Bugs in the house

[The Sum of Awe]

In North America the only spiders that can hurt you are black widows and the brown recluse.

Black widows are easy to spot, and letting wolf spiders and daddy long legs share your space will help keep the threat of brown recluse bites down (because they eat those).

The scary part isn’t the danger. I think it has to do with how they look and how fast they move.

I think a lot of people would freak out if they saw all the wolf spiders in my place. ,

Can I ask, do you live strictly on nature land
or do you have a place of residence as well?

but I'm always happy to see them. Their bite is poisonous too (although there's some disagreement about that) but it isn't much worse than a mosquito bite, and only happens once in a blue moon.

Wolf Spider
View attachment 78831

I would scream like a little girl if I saw that in my house hahaha

 

[mangalavara]

What does one do to protect your house against bugs? I don’t have an infestation, it was just the gnat and the ant. AFAIK. But I’d like to be bug free as possible

I’m in an apartment building. I keep my room clean and I use peppermint oil to deter the worst insects from coming in.

 

[SalixIncendium]

In North America the only spiders that can hurt you are black widows and the brown recluse.

Black widows are easy to spot, and letting wolf spiders and daddy long legs share your space will help keep the threat of brown recluse bites down (because they eat those).

I think a lot of people would freak out if they saw all the wolf spiders in my place. , but I'm always happy to see them. Their bite is poisonous too (although there's some disagreement about that) but it isn't much worse than a mosquito bite, and only happens once in a blue moon.

Wolf Spider
View attachment 78831

Body shape is similar, but every wolf spider I encountered was brown with black markings. Is the photo somehow not the correct color?

 

[Quagmire]

Body shape is similar, but every wolf spider I encountered was brown with black markings. Is the photo somehow not the correct color?

I think most are brown, but some are black.

Most of the wolf spiders down at my place are black, that's why I posted that pic.

They all look kind of like little tarantulas though.

 

[Quagmire]

Can I ask, do you live strictly on nature land
or do you have a place of residence as well?

You know.

 

[We Never Know]

I had just fumigated last week to prevent bugs from staying alive from being inside. It was supposed to work on gnats but I saw a gnat all day yesterday in my house! This stuff is supposed to last three months!

Today I just saw an ant crawling across my carpet! The fumigation didn’t work on ants.

What does one do to protect your house against bugs? I don’t have an infestation, it was just the gnat and the ant. AFAIK. But I’d like to be bug free as possible

Just be glad it isn't millions of mormon crickets like this town in Nevada ..

 

[We Never Know]

In North America the only spiders that can hurt you are black widows and the brown recluse.

Black widows are easy to spot, and letting wolf spiders and daddy long legs share your space will help keep the threat of brown recluse bites down (because they eat those).

I think a lot of people would freak out if they saw all the wolf spiders in my place. , but I'm always happy to see them. Their bite is poisonous too (although there's some disagreement about that) but it isn't much worse than a mosquito bite, and only happens once in a blue moon.

Wolf Spider
View attachment 78831

There's another widow spider that is worse than the black widow.

Edit. Looked it up. Its the brown widow.


"The venom from a brown widow is about twice as potent as venom from a black widow but they don't make as much. One out of twenty bites cause death. Most die after severe pain and respiratory failure (children) or heart failure (adults)"

Difference Between a Black and Brown Widow Spider? - Drive-Bye Pest Exterminators

If it was not bad enough that a black widow spider exists, enter its kin the brown widow spider? Yes, there is a brown widow spider too. Let’s look at both and see their similarities and differences. Description Like all spiders, the widow spiders have two main body parts, the…

drivebyeexterminators.com

 

[Dan From Smithville]

I had just fumigated last week to prevent bugs from staying alive from being inside. It was supposed to work on gnats but I saw a gnat all day yesterday in my house! This stuff is supposed to last three months!

Today I just saw an ant crawling across my carpet! The fumigation didn’t work on ants.

What does one do to protect your house against bugs? I don’t have an infestation, it was just the gnat and the ant. AFAIK. But I’d like to be bug free as possible

If it was done properly by a reputable company it should work. I'm assuming sulfuryl fluoride was what was used. It doesn't stick around that long, but you really don't want a compound with a lot of residual in your home. Many of the residual insecticides I'm familiar with are not friendly to us and pets as well as insects and spiders.

I'm betting what you are seeing are transients that wonder or are blown in when a door or window is opened. You get that a lot in homes. I wouldn't worry about it.

The only thing you have to protect your house from are structural pests like termites, carpenter ants and a few beetles that potentially could damage the wood. The fumigation should have taken care of those along with any fleas, ticks, bedbugs, spiders and house centipedes among others. It will even kill off rodents. It certainly killed off all the beneficial insects associated with your house too.

I feel pretty comfortable in considering the few things you have seen since to be transients coming in subsequently from outside.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

I had just fumigated last week to prevent bugs from staying alive from being inside. It was supposed to work on gnats but I saw a gnat all day yesterday in my house! This stuff is supposed to last three months!

Today I just saw an ant crawling across my carpet! The fumigation didn’t work on ants.

What does one do to protect your house against bugs? I don’t have an infestation, it was just the gnat and the ant. AFAIK. But I’d like to be bug free as possible

Oh yeah! And devil bugs. They'll suck the face right off your head. But you hardly see them anymore once the black-brown recluse widow cougars starting living in homes and feeding on the devil bugs.

 

[JustGeorge]

If it was done properly by a reputable company it should work. I'm assuming sulfuryl fluoride was what was used. It doesn't stick around that long, but you really don't want a compound with a lot of residual in your home. Many of the residual insecticides I'm familiar with are not friendly to us and pets as well as insects and spiders.

I'm betting what you are seeing are transients that wonder or are blown in when a door or window is opened. You get that a lot in homes. I wouldn't worry about it.

The only thing you have to protect your house from are structural pests like termites, carpenter ants and a few beetles that potentially could damage the wood. The fumigation should have taken care of those along with any fleas, ticks, bedbugs, spiders and house centipedes among others. It will even kill off rodents. It certainly killed off all the beneficial insects associated with your house too.

I feel pretty comfortable in considering the few things you have seen since to be transients coming in subsequently from outside.

Which beetles?

We've had to spray a few times for carpenter ants. They sometimes get in the back room of the house. It seems they exist in the neighborhood in general. Perhaps they come from the vacant house next door.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

Which beetles?

We've had to spray a few times for carpenter ants. They sometimes get in the back room of the house. It seems they exist in the neighborhood in general. Perhaps they come from the vacant house next door.

Since there 60's, there has been a particularly invasive group of Beatles from England that were among several other groups Who started a musical revolution. Do you say you want a revolution or just information on beetles?

More seriously, there are a group of beetles called powder post beetles that can exact damage to wood structures. Infested wood has numerous tiny round holes in it that are clearly visible. They can attack wood furniture too and are hard to treat for. I don't know all the particulars, but they are one of the main three structural pests for homes, including those carpenter ants you mention.

Carpenter ants can be transient or more active visitors to homes without having established colonies in the house. But if there are colonies nearby, those can be a source for colonization. We had an old maple in the backyard of my parents home when I was growing up that had an active colony within it. Never had any issues with the house though. I've seen colonies established in abandoned sawmills among the remaining wood inventory.

Being in wood gives these different groups of insects plenty of protection and makes them difficult urban pests to treat.

 

[JustGeorge]

Since there 60's, there has been a particularly invasive group of Beatles from England that were among several other groups Who started a musical revolution. Do you say you want a revolution or just information on beetles?

Just information. I have enough revolutions going on.

More seriously, there are a group of beetles called powder post beetles that can exact damage to wood structures. Infested wood has numerous tiny round holes in it that are clearly visible. They can attack wood furniture too and are hard to treat for. I don't know all the particulars, but they are one of the main three structural pests for homes, including those carpenter ants you mention.

Carpenter ants can be transient or more active visitors to homes without having established colonies in the house. But if there are colonies nearby, those can be a source for colonization. We had an old maple in the backyard of my parents home when I was growing up that had an active colony within it. Never had any issues with the house though. I've seen colonies established in abandoned sawmills among the remaining wood inventory.

I saw two this year, and my husband sprayed the usual area. Haven't seen any back.

Being in wood gives these different groups of insects plenty of protection and makes them difficult urban pests to treat.

I believe it.