Category Archives: Household pests
New cockroach publication
“So what did you do at work today dear?” “I helped finish a new factsheet on cockroaches.” OK, so dinner banter with an Extension entomologist spouse often leaves much to be desired. And us bug people are never going to get rich or earn wide praise for our publications. But I like to think that people benefit from products like the new factsheet on Cockroach Biology and Management regardless of how unappealing the subject. Extension publication E-359 is the first major revision of the Texas cockroach factsheet in… Read More →
A Simple Technique for Insect Removal
It’s summertime in Texas. As the temperature gets hotter, we all retreat into our air conditioned homes from the exhausting heat. Unfortunately, many insects have the same idea. There is, however, an easy way to get pesky insects, spiders, and even geckos, out of the house without hysteria and breaking things. The Jar Technique is a simple way to capture small crawling animals using just two different materials found around the house: a jar and an index card, credit card or a piece of paper. Many first reactions… Read More →
Poor spiders
Why do spiders get such a bad rap? They include some of the most beautiful and helpful species of arthropods on the planet. They are extremely adaptable, and make this amazing stuff called spider silk. Yet, if we can believe the statistics, a high percentage of people (at least in the US) can’t stand to be near spiders. So why do we hate spiders? Is it their eight legs? OK, well maybe that’s a little creepy (I admit that even liking six-legged insects is an acquired taste). Is… Read More →
Invasive crazy ant in Austin area
The tiny crazy ant, known either as the Rasberry crazy ant or the Carribbean crazy ant, is now in the Austin area. See the story from the Austin American Statesmen, for more information. I won’t say much about this except to note that this is thought to be a mostly tropical ant, and the general consensus is that it won’t do as well where winters are cold and humidity is low. Whether it will turn out to be a serious problem in relatively dry Austin, or whether it… Read More →
First scorpion sting antidote
Scorpions are one of those icons of life in Texas. It’s hard to imagine Texas without its droughts, twisters and hurricanes, floods and venomous wildlife. But when it comes to scorpions, Texas is not the riskiest place to live. Arizona and parts of New Mexico are home to the deadliest scorpion, and the target of a new antidote called Anascorp, recently approved by the FDA. Marketed as the first antidote for scorpion stings, Anascorp, Centruroides (Scorpion) Immune F(ab’)2 (Equine) Injection, is made from the plasma of horses immunized… Read More →
Little Spartina bug common now in east Texas
Try as we might, we can’t escape nature. That might be the lesson for many folks who live near rural areas in east and central Texas. This week I’ve had several calls about a small black insect invading homes. Scientifically it’s known as Ischnodemus falicus, a member of the Lygaeid or seed bug family. This insect has been invading homes in Tyler and the northeastern Texas counties and has also been reported from the College Station area. It is an example of a typical fall invader–not dangerous or damaging… Read More →
Click beetles gone wild
Some of the most interesting, and sometimes amusing, household insects that cross my desk are ones that aren’t in the pest control handbook. We call these “occasional invaders”, and they are outdoor insects that seemingly accidentally find their way indoors. So far the accidental invader of the month is the click beetle. Over the past week or two I’ve had nearly a half dozen calls about insects fitting the description of click beetles getting into homes. One woman complained about the click beetles in her bed. This is… Read More →
Vacationing with bed bugs
If you’re among the millions of American vacationers this summer, you may want to pack a plan for how to avoid bed bugs. Yes, those tiny blood-sucking insects you’ve heard about on the news might just be waiting for you in a hotel or hostel. I admit that I’ve not yet personally stayed in a hotel room with bed bugs (although I know others who have, and I’ve seen evidence of bed bugs in very nice hotels). Most hotels and hotel rooms around the country are bed bug… Read More →
Bed bugs in your hotel… what to do after?
Imagine that you’re traveling and staying in a nice hotel. The next morning you discover bites and confirm that your room has bed bugs. What do you do? This is an increasingly common problem for travelers, as well as a nightmare for the hotel industry. Recently a question came into our office from a person with just this experience. She had stayed in a hotel with bed bugs. Immediately after returning home she called her local health department and was advised to discard all her personal belonging if… Read More →
Its the flea’s knees…or not
In this NPR Science Friday video, scientists Greg Sutton and Malcolm Burrows, of the University of Cambridge, filmed fleas jumping. They then sorted through different theories of how they jumped and concluded that fleas use their feet and not knees to push off the ground and jump on your cat or your dog. The high speed photography is amazing and I especially liked the slo-mo- photography of a flea’s jump compared to the blink of a human eye. An adult flea can jump approximately 13 inches, a little… Read More →
