Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with bugs

Save me from things with more than four legs!

dayintoday — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 15:28:59 -0800

What is the least buggy place to live in the USA? In the world? For the sake of this question, "bugs" applies to anything with more than four legs that walks on land (i.e. spiders count but lobsters do not).

What part of the United States is the best for someone afraid of bugs in general? What part of the world?

Consider that a place with gigantoid centipedes that occasionally enter the home is MORE scary than a place with loads of tiny gnats and flies that rarely come inside.

(Note: I'm not looking for ways to prevent bugs in my home or anything like that. This is just a for-fun/out-of-curiosity thing. Personal experiences would be great!)

Avoiding a bed bugs infestation

grrarrgh00 — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:14:13 -0800

I just woke up from a night in my Amsterdam hotel room and realized my bed has bed bugs in it. How do I make dead certain these things don't return with me to the US? Also, what should I expect from the hotel? I've spent the last two nights in a boutique hotel in Amsterdam.

Last night, I came back to my room and relaxed for a while reading on the bed. When I got up, I saw that there were bites down the back of one arm, but I didn't pay much attention; I thought an ant might have gotten into my jacket or something. I slept through the night, but when I woke up, I discovered another bite on my other arm. I suspected something was up, got up immediately, and inspected the sheets. I saw one dead bed bug, and several more live ones crawling around. (Ick.)

I'm downstairs in the lobby now, waiting for the hotel's housekeeping manager to arrive. I imagine I need to get all of my clothes laundered; they were on a seat touching the bed all night. What should I do with my luggage? How do I get into a set of uninfested clothes (I'm currently wearing the outfit I wore last night when I got in)? What other steps can I take?

Also, do you have any tips on interacting with hotel management about this? What should I expect from them? If they offer to launder my things, should I let them?

I had originally planned to transfer to another hotel today (this hotel was covered by the conference I was speaking at; I had previously reserved another room for myself at a place in a different part of town). Should I call them and explain the situation? Is there a chance I could get my things treated well enough today that bringing the infestation with me wouldn't be an issue?

Thanks much for your help with this. These things are so nasty.

We can't get him out of our lives, but help us get him out of our computers!

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:46:57 -0800

We know my ex-brother-in-law has been hacking into my sister and my mother's email. Now what? We, the entire family, have of course changed all of our passwords. Is there anyway that we can retrieve emails that he deleted? Is there anyway to know if he has installed malicious software on our computers? I have run all my virus checks on mine, but I still don't feel safe. My sister also has a feeling that he may have bugged her house. How can we tell?
Ultimately is there any way that we can stop him?

Good NYC Bed bug exterminator?

Liquidwolf — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:06:45 -0800

Does anyone in New York City have any recommendations for a decent, reliable , honest bed bug exterminator? I'm concerned that a lot of these places are either lazy or just do a poor job to keep themselves in business. If anyone has any leads I'd greatly appreciate it.

Roaches in buildings

emilyd22222 — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:35:42 -0800

Are there roaches in every U.S. building? I distinctly remember hearing from a credible source (may have been the New Yorker) that every building in the U.S. has roaches in it. This was probably a qualified statement, like "every large building" or "every building over 10 years old" or something. Now I'm trying to settle an argument with a friend, who claims that there aren't roaches in the 8-floor, 30 year old university building in which we work. Help me, Hive Mind! Is there any data about the extent of roach infestation?

I need to kill one pest while protecting another.

mecran01 — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:43:25 -0800

We have spiders and pill bugs in our basement. I want to spray for them, but I also have pet rats that I like to let wander around on occasion, and don't want them to get sick. Is there a natural bug spray that is rodent safe? (I know, our basement sounds like a fun place) My nine-year-old is sleeping on the couch until I take care of the bugs. I also need to figure out how all of the pill bugs are getting into our basement bathroom.

Do I have bed bugs?!

prior — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:20:29 -0800

Could a bed bug have made this bite? Forgive me for asking another long bug-related question. My girlfriend's apartment building has been having problems with bed bugs--there is definitely an infestation in one of the units, and though an inspector came and cleared my gf's apartment, I slept there on Tuesday night and woke up with what I believed were bed bug bites on my back and hands. They're in the typical bed bug bite formation of threes, don't really hurt or itch, etc.

I went home from work on weds. and took some precautions against spreading the bugs to my apt--washed and heat-dried all the clothes I'd worn in her house, as well as my comforter, sheets, pillow cases, etc. I went to sleep that night and woke up bite-free.

My gf slept over at my place last night, and though I know the likelihood that she brought bed bugs into my place on her clothes is low, she could have brought them in her bag, I suppose. Anyway, she left, and I went about my sick day, reading in bed, and at some point looked down at my hand, which was suddenly itching and swelling up, to see this bite.

It's not anything like the other bites--it's swollen, raised, white, the size of a dime, and has a "trail" of raised swelling more like a spider bite's. Sorry the picture quality isn't good.

Anyway, could this be a bed bug bite? Do they ever manifest as described above? Can't find any info online to affirm or deny. Any advice/info/encouragement appreciated.

Need to get rid of roaches fast

Ikazuchi — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:44:53 -0800

Can anyone recommend a good pest control company in Tampa, FL? The roaches in my kitchen must DIE DIE DIE. I'm out of town for three days and walk into my kitchen to find four of the not-so-little bastards crawling around. I can't use my kitchen until they are gone.

Name this bug, please!

jeanmari — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:29:37 -0800

I can't seem to identify these bugs. Help! At first, I panicked when these swarmed next to our house today because I immediately assumed that they were termites. But they definitely have ant-shaped bodies (with a defined waist), unlike a termite. Their bodies are a little over .25 inches long. Their wings are paper-y white.

When my neighbor pointed them out to me, they were swarming out from under our outside A/C unit (or pretty close to it). They were thickly carpeting the ground and crawling over everything. (Ugh, I just shudder thinking this.) I thought they might be leafcutters, but nothing I've read about leafcutters implies they would be this far north. I've also not seen anything swarm like this and we've lived in this house for 6 years. The weather was especially humid today and we live in Chicago, if that helps.

I captured two in my daughter's bug jar just in case I can't identify them from the internet. But they are walking around so quickly, I can't get a good photo of them.

The Mold Creatures. What ARE they?

lipsum — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 16:53:12 -0800

Hello. A weird one: In my bathroom there's some mold. I clean it up once a while, but it's kinda there. Anyway, from time to time I can see some bugs running through it. Little bugs, coming out where there's running water, and disappearing, once the water's out. They're *tiny*. Real tiny. Smaller than an ant. Anyone has any idea what I'm talking about? Can anyone direct me to any information regarding these bugs? Thank you!

Am I overreacting to a yellow jacket sting?

fiercecupcake — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 06:41:13 -0800

Is this yellow jacket sting normal? I have a doctor's appointment for later today. I'm not sure if I'm overreacting. I know my histamine response is! Pics and I had never been stung by anything before. I got stung on the back of the calf on Sunday, mid-morning. That makes today Day 3 (Day 2, Day 1), and the itching is unbearable and there is still a lot of swelling and inflammation. My dad got stung 5 times and his itch, but are getting better. My wife got stung 4 times and hers are almost gone (even one on her thumb). Mine just seems to get worse and worse.

I read this bee sting thread, but I know yellow jackets are supposed to be worse. The swelling extends about 1 inch from the sting site on all sides, and then the inflammation spreads about 6 inches down my leg. What's the worst that can happen? What will the doctor do? Am I better off just taking a bunch of Benadryl and toughing it out, or is my leg gonna fall off?

(Possibly useful information: I'm the girl who gets eaten alive by all bugs, no matter how much DEET I have on, and swell up around the bites and itch for days. I've spent at least half of every recent vacation in a Benadryl haze. Chiggers, mosquitoes, no-see-ums -- they ALL love me!)

What are these bugs?

srboisvert — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 03:16:26 -0800

What are these bugs [1,2,3] that are currently climbing all over my window bird feeder? They were not there just a moment ago when I put some bird seed in. Then boom. An infestation.

For scale the seeds are sunflower hearts and the bugs are about 3-4mm.

What is causing this and how do we stop it? (kill it. kill it with fire?)

exlotuseater — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:07:52 -0800

Help identify possible source or cause of these bites! My SO has been getting some raised / swollen areas on her heel / foot, and one on her pinky finger, beginning four days ago. We believe they are bites, but the source eludes us. She's extremely sensitive to tactile stimuli, so ordinarily she would notice say, a mosquito or similar. At first we suspected the dreaded--shhhh!--bedbug but these bites are occurring during the day, and an exhaustive search (including stripping the bed and laundering everything) turned up nothing.

The bites are extremely itchy at first, swell quickly like a mosquito bite, then recede, except in one case, in which the bite receded somewhat, then blistered, filling with clear liquid (lymph? plasma?).

The size of the bites vary, but they generally range from 5-15 mm in diameter, and the high point of the swelling is perhaps 3 or 4 mm.

Pictures here and here here.

We have an indoor cat, who hasn't been particularly itchy or scratchy--we combed her today, also turned up nothing. If it were fleas, we would see them. Likewise with bedbugs or spiders (but which, under different circumstances, would fit certain diagnostic criteria for bites of this nature).

I vacuumed the other day, and we have regular high-traffic wall-to-wall carpet, which I just crawled over with a high-powered flashlight, literally prying apart the nap to examine. Nothing.

Interestingly, she has gotten several "bites" like this recently, I have been in all the same places, and I have not received a single one. She does not use any skin lotion or any attractant we can identify (no perfume, etc).

She just brushed against the shower curtain five minutes ago, and the one on her pinky "reactivated" and is now itchy again.

We live in a rented condo, have been here for four years, and nothing like this has happened in the past.

We are in upstate New York.

BugFilter: Unbeknownst to us, water got under our kitchen flooring. The bad section has been pulled up and cleaned but I'm seeing some small bugs in that general area. Help!

pghjezebel — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 12:24:58 -0800

BugFilter: Unbeknownst to us, water got under our kitchen flooring. The bad section has been pulled up and cleaned but I'm seeing some small bugs in that general area. Help! Water got under our kitchen flooring and the floor buckled up. (Very old kitchen that has a layer of peel and stick tile, then old laminate flooring and then the sub flooring.)

I pulled up that area this morning because I smelled faint mildew and was worried about mold. I cleaned the area with a diluted bleach solution and have a fan blowing on the area to help it dry out.

What I'm really worried about is the small bugs that keep popping up around that area. I've only seen/killed about 10-12 of them since this morning. They are small and flea like. One or two flew when I disturbed them but for the most part they just see to jump to try and get away from me.

What are these? Are they fleas? Springtails? Something else that was just attracted to the moisture under the floor? (I haven't seen them anywhere else in the house, just specific to that area.) What should I do before they get any worse?

Bed bugs on Craigslist?

AaRdVarK — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:21:53 -0800

There's a bed frame I want for a great price on Craigslist. Should I worry about bed bugs? I've been eyeing this bed at Ikea, and I just found someone selling it on Craigslist for a third the price. I was all ready to go pick it up, and mentioned it to some friends who immediately responded with an emphatic "NO." Their concern was bed bugs. I explained that I wasn't getting a mattress, just the frame, but they were insistent that it didn't matter.

I know this is this something I should be concerned about. How concerned should I be though? It's less than a year old and coming from a nice building in the financial district. I'll definitely inspect the apartment and the frame before I make the purchase. Is there anyway I can treat the pieces before bringing them into my apartment to kill anything on them before I bring them in?

We're Probably Crazy, But We're Thinking About Eating Bugs

batgrlHG — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 12:24:00 -0800

Where can I eat bugs in southern California - on purpose? I blame this partially on watching too many episodes of Bizarre Foods and partly on y6 for thinking this is a good idea. (It's probably not, but we're silly that way.) We're looking for a place that serves bugs on the menu - and while I can google up a few places (there may be a Thai place in Santa Monica, can't find a link at the moment) I'd love to know if anyone has actually been to a restaurant that served bugs in the US. We can also road trip to anywhere in southern CA, will be going to Las Vegas soon and will be at the meetup in New Orleans. Any suggestions? (Yes, I'm afraid we will take photos.) Or any tips on bug eating, even if you've only had them in other countries?

I'm leaning more towards something small like ants and away from something like the giant cockraoch that would take more than one bite. y6 thinks scorpions sounds like fun.
*eye roll*
Obviously we're hoping that at a restaurant the bug supply will be something raised at home and not just scraped off the wall.

I've done a few searches here but may have missed a thread - most of the ones on bugs were about getting rid of them or eating one by accident. Let me know if I've missed something obvious!

Please tell me it was just an insect that sampled our nectarines.

kdern — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 09:07:56 -0800

Please tell me it was just an insect that sampled our nectarines. We left two nectarines on the kitchen counter last night and woke up to find this. Please tell me a bug could have done this, that it wasn't something larger.

We live in St. Louis, MO, in a house that's about 60 years old, so we do find bugs occasionally. We're due for an exterminator visit anyway.

I did find a caterpillar in another room last night, but I think it's unrelated. He didn't look hungry.

P.S. I placed them on the paper towel for the photo. They were right on the counter, and some small bits of nectarine skin were laying beside them.

Where did these dead ants come from?

LolaGeek — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 06:50:10 -0800

Where are these dead ants coming from? And how can I keep them from showing up in my house? Last year I noticed that a lot of dead ants were turning up on my living room windowsill and the floor in front of the window. They were just regular sized black ants (less than 1/4" long, not sure exactly how big), they all had wings, and when I saw them they were either dead or dying. I cleaned them up when I saw them, put an ant trap by the window and eventually they went away.

For the last few weeks I've noticed the same type of dead or dying ants on the floor of my front bedroom (directly above the living room). They don't seem to be around the windows at all. I just notice some little black thing in the carpet and bend down to see that it's an ant. I haven't seen any downstairs in the living room so far.

There is no food in the areas I've found the ants. They don't seem to be going to or from anywhere. They just appear, and they're always dead or close to it. Any ideas where they're coming from, how I can keep them out of the house, or if they're a sign of some worse problem?

what are these weird red things?

5_13_23_42_69_666 — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:21:09 -0800

What the heck are these little red knobs growing on my tree? I just noticed these yesterday - they are growing on the tree that's just outside my bedroom window, and I have no idea what they could be. fungus? bug eggs? aliens? I don't have a very good screen for my window, and I worry that they'll hatch or something and my room will be crawling with bugs. ack!

I live in downtown Toronto, if that helps. Thanks!

What are these bugs coming out at night and why do they die so fast?

rintako — Thu, 21 May 2009 23:47:50 -0800

What are these bugs coming out at night and why do they die so fast? At night usually past 12PM, these bugs about 3-5 times the size of fruit flies come out of no where and start flying insanely, mostly gravitated towards my lamp. After a couple of minutes of this, I'll hear a plop and look at my desk to see them upside down as if they're struggling to survive or something, and then they die.

What are these bugs, why do I have them, and why are they dying so fast?

Entomologists, please weigh in on what type of insect this is.

binocularfight — Tue, 05 May 2009 22:16:09 -0800

Entomologists!!! What kind of bug is this? any entomologists out there want to tell me what kind of bug this is? the picture is blurry because a) the bug was captured using a q-tip drenched in rubbing alcohol, b) the bug is very small (it would be a speck on the end of the q-tip), and c) the bug was transferred to a scanner after the alcohol dried.

in your response, please tell me how certain you are regarding the type of bug (as in, "i'm an entomologist and i'm 100% certain," or "i'm about 85% certain, but hold no degrees in insectology," etc.).

thank you so much for your help and time!

you make me tick tick tick tick tick tick tick

banannafish — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:53:22 -0800

How can I safely get rid of ticks in a backyard with as few chemicals as possible, preferably no chemicals? My parents have a very large yard, including multiple fruit trees and an expansive garden, however they also have my two nieces, my nephew and a huge, nay, massive infestation of ticks. I was there this past weekend and in the two hours I spent outside I somehow got seven ticks on me. It is ridiculous and pretty much every night my parents spend about an hour looking for ticks on themselves and the kids.

Since my nieces and nephew live with them and spend a huge portion of their time playing, gardening, and just generally spending time outside and in the garden, they are looking for an organic and chemical free way to rid themselves of the ticks that does not involve chickens or guniea hens. Chickens are not an option, but they are willing to try pretty much anything else.

If it helps, they are located in the Ohio River Valley area where WV/KY/OH meet.

Seeking books/resources on working with other people's code.

giggleknickers — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 06:33:44 -0800

I would like to find some books that cover how to work with other people's code. I'm a student and an intermediate level java programmer. I am working with someone else's code on a major project for the first time ever. I am quite used to developing projects from scratch, but trying to make sense of someone else's code is a nightmare, especially since it is very poorly written.

The program is "done" and my job is to make it better. Fix bugs, clean up the awfully written code, etc.

There are so many books on how to develop software from the beginning. Are there any books on how to take pre-existing software and give it an overhaul?

How can I enjoy my deck without being swarmed by bugs?

Fleebnork — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 13:21:24 -0800

How can I enjoy my deck without being swarmed by bugs? (I searched previous questions and didn't find anything pertaining to bugs, yards and/or decks, porches, or patios.)

I have a nice big deck on the back of my house. Unfortunately I live in Georgia, and that means bugs. Lots and lots of bugs. The bugs in question are gnats and mosquitoes. The gnats are just annoying and seem to want to fly up my nostrils. And mosquitoes are... well you know.

We've tried citronella candles and tiki torches, but they don't really work. I don't have a covered deck, so creating a screened area would be a major rebuild, so that's not a possibility.

Can anyone recommend anything, or are we just kind of stuck with the bugs?

Looking for an ant game

frankie_stubbs — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 13:08:18 -0800

Looking for a game where you trap ants with sticks. I played this game years ago where there is a swarm of ants (At least I'm pretty sure it's ants) and you just place sticks down to try and trap them inside. Does anybody know what this game is? It isn't Ant Buster, Ant War, Ant Bully, or Ant City.