Something strange I've noticed this year reference insect activity

[CatWoman]

which has been very little.

This time of year in Georgia, there are usually spiders everywhere. Normally when going outside I'd have to be real careful to avoid their webs.

And during the peak summer months, Palmetto bugs would normally be crawling on the porch, in the trees, alongside the house. This year I've seen maybe two.

All I've seen are ants. Hundreds and hundreds of ants.

[BlooInBloo]

1. Ants are badasses.

[CatWoman]

7. not nearly as bad as you, Bloo

:hi:

[BlooInBloo]

18. I have my moments.

:hi:

[KansDem]

60. That's why we should watch out...

...for Them!

[mike_c]

2. it's been dry back east right...?

Drought will affect insect abundance, especially in places that are typically pretty moist.

[whistle]

The spiders have come south to Orlando FL, my house has been infested

...never had so many as this year

[Mojorabbit]

3. Still seeing

palmetto bugs here but you are right on the spider population. Way down.

[aquart]

4. You huge flying cockroaches in Georgia???????

Dear God, I thought they were limited to Florida.

[CatWoman]

10. I wish!!

those things scare the hell out of me, too.

They act like bloody divebombers!!!

[aquart]

19. I know. It's why I won't have a bagless vacuum cleaner.

2 am. In a tiny, narrow, NYC apartment, a huge flying cockroach divebombing me. Neighbors unable to hear me scream...so loudly. Sucked it up with the vacuum hose and shuddered the rest of the night.

WTF WAS IT DOING IN NEW YORK? Our cockroaches do. not. fly.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. Lots and lots of bees in my back yard this summer.

And spiders everywhere.

[Skip Intro]

6. That is a nice, clean subject line...

I just had to remark on that.


As far as ants - its warfare. I'll do my best to remove an insect from my house rather than kill it, but ants - they come in armies. Its war.

[aquart]

20. But I have such respect for ants.

I can't bring myself to kill them until the last moment.

[CatWoman]

29. I'm still trying to get the meaning of your comment

are ALL of my threads filled with potty mouth verbiage?

[Skip Intro]

35. no no no

just struck me as "data-like" (Star Trek) - I could just see him saying something "in referene to insect activity" -

or maybe it was that third shot of Seagrams


but no offense

[CatWoman]

40. lol

Data???

:hi:

[Donkeykick]

8. Insects have been abundant around my part of Ohio.

The Japanese Beetles were plenty. Maybe that's one reason there were a lot of spiders too.

[CC]

9. We have a bumper crop of

spiders here, bees and about every other insect I can think of too.Way more than usual. We are also in a drought so not sure the if weather has a lot to do with it. Those of you missing your normal insects could take some of these back though.

[sandnsea]

11. well how would you ever go home

There were a few that got inside when I lived in Biloxi. I would have to get me a burqua if they were swarming outside the way you describe. ick ick ick.

I will never forget asking about bugs when renting places - "well you're a yankee, ain't ya. honey they're just little bitty ol' bugs - step on 'em." eeeeww.

[theoldman]

12. Here in North Texas we had a very wet Spring.

As a result we have had an over abundance of web worms in the trees, lots of mosquitoes and even a lot of insects around the boats at our lake. My guess is that a lot of rain means a lot of insects. I do not think I have seen a lot of ants.

[woodsprite]

13. Checking in from northern DE. We've had an overabundance

of spiders and fat juicy daddy longlegs. It's been a horrible summer for me because I'm arachnaphobic. They seem to especially like my car :( YUCK!!! Our snakes are growing large here too, and were talking just on the outskirts of the main college campus. They must be chowing down on all the toads. It just seems like everything BUT the carpenter ants have come out of the woodwork this summer. Carpenter ants - haven't seen many at all!

However, I'm am GLAD I'm nowhere near that huge web in Texas that I saw on the news a month or so ago!

[Bobbieo]

14. No spiders and haven't heard one cricket all summer in Yuma, AZ

[kineneb]

15. this past spring: Attack of the Earwigs!

they were everywhere, gazillions of them under everything... I couldn't get the vegie plants started. Every time I planted something, it chewed to nothing in one or two days.

Earlier this month we had the Invasion of the Ants. I apologized to them and put down insect poison where they were entering. I leave them alone outside, but in my house, all over my kitchen countertops...AAAAhhh... meet the sponge of death!

[bdamomma]

53. how about those gypsy moths, has anyone seen those?

the nests are really yucky.

[Cleita]

16. Ants seem to become more visible during drought. I think they are

looking for moisture. It doesn't mean that they aren't around. It's just they don't come out as much when things are moist. Although, our climate here is considered semi-arid, I've noticed it to be much drier in the last few years and you probably are noticing the same in Georgia.

[mitchtv]

17. Crickets here

and bees, lots of them; SE Calif

[leftofthedial]

21. I've seen SHITLOADS of cockroaches

driving SUV's and cars with W '04 stickers and shit

[stop the bleeding]

22. *spray*

:toast:
:rofl:

[CatWoman]

30. bwahahahahahahaha

:rofl:

:thumbsup:

[HughMoran]

23. I see some interesting variations from year to year

It is fascinating/annoying (lol) watching the cycles of dragon flies, gypsy moth caterpillars & crickets.

[misanthrope]

24. Drought**nm

**

[Lucinda]

25. Ants and some sort of caterpillary thing

But I hadnt thought about that. It was spider central around here last year.

[tabasco]

26. Lots of spiders here in WV.

Saw two snakes last week too.

Northern ring-neck and a garter snake that I caught for awhile then let him go.

[Thirtieschild]

27. We've had to send a couple of centipedes to centipede heaven this fall

One today was sneaky - he'd twisted himself in the shape of leaf. We might have fallen for it except we could see all those legs. The centipedes here aren't nearly as big as the ones I remember in Texas and OKlahoma, but whatever the size you want to keep their distance. I'm doing my best to, if not offer friendship, at least tolerate spiders. I've always been so terrified of them I can't even touch a picture of one. Ever since i came out worst when I met a brown recluse in my bed, I havne't been so intent to kill everyone I see. I'm now watching several growing incredibly fat. They aren't as nearly as large as the golden orb spiders in Georgia but they're good size.

I like ants, try to talk to them and point out that they have their place and I have mine and we really can't co-exist. Palmetto bugs I know - and despise - but what on earth are earwigs? Hear you talking about them and have no idea what they are.

[silverojo]

28. This is what earwigs are....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earwig

[Thirtieschild]

36. Thanks. They look awful. What part of the country do you find them?

[bdamomma]

52. I am just guessing and throwing my two cents in mostly

in the Northeast.

[jjanpundt]

54. Earwigs are nasty, mean little critters and this year

at least in the suburbs of Chicago we had a huge infestation. Some of them were huge and the pinch they gave actually numbed my foot for a moment. They were everywhere, but Terminex came to the rescue!

[I Have A Dream]

42. I like this comment...

I like ants, try to talk to them and point out that they have their place and I have mine and we really can't co-exist.

I've tried it myself. :D

[RebelOne]

31. That's strange that all you've seen are ants.

Up here in North Georgia usually during spring and summer, I would be beseiged by ants. For past couple of years, I have not seen a single ant. In fact, I think I have only seen a couple of dead roaches, where normally, I would have to keep a can of Raid handy to kill them all. Also, the fire ants have disappeared.

[CatWoman]

32. I think wer'e seeing a lot more ants here because of the drought

I work in Chamblee, and have noticed serious ant activity around the building.

They even had to have someone come out and spray -- the trash cans in front of the building were swarming with them.

[RebelOne]

64. Well, I guess that's where all the ants in my area have gone -- to Chamblee. n/t

[UTUSN]

33. After a very wet summer, this after 15 yrs of drought, LOTS of spiders here!!1

And seven long years of THIS particular bug!!1




Unfortunately, I *have* walked into the webs a couple of times, including one where the owner landed on my sleeve, freaking me out!!1 I love animals and other living things, but I SQUASHED that one, sorry.

[Blue Diadem]

34. Did they all come up to Ohio?

We are overwhelmed with spiders and insects. I look outside and see those tunnel spiders are not only on my shrubs and lawn but in the neighbors' yards as well. Last week, I was outside barefoot in the front yard for just a second and had a wolf spider about the size of my big toe run on my foot. Yeah..I ran inside and put on shoes. EWWWWWWW

Yellow jackets are more abundant around here this year, so are ants and mosquitoes. There are insects & bugs I've never seen before, some I've at least been able to identify and some I haven't.

It's weird, I've always been able to do most of my fall cleanup by now and I have so much work to do outside yet I'm avoiding it due to the abundance of bugs. The town has sprayed for the mosquitoes but it's everything else that's clingin', buzzin' or crawlin'.

The one thing I haven't seen this year..a horsefly, not a one. We've had those every year 'cept this one.

[woodsprite]

37. Ewww, we've had the horseflies here in Delaware.

I've never seen them so big. In fact, I swore it was some other kind of flying bug - it made such a buzzing sound and ws HUGE - close to 1" long!

[Blue Diadem]

41. They are huge and their bite is awful.

It had become a ritual for my DH to keep a tennis racket on the patio for those buggers.

[RebelOne]

65. I have been bitten by horseflies.

I used to own horses and they were in the pasture. Many times I have been bitten.

[Blue Diadem]

68. I've never been bitten, but my daughter's friend received a nasty one

on her back when they were teens and out doing a bug collection for biology. I still remember seeing the open wound that creature left. :scared:

[Horse with no Name]

38. We are spider infested in East Texas

I've never seen it so bad. You can't walk through the yard because they are like little crackheads spinning their webs out of control.

[karlrschneider]

39. Well, there are more spiders than usual here and fewer ants. What's WEIRD is that

there are still lightning bugs flying around! I have NEVER seen that past early September and there were several this evening.

[Subdivisions]

44. The fundamental natural balance we have always known is

teetering. We are fast approaching the tipping point. What happens after that is a mystery.

I could be wrong, but I honestly don't remember North Texas reaching into the 90s into October. But then I am more aware of changes lately and perhaps it did reach the 90s regularly in October. Anyone know where to find historical temperature data?

[alfredo]

43. Drought has suppressed insect population. Some insects are

more immune to drought.

[Kazak]

45. Saw lots of spiders in Oklahoma this summer...

We had a relatively wet one though.

[BronxBoy]

46. Well...

I haven' seen a Palmetto bug since I moved here, so please keep them Cat. Last thing I'd want is my waking me up at 2Am to chase a fucking flying roach out the bathroom! LOL

We've had a pretty good ecological year. We have a shitload of rabbits and a fair amount of deer. We grow organic veggies as a part-time venture and we added a ton of raised beds. When we put the tomato plants out. We staked them and it looked like a little mini forest. That attracted more birds especially robins and jays which ate my usual summer nemesis: the junebug. I hate those horny bastards. All thy do is eat up your bean plants and screw on their skeletal remains. But we didn't see many this year. I'm pretty sure the birds got them.

We saw a lot more toads and for the first time actually saw some snakes which was good. We also had a few visits from a couple of tortoises And we had some hawks hang around for awhile probably because of all of the rabbits.

I think the drought does have a lot to do with what you are seeing but I also think development pressure has a lot to do with it as well. I think the wasy land development occurs down here upsets the environment to such an extent as it throws everything really out of balance.

And Bloo is right, Ants are baddasses. Especially those damn fireants. My wife brought me this pain in the ass rat terrier for Xmas. Anyway this little shit got loose and ran into the woods and had me chasing his ass for over an hour. Anyway during the excitement of the chase, I must have stepped in a hill of those fuckers because after i got home and caught my breath, mmy feet started to itch. I took off my socks and there were about a hundred little blisters. Those suckers swelled up and I was in misery for a couple of days.

I didn't know a fireant from a fire truck before I moved down here but I sure hate those little red fuckers now!

[CatWoman]

49. bwahahahahahaha

DIVE!!!

DIVE!!!

DIVE!!!



:hi:

[BronxBoy]

55. Jeez...

Is that what they look like???

[CatWoman]

56. yes, however never seen one that big

but they are huge nonetheless

http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/entomology/444-288/444-288.html

[piedmont]

61. Those bites you got while chasing your dog were from chiggers.

Parasitic mite juveniles. It helps to take a shower after walking around in tall brush.

[Buns_of_Fire]

76. One small correction: YOU do not chase PALMETTO BUGS...

THEY chase YOU. Actually, the ones I've become acquainted with are fairly sporting -- when you stumble upon them in the kitchen, they're usually agreeable to a two-out-of-three falls match for that last slice of pizza you forgot and left on the table. Warning, though: they cheat.

But NOTHING can truly describe the experience of having a nice, fat south Florida cockroach/palmetto bug fall in your face at four in the morning after they slipped while trying to walk across the ceiling upside-down. I swear, I think it did it on purpose.

[Feron]

47. There's plenty of insect and spider activity here.

In fact this year we have a bumper crop of devil's horses aka eastern lubber grasshoppers. Yuck!

The only anomaly is the lack of fireflies, but that's due to the parish spraying for mosquitoes. I swear the chemicals kill everything BUT the mosquitoes.

As for arachnids, we've never had a shortage of spiders. I'm currently trying to discourage one of them from making its web right across my walkway. Stubborn little things. :)

[Evoman]

48. There has been a drop in diversity in a lot of insect groups.

I'm a pseudoentomologist, and I have a lot of contact with entomologists who study ecology and phylogenetics.

There has been a marked decrease in insect diversity. Most of the major groups are there, but some of the more rare species are ever rarer now (and some may be extinct). For example, I spoke with a colleague who says that grasshoppers that he would commonly have seen 10 years ago he can't find anymore. Of course, to the layman...all grasshoppers are the same, right? And even if some species are extinct, who cares right?

Edit: spiders and ants and grasshoppers will always be around. But is disconcerting that the TYPES of each are decreasing. Again, most people can't tell the difference between species of spiders or cockroaches or grasshoppers...its a hell of a lot more than just colours.

[CatWoman]

50. why do I envision you wearing stylish glasses and using your

finger for emphasis? :)

[Evoman]

62. Lol....nothing could be further from the truth.

Imagine a big latino guy with messy hair wearing glasses he bought 6 years ago and your getting closer.

[havocmom]

51. We have a livestock quarantine due to a disease carried by gnats

LOTS of gnats.

[piedmont]

57. I'm in GA too, but we've had lots of arthropods of all kinds this year.

Cicadas, katydids, spiders, ants, millipedes, centipedes, scorpions, praying mantises, etc. I love 'em.

[supernova]

58. I'm not seeing as many big brown spiders here

They are about 2" long and fat things. They love to spin big webs in your eaves and just hang there upside down. Normally I've got 3 or 4 around the house. But I've only seen one so far.

[CatWoman]

63. That's exactly the type spiders we normally have!!!

HUGE monsters :scared:

[supernova]

66. WillPitt famously quaked in his boots

when he saw those suckers hanging from ShortBus's eaves!

:rofl: :rofl:

[iamthebandfanman]

59. thats odd, in kentucky

there are WAY MORE spiders this fall than i remember in years past....
i also noticed a SEVERE lack of everyday honey bees.... i saw a few large bumble bees and wasps and hornets... but absent were the many honey bees im acustom to seeing every year.

things they are-a-changing.

only for the worst i fear.

[H2O Man]

67. There was a fly

in my living room yesterday. It was really bugging me. I felt it was intentional.

[CatWoman]

73. Al Haig sent him

:)

[NickB79]

69. Boxelder beetles are going insane in central Minnesota

My dad's place is crawling with them.

[Midlodemocrat]

70. I've had my house sprayed four times and still can't get

rid of the ants. The little bitty sugar ants.

The exterminator says it is because we are in a drought.

[trusty elf]

71. Deciderman spun a web on my balcony

[CatWoman]

74. Christ

what an ugly spider!! :hi:

[trusty elf]

75. He was ugly and venomous too.

So I had to do away with him!

:hi:

[trusty elf]

72. self-deleted

This one was a bit too rude.

[renie408]

77. Its the heat and the drought.

We are having the same thing here.


I can live without palmetto bugs, those skateboard looking motherfuckers...I HATE those things.