These nasty, crunchy, stinky bugs are invading the side of our house that gets the most sun. I scoop 'em up, I flush 'em, I even have taken to vacuuming 'em, and more keep coming. Sigh. I have it on good authority that these bugs hitched a ride from Asia in shipping cartons and since they have no natural predators here, tend to multiply quickly.
In the meantime, some sort of icky meal bug has infested my flour. (We are big fans of the Pantry Pest sticky trap
.)And to add to the overall bugginess, we had a visitor show up on the outside of a window:
A praying mantis. At least he had the good sense to stay outside. I have a rolled-up section of newspaper and I'm not afraid to use it.
13 comments:
I'm not suggesting that you invite the praying mantis in, but, good bug that he or she is, s/he would love to gobble up your bad buggies (not quite sure about the stinkers, though).
obscure
It's bad luck to hurt a mantis. They are wise and all-knowing and eat the bad bugs.
Also, the Latin genus name should be capitalized, with genus and species preferably italicized (since the Latins were from Eye-talia, dontcha know).
Halyomorpha halys
Yes, the praying mantis showing up is a good thing. They eat the other bugs, especially bad ones. One way to prevent ticks and fleas and stuff in the early spring is to order praying manti cocoons from a natural insect control shop, stick them about the yard, in wide zones (so they don't munch each other up)and they'll kill off the fleas, ticks and what-not for you without using chemical warfare.
This guy's probably hanging on your window, trying to put in a job application. :-)
Right now its flies, here. Usually its lady bugs and flies- they all hang out on the outer southern sides. Now that I think about it, I'm wondering if I should be worried that the lady bugs aren't here...
Don't worry, I would never kill a mantis. I also am a big fan of spiders and bats, for the same reason -- they eat huge quantities of mosquitoes and icky bugs.
p.s. to Mel: pedantry does not become you. (;
We had the pantry moths last month too, but until you've had a house full of lice, you'll get no sympathy from me. Not that I would ever wish the little buggers on you, or my worst enemy even. Trust me, those are the worst.
Yuck (except for the mantis). We keep getting little gnat things trying to come in out of the cold but nothing bothersome. Hope it gets better.
And Mel correctly wrote the name but did not further explain that the second word of the latin name is never capitalized.
Pantry bugs...here's an old wives cure/prevention that works (I have tested it in the lab, I mean my kitchen)
Put bay leaves here and there and over yon. Tuck them in wherever. That's it.
I had those little suckers in my cupboards, did like Auntie said, dead little critters everywhere, and they never came back. I now keep them in there, just put new ones out in the spring.
Flies....as soon as it warms up a smitch in the daytime all those stinkin flies reappear. I hate flies, who the heck knows where there sticky little wee feet have been?
Stink bugs though run a close second.(don't have them here, but I've seen them...ugggh)
I think it was the guineas that did in the lady bugs. I could loan you a few- though they've stopped laying for the season. I don't know why they won't eat the flies- probably what Barb said. Itteh Bitteh Kitteh does her best to get those flies, though.
In my house, come warmer winter known as Spring up here in Qc, I have the sow bugs invading the basement living spaces. If they would just stay in hiding like they do the rest of the year, I'd be fine, but when the mass migration from the baseboards starts, oh my goodness gracious its annoying. This past season I actually bowed to spousal pressure and bought a spray.
Then later it was assassin bugs. I was afraid. The sow bugs must have taken out a hit on me.
Ick. Stinkbugs. Fortunately, we haven't had those. For a while, we had pill bugs in the basement, which Tess loved collecting around her. Then Tim vacuumed them up, and the Great Pill Bug Massacre of 2001 ended that.
Maybe the praying mantis will pray the stinkbugs away, since he can't come inside and get them. (Do you think maybe he is a maverick bug???)
To Barb B: Thank you for the tip about bay leaves. I have gotten what I refer to as "weevils" in my flour, and now I just freeze my flour overnight and that kills whatever might be lurking. Tends to happen more with "organic" flour.
Carol, I'm glad you're not going to kill the praying mantis! Let him/her eat all those bad bugs.
Liz K, I agree 100%. We battled those nasty bugs for months. UGH UGH UGH!!! I could write a book on what works (and what doesn't) to get rid of them. Hmmm.
A good way to keep those awful stink bugs away is to put a fairly strong dish liquid and water in a squirt bottle, and spray your screens, the outside of the house, and the storm doors. They don't give us much trouble anymore. Hope it works for you!
And let that mantis stick around. Perhaps he'll develop a taste for those nasty buggers.
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