I'm back, and it's time to resurrect the Insect Advocate. All bug questions and comments go here! What insects do you rejoice in where you come from?
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
Dead ones.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
May you be stung and bitten. Posted by smitty (Member # 8855) on :
Not even dead ones. Those stupid faux-ladybug beetles leave their stupid carcasses everywhere.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
They can't help it if they DIE, smitty! A vacuum cleaner attachment works very well. You might also take the presence of all those Asian ladybugs as a reminder that there are lots of places where they can get in. You might look for cracks and things to plug up. It will help you better insulate your home and also prevent the summer insects from invading your home in too great of numbers.
Posted by smitty (Member # 8855) on :
They could die elsewhere. Shall I ship them to you? Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
If you really want to. I'm not sure what I'd do with them. Something tells me they'd be great powdered and used in a banishing spell.
Oo, I wonder if you could pull out the chemical that makes them stink? That chemical is an effective insect repellent/deterrent.
Posted by smitty (Member # 8855) on :
You go right ahead. I'll go ahead and ship the ones from my parent's house as well. I'll go see which freight company is the cheapest....
A banishing spell? Unless you can banish the spiders from around my house, so the wife won't make me smash them....
Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :
We have a remarkable lack of honey bees (during the appropriate season, of course) and way too many wasps and/or hornets (appropriately seasoned, also) . . . what's agirl to do? I don't mind the honey and bumble bees, but the other ones are just plain mean and I don't like them at all.
And why do wolf spiders want to live near my home? Can you make them go away? They're scary.
*trembles*
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
I bought praying-mantid egg cases last year. I kept two of them in glass vases with a mesh lid until they hatched. Each one produced hundreds of 1/4 inch mantids, which we released into the yards (front and back). We only saw maybe 3 adult mantids through the summer and fall, but when we were putting the garden to bed we collected 3 fresh egg cases from among the garden debris. I'll probably buy more this year, but I'm going to hatch the ones we found, too.
Not really a question, but it is an insect I rejoice in. Posted by smitty (Member # 8855) on :
those things are the one bug that creep me out. All others I just ignore or smash, depending on how loud my wife is yelling.
I've noticed what seems like a larger proportion of wasps/hornets than honeybees as well. Yellowjackets seem less common, although the local practice of burning them out of their nests may have something to do with that. And it seems like I never see sweat bees anymore.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
smitty, it might be worth trying to use the corpses to make a spray or something for your spiders. Ladybugs and several other bad-smelling insects really do make noxious chemicals in their bodies that keep predators from eating them. A fascinating look at these can be found in the book "For Love of Insects".
Shan. Unfortunately many honeybee populations have been decimated by mites and diseases. Honeybees are also not native to the U.S. They were brought over by the same colonists who brought many of our favorite fruits and vegetables. The wasps and hornets belong to the same order (Hymenoptera). They are hunters of caterpillars, so you should make them welcome in your garden. They will be less "mean" if you keep yourself still in their presence. Hornets are indeed rather short-tempered, and it behooves you to exterminate them if they live near your front door or something. But most wasps are rather benign. I had a truce with the paper wasps at my old place. They were allowed to build their nests in a certain area. As long as I didn't disturb them, they didn't hurt me or my family. We lived in mutual respect for years. I did remove their nests from our shed, because that wasn't part of our treaty. You might try to learn more about the particular Hymenoptera in your area. They are fascinating creatures, and appreciating them is the first step toward really communicating with them.
KarlEd. Don't bother buying egg cases if you can find them in your area. I have bunches in my field. You might not have noticed that many adults, because the wee hatchlings will eat each other. They come to a natural balance that can be supported by the bugs in your area. By all means enjoy the ones you found. I used to keep Praying Mantids as pets every fall, when gravid females are easy to catch and raise. Did you know they'll eat bologna from the end of a toothpick?
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
quote:We have a remarkable lack of honey bees (during the appropriate season, of course) and way too many wasps and/or hornets (appropriately seasoned, also) . . . what's agirl to do? I don't mind the honey and bumble bees, but the other ones are just plain mean and I don't like them at all.
EVERYWHERE has a lack of honeybees. Wild honeybee hives are virtually unknown in America, thanks to the Varroa mite, and various brood diseases.
Honeybees and ladybugs are about the only bugs I don't mind. I won't go out of my way to kill a spider (Jenny is to blame for that, honestly), but I take time to save ladybugs.
And anyone who kills a honeybee should be smacked on the hand.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
smitty, what is your issue with insects? You'll find that I happen to adore them. I wonder why you feel you must kill them or completely ignore them.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
quote:Honeybees are also not native to the U.S
There are a number of South American species of bee-- including a blue, stingless, bee-- but I'm not sure that they can be classified as honeybees...
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Scott, how can I check to see if my bees survived the winter? Should I feed them? I really miss my girls. We saw them out a bit during the warm days in January.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
No, those wouldn't be official honeybees. Apis apis, if I remember the Latin name correctly.
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
In Brazil there was a native (as far as I know) species of honey bee that was as small as a sweat-bee and would build honey nests in holes in tree trunks. They'd close up the hole and build an entrance, sometimes quite long, that looked a bit like a cartoon elephant's trunk trumpeting. The flared end was like a little spaceport with the bees taking off and landing like little fighter ships.
Posted by smitty (Member # 8855) on :
I don't hate insects, actually. They're just part of the background. In general, it's live and let live. The ones that destroy things (wood hornets and termites come to mind) annoy me. Yellowjackets are dangerous, so their demise I don't mind. I'm allergic to most stinging insects, so I try to keep them from nesting near the house. Spiders annoy my wife - I actually like spiders. Mosquitos are only good as food for the local bats. I actually do dislike mosquitos.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
KarlEd, how cool! Got any links?
smitty, I used to hate mosquitoes, too. I've learned to appreciate them now, though. I know I'm weird.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
quote:Scott, how can I check to see if my bees survived the winter?
On a warm day, you should be okay opening up the hive and taking a look inside. But if they're out and about anyway, that's indication enough.
As long as you've winterized the hive and given them their medicine, you've done about all you can do.
:embarassed:
I don't exactly remember the rule on winter feeding. Alas. I *think* that feeding isn't necessary-- in cold weather, the bees clump together in the center of the hive for warmth, and eat the honey where the clump is located. Putting a top-feeder on the hive would just make them ascend near it, and thus, closer to killing moisture and cold temperatures.
Then again, most of my hives died out in the winter no matter what I did. So take my advice with a heavy dollop of salt.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Winterized? Uh.... I don't think we did anything special besides take the supers off. So far, though, Julia seems to be well. We're hoping our early spring wildflowers will help them survive.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
:wince:
Some things you can do-- make a windbreak. Cover the hive bodies with a solid piece of cardboard (leave the opening open). Minimize the opening with a minimizer (yes, this is an actual piece of beekeeping equipment, and will help keep rodents out of the hive).
It's been a warm winter here in VA-- I wish you the best of luck.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
We have a minimizer - maybe we should go ahead and stick that in. Our bees are lucky. The woods is on the north side of the hive, and they are surrounded by tall weeds. That probably helps. But I'll talk to my hubby and see if we can't put up a little windbreak or something.
Also, we found a few ladybugs sheltering just inside the roof of the hive body. Is that a problem?
Posted by JaneX (Member # 2026) on :
Jenny! You're back! *tackle hugs*
~Jane~
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
No links, Jenny, sorry. My post was strictly from nearly 20 year old recollection. I had a missionary companion who was quite the bug aficionado. He had a real heyday in Brazil, believe you me. I learned a lot from him.
Anyone who really hates bugs would be wise to never live in Brazil. I could tell you some stories . . . Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
How about someone who LOVES bugs?
JaneX! *rolls around in the dust, kisses cheek*
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
If you love bugs, Brazil is your place. Most areas didn't have streetlights, but where there was one, it was only a dim glow beneath a writhing mass of bugs. No one stood underneath streetlights because the ground was constantly being pelted with a rain of exhausted insects. We used to watch the bats swooping out of nowhere to pick off the stragglers.
If you killed a cockroach and didn't immediately sweep it outside, a line of ants would form from the door to the roach and start dragging it back to the nest. (And Brazilian cockroaches are as big as my thumb, and can fly)
I remember one night we were trying to teach a family that lived in the middle of a coffee plantation. They had no glass or screens on their windows. These big round black beetles would periodically fly through the window and the father, without missing a beat in the coversation or even taking his eyes of us, would snatch a beetle out of the air and fling it at the wall with a THWACK! It would fall to the floor, stunned. He got a pretty good collection before they started waking up again and flying around, only to get slingshot back against the wall if they flew within arms reach of the father.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
quote:We used to watch the bats swooping out of nowhere to pick off the stragglers.
We did the same thing in Italy.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
Oh-- ladybugs shouldn't be a problem, Jenny. But if they're getting in and not getting kicked out (Bees should be keeping everything out) that could indicate a problem with the bees.
I'm not sure there's too much you can do about it though.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
quote:Originally posted by Scott R:
quote:We used to watch the bats swooping out of nowhere to pick off the stragglers.
We did the same thing in Italy.
I did the same thing at KU.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
Would it be cruel to raise butterflies in my apartment? How about luna moths? They don't even eat when they are adults, but I'd have to get their leaves somehow when they are caterpillars...
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
Scott and Noemon, did your bats stick to the stragglers out of fear of being overwhelmed and eaten alive if they flew into the writhing mass around the light? I strongly suspect mine did. Posted by breyerchic04 (Member # 6423) on :
Smitty if I were you I'd just drive the fake ladybug carcases up to Jenny myself, it's only a few hours away (and no crossing state borders).
Posted by smitty (Member # 8855) on :
Well, if I end up moving soon, I suppose I'll have to rent a moving truck anyway...
Posted by breyerchic04 (Member # 6423) on :
moving out of the area?
Posted by smitty (Member # 8855) on :
naw, just a little north. It's still way up in the air.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
quote:Scott and Noemon, did your bats stick to the stragglers out of fear of being overwhelmed and eaten alive if they flew into the writhing mass around the light? I strongly suspect mine did.
No, I don't think so...
Brazillian bugs > Italian bugs
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Brazilian bugs are definitely > Kansan bugs.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Syn, if I were you, I'd stick to raising bugs that are native to my area, and then release them. I don't think it would be bad to have some caterpillars as pets, and then release the adults to reproduce in the wild. Luna moths are now endangered in my area, I believe, so it would be great to raise some and release them.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
I wonder if they are endangered here... I've never seen one luna moth here, but I saw at least two in Canton, NY and accidentally set one free in the financial aid office at school. No one else but me does things like that.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jenny Gardener: I used to keep Praying Mantids as pets every fall, when gravid females are easy to catch and raise. Did you know they'll eat bologna from the end of a toothpick?
I'd eat bologna from the end of a toothpick, too. Posted by breyerchic04 (Member # 6423) on :
Jenny, I know someone who lives between your area and my area (Hendricks County?) that raises Luna moths.
Posted by Mabus (Member # 6320) on :
Jenny, where are good places to find praying mantids? I know they exist in my area, because I have seen them once (ironically, in the bushes outside a local church building), but never anywhere else. I wouldn't mind keeping some as pets.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
I used to keep some as pets when I was a kid.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
breyerchic04: Wow! I'd love it if you could put me in touch. I have a woods that I'd like to fill with Luna moths.
Mabus: You'll find praying mantids in late summer/early fall. I usually see them and their egg cases on tall grasses and weeds on the sunny (south facing) side of a woods or pasture. Remember that they eat insects, so a bug-filled place is your best bet for a hunting grounds. The insects camouflage themselves well, looking like plant parts. They can hold very, very still. I can spy them quickly, having trained my eyes since childhood. Other people with me have trouble seeing them. If you can catch one, I'll be glad to tell you about its care and keeping. Do remember, though, that these are wild things and the kindest act would be to observe them in their natural habitat. If you do wish to keep one for a while, I recommend that you release it in a few days so that it can propogate its kind and fulfill its function in your ecosystem.
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
I'm very fond of praying mantids. They are excellent for controlling the bug population. As a child I remember rescuing a young mantis from drowning when my father was watering. I was thrilled when I saw a pair camped out on the lights on our garage last fall.
We don't seem to have many insects around. I remember last year having an invasion for about 4 days of these teeny tiny fly looking bugs (almost like fruit flies, but not quite). Those bothered me so much (there were WAY too many of them for me to ignore) I had to go around with a vaccuum cleaner several times a day in the couple of areas they would congregate and suck them all up.
Since our landscaping isn't anywhere near complete in the back yard there are pretty much only spiders and scorpions out there. Not even many lizards. It's kind of strange.
Most critters I leave alone. Scorpions I kill (I don't want to take a chance that they'd come inside and sting one of our cats) - last fall I killed 2 - one was the biggest scorpion I'd ever seen - probably a good 3-4 inches long without the tail. I need to lay down a barrier of diatomaceous earth to further discourage them from ever coming inside. Black widows I also kill. Most other spiders I leave alone - if they come inside, I try to take them outside, but if my husband sees them they have to die (he really doesn't like them).
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Do you see a lot of black widows in your area, ludosti? They're a spider that I usually have to go and look for. Brown recluses, on the other hand, are pretty common in Kansas and SW Ohio.
I envy your getting to see scorpions in the wild. I've only seen them in aquariums and zoos.
Posted by Mabus (Member # 6320) on :
I encountered a scorpion in the wild, some years ago. I was trying to collect specimens for my zoology class...naturally, I managed to get stung.
I had a much more harrowing encounter with what looked like a huge scorpion when I was in Kansas. It dropped onto me while I was examining some broken rock below it looking for fossils. On closer inspection, it turned out to be a pair of mating walking-sticks. Posted by whiskysunrise (Member # 6819) on :
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
A katydid got into my house last summer. It kept saying "click click click". Lovely bug, though.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
ludosti - The problem with mantids is that they don't discriminate between "pest" insects and beneficial ones. They'll eat 'em all! Scorpions are too cool. I don't know enough about them, since I live where they do not.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
quote:quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Originally posted by Scott R:
quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We used to watch the bats swooping out of nowhere to pick off the stragglers. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We did the same thing in Italy. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I did the same thing at KU.
And my family used to do it out behind our house every summer. In a suburb of Los Angeles. Amazing how some things are the same the world over, huh?
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
What insects are emerging where you live? I saw my first mosquito of the season today (I think it bit my baby), a lost ladybug, and a moth.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Oh, and the bees are still doing fine.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
Ugh. What I hate about springs is flies will appear. Flies are a danger to rabbits! Because of those nasty creatures I hate so much... Hate hate hate those things.
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
Not many emerging yet, however, now that it has been warm enough to peruse my foliage deficient yard, I've been finding new praying-matid egg sacs. I found 3 of them yesterday alone. One on a forsythia, one just on some tall grasses that had been mashed down by the snow, and one on a denuded Virginia creeper. Looks like I won't be buying more this spring after all. (As you said above, Jenny. )
Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
I love praying mantises (manti?). Not to play with or anything. To look at.
Those scary, fuzzy caterpillars that fall out of trees in the spring and sting the crap out of you can all die, though.
-pH
Posted by whiskysunrise (Member # 6819) on :
I haven't seen any bugs yet. It snowed here yesterday.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
First mosquito bites of the season. I awoke in the night with an incredibly itchy hand. After the itch, my first impression was one of warmth and joy. Joy! Can you believe it?
I thought, it is right for mosquitoes to bite me. It is right for my blood to nourish them. We humans destroy so much habitat and take so much from Nature. Shouldn't we give a little something back in return?
I know I'm an odd one, but that is why I am the Insect Advocate.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
This site doesn't provide an in-depth information, but the Orkin Insect Guide is fun to read through, and features fairly good illustrations of the insects it talks about.
Is it true that female fireflies can't fly? I had no idea!
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I do have a question, Jenny. There is a large stump in my yard, cut nearly flush with the ground, that went from being quite solid in the fall of 2004 to being remarkably decayed in the fall of 2005. Just before it got cold last fall I pried up a bit of it, and uncovered a boil of ants. I hadn't quite seen ants like them before. They were black, about half to two thirds the size given for carpenter ants on the Orkin site I linked to above, and had kind of block shaped heads with large (relative the their bodies) pincers. Their heads were more on the same plane as the rest of their bodies, rather than being oriented at an angle relative to their bodies the way a carpenter ant's is. Any idea what these are, and how much danger they might pose to my house? They've made fairly quick work of that stump, although of course they had help from other elements of nature in that.
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
Noemon - Yes, black widows are very common in this area (Phoenix), so I see them pretty often. In fact, on Saturday we found another one and her several egg sacs (there can be 200-700 in each sac). So, my yard is now several hundred potential black widows less.
So far, I haven't seen any scorpions this spring. Yay! While they are very interesting, some of the species here in Az can be deadly to humans (while the others are certainly very painful and can be debilitating for a couple weeks and could be lethal to my beloved pets), so I do not permit them to continue to live when I find them in my yard. We'll see what happens as we do the major landscaping work in the back yard this and next month. Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
I'm working on the ant issue...
Posted by Rakeesh (Member # 2001) on :
OK, I have a few new insect questions concerning ticks. First of all, my parents own three cocker spaniels and up until about three weeks to a month ago, ticks were never more than a very infrequent problem with them. However within the past month, they've started cropping up more and more to the point where according to my mother, she checks them daily and finds a good half-dozen on each dog.
Now, I've lived in the region for most of my life and I lived there for years, and it's not what you'd think of as typically tick-friendly country. Highly developed suburbs, the most wildlife is either the grass or foliage in a yard, and the occassional vacant lot which the dogs don't get into. They've recently started using some new type of veterinarian-bought anti-tick chemicals, but I'll have to ask my mother what kind exactly the next time I see her.
The dogs don't go outside beyond the fenced and highly unscrub-brush yard that I normally associate with ticks. So if anyone could suggest a reason why suddenly the ticks are apparently going into their house in droves (thankfully not mine, even though I live in a much more rural area), I'd be appreciative. But even more, some method for destroying the ticks back down to a tolerable, occasional level.
Now the second question. She found a tick on the wall a couple of feet up, but according to her it was pretty unusual. She described it as measuring about 1/4'' long by 1/8th'' wide. Perhaps...1/16 or 1/32 thick. A reddish-brown disc-shaped 'face', and on its back were a series of yellow and dark brown/black markinings, running in streaks lengthwise along its body. Three streaks, actually. Now I'm going to look online, but there are certainly those with better google-fu than me, so perhaps you could give better answers:)
Posted by andi330 (Member # 8572) on :
We have Palmetto Bugs which are really just huge roaches that someone decided would be a little more cute if we gave them a different name. Gross! They fly around and get into your house and you can't just flush them or dump them down a drain cause they come back up the drains which is REALLY unnecessary.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Ticks: I wonder if there's been a sudden loss of natural predators or a loss of prey species.
Palmetto Bugs: roaches are notoriously hard to kill.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
I just got asked to give a talk as the Insect Advocate at a local health food store!! So now I have to figure out what to say. What have been the most influential things in the Mommy Bugga Bugga and Insect Advocate threads?
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Jenny, if you haven't already seen it The Buglady's site has some really interesting articles.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
:: bumped because Jenny just made reference to this thread having fallen off, which makes me think that she probably didn't see the cool site I linked to yesterday::
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
I was just in Colorado, Jenny, and encountered quite a swarm of midges. Here's a link to the story.
Turns out the weather conditions were just right for a massive hatching, though the little buggers' lifespan is only about 12 hours, I was told. The article says "They're probably gone now" and was written on the 4th of April. Well, that wasn't exactly the case.
Turns out they have a larval cycle of about two days, so every two days for a couple of weeks they were out in force.
To give an example, we drove through them on route from Pueblo to Alamosa, down Route 25, which is essentially a highway through a huge high plains desert area. It sounded like hard rain hitting the windshield, and the splatter got so bad that I could hardly see. This lasted for miles.
I stopped to try to clean off the windshield at a gas station, and it looked like a scene from The Birds. Two people at the pumps were writhing and swatting at the things who were glomming onto them from all sides. A tall white column was covered almost three quarters of the way up with a swarm of black crawlies.
A couple miles later, after we escaped the swarm and cleaned off the car (and felt sorry for the couple on a low windscreen Harley that had stopped at the same gas station) a motel owner explained that it had been happening for over a week. His take on it was simple. "Well, we'll have a lot of fat birds and fish."
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Isn't there a Bill Peet book about a swarm of midges that drive hunters out of some wood or another?
Posted by whiskysunrise (Member # 6819) on :
I saw a ladybug today. The first one that I have seen this year.
What is a midge?
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
I found the strangest looking bug today on a tomato plant I bought from a small garden stand/vegetable stand.
Turns out it is a wheel bug nymph, and it is a type of assassin bug that kills other insects. I put him in a baggie until I could figure out whether he could go back in the garden, or needed to be relocated. Other than having quite a bite (worse than a bee sting), it seems like he's going back in the garden to kill off aphids and the like.
Just thought I'd share, since I'd never seen one before.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
How do I get rid of these fruit flies? They are driving me crazy.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Jenny, check this out, and be sure to watch the videos. How cool is that?
Posted by Javert (Member # 3076) on :
I have to admit, whenever I see an ant in my house, I crush it. But I have a great justification.
When I see a solitary ant, I declare it a scout. By eliminating said scout, I am keeping its comrades from entering my home and suffering a similar fate.
Am I a bad man because of this?
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Ooh, Wheel Bugs are cool. My hubby caught one the other day to show the Little Mother.
Fruit flies - clean everything. Clean your drains. Don't leave wet washrags out longer than 24 hours. Keep fruit and veggies in the fridge. Check your potato and onion bins. Fruit flies got into mine and EWWWWW! I had a big mess to clean up. Also, check your potted plants. Let them dry up a bit or put them outside for a while. A fruit fly's life cycle is very short, so if you have a lot it's imperative you discover where they are breeding and remove the chow.
Javert, you have an effective policy. The scout by no means is the entire nest. Keeping the scouts from discovering the goodies in your house is a more humane way to deal with your ant neighbors than destroying their colonies.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Noemon - WHOA! Everyone should check this out!
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Did y'all catch the insect video game link on the front page?
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Jenny, I have a bug mystery.
For the past couple of years, we have these weird little beetles which hatch out of the litter box. They are about 3/4 inch long, and very fast.
The facts: No beetles have ever emerged from the upstairs litter box.
The cats do not really use the litter boxes in the summer. In fact, they don't use them at all, so we do not change the litter very often in the summer.
What the heck are they, and why are they in our litterl box???
On another gross beetle note, we saw a beetle that I swear to you was three inches long. It was walking on our driveway. Massachusetts. July. It looked like it had wings. It was black and very shiny. It looked kind of like a cockroach.
What the heck was it, and why did it feel the need to frighten my children, my husband, and me???
Posted by Tstorm (Member # 1871) on :
Ah yes, late summer/early fall truly represents the golden years of a bug's life. When I'm not smashing, stomping, swatting, drowning, or otherwise cursing the millions of spiders...there are some insects I appreciate.
Like those gigantic green grasshoppers. I usually only see a few of them, but for me, they're truly a sign that fall has arrived.
(Maybe I can get a picture this year...)
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
Scroll down to the bottom of this link, Elizabeth.
Was that what you saw? They're pretty common in Queens, and my girlfriend is terrified of them. They get to be between 2-3 inches. They're apparently the largest true bug in North America.
Posted by Audeo (Member # 5130) on :
I ran across one of those water beetles in an ecology class in PA. We didn't know what it was so stuck it in a bucket with fish we'd caught electroshocking. The beetle dove down into the bucket and clamped onto the head of a sucker fish, and proceeded to suck the fish's brain out. The skull actually began to cave in. That's both really cool, and really scarey.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Oh, good heavens, Flying Cow, that was it! We live between two swamps(so, really, in the midst of one swamp), so I am sure there is much, much more we do NOT want to know about! I do not remember those frightening pincers, but I am going to show my husband. The shininess looks frigteningly right.
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
Those actually are just really beefy front two legs, Elizabeth, not pincers. And they sometimes have them pulled really close to their bodies.
One broke my girlfriend's ankle... well, in truth, she broke her ankle trying to get away from one.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Yikes!
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
Is Jenny around anywhere? Is it time for an Insect Advocate 2007?
I've got cucumber beetles eating up my sage, and I don't know what to do. I'd say about half of the leaves on my (rather large) sage plant have been perforated with holes. Is there a way to get rid of them short of pesticides?
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
Well, FlyingCow -- we pick them off by hand, or let our chickens run in with the plants and pick them off (they help a lot with ridding the garden of insects).
Another thing you might try that has worked for some other beetles we've been fighting -- put out a container half-full of water (we use one of those plastic tubs you get two gallons of ice cream in at the store). Set it next to the plant. The beetles are attracted to the water and fly into the water, but then can't get back out.
Farmgirl
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
I'll have to look into buying some chickens.
It seems as though my cucumber beetles have been run off by japanese beetles. Joy of joys.
Posted by theCrowsWife (Member # 8302) on :
Just be sure you have some place that's not the garden to keep the chickens when they're not eating bugs. Once they finish the bugs off, they'll start in on the plants.
--Mel
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
Too bad rabbits don't eat japanese beetles... instead I just have two pests.
Seems as though the white lawn grubs I found earlier this year were likely japanese beetle grubs. Lovely. Doesn't look like the Grub-X did a whole lot of good - and I read that japanese beetle traps often do more harm than good.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
Hey! Chickens eat grubs too! Posted by DeathofBees (Member # 3862) on :
Disclaimer & Reminder: My handle is a Red Prophet reference, not a signal of any kind of vendetta toward insects. However...
I do have some bug questions.
First, I think a nest of yellowjackets is beginning to form in our roof. I've been seeing them flying in and out of a corner in the eaves near the back door. This house (a rental with a lazy landlord) has vinyl exterior, and I'm a little worried about destroying the siding with attempts to locate and/or destroy said nest. How should I plug the hole or rid myself of the little beasties?
Second, in August 2006, I found a very large (6-7 inch resting wingspan) and very beautiful yellow moth in my car one morning. Remembering The Girl of the Limberlost, I hoped to catch and save it since I know they have a very short life. I planned to give it to my mother's kindergarten class in Seattle. Unfortunately, I must have gone about it all the wrong way. I trapped the lovely creature in a shallow box with a lid and expected it to just expire and harden. Not likely. It made a real ruckus fluttering around in the box for a long while, so I put some alcohol on cottonballs and poked them into the box. Eventually the moth stopped moving, so I looked inside and the poor creature had laid her eggs in there! They were small, bright yellow balls and they looked like those little moisture-absorbing granules that come in packets with DO NOT EAT written in six languages on them. I took it all with me to Seattle a few days later and my mom ended up burning the whole container because she was really worried about the eggs hatching and causing some kind of cross-country caterpillar infestation. I live in the North Carolina Piedmont Triad area. I'd like to know a) What kind of moth was it? It was almost completely a canary yellow with a thick, fuzzy body and a few sort of grayish spots on the wings. b) How should I have handled the situation? Obviously the moth needed to lay eggs prior to being caught and pinned, but I had no clue she hadn't yet. Her body shrank quite a bit after she laid the eggs, which was interesting to note, however I wouldn't be able to tell the difference with another type of moth. Should I have released the eggs into the woods? Would they have survived? What is the best way to quickly kill and preserve a moth or other insect for scientific study? Is it right to do so?
Thanks, Insect Advocate!
Bees
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Yellowjacket control - I'm afraid that these little critters will be quite aggressive when defending their nests. I suppose you could try plastering over the hole at night, but would that be any kinder than using poison? Are the yellow jackets really bothering you? Are they a threat to you and your family? If they are not, you might try to just live and let live until winter, when it is quite easy to repair the hole without being stung.
Unusual Moth - try looking up your moth at whatsthatbug.com, one of my favorite insect advocacy and identification sites. Or, try insectguide.net. Both are excellent. As far as preserving insects for posterity, the best thing you can do is kill them quickly and pin them. For my daughter's 4-H project, we have a kill jar (basically a jar with a little plaster-of-paris in the bottom). You then saturate the plaster with poison. You can use nail polish remover. After the insect dies (and it should be within a couple of hours), you must pin it right away before it gets too stiff. For moths, you pin directly through the thorax. Then, you should arrange the wings. If you're really interested, I suggest checking with your local entomology department. I don't know if your eggs would have survived after being exposed to the alcohol. And as far as the contamination concern, this is where proper identification is really helpful. It's true that insects from one area can cause huge problems if imported to another. In my state of Indiana, we are having trouble with the Emerald Ash Borer, a very pretty beetle that destroys ash trees. To control its spread, you are not allowed to transport firewood from one part of Indiana to another! If your moth was a pest species, the Seattle agriculture and natural resources department might not appreciate you bringing viable eggs into their area!
Next time, I would say identify the insect so you know what it is. And if you still want to preserve it, kill it humanely. Conversely, you could capture it in a bug cage and release it after sharing it with schoolchildren.
As far as the morality of killing insects... Most insect species are in no danger of being wiped out. While I, personally, do not like killing insects, I am okay with a few individuals being taken for the purpose of study. I also understand and appreciate the necessity of killing pests, dangerous insects when they are truly a threat, and insects used as food. It's up to you to determine your own relationship with the insect world.
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
So, Jenny, what's your advice on japanese beetles? From what I've seen, my best bet is to just pick them off by hand and drop them into soapy water.
Since I'm not home often, and usually water my garden just before sunset (or later), I'm really not around to pick off the beetles. And apparently, japanese beetle traps often end up attracting more beetles.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Well, I've been trying to figure this one out myself! If you don't mind threatening the beneficial insects, you can use an insecticide.
The really bad thing about Japanese beetles is that they secrete an aggregation pheremone, which causes them to hang out together. The plants they chew also release a chemical distress smell that attracts the beetles. So, once a plant is damaged, it is in great danger.
I did some research on Japanese beetles, and found the following: there is actually a "stop eating now" pheremone secreted by the beetles, but scientists aren't able to produce it for commercial use yet; Japanese beetles are most active in direct sunlight and at the tops of plants, in fact becoming disoriented in the dark; plants in the sun because their leaves are chemically sweeter to the beetles; certain wasp, fly, and nematode species do parasitize the beetles and their grubs; and I directly observed them following a sccent path laid down by their fellow beetles across the field to my grapevines.
Here is what I did: I picked off all the beetles I could and drowned them in soapy water. In the early morning after a rain (the rain washed most of them away and cleaned off the scent trail), I put screened things like colanders over the smaller and sensitive plants. I turned my outdoor chairs upside down over the bigger plants. My theory was that it would be harder to find the plants, therefore making other areas more amenable to the beetles traversing through my land. So far, this has worked. The scent trails moved to the strawberry bed.
My suggestion for someone who wants to fight without pesticides would be to use some sort of barrier, like a mosquito netting that lets in light and air and water, for when the Japanese beetles first emerge and start aggregating. They might land on the netting, but they wouldn't have anything to eat. They would quickly move on. Also, if you could shade or hide sensitive plants in some way, that might be good. You could consider using the Japanese beetle traps at an edge of your property far from your desired plants to encourage the beetles to change their flyways in that direction. I'm really dubious about those pheremone traps, though. I've read you want to encourage your neighbors to get them! I also had good luck at my last house, where I grew 4 o'clocks. They are supposedly poisonous to Japanese beetles. I also found out that geraniums make Japanese beetles paralyzed. They'll eat the petals and get drunk, I guess. But they don't learn to avoid them. So if you can plant 4 o'clocks and geraniums, and not mind them getting eaten, they might help. Also, note what weeds are eaten by the beetles and leave them alone if they are far enough away from your special plants. They'll be decoy plants for the beetle flyway. Overall, your tactic should be to make your plants less enticing than the other ones in your area. It is also suggested that you treat your lawn when the beetles are in their grub stage to prevent such large emergences in the summer. You can choose pesticides (which lawn companies would love for you to buy) or try parasitic nematodes (little wormy things that are harmless to people).
To review, Japanese beetles
LIKE: grapes, roses, apples, beans, and others; tops of plants; plants in the sun; other Japanese beetles; plants that make them drunk - geraniums and 4 o'clocks
Good luck! If you find anything that works well, be sure to let the rest of us know!!!
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
Hmm. That makes my life difficult.
I have two 4'x4' garden boxes.
The first contains 4 basil plants (only 1 with large leaves), sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, 4 pepper plants, 3 dill plants, and 5 marigolds in the center. It's a happy, slighly crowded box, without much of an issue. I'm starting to get aphids on my dill and I need to spray it down with soapy water, and my sage has started to get spots (cucumber beetles, mainly). The one large-leaf basil is starting to get hit by japanese beetles.
Almost everything in the first box I can probably protect with screening pretty easily.
The second box is my bigger problem. I have 1 gargantuan grape tomato plant (which would take over the whole box if I let it, but it's tied up), two large leaf basils, 2 regular tomato plants, 3 cucumber plants (which climb out from the edge of the garden up a 4-foot diagonal trellis made of bird netting), and five marigolds in the center. My girlfriend and roommate call this box "Jumanji".
Right now, the cucumbers are suspended on a rectangle of bird netting about 4'x4' extending diagonally up from the box at about a 40 degree angle. They have very large leaves that are starting to be eaten by japanese beetles. I can't cover the whole thing in mosquito netting, because then the bees can't get in to pollenate the flowers.
Because I work from 9 until 6, I only see my garden in full sun during the weekends - when I'm also often away from the house - making picking the buggers off very difficult.
I'll try getting some 4 o'clocks and geraniums to see if that will do the trick.
I may be able to screen the basil, though. I'll give it a shot.
[ July 03, 2007, 05:51 PM: Message edited by: FlyingCow ]
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Oh no, I forgot how much they like basil! I need to go check mine RIGHT NOW!! EEK!
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
A word on traps, I didn't use them last year (since they sold out in my area) and my dahlias and virginia creeper were denuded by Japanese Beetles. This year I'm using them, and I don't have any way to put them the recommended "30 feet from desired plants" so I just stuck them in the middle of the yard. That seems to have worked.
In the afternoon the beetles swarm all around the traps and eventually find their way inside. There is some evidence of beetle damage to some of my plants, but nothing to cry about. I'd suggest getting pheremone traps and just putting them as far from your "desired plants" as you can get them. You might draw beetles that wouldn't have come to your garden in the first place, but you are drawing them to the trap and not necessarily to your desired plants. At least that's my experience. You will certainly see more beetles if you use traps, but that doesn't mean they are doing the same damage they would in a smaller population left unmolested (i.e. without traps.)
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
I think if you're already dealing with a very high volume of beetles, the trap won't necessarily make it worse. I'm dealing with a very light volume and don't want to attract any more.
I've been killing one or two a day the last week or so.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Well, my beetles have moved on to the vegetable garden, where they are happily munching the kale and turnip greens. I am fine with that. They haven't hurt the other veggies much at all. Faerygirl does go out and harass them every day, giving them baths in a bowl of soapy water (that's what we tell Little Crow is happening, since he loves the beetles and wouldn't want them to be killed).
Posted by Tstorm (Member # 1871) on :
Jenny, one of your friends bit me on the inner thigh a few days ago. It's quite red and swollen after 3 days, and I have tender lymph nodes near it So far, there is no blister or distinct hole in the center.
I spent a lot of time outside back when it started, wandering through tall grass, whacking weeds, and working in an old shed. Who only knows what kind of bug decided to chomp on me. I'm leaning toward spider, but I'll probably never know.
I'm monitoring it, to be sure it doesn't rapidly worsen. Hopefully it will clear up soon.
Tell them all to stay away from me, or I'll soon wage chemical (Raid) and conventional (flyswatter) warfare on them. :evil eyes:
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Most bites blamed on spiders are NOT spider bites, which are actually fairly rare.
Posted by Tstorm (Member # 1871) on :
Right, and I'm well aware it's likely NOT a brown recluse bite. I made it clear that I have no way of knowing for sure, because I didn't see the bite occur.
I can say for sure that it's not a flea (or louse), tick, mosquito, chigger, or ant bite. It's also not a sting from a wasp, bee, or hornet.
But I'm willing to admit it could be a bad infection in a chigger or mosquito bite. Ahh, the wonders of never solving a mystery. Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
Well, I finally got a good sunny day when I was home, and I've picked off about 20 or so Japanese Beetles and gave them... a soapy bath.
Caught what looked to be a couple of mating pairs, too - which I'm sure was a rude surprise for them.
They have been going to town on my Basil the last couple of days, it seems.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Tstorm, could be a sting from a small bee. The little solitary bees are quite aggressive, and their stings hurt. It could also be a bite, as you say. If your lymph nodes are swelling, I'd definitely watch it, and if they don't go down, you need to get things checked out. Sorry that you had a bad experience.
Posted by Tstorm (Member # 1871) on :
Yeah, I'm planning on a check up right now. The lymph nodes are still just as tender, and the inflamed area is getting larger. I traced a dashed line around it with a pen yesterday morning, and no doubt about it, it has grown larger in the past 24 hours. This is nearly five days after I noticed the itchy spot. Time for a doctor's visit, expensive though it may be.
Posted by Tstorm (Member # 1871) on :
Update: Went to the doctor, received prescription for antibiotic and steroid (to reduce the inflammation). Also received instruction to apply heat a few times a day, although that's difficult when I'm at work for 10 hours or more. I do my best, and I won't miss any of the medicine.
Four days later, the bite is rapidly vanishing. The swollen lymph gland(s) are gone. I can still see little purple veins near the bite mark, but there's no more puffiness or inflammation like there was on Monday. I think those little "spider veins" (no pun intended) will go away after a while.
Thus ends the saga of the unknown insect bite. Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Hooray for better living through chemistry. Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
I hate wasps getting into my apartment. I think there has been two or three. Maybe 2 in my room and it's VERY SCARY! Is there some sort of way to repel them? I feel guilty about smashing them, but they are varelse (sp) and I have no choice. They are vaguely cute scary dominatrixes of the insect world.
Posted by theCrowsWife (Member # 8302) on :
quote:Originally posted by Synesthesia: They are vaguely cute scary dominatrixes of the insect world.
That's a great description! It belongs in a sig somewhere.
--Mel
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
It's actually easy to catch a wasp for release. Just place a cup over it against a wall or floor or ceiling. Then, slide an index card or something of similar thickness beneath. Be careful not to pinch the wasp's legs. Gently carry the apparatus outside (cup upside down on the index card). Tip back the cup and retreat. The wasp will gladly fly away.
Wasps are actually rather large to be getting into your apartment. Find the hole or open door or window where they are coming in, and screen or otherwise put up a barrier.
If you know what kind of wasps they are, I can tell you more about their habits to help you troubleshoot where they are coming from and why they are in your apartment.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
They are so scary. Black wasps (Polistis?) I don't mind. But these are YELLOW JACKETS or HORNETS They scare me.
AUGH! ANOTHER ONE IN MY BEDROOM! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE
Maybe I'll move
I HATE THOSE THINGS! THIS IS THE 3RD OR 4TH ONE SINCE THESE GUYS PUT IN NEW WINDOWS!!!
[ July 14, 2007, 11:49 PM: Message edited by: Synesthesia ]
Posted by kwsni (Member # 1831) on :
I have discovered the biggest bugs since moving to Virginia. We have these green beetles the size of marbles that fly around aimlessly until they run into something. I Honestly think that's the way they navigate. They're funny to watch, but they hurt when they fly into your head.
Ni!
Posted by Tstorm (Member # 1871) on :
A continuation of my bite saga...
The bite has healed. There's still a small mark on my leg, smaller than a typical chigger bite, which should disappear soon. Aside from an unpleasant side effect of the antibiotic, no complications resulted from this.
More insect fun...
This weekend, I'm in KC and I'm staying at a friend's house. When I woke up this morning, one of the first things I did was go to my duffel bag for clothes. I picked up the old clothes on top of the bag first and set them aside. Then I picked up my jean shorts and ... underneath the shorts, sitting inconspicuosly on a white shirt, sat an average-sized fiddleback spider.
Yeah.
We regarded each other for a couple of minutes. He didn't move, I didn't stop looking at him. I didn't want to lose sight of him in the event he scurried deeper into my duffel. He just kinda sat there, looking up at me with his six eyes. I, still sleepy-eyed, sat there and looked back at him, forcing my eyes to REALLY wake up.
Not wanting to lose sight, I went into gecko mode, used one eye and hand to fold up a sock as a weapon. In my past experience with these, I know it doesn't take much of a blow to kill them. One hit, and he's down. Wounded. I put him in a tupperware container, sealed it, and left a note:
"**DANGER** This is a Brown Recluse spider. It is poisonous. Please do not disturb, throw away, or set loose. I may need it for medical evidence."
I packed this bag and left it overnight in my apartment back home, so it's possible this guy is a hitchhiker. It's also possible he crawled into the bag while I slept last night. This is the same bag I used the weekend I received the bite, two weeks ago, staying at my parents house. At any rate, hitchhiker or not, he's earned an all-expenses-paid trip back home...I'll call him an "insect of interest" in an ongoing investigation. Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
The Insect Advocate has moved to its own blog! I just was remembering you folks, and how it all got started...
Feel free to "bug" me with your insect questions by commenting and I'd love it if you just said hi.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Awesome! I posted on your blog but my comment's in moderation.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Thanks! I posted your comments. It's nice to have readership...
Since you requested a return of The Insect Advocate to Hatrack, should I start a new thread (seeing as how this one is 3 years old?)
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
I think venerable old threads with multiple pages have an air of authority and importance that new threads don't have, don't you?
Should I post what I said on your blog to here as well, you think?
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
I have a question. I've quit sitting out on my deck because of the mosquitoes, and my heightened fear of arthropod borne diseases since my son's Lyme has had such a huge negative impact on his life. Is there any bug zapper or other device that can make it safe to do that again? It's beautiful out there but each time I spent 10 minutes admiring the bats and the foliage and the darkening sky, 3 days later I would be covered in itchy bumps that turned into sores, and due to my diabetes each sore on my lower extremities would last weeks to months, turn into an ulcer, and threaten the need to amputate my feet. 10 minutes of nature's beauty isn't worth that.
The idea of killing insects instead of enjoying their company might horrify you. If so, I apologize.
On another thread I recently read pooka's simile that she was drawn to something like a mosquito to a CO2 generator (or something like that). Are there new attractors on the market that actually keep an area clear of mosquitos?
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
Current bug zappers don't work on mosquitos. An entemologist did some body counts and found few hundred other insects for every mosquito. And the overwhelming supermajority of mosquitos killed were males, which don't bite.
[ March 20, 2009, 02:43 AM: Message edited by: aspectre ]
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Tatiana, it might be easier to just get some mosquito netting and build yourself an enclosure on your deck.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Noemon, that would make it feel a lot less like being outside, I think. For instance, looking at the stars through a telescope is one of the activities I like to do out there. I think the netting would cut way down on the light transmitted.
I have thought about a screened porch with cat access, so they can go sit out there whenever they like. I'm sure they would love that.
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
I have an insect issue I could use some help with. We have a couple bushes in our front yard that the bees seem to love (a fairy duster and a ruellia). I'm happy that the bees seem to like our plants so much, but I'm concerned about pruning them. I don't want to upset the bees (there are a LOT of them in the fairy duster especially - dozens and dozens every time I look) and get stung, but I do need to do a little bit of pruning since the bushes are starting to overhang the sidewalk...
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
ludosti, pruning is best done at a time of year when a plant is not in bloom. For this year, forget pruning and leave it be. In the dead of winter, then prune it well back, so that with spring growth it will be the ideal size.
aspectre, I would love one of those star wars mosquito zapper. Even better is the fact that it doesn't indiscriminately kill the good bugs. I can't wait until those go commercial. Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Alternately, if you absolutely must prune during the blooming times, you could look for beekeepers outlets and buy a smoker. The smoke makes them groggy and ill disposed to sting. It's still risky, though, to give all the bees the right dose of smoke. Usually it's done with a hive box to rob the honey.
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
Unfortunately, it's warm enough here in AZ that they bloom all year round. I'll have to try looking first thing in the morning (like 6 or 7am when it's still cold) to see how active they are and see if I dare trying to prune...
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
quote:Originally posted by Tatiana: Noemon, that would make it feel a lot less like being outside, I think. For instance, looking at the stars through a telescope is one of the activities I like to do out there. I think the netting would cut way down on the light transmitted.
quote: * 1.0 Sweat bee: Light, ephemeral, almost fruity. A tiny spark has singed a single hair on your arm. * 1.2 Fire ant: Sharp, sudden, mildly alarming. Like walking across a shag carpet & reaching for the light switch. * 1.8 Bullhorn acacia ant: A rare, piercing, elevated sort of pain. Someone has fired a staple into your cheek. * 2.0 Bald-faced hornet: Rich, hearty, slightly crunchy. Similar to getting your hand mashed in a revolving door. * 2.0 Yellowjacket: Hot and smoky, almost irreverent. Imagine W. C. Fields extinguishing a cigar on your tongue. * 2.x Honey bee and European hornet: Like a matchhead that flips off and burns on your skin. * 3.0 Red harvester ant: Bold and unrelenting. Somebody is using a drill to excavate your ingrown toenail. * 3.0 Paper wasp: Caustic & burning. Distinctly bitter aftertaste. Like spilling a beaker of hydrochloric acid on a paper cut. * 4.0 Tarantula hawk: Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair drier has been dropped into your bubble bath. * 4.0+ Bullet ant: Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like fire-walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch rusty nail in your heel.
I'd avoid these things. THEY ARE SCARY!!!!!!! No way I'd HAVE IT IN MY HAND!
But I am going to order a luna moth, and perhaps a cecropia in the future. I love them.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Syn, I wrote it up on the Insect Advocate!
ludosti, most nectar feeders can be nudged gently. I recommend starting gently with a few branches, see how that goes. Most of the time, if you are calmly going about your business, the pollinators will calmly go about theirs. Just to be on the safe side, you might want to button up with gloves, long sleeves, and pants with legs tucked into boots. I bump into my wee wasps and bees quite often in my gardens, and I just say excuse me and they buzz off disgruntled in the opposite direction. Bees aren't really inclined to sting you unless you are messing with their hive. And the insects you are dealing with are probably so full of nectar it wouldn't be worth the effort to them (one of the things smoking does is get the bees to gorge on honey, and that makes it physically harder for them to sting!).
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
Thanks!
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
I'm glad to hear that the bees may let me prune. I know that bees normally aren't inclined to sting (since doing so kills them). I have been able to weed around (and under) the bushes without any problems. I'd get a little nervous when some of the bees would come land on me, but they'd fly right off again. I'll try doing some pruning early Saturday morning (when it's still cool out and hopefully there aren't as many around) and see what happens.
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
Things went well this morning. There were considerably fewer bees first thing this morning and I did my best to be as calm and efficient as possible (which was still hard with them milling around me). I was silly and was even talking to the bees while I worked, apologizing for disturbing them and explaining that I needed to do this so we can continue to co-exist happily. Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Nothing silly about talking to bees! Throughout history, beekeepers have talked to them. I certainly do when hubby and I go out to tend our own beehives. And who knows? Maybe your talking calms you, too, and helps your chemical signature be less threatening. Biochemistry is so complex, and insects live in a world where chemical sensations are very powerful. We don't sense a fraction of the things an insect does. Or, on the other hand, maybe they just appreciate you making an effort to work with them instead of saying "Eek! A bee! Go away! Or I'll get spray!"
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
Admittedly it does get annoying when the bees start talking back. Such gossips they are.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Not my girls. That, or I like the gossip they have to share. They were not happy with me today, going in on a windy overcast afternoon to get the queen out of her "cage" where we'd put her to lay eggs that we hope to convert into queens.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
We did the same thing in Italy. ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Taunt]](graemlins/taunt.gif)
![[Kiss]](graemlins/kiss.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
Unless you can banish the spiders from around my house, so the wife won't make me smash them....
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
It's kind of strange.![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)
![[Angst]](graemlins/angst.gif)
Yeah.