselves in the honey. It seems to have an intoxicating effect on them. A ring of ants will be standing around the pool of honey, drinking, and then out of the blue one of them will push off, diving into the pool and swimming completely submerged into the center of it. It looks like a very deliberate act. Jenny, do you know anything about honey being an intoxicant to ants?
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Bug dreams - Hmm. Perhaps the Infinite is trying to tell you something. A scientist, when asked what Nature has to say about God, once claimed that God was "inordinately fond of beetles". In a book I read, insects are messages of the Divine. Ask yourself what these bugs mean to you symbolically. Also, study them and learn their ways. Find something to appreciate about them. Why do they bother you so? What does this say about you and the issues you face? After all, the insects are just minding their own business, doing what they were born to do. What are you projecting onto them? As you do dreamwork and soulwork, you may find yourself growing. (At the moment, I am doing soulwork with mosquitoes).

Beetles - I adore beetles. They are so colorful and varied. Have you ever seen a tiger beetle, flashing green and gold in the sunlight? Beautiful! And they fill so many important niches.

Crunchy - All insects have exoskeletons. This is why they crunch when you step on them. Avoid the willies by not intentionally crushing insects.

Little black bugs - The poor things are probably disoriented and confused. They are attracted to the heat and light. See if you can catch them (a sanitary method is to use a paper cup and an index card) and release them outdoors. Also, see if you can turn off the light at night to give them an opportunity to go elsewhere.

Honey and ants - I don't know! I have observed the same behavior with ants and sugar-poison solutions. Perhaps they do get euphoric and die in bliss.
 
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
 
I eat my ants with honey;
I've done it all my life.
It makes the ants taste funny,
But it keeps them on my knife.
 
Posted by KEGE (Member # 424) on :
 
I always heard that rhyme with "peas" instead of "ants"! Weird, but both would be gross.

How do those ants ALWAYS know when my daughter has left her plate on her floor, a cheese wrapper or even some crumbs? Somehow they get the signal from outside and organize a raiding party to invade and nosh? What a mess! I hope they are gone this morning!

[Roll Eyes]
 
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
Jenny,
Here is a gift for you, if you haven't read it yet. For all you beetlephobes out there, beware the light o' the moon!
Liz
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20030702/sc_afp/science_animals_insects_030702190111
 
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
Jenny or Anyone,

HELP! Does anyone have an effective, before-calling-the-exterminator way of getting rid of two giant carpenter ant communities?

They are both in sandy areas, near the house, maybe ten feet from the house. The nest, or town, is about six feet in diameter.

Liz
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Ants are very sensitive to chemical signals. If one ant picks up the scent of food, she will then communicate with her sisters, and soon you'll have a whole troop of ants speedily taking care of business. You might look at your household ants as a blessing - they keep dropped food from sitting around long enough to rot and carry disease. They alert you to the problem. I'm sure they'll be gone soon, after they have made good use of all that dropped energy source!

Carpenter ants - Wow! You sure don't want them in your woodwork. If I were you, I'd read up as much as I could and observe the ants to find out what they're interested in. Learn their preferences, and see if you can subtly change their environment to encourage them to move further from your home.
 
Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :
 
japanese beetles eating everything! nursery says 4 o'clocks can't be transplanted, have to be grown from seeds!

basal dead, half of cayennes dead, parsley dying right now.

[Frown]
 
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
Celia,
Try this: tobacco(crush a few cigarettes), crushed chile peppers, garlic, a bit of soap(shaved Ivory is best), mixed with water in a spray bottle. Spray the plants daily, esp. after a rain.

If this does not work, try insecticidal soap, which is not natural, but better than lots of chemical options.

If they are Japanese beetles, they are the beetle form of the lawn grub.(I think Jenny said this already.) What you might notice is an icrease in the mole population in your lawn. Let them dig! they are eating the grubs.

Liz
 
Posted by KEGE (Member # 424) on :
 
What the heck IS insecticidal soap? I'm always hearing it recommended and can't find it.

What name and brand? I once tried the dishsoap mixed with water tryin to kill aphids and it killed my impatients instead!

Got back week ago from 2 week vacation and the beetles have decimated my morning glory vine!

Lead me to the insecticial soap, someone!!!
 
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
The insecticidal soap I know is "Safer." it comes in a white spray bottle.

Here is a link from White Flower Farm for a cayenne pepper wax spray. It is natural, always the best bet.

http://www.shepherdseeds.com/7840-product.html

Also, gros as it is, hand picking the beetles, and dropping the poor b@*tards in a can of kerosene is the best way, as they are not around to reproduce.

(sorry, Jenny)

Liz
 
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
Hmm, another thought. Both of you beetle-infested gardeners could get a floating row cover for the vegetables. Those can also be bought at the link provided above. It just keeps everything off the plants, but enough sunlight and rain still gets through. You might want to do that, but only after getting rid of the beetles first.
Liz

[ July 26, 2003, 09:41 AM: Message edited by: Elizabeth ]
 
Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :
 
Hmm...you're advice came a little late. I wish I had taken pictures of this infestation. We went from zero to hundreds of beetles over a time of about 3 days. Yay for neighbors who got those stupid traps.

Once we had that many, my husband figured that putting in a trap might be our only option. I was hesitant. I remember the things from my friend's mother's garden. This was her solution after everyone else on her street already had them. He set it up and left town. (yes, left me all alone) I wrote that last post after coming home the second day the trap was up. Our plants looked less like plants than like big shimmering moving masses. I went out to see if the trap was helping at all and the bag was completely full! (2 days!)

I went to the nursery and asked for an insecticide I could safely use on herbs and vegetables. They gave me something called Sevin, with a big long list of how often it can be applies and how long until you can safely harvest after application. For our mix of crops, we can only apply the stuff twice per season and need to wait 14 days after the last application to harvest. It is to be applied when the most bugs are on, which the nursery tells me is during the early evening.

In hat, gloves and long sleeves, I venture into the swarming mass of beetles that evening armed with Sevin, holding my breathe.

Have I mentioned that I am afraid of centipedes? No, there weren't any here, but I mention that because, at a certain level, bugs is bugs. I have no experience to base my fear of centipedes on, or none that I can remember. I just know that when I see them walking, I can feel them walking on me and it's hard for me to breathe.

I coat our plants from the recommended distance. From all sides. Being careful not to get any on myself. On the trip back in, I coat the trap and the several square feet surrounding the trap, which is also covered in beetles.

My skin has been crawling for most of this experience. I am certain that, inspite of my own coverings, I am now, surely, covered in these insects myself. As soon as I close the door, I drop the spray and throw my top layer of clothing to the ground. Nothing on me.

This is a kill on contact spray. A few minutes wait and I am greeted with the sound of rain. The soft pitter patter of dead bugs falling onto concrete.

It's after 11 before I can find the courage to go back outside. As quickly as I can, I stuff the entire trap assembly into a garbage bag. I try my best to ignore the crunching sound of my walking. I slip that bag into a secong bag, toss it into our garbage can, top it with every bit of garbage in the house and hope that will keep the beetles from finding it in the garage.

I've seen about 5 beetles total since that night. I don't plan on doing a second application. They killed almost half our plants before I got them. What is left we can start to eat in a few days. Next year we'll add Four-O-Clocks to our garden and keep your spray in mind.

I am sorry that I failed Mommy Bugga Bugga, but at least I got to keep some of the garden.
 
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
Celia,

Poor you! Poor bugs! Poor plants!

Yuck!

Liz
 
Posted by Godric (Member # 4587) on :
 
Help! I've got ants in my pants!

[Big Grin]

Sorry. I couldn't resist...
 
Posted by KEGE (Member # 424) on :
 
oh Celia -

what a nightmare! I'll just let those beetles eat my morning glories!! That's nothing compared to your experience!

eeeeeekkkkkk [Eek!]
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Dang! That sounds HORRIBLE! There is a time and place for poisons, and it sounds like you found it. You might want to get your lawn treated for the grubs that are surely waiting to resurface next year. I mourn your lost plants, and I am so sorry that the invasive beetles were so numerous. I wonder what caused such a plethora of bugs? It sounds like something is terribly out of balance in your local community's environment. I hope next year is better.

Your own Mommy Bugga Bugga has been intrigued to observe a greater aggressiveness in the local wasps and ants since the flood. They are starting to calm down a bit now that the floodwaters have retreated, but for a while we had to be more careful around our wasps. Fortunately, I've been noticing a new kind of spider web near the wasp nests. Bless that beastie! My family has worked to clean up and replant the gardens, and things seem to be more peaceful now.
 
Posted by ak (Member # 90) on :
 
Why are there no lightning bugs in Baton Rouge? This is so sad! Toretha has never seen lightning bugs! How can that be? She's only just over there (waves vaguely toward the west). It makes no sense!
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
I started to create a new thread for this question, but then I remembered this one.

My house is infested with spiders, which is probably a good thing, since I'm sure that I wouldn't want whatever it is they're eating crawling around unchecked.

I just noticed that there is a single strand of web anchored to a chair and my laptop's cord, hanging parallel to the ground about two feet off the floor. The gap that it spans is about a foot and a half or so long. So how did the spider accomplish that?

My high school zoology teacher claimed that they accomplised this kind of thing by archoring their web, dropping, and letting the wind blow them to a second anchor point. Since there isn't any kind of breeze in here, that isn't a possibility. The only other methods I can think of would be jumping, which I don't think most web weaving spiders are really capable of, dropping a foot or so and then using their body as the weight of a pendulum, eventually swinging to their target, which I've never seen or heard of a spider doing, or archoring it, dropping to the ground, climbing up to the chair, drawing back in the excess web, and then creating the second anchor point when it got to the right place. The problem with that last theory, which is the most plausible I can come up with, is that the floor is a rough woven mat, and it seems to me that the line would be likely to catch on it, foiling the spider's plan.

So, is it this last theory, and the spider just got lucky, or can you think of an explanation that I haven't?
 
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
 
I'd just like you to know that a few days ago I found a BIG EFFING SPIDER IN MY BED! [Mad]
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
[Eek!] mac! I hate finding anything like that in my bed. I end up awake for hours, imagining that I'm feeling little legs creeping across me. That always sucks. Was it alive or dead?

When I was in college I lived in a place that was just infested with brown recluses, and more than once I found the bodies of them in my bed where I'd rolled over on them in the night.

Foolishly, I never thought much about it until one bit me in the night. I woke up with what looked like a third nipple on my chest. It hurt, but it wasn't as bad as some brown recluse bites I've heard of people getting.
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
Luckily for me, the spiders (and everything else with an exoskeleton) seem to consider my bedroom off limits. They really love my sunroom though. I was cleaning the other day, and I was startled that by the time I'd finished with the room the first windows I'd cleared of cobwebs were once again fully equipped for bug catching.
 
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
 
oh EEEEEW.

It was fully alive. I had to chase it with a napkin and try not to squish it ON my white down comforter. [Mad]

Not quite as bad as the house infested with scorpions (we found them in shoes, showers, sink, on the wall, in light fixtures...), but STILL. *shudder*

IN MY BED!
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
Infested with scorpions? Now that would freak me out. I've never been around scorpions except in control circumstances. How poisonous was their sting?
 
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
 
Not very, it was Georgia, not the desert. They're just scary little bastards, and it HURTS when they sting. o_O
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
Huh, that's interesting. Remind me never to move to any of the scorpion infested areas of Georgia! I've actually never been stung by anything. Bitten by various things, but never stung, so I can't quite imagine what that would feel like.
 
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
 
I have an insect-related question. If we found a way to kill every mosquito on earth, would it disrupt the ecosystem *too* much?
 
Posted by Duragon C. Mikado (Member # 2815) on :
 
Mack, keep telling yourself you actually saw the spider, because what you really probably saw was merely its molted carapace that happened to jiggle and move a bit when you blew it around with subtle air pressure changes.. In reality the real spider is probably still underneath or inside your matress with a few eggs ready to hatch thousands of lovely little guys who will crawl all over and in you in your sleep.

Pleasant Dreams.

[Sleep]

[ August 11, 2003, 05:51 AM: Message edited by: Duragon C. Mikado ]
 
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
Duragon, that was just mean. Poor Mack. You know only hundreds of the babies will make it, not thousands. (sorry, Mack)

Ryuko: The death of every mosquito on earth would change the balance very much, I think.
 
Posted by ak (Member # 90) on :
 
They say that the only reason a lot of the big species in subsaharan Africa have survived is because the malaria keeps people from moving to a lot of the areas. I suppose if we could kill all the mosquitos, malaria would also be gone. I don't think you can change anything without changing everything, it seems like. [Smile]

I know that insects far outweigh mammals pound for pound, acre for acre, in sheer biomass. Arthropods are really the most successful phylum of many celled creatures on earth. We keep battling them but so far they've never even noticed yet that they're in a war.
 
Posted by ak (Member # 90) on :
 
Mommy Bugga Bugga? Are you still around? I'm still waiting for answers to several of my questions.
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
I'm here!

ak - No lightning bugs in Baton Rouge? I don't know. Perhaps if you study up on fireflies and their habits, you'll find something missing in Baton Rouge that they like. Also, mack answered your noisy bug question correctly. Anything else you want to know? And thanks for bringing back this thread!

Amazing Spiders. Aren't they cool? If you ever spot a spider in your house, stop and watch it a while. They are incredibly fascinating. Better than t.v. I don't know the magic by which they manage to make such beautifully perfect webs. I think it has a lot to do with try, try again. There are actually two kinds of spider silk - sticky and non-sticky. I believe the non-sticky is what the spider uses for its structural supports, while the sticky is used for the bug-catching parts.

Killing every mosquito on earth. Yes, a bad thing. Do you really want to muck up the food chain for fish, birds, and other wildlife? Not to mention those of us who eat fish. And then what will happen when our immune systems are not up to snuff because they're not exposed to weird things borne by the mosquitoes? It seems our immune systems work better when they're actually actively fighting off things. And really, as annoying as mosquitoes are, all they do is make you itchy for a while. Why do you want to destroy every single member of the species, anyway?
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Spiders in Bed... Once I was staring at the ceiling at night and a spider dropped into my open eye! It crawled out, too. Eeeks!
 
Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :
 
i found a centipede in my office just now.

why? why couldn't it be silverfish or spiders or cockroaches?

[Angst]
[Frown]
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
Oh Jenny, I do! I love watching insects, arachnids, slugs, snails, crustacians, fish, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, birds--you name it, if it's in kingdom Animalia I'm fascinated by it. Sometimes (well, quite a lot lately) I find myself wishing I'd gone into some sort of wildlife biology field.

The other day I was walking on a bike trail and saw what looked like a leaf suspended in midair about a foot above head height. It was a catterpiller type thing that seemed to be trying to crawl out of the top of its cocoon, which was partially composed of leaves. The whole thing was suspended on a line of web the thing had extruded. I probably watched if for a half hour. A lot of bikers looked at me like I was crazy during that time.

I would love to watch a spider weave one of those horizontal webs. In my new house, I may just get the chance.

Celia, have you ever read my account of a centipede (or actually maybe it was a millipede--I have a hard time keeping those straight) that attacked my wife in the night one time?
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Centipedes are actually very lucky. They are predators and eat cockroaches! They don't do any harm to you or your belongings. And, once you get over being creeped out by multi-leggedness, they are actually quite lovely.
 
Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :
 
Noemon, have you read my post about how much i hate you?

[ August 12, 2003, 02:51 PM: Message edited by: celia60 ]
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
[ROFL]
 
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
"And, once you get over being creeped out by multi-leggedness, they are actually quite lovely."

Jenny, you are just begging to go into the out-of-context thread, aren't you?
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
Well Jenny, I think that my wife might argue with you about that whole "centipedes are lucky" bit, but maybe the one that attacked her was just a bad seed.

Luckily, celia, the species that attacked her isn't found in the US. It pounced on her in Thailand.

It was about 12:30 at night, and we had just turned off the light and settled into bed. just as I started to drowse, she sat bolt upright in bed, then lept to her feet, screaming and dashing at her head and legs. I dove for the light switch, and when I turned it on whatever had been on her was gone, although it had left long scratches down her legs that were deep enough to be oozing a little bit of blood. Whatever it was had apparently fallen over the headboard into her hair. When she knocked it out of her hair, it had landed on her leg, and probably scratched it while trying to hang on while she was hopping around striking at it.

She washed out the scratches and put on some antibiotic ointment while I looked for whatever it was. I didn't really expect to find it--I figured that it had been some poor geko who was probably cowering in some corner, traumatized for life. I wasn't even really looking as I moved stuff out of the way, but was looking back at her, talking. I lifted up one of my boots, and she freaked out.

Looking around, I saw what must have been her assailant--a 7 inch long centipede with a burnt umber colored dorsal side and a kind of a sickly creamy yellow brown ventral side (as I would eventually find out), it's body about half an inch wide. It's legs, which projected up and out from its sides, were ivory colored, and were each another half an inch long (longer when extended), giving it an over all appearance of being an inch and a half or so wide. Its pincers were a gleaming black, and looked really sharp. I believe that it had fuzzy black antenna too, but I can't quite remember now (this was about 5 years ago).

My gut reaction was to crush it with my boot. I like bugs, but I've killed plenty of them without incident. Imagine my surprise, then, when the thing fought back. The boot, which I'd slammed down on the upper third or so of the thing, surged under my hand, and somehow it whipped its tail section around, found purchase on something, and started dragging itself, along with the boot, under the bed. I applied more force and pulled it back out, and the tail section started whipping up toward my hand at the top of the boot. It couldn't quite reach me, but I was pretty freaked out nonetheless. I grabbed my other boot and tried to pin town the tail. Apparently there was some crucial ganglion in the things butt, because when the edge of the boot's sole severed the final segement from the rest of the body the thing just dropped.

Surprisingly, we got back to sleep.

The next morning we asked the guest house owner about it, and she said that there were two types, a centipede and a millipede. She said that that centipede had a venemous bite, but was so fast that it wasn't possible that I'd actually been able to catch and kill it. The millipede, she said, was much slower, and was completely harmless. She expected that I'd killed one of those. We felt much better until, a month or so later when we were back in the States, we were flipping around and caught a segement (pardon the pun) of some show about venomous insects in which this particular species was being profiled. Apparently their venom is fairly potent, and increases in potency as the things get larger (unlike snakes). The one on TV, they said, could put an adult into a coma with a single bite. The one we dealt with was an inch longer than that.

[Eek!]
 
Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :
 
i don't know what you posted, and i'm not reading it. [Big Grin]
 
Posted by Ralphie (Member # 1565) on :
 
Sweet Jebus, Noemon! That would give me a heartattack.

[Eek!]
 
Posted by Paul Goldner (Member # 1910) on :
 
Just to get back to mosquitoes for a minute...

My brother went hiking on the Appalachian trail when he was 13. The mosquitos were so bad that summer, that nothing seemed to work. In a desperate attempt to keep mosquitoes away, all the kids in the group he was with combined their insect repellants.

When a mosquito came in contact with this combined spray, it disintegrated.

Totally anecdotal, and I have no clue what the combination really was. But I find it amusing.
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
Celia: [Taunt]

Ralphie--I know! The actual event wasn't as bad as realizing that if the thing had waited a half hour until we'd fallen asleep, she wouldn't have been aware of it, and might have rolled over on it, provoking it to bite and kill her. Holy crap.
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Noemon: Yikes! I was referring to our native centipedes, not those nasty tropical Asian ones. Come to think of it, I remember my grandpa telling stories of giant centipedes his shipmates encountered during World War 2. One fellow had a livid red streak across his body from a giant centipede. Must have been a similar species.

And our native centipedes can bite, and they do have venom, but unless you try to catch one with your bare hands, you're pretty safe.
 
Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :
 
Still not reading that post. Not after reading Ralphie's reaction!

quote:
And our native centipedes can bite, and they do have venom, but unless you try to catch one with your bare hands, you're pretty safe.
[Eek!] [Angst] [Cry]

Why did I have to read that?!

On a lighter note, all this talk of giant centipedes reminds me of the movie Naked Lunch.
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
I've been looking online for a picture of the centipede, and while I've found relatives, I haven't found the exact species. Seeing the pictures, though, I did remember one thing--the last segement of the thing was kind of forked, in such a way that it looked a little like a head with kind of rigid antenna. I was a little concerned that I'd brought the boot down on the wrong end of the thing (although I figured that those pincers were a pretty good indicator of a head), so you can imagine why I was concerned when the tail section started whipping at my hand.
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
Jenny, I've got a question for you. In David Brin's Kiln People, the following exchange takes place (actually, if you haven't read Kiln People and intend to, the following could be seen as a Spoiler of sorts, so:

***SPOILER***alert for David Brin's Kiln People

quote:
"Albert, do you know what happens inside a chrysalis?"
"A chrys...you mean a cocoon? Like when a caterpillar--"
"--turns into a butterfly. People envision a simple transformation: the caterpillar's legs turn into the butterfly's legs, for instance. Seems logical, no? That the caterpillar's head and brain would server the butterfly in much the same way? Continuity of memory and being. Metamorphosis was seen as a cosmetic change of outer tools and coverings, while the entitly within--"

....

"People think the catterpillar changes into a butterfly, but that doesn't happen! After spinning a chrysalis around itself, the caterpillar dissolves! The whole creature melts into nutrient soup, serving only to nourish a tiny embryo that feeds and grows into something else. Something altogether different!"

....

Caterpillar and butterfly share a lineage of chromosomes, Albert. But their genomes are separate, coexisting in parallel. The need each other...to reproduce

Is this true?

[ August 25, 2003, 12:33 PM: Message edited by: Noemon ]
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
Bump...

...and also a new question. After many days of pouring rain, a torrent of slab ants has apparently decided that one of my kitchen cabinets is a much better place to forage than the outdoors. My wife discovered them last night when she bit into an ant infested granola bar.

What is the best way to persuade them to leave without using pesticide? For the time being I've just moved everything out of the cabinet and put down a piece of tinfoil with a pool of honey on it, which is keeping them busy and distracting them from the rest of my food. I've heard that baby powder clogs their pores, and that borax and powdered laundry soap strip off necessary protective coatings, killing them. Would it be enough to put laundry soap right around the area where they're coming in? My wife wants to get some of those little ant bait things, but I really hate using pesticides (especially in a cabinet that will eventually be holding my food again), so I'd rather find another way.
 
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
 
There was a spider hanging from my ceiling by some kind of pus colored substance coming from an aperture in its abdomen about 1 cm across, and it was *squealing*. Really, I swear. Ms. Bugga Bugga, you ever hear of this?
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
Really? I've never heard of anything like that. How big was the spider? How loud were the squeals? If you listened *really* closely, could you hear another voice somewhere nearby saying

A Elbereth Gilthoniel,
silivren penna miriel
o menel aglar elenath!
Na-chaered palan-diriel
o galadhremmin ennorath,
Fanuilos, le linnathon
nef aear, si nef aearon!
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Caterpillars to butterflies: I really don't know!

Minor ant invasions: Sounds like the ants have just come in out of the rain. To encourage them to forage elsewhere, you need to thoroughly clean your kitchen and especially your cupboards. Get rid of any food crumblies that may be lying about. I clean with a mix of vinegar, dish soap, hot water, and essential oils. Mint in particular discourages ants. Because ants rely on scent trails, they don't like hanging around strong odors. If you feel the need to kill, diotomaceous earth and borax will indeed harm them. But try the supercleaning and I bet in a few days the ants will go back to their regular trails outdoors. It does take a couple of days, and you have to keep up with the supercleaning, but where there is no food and an abundance of unpleasant odors (to the ants), the insects have no desire to hang around.

Screaming spider: This spider was severely injured. The pus was its inner fluids. I know that tarantulas can "scream" by forcing air across some of their exoskeleton. Perhaps this poor thing was doing the same. Poor thing. It was probably dying. [Frown]
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
I'd actually prefer not to kill if I can help it, but the sheer volume of ants made me think that it was probably going to be necessary. They kind of looked like they were planning on moving in.

The thing is, I didn't have a lot of crumbs out or anything--to get to food, they had to chew through one and sometimes two layers of packaging. I'd pick up a wrapped granola bar, for example, and crumbs would come pouring out of the holes they'd made in the wrapper.

I'll give the thorough cleaning a try though; certainly can't hurt.
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Holes in the wrapper? That sounds SERIOUS! Are you sure you don't have mice, and that the ants are cleaning up after?

I think, if the ants are that aggressive, you'd better use the baits. They do work pretty effectively.
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
Yep, I'm sure Jenny. I mean, I actually have had a mouse problem in the recent past, but this isn't a cabinet that mice could get into (metal, mounted on the wall, no holes burrowed through the wall behind it.

The ants probably numbered in the thousands. The floor of the cabinet was pretty much a roiling black mass (and these ants are pretty tiny). They ate their way through plastic bags, foil/plastic wrappers, and thick paper wrappers. It was really a mess.
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Okay, that would freak me out! I wonder why they are behaving in this way.
 
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
 
"Should I start another "Mommy Bugga Bugga" thread?

Better to save this one from eventual deletion by keeping it active.
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
OOOOOHHHHH! Somebody resurrected me! Thanks! [Hat]
 
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
 
Bugs! YAYYYYY!!!
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Don't resurrect me just to let me die!

Anybody got a bug question?
 
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
 
Okay...how can I tell if someone has been eavesdropping on me with electronic devices?
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
When the eaves fall on you, check for wires running under them.
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
Not really much of a question, Jenny, but I thought you'd find an incredibly brief article from the March 20th issue of New Scientist interesting. It deals with a species of spider called Tidarren sisyphoides, the male of which species weighs only 1% as much as the females do. In order for the male to be able to mate with the female of the species, he must sport "disproportionately huge copulatory organs, known as pedipalps." Fully 20% of the male's weight is in its pedipalps. Shortly before adulthood, the male tears of one of his pedipalps. In tests, monopedipalpic males were 44% faster that their duopedipalpic companions. Interesting, eh? That's an awful lot of metabolic energy being wasted on the development of that second pedipalp.

The pedipalps are used in feeding as well as mating, right? I wonder how difficult it is to a monopedipalpic spider to eat?

[ March 24, 2004, 03:57 PM: Message edited by: Noemon ]
 
Posted by peterh (Member # 5208) on :
 
Here's a bug question for you: A couple months ago there was a discussion about Diatomaceous Earth as a pesticide. What are you thoughts on DE?
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Whoa, baby, nice pedipalps! I bet those spiders look scary to little children. Cool.

I have some diotamaceous earth, but I don't know how effective it is. I tried mixing it with sugar water when we had an ant invasion, but I don't know if the ants just gave up or if the DE killed them. I do know you don't want to breathe it. It's a very natural way to deal with pests, though, seeing as how it's just the skeletons of microscopic marine organisms.
 
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
 
What are these cute little critters of Iraq called?
 
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
 
Those... are horrifying! [Eek!] [Angst]
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
What *are* those? I would love to see more photos of them.
 
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
 
*shudder*
 
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
 
That *can't* be real.

Can it? [Angst]

[ April 15, 2004, 02:17 PM: Message edited by: mr_porteiro_head ]
 
Posted by peterh (Member # 5208) on :
 
link to video of camel spiders

added: BTW, that's 2 not 1 in the pic above.

[ April 15, 2004, 02:21 PM: Message edited by: peterh ]
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
Camel spiders eh? Thanks for providing a name!

Here's whatSnopes has to say.
 
Posted by UofUlawguy (Member # 5492) on :
 
Hey, I was just about to post the Snopes link! No fair!

By the way, I think Snopes' conjecture that the creepy-crawlies in question were simply held close to the camera is probably the correct explanation for their apparently huge size. Still not something I'm eager to meet.
 
Posted by UofUlawguy (Member # 5492) on :
 
I did find another bit of info at one of my favorite sites, the Straight Dope .
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Cool critters. Obviously not spiders, as they have 10 legs. I might have guessed whipscorpions. They don't have any poison, just big ol' mandibles. I'm wondering, though, what are all those little white things hanging off the lower one? They look like sacs of some kind. And I wouldn't be surprised if they get big - many arthropods do. But big does not equal dangerous. They're only creepy because their morphology is so alien to most humans.
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
I'm also wondering what the soldiers are doing to the poor creatures. Why are they dangling them like that?
 
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
 
ACK.

So, I went downstairs into the basement to fetch my laundry.

See something skitter across the concrete.

Has many legs.

Sorta fuzzy.

Did I mention lots of legs?

Lemme tell you I got my laundry REALLY fast and hoofed it back upstairs. [Eek!]
 
Posted by Lara (Member # 132) on :
 
I had a friend who went to Kuwait for a summer military gig and he said those camel spiders seem to chase people, but what they're really doing is trying to stay in a shadow. If that thought comforts anyone having nightmares about being chased by a giant spider.
 
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
 
I think spiders just like to give people hugs. That's why they sometimes chase people.
 
Posted by Beren One Hand (Member # 3403) on :
 
In other words, spiders just want to get to where the sun don't shine. Yup, feeling much better now.

"Why spiders? Why can't we follow the butterflies?" - Ron
 
Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :
 
This seems like the right place for it. This weekend is BugBowl at Purdue, and while Mommy Bugga Bugga was unable to make it, I was there with another friend.

I wanted to eat all sorts of insects, but the only ones I could find were chocolate covered crickets and lolly-pops with meal worms in them.

*yum*

The 14th annual roach race ended with both of us losers. I was so sure Happy Gene Pool would take it, and she was counting on My Precious (yeah, sired and damed by Gollum Ghast and The Fat Hobbit). Though, I have to say, the tractor pull with the Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches was way more fun to watch. And, of course, Purdue won that one.

I've also now been introduced to the concept of honey tastings. Sweet.

Sorry you couldn't make it, Jenny. We'll have to try this again next year.
 
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
 
I caught a toad tonight! (has nothing to do with insects, but toads are cute)
 
Posted by Chizpurfle (Member # 6255) on :
 
There use to be a rollie pollie graveyard outside my house.

We have a lot of rollie pollies but at a certain area in the garden, there use to always be a bunch of rollie pollies lying dead and brittle on that one patch of dirt- Is this because Rollie Pollies come here to die or...is it something more sinister?

Mayhaps this be the work of a carnivorous insect with a penchant for rollie pollie flesh...?

[ April 18, 2004, 12:26 AM: Message edited by: Chizpurfle ]
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Oooo a garden mystery! What other observations have you made? What is the condition of the bodies? What is in/on the soil? What is the temperature, moisture level, etc? Is it different from other areas?

Celia, you know I am jealous of you. I really wanted to go.
 
Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
 
Jenny! I have a bug question.

I have a farm down in Ohio, Defiance County. One day when I was little I was running around and between the outhouse and the laundry house there was this HUGE moth!!

It was about the size of a cat.

I had seen pictures of one before in show and tell (I told you I was little) by another student and recognized it. It had great big furry legs and beautiful wings and long feather like antenna.

I immediatly got a box to capture it. It didn't fly or move at all until I got it in the box. I made my parents drive out to the next town so we could get a cage. Store closed, we came back only to find the moth gone from the box.

(I personally think that one of my family let it escape to freedom. I didn't want to keep it long...just long enought to study!) [Smile]

So Jenn... What WAS that thing?
 
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
 
oooooo!
Was it bright green? Was it brown with intricate patterns?
I love those kind of moths.
Jenny, did you get the book yet? I hope you like it...
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
Could it have been a luna moth?

I've never seen one quite as big as what you're talking about, but otherwise it would seem to match your description.
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
I just got done with Nausicaa, and I'm utterly enchanted! I recognize her as one of my direct descendants, I think. I need to get myself a copy so I can have my daughter read it when she is old enough for comics.

As to the moth question, I need more detail. What part of the country was it found in? Coloration? Eyespots? Any particular behaviors or odors? What was it found on?
 
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
 
Yay! It's a 4 volume series too...
 
Posted by peterh (Member # 5208) on :
 
How about these snails creeping through your garden?
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Wow! Talk about your invasive species! Let this be a warning to all of you who would transport creatures out of their natural environments to be your pets.
 
Posted by Erik Slaine (Member # 5583) on :
 
We get loud chirping insects here on the mountain. But the oldtimers here say that they are cicadas, not crickets.

I'm in Napa, CA. Do cicadas live in this area?
 
Posted by kwsni (Member # 1831) on :
 
Both my roomates are terrified of spiders and insist on killig every one they see, even outside. (My border is my bedroom) They're convinced that our barn is crawling with brown recluses. I don't think so, but since I don't know exactly what one looks like, I don't know. Are Brown Recluses common in Michigan?

Ni!
 
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
Erik,
I think the oldtimers are right. When i lived in Napa, I remember the eucalyptus trees filled with chirpers, and they were not cricket-like.

I also find desert crickets to have a nasty sound, more like a scrape. Give me a black Mew England cricket any day.

Also, is The Yellow Brick Road restaurant still there?
 
Posted by Erik Slaine (Member # 5583) on :
 
After a little googling, I found that they seem to range all through the US.

Thanks!
 
Posted by fil (Member # 5079) on :
 
Okay, bug person. Any hint on what kind of bug this would be? And best way to deal with it? We have had an infestation of these TEEENY tiny littl black bugs. Looks like beetle and no flight but really small (at first, worried it was mouse droppings...until the moved). Anyway, the have taken up shop in our dry good cabinet. Someone told us to clear out all non-sealed packages, from open pancake mix boxes to the cardboard boxes of pasta (which aren't very sealed). Did that, cleared out and scrubbed down the cabinet and I think they are gone, though one or two have popped up (not as many as before). This is only place we found them, too. Since then, I am keeping new stuff in the fridge for now (odd, but it works) or getting plastic, sealed tubs to store unused pasta, flour, etc. in.

Someone said it may have come with a recent purchase of dogfood (though it is stored far away from this stuff). Any idea? or is this for garden variety bugs, only?

Thanks either way!

Ciao

[Smile]

fil
 
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
fil,
Dog food is a breeding ground for all kinds of meal worms and weevils.(I think what you have is a weevil. Not sure, though)

I have see those, though.

For the mealworms, which turn into small tan moths, you can get a hormone trap. Not sure about the little round guys, though. Also check your drawers, and the corners of cabinets, where little cracker pieces might get trapped.
 
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
 
fil - You can also help prevent weevil infestations by freezing (just overnight is fine but I also tend to just leave my extra flour in the freezer and it is just fine) your flour, cake mix, brownie mix, pancake mix, etc. The cold kills off any eggs that may be present before they hatch and ick up your life.
 
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
And, fil, at least they are black and easierto see than a Cheerio-colored meal worm.

Ugh.
 
Posted by fil (Member # 5079) on :
 
Thanks for the advice! I like the freezing idea. Weevils or meal works. I go with the lesser of two weevils. Bwahahahahaha... (okay, lame). We had mealworms a decade back in a flour product. That was nasty, but they didn't spread and only seemed to be in one product...they were the harder to see variety...yet, I think my wife might have mentioned little flying things (not fruit flies that we sometiems get from open air market). Hmmm...so far so good since clean out, though...freezing new stuff, too. Except the dog food...too big.

Great and fast response! Check is in the mail.

Ciao,

fil
 
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
Fil,
Never apologize for a pun. They are all good.
 
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
Jenny is NOT going to like what i have to say. Close your eyes, Jenny...

Today I bought a giant bag of ant killer and poured it all over a giant carpenter ant's nest in the yard. Then I poured some around the base of a tree they were climbing to get access to the house.

I did not even feel bad about this, and that makes me feel bad.

Last time I looked, the ants were still crawling over the ant killing field as if it were regular old dirt.

Is all my guilt about not having guilt for naught?
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Nah, don't feel guilty. Think of it as sending a very strong chemical message that they are NOT welcome to climb your tree and get into your house. I had to put ant poison out this year, too. We're trying to sell our house, and whem my mom cleaned she got rid of all my helpful spiders. So, no healthy buggy ecosystem. Sigh.

There are times and places for dealing death. Just as long as you don't start killing ants whenever you see them or irrationally fear them or not care if wild ants not harming anybody get toasted. These particular ants were threatening you, so if other messages were not getting through, the killing chemicals are the only option (unless you are spiritually better than I and are willing to accept whatever damage the ants deal out as a spiritual lesson in compassion). Carpenter ants are very common and their populations will not suffer too much from the destruction of one anthill.

But do pay attention to other populations. It might be interesting to see if any other creatures are affected by your choice of weaponry.
 
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
 
Some black beetle looking bug flew into my bed the other night. [Eek!]
 
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
That is a rare California beetle, I hear,Mack.
hee hee.
 
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
Jenny(Andrea),

Thanks. I really do feel bad about the whole situation.

Funny. We are having a sewer put in in our neighborhood. We have had many septic problems, because we have a very high water table.

This year, no problems at all. We flush, shower, and wash, and there is not even the hint of a backup. I wonder if the sewer project sucked out the groundwater? And if a drier soil attracts ants?

(my son was not pleased with my decision.) It hurt to have to tell him I was destroying the ants. And don't think I didn't think of the Hive Queen! But I did not want the hive Queen chewing up my back porch. It is in enough trouble, because of gravity and age, as it is.
 
Posted by Rakeesh (Member # 2001) on :
 
I don't have any questions, but reading this thread made me remember I meant to look stuff up about an ant-infestation in 'the family villa' [Wink] a couple of months back.

It happened gradually, appearing to be no more than ordinary foraging ants. Non-aggressive, didn't bite even when they encountered us, what I'd call nice ants. (No one else called them that, though.) Their presence increased, though, and more and more were spotted until you could pass a day and see, no exaggeration, several hundred without looking for them. Which meant there were many thousands of them wandering about at a minimum.

But they still weren't aggressive, still didn't bite. As time passed, there were so many that daily we'd turn up a few score in the little puddle of water collecting in the shower. Apparently they were wandering around (what appealed to them in the shower, I don't know). Finally the non-ecologically minded in the family decided enough was enough, and we waited for the bug-man to come.

He inspected, and learned that these were 'white-footed ants'. They feed on just about anything, he said (and I noticed this myself, apparently they got something out of near-empty Diet Coke cans, which anyone who drinks knows has NOTHING in it), and are very tough to get rid of.

Apparently they form what is called 'super-colonies'. Whereas most ants have a single nest and a single queen, these ants have many nests and many queens. I'm not sure if they cooperate or not, I'll take a look when I'm done with this. But needless to say, unless you manage to nail EVERY queen, sooner or later they will replenish themselves. Rather Ender's Game, huh?

It took two treatments with two bug-killers each time. They sprayed outside and pretty much everywhere in the house, and spread a sort of powder (contact-killer) in the attic. Over the next two weeks (the first treatment didn't finish the job), I saw more dead ants than many people probably see in a lifetime. I kept thinking of Toy Story with the plastic Army Men saying, "We never leave a man behind!" and thought of those ants. Somewhere back in their nests, there was considerable upset! "We lost another ten thousand without a trace, your Majesty!"

Of course, to be fair I also thought that was amusing too. Anyhoo, that's my story and now I'll go learn more myself about 'white-footed ants'.
 
Posted by Rakeesh (Member # 2001) on :
 
http://www.pestproducts.net/white_footed_ants.htm

Wow! I wonder how long these ants have been like this. Whether they're a new species or not, they seem to have been given some unique traits making them tough for humans to kill.

They originate from Japan, and (so far) are present only in Florida (man, we're ever so lucky with ants /sarcastically thinking of fire-ants), and are about 3mm long. A typical colony ranges from 400,000 to over 1,000,000 ants!

quote:
1. Huge size (in population) of ant colonies.
2. Tremendous reproduction capabilities (through budding and swarming.)
3. Variety of food preferences.
4. Tiny body size enables entry to most structures, natural and man-made.
5. Nests (or ant beds) in a wide variety of areas, all connected and part of super colony.
6. Not all foods are shared from foraging workers to larvae (making ant baits ineffective.)
7. Sterile workers lay unfertilized eggs; this is food for non-foraging members of the ant colony.

Normal baits don't work because they still leave UP TO HALF of the colony alive!

Like several other ants, white-footed ants 'farm' aphids.

Adults in the colony not foraging are fed sterile eggs, laid by sterile female workers. I guess that's like we do with chickens, but of the same species. Repulsive to we civilized sorts, but also very clever, evolution-wise.
 
Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :
 
I realize that Mommy Bugga Bugga may not be internet-accessible right now, so maybe someone else can answer the question.

I hate (as in am petrified of) bees. Bees in any form freak me out: honeybees, bumblebees, wasps, hornets -- even flies kinda make me freak out now and then because the big slow ones sound like bees. I'm trying to overcome this, if only to model for my children the "they're not out to get you, don't bother them and they won't bother you" thing that I've never believed.

Well, in light of my aim to be kinder to the six-legged crawly creepy buzzing flying nasty evil... um... the members of the bee kingdom (I guess that'd be queendom), I'm trying to live and let live. But there's this wasp that started building a nest that hangs over our front door.

Sorry -- I've got my limits, and walking under a wasp's nest every time I go in and out of my house is beyond them. So I waited until the guy wasn't around, and I knocked the thing down (it wasn't very big -- maybe five centimeters across). I didn't move it away -- it's still on the ground. I figured if he thought it just fell or blew down or something that he wouldn't be looking for someone to blame.

Well, a day later, he started building a new one. I didn't let him get too far -- again when he wasn't there, I knocked the thing down. Also (at Mama's suggestion) sprayed some ant/roach spray (we didn't have bee stuff) around the area, hoping that would discourage him from trying again.

Doesn't seem to be discouraging him. He's still hanging out up there, not constantly but repeatedly, and I'm afraid he's gonna start again. Is there a reasonable way I can get him to move along without actually hurting him, or more importantly, without making him mad at me and mine? With my luck, my children will all be allergic to bees. Whereas I'm simply allergic to pain.

--Pop
 
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
 
All I know about wasps is you're supposed to get them at night (smoke them out?), and plant a bright light on the other side of the nest. That way if they get angry, they go toward the light instead of you. Hopefully. At least, that's what I've been told.
 
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
 
Rakeesh - wow, these ants sound funky! At least they don't really do any damage. They just eat sweet things. They actually should be easy to control if you keep things clean. (But not if you have a messy baby, like I do. We have another ant invasion at the moment [Roll Eyes] ). They sound like nice ants that have very effective survival strategies. And they're pretty!

Papa Moose - If it's a paper wasp, keep knocking down the early nest and destroying it. She won't know it's you, and eventually will figure out that the highly desirable location is not the best spot for her babies. I had one in my mailbox this year! It was pretty scary when I'd reach in my hand and a wasp or two would fly out! Eventually, though, a spider moved in. I didn't see any wasps after that. I also had to remove the beginning wasp nest every time I got the mail. I am currently wondering what makes certain spaces so desirable for wasp nesting. They really seem to like our doorways. And don't feel guilty about getting some wasp spray if you must. When it comes to a highly-trafficked area and you have little kids, you have justification for defending your area. Actually, I'm quite impressed that you got up the nerve to destroy the nest without killing the wasp. If you can do that, you can probably manage to discourage the mama from building there long term. Just keep knocking down what she makes whenever she's not there. She'll eventually get discouraged, or die without reproducing. On the mystical side, if you want to try it, go out and speak to the wasp. Tell it about your concerns and your good intentions. Let it know that you care about your babies and have no desire to harm the wasp's babies. Perhaps suggest to it another place to build that would be acceptable to you. And by all means, let me know what happens!
 


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