Is it ok to use bug sprays while my cats are in the house If I cordon them off the another room? And….?
May 12, 2011 1:14 am
To make a long story shorter, I’m having some issues with the occasional spider, cockroaches, fruit flies, house lies etc. And it’s driving me CRAZY
My parents bought me Spectracide BugStop (indoor outdoor formula) for when I first moved in since my condo is older.
Basically, my question is, can they still be in the house, just not in the same room while I’m spraying?
And aslo, how long after I spray for bugs do I have to wait until I can clean uo the residue. My man concern is my cats stepping in it and then ingesting it since they use their paws for grooming!
Thanks for any and all help!!!
I REALLY appreciate it
Signature: Jennie

Dear Jennie,
We do not give extermination advice.

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Bug/insect credo
Location: Bugs in theory
April 6, 2011 2:03 pm
Dear Bugman,
I absolutely love your site! Even most of the unnecessary carnage section. However, I’d like to share my credo. (I’m going to use the word ”bug” to describe both bugs and insects.)
1.) If I’m outside and a bug is over there and I’m over here, I don’t touch it. Live and let live. I might even watch it from afar.
2.) If a bug enters my home uninvited, I consider this home invasion and I act accordingly; the ”intruder” dies. I was raised in Idaho, the lovely potato state. Though the state’s motto should be ’shoot first, ask questions later’. I feel this way about all intruders big or small. In this instance we can say, ’Shoe first, ask questions later.’ I wouldn’t step in a badger’s hole and think it’s not going to attack me. That’s just silly, it’s protecting it’s space. I am just protecting mine.(Also, don’t tell me you don’t happily go around the house with the fly swatter in the summer because I won’t believe it! And mosquitoes…)
3.) If a bug happens to land/fly violently into my person, I consider this an assault and I’m going to defend myself against the attacking wild. I’m just an innocent by-standard (see number 1.) I’m not harming anything! If some thug came up to you with malicious intent, wouldn’t you try to defend yourself? Even if this person was only 3’4. Just because I’m bigger doesn’t make it O.K. to assault me. Period. It’s not my fault if the bug gets a boo-boo. That’s what happens when you mess with the big kids.
4.) Being a bug doesn’t mean being my enemy. Just as I allow friends into my home, I do allow known nice/beneficial bugs into my abode. I don’t kill butterflies. I don’t kill praying mantis. (And not because they are pretty either! Although maybe Zorak has something to do with it.) Fuzzy caterpillar? Come on, it’s fuzzy!! Lady bugs… Yeah, that’s all I can think of. Oh, Daddy Long Legs! Anyway, those buggies (and others!) get taken outside by my spouse. I don’t go tromping through the wilderness looking for bugs to fry with a magnifying glass, THAT is unnecessary.
Signed,
-M-
P.S. It’s natural to fear the unknown, so thanks for keeping this site up and running. Thank you for continuing to education about the harmless bugs and the not so harmless ones. It is appreciated. Please, go easy on us though.
Signature: Ride a pony bug man, not a high horse!

Zorak

Dear M,
Thank you for taking the time to write.  We hope Hanna-Barbera doesn’t come after us for copyright infringement.  We agree with you fully that it is natural to fear the unknown, and we hope our website helps to dispel some of that fear with regards to bugs.  For the record, we cannot tolerate Argentine Ants invading our offices, which they always seem to do after especially heavy rains and more frequently during the hot dry summer months in Los Angeles.  We routinely squish aphids and scale insects in the garden as well.

Insect bite section?
Location: Africa
February 21, 2011 4:14 am
Hi, I am researching insect bites from all over the world, as bites – just like your bugs – are often hard to identify. For instance the rove beetle mark attached (from the net). So I wonder if you have a section for this, as I could not find it in the menus.
Signature: Ibugs

Dear Ibugs,
We do not have a bite section, however, the search engine works quite well.  If you search our site for the word bite, you get 705 hits, and some may prove fruitful, like these postings:  http://www.whatsthatbug.com/2011/01/31/assassin-bug-and-its-painful-bite/ and http://www.whatsthatbug.com/2010/11/01/carpet-beetle-larvae-from-iran-not-causing-bites/

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moth, fly, or moth fly
Location: Washington State
February 3, 2011 2:23 pm
Found these larvae in my toilet bowl. I flushed and more appeared. I looked in the tank and found that the tank had been retrofitted with a plastic eco insert. In the main tank there was about 1/4” of stagnant water because the water was being diverted into the insert. I think that a fly or moth laid eggs in the stagnant water and then somehow the larvae moved into the plastic insert and with every flush some get sucked from the insert into the bowl. Because I don’t know how the retrofit works, I haven’t taken it apart to check.
Signature: Amsuncow

Moth Fly Pupa

Dear Amsuncow,
We actually believe this is a pupa and not a larva, and your supposition that it might be a Moth Fly in the subfamily Psychodinae is probably correct, though your images look different from the stages of the Filter Fly, Clogmia albipunctata, that are pictured on BugGuide.  Your individual is more elongated than the this image of a Filter Fly Pupa from BugGuide, however, there are other members of the subfamily that have a similar habitat.  BugGuide also provides this information on the subfamily:  “Larva: eyeless and legless; head darker and narrower than body; each segment with one or more dark rectangular bands dorsally; terminal segment narrows, forming dark-colored breathing tube  Pupa: resembles minute grain of brown rice” and “Adults often found around sewage installations, in public washrooms, and bathrooms in homes, and are attracted to light; larvae live in organic sludge that forms on inner surfaces of drains and sewage pipes; pupae occur on the surface of the organic film that the larvae have been living in.“  Finally, BugGuide has this information on the life cycle of Moth Flies:  “In the home, females lay irregular masses of 30-200 eggs in the organic gelatinous film lining drains, particularly in bathtubs and showers; eggs hatch 32-48 hours after being laid, when ambient temperatures are 70ºF (about 20ºC), and larvae pupate 9-15 days later; pupa stage lasts 20-40 hours; development time from egg to adult is 7-28 days, depending on temperature and food availability; adults live for about two weeks.“  Since the Moth Fly Pupa are on the surface, they are easily transferred from the eco insert to the tank and bowl during the flushing process.  The appearance of Moth Flies in otherwise sanitary bathrooms might be due to poorly engineered, but well intentioned methods for water conservation.  Thank you so much for sending your letter and excellent photographs.

Moth Fly Pupa

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