It is not uncommon to occasionally see a fruit fly (or several) in the house. Yes, they are annoying but can they carry diseases? Fruit flies can transfer bacteria and other disease carrying organisms to any food they land on.

Prevention is the best way to avoid any problems with fruit flies, here are some tips:

• Clean up any spilled food or liquid on counters, near garbage cans, in cupboards, etc…
• Eat or throw away any over ripe fruit
• Keep an eye on your recycling bin, the flies love food residue left on cans and bottles
• Take out the garbage on a regular basis

If you already have a problem with the flies you’ll want to eliminate any food source. Once you eliminate all food sources that could attract the flies, you’ll want to thoroughly clean all surfaces where the flies could’ve laid eggs. This is important because while you may not see any flies, their eggs may still be in hiding.  Doing a good deep clean is usually effective against the fruit flies.

If you’d like to trap the adult fruit flies, many people have success with setting out bowls of dish soap and vinegar, red wine or even rotting fruit covered with saran wrap and a small hole poked into it; the flies go in but can’t find their way out.

Fruit flies may be a nuisance in the house but the tiny flies are beneficial; fruit flies are often used in college science labs, they’re used to help develop new mosquito repellents and fruit flies are even used to research human genetics.

This is the second post in a series about odd insects. Our first post was about the cow ant which is actually a wasp.

The crab spider is another odd insect. It’s a spider but has a shell that is shaped like a crab’s shell. The formal name for this insect is Gasteracantha cancriformis but it’s also called the crab spider, jewel spider, smiley face spider, jewel box spider and a variety of other names

This peculiar spider is found in the southern states from California to Florida and they’re also found in South and Central America. Crab spiders are often spotted in the citrus groves.

Gasteracantha cancriformis are actually quite small; the females are 5 to 9 mm in length and 10 to 13 mm in width and the males are even smaller. As you can see from the picture, they can be brightly colored. The crab spider pictured is yellow but the spiders can be any combination of red, yellow, black and white. Crab spiders are often seen in their webs which usually have little puffs of silk (you can see one above the spider in the photo). The purpose of the tufts is not known but the book Florida’s Fabulous Spiders By Sam Marshall, G. B. Edwards says the tufts of silk serve as a warning sign to birds and other creatures to avoid accidentally destroying the web.

Crab spiders can bite but they’re not poisonous and you typically wont find them in the house.

The tarantula is one of the most recognized spider and it’s probably one of the most feared. They’re known for being hairy and VERY large.

There are over 900 species of tarantulas around the world and about four dozen of those species live here in North America. Most tarantulas found in the United States are brown and believe it or not, harmless. The bite of a tarantula from around California is comparable to a wasp or bee sting. What to do if bitten by a tarantula?

In addition to their infamous fangs, most tarantulas living in both North and South America also have urticating hairs which are more often than not used as a first line of defense. These hairs contain a mild venom that is irritating to sensitive areas.

Tarantulas are most active at night so chances are, you wont see these arachnids walking   around the yard or house by day. You may however, find their burrows (picture to the right) in your yard.

The first sign you have tarantulas nesting in your house is finding one of their silken tube tent nests. The nests can be found in dark corners of storage closets, cabinets and the attic as well as storage boxes and any storage areas in the garage.

If you’ve located a tarantula nest, the best thing is to call a professional to remove the spiders, any eggs and its web. No one wants tarantulas in the house, but they may be beneficial outside. Tarantulas and other spiders help keep other insect populations down.

Did you know tarantulas can live up to 30 years in the wild?

Yes, the state of California has an official state insect. California also has a state bird, state tree and even a state fossil.

The dogface butterfly became, by law, the state insect of California in 1972 but it unofficially had the title for years before that. One of the main factors for choosing the dogface butterfly was because the insect is only found in California.

As with many insects, the male and female are easy to tell apart. In the picture to the left the male is on the top and the female is on the bottom.

The butterfly’s formal name is Zerene eurydice but is called the dogface butterfly because it is thought the wing pattern of the male resembles a dog’s face. Besides it’s unusual name, the dogface butterfly is interesting because it isn’t seen very often in the wild and photographs of open wings are difficult because the butterfly flies so fast.

Below is a video of the dogface butterfly on a California Fuschia.

This is the first installment in a series of posts about weird insects. I thought I’d start with the cow ant because even its name is odd.

The cow ant is technically not an ant; it’s actually a wingless, female wasp. These furry insects are part of the family mutillidae. Male mutillidae have wings and cannot sting. There are over 4,000 species of mutillidae around the world; 400 can be found here in the US. Cow ants are most often spotted in the sandy areas of the US.

Also known as velvet ants, mutillidae have a thick hair covering their body. In the picture above the cow ant has red and black hair but they can also be seen with gold, silver or white hair. While the picture above is not the actual size, it may be pretty close. Cow ants are about an inch long or the size of other wasps.

So why are they called cow ants? The cow ant has a very painful sting (remember she’s actually a wasp) and is thought to be so painful it could kill a cow. But, cow ants are not aggressive and would rather be left alone. Adult Mutillidae feed on water and nectar.

Pest control note: cow ants do not cause any damage.

Sorry for the short hiatus (okay several months) but we are back AND you’ll start seeing posts more often than just once a week.

Way back in January we wrote a post about black widow spiders; these black and red bodied spiders are probably the first to come to mind when poisonous insects are mentioned but the brown recluse spider is another poisonous spider that is common in the U.S., especially in the Midwest.

But don’t worry Californians, there are no brown recluse spider populations in California. This is contrary to popular belief…there have been sightings of the arachnids in the state but it is believed they were transported here from the Midwest via people relocating to the state. While there are 100 species of recluse spiders, only a handful can be found in California, and like I mentioned before, the brown recluse is not one of them. Species of recluse spiders found in parts of California include: Desert recluse, Chilean recluse, Russell’s recluse, Martha’s recluse, Baja recluse and the Arizona recluse.

Think you found a brown recluse spider? Here’s a great visual of how to indentify and even misidentify the brown recluse spider. One way to identify any recluse spider is by looking at their eyes. Most spiders have eight eyes arranged in two rows of four but recluses have six eyes arranged in three pairs.

All species of recluse spiders are poisonous (venomous) and are known for their necrotic bite (early death of living cells and tissues). But, most species of recluse spiders are considered pretty laid back…with the exception of the Chilean recluse.

Did you know that recluse is actually from the Latin word recludere which means “sequester?” This name is very appropriate from the recluse family of spider because they love to hide in tree bark, wood piles and even behind picture frames on the wall when in houses.

Like many pests, the fire ant was accidentally brought to the United States via cargo ship. In 1929, a ship carrying soil from South America arrived in Alabama but the imported fire ants soon spread to many of the states in the south and now the ants can be found as far north as Maryland and as far west as California.

What you need to know about fire ants:

• They look similar to ordinary ants but…are much more aggressive and their head is a lighter color than the rest of the body
• Fire ants (and all ants) are strong! They can lift fives times their weight
• The ants build large mounds (see picture to the right) that can be over a foot high, a foot wide and several feet deep into the ground
• Fire ants will eat just about any plant OR animal material…it’s no wonder they’ve been able to take over so quickly
• Researchers believe the ants wont be able to make it much further north since it’s thought that the ants can’t live in ground that drops below freezing for 2-3 weeks

But believe it or not, fire ants do have their benefits. These aggressive pests will feed on other pests such as cockroaches, ticks, etc…

The USDA has been working to control the fire ants with natural insect enemies and most of these insects target just fire ants so the population of other insect wont be affected. Two enemies that are being used in particular include the decapitating fly and the fire ant disease. Fire ant disease is in fact a protozoan disease that weakens the entire fire ant colony which slows growth.

Store bought fire ant baits are effective for controlling the fire ants mounds in your yard. The granular bait is usually sprinkled on the mound, doused with water and let sit. But for best results, follow the instructions on the fire ant bait and when in doubt, contact a pest control company.

What to do for fire ant bites?

Did you know that there are more than 30,000 different species of insects that call California home? While that number may seem large, there are actually insects in California considered endangered.

First it’s important to remember that California has the most diverse terrain and climate in all of the United States so the diversity of insects is correlated. But as the state continues to develop, the delicate balance of the ecology continues to change. On the other hand, because of California’s varying climates, many unusual species of insects, plants, animals, etc…reside strictly in the state. There are numerous species that can only be found in California, the California Timena Walking Stick is one example, and the famous redwood trees are another as they can only be found on the West Coat of the United States.

According to a Berkeley University website, there are 20 species of insects considered endangered in California and another 150 species still being reviewed. It’s interesting to note the majority of the insects on the threatened list are winged insects such as butterflies.

There is also a list of insects that have already become extinct. These species could not adapt to the changes in their habitat.

It’s obviously that the best way to prevent these species of insects (or any creature) from going extinct is by preserving their habitats. There are national parks and preserves that can help protect their homes but it’s not enough with the rapid development that is taking place in California and all over the country.

Yes, bed bugs do exist, they are about 1/5th of a inch long, reddish brown in color, wingless, and love to hide in yes, you guessed it, beds. Well more specifically, bed bugs prefer to hide inside furniture, in the seams of mattresses, behind picture frames and other similar spots.

Just like fleas, bed bugs can typically go without a meal for 140 days but in rare circumstances, an adult has gone without a meal for over 500 days!

More about the bed bug life cycle.

Bed bugs do suck blood (also similar to fleas) and leave large, itchy bumps after feeding but don’t typically carry diseases.

So how do you avoid bed bugs?

• Bed bugs can not fly or climb polished surfaces — think about coating the legs of the bed in petroleum jelly, stand the legs in glass jars or even sit the legs of the bed in soapy water
• Often times, travelers come across the bugs — do a thorough inspection before crawling into bed at night — don’t forget to check luggage stands for bed bugs!
• Avoid picking up furniture that has been left at the side of the road, this includes tables, drawers, etc…, not just beds and couches
• Prevent bugs from getting in the house by caulking windows and doors, repairing cracks, etc..
• Bed bugs don’t like heat (97°F to 99°F) or cold (below 48°F); so washing and drying bedding will kill bed bugs

Treating bed bugs is best left to a professional pest control company since the job requires very detailed work and a pesticide that is not sold over the counter.

Did you know that bed bugs were almost eradicated from the United States? Read more about the return of the bed bugs.

Fleas are pests that are seen throughout the entire country and can become quite the nuisance to both homeowners and their pets. But fleas particularly flourish in Southern California because of the warm temperatures and high humidity — just what fleas want. These pests can be difficult to control because of their small size and the large numbers of offspring; fleas can reproduce quickly.

1. There are four stages to the flea life cycle (pdf); eggs, larvae, pupae and adults — the life cycle can be completed in as little as 3 weeks if the conditions are just right
2. Female fleas can lay as many as 50 eggs a day
3. Blood from the host animals (cat, dog, human, etc…) is the main source of food for the flea
4. Flea pupae cocoons are actually resistant to insecticide
5. Fleas have been known to jump up to 150 times their own length
6. A flea can live without a meal (blood) for 100 days
7. The typical life span of a flea is 2 to 3 months but fleas can actually live up to a year and a half
8. There are about 2,000 species of fleas in the world but the Cat flea (also uses dogs as a host) is the most common in Southern California
9. Fleas prefer cats, dogs, humans, possums, rats and other rodents as hosts but they can live on any warm blooded animal
10. At any one time in a single room, 50% of the flea population will be eggs, 35% will be the larvae, 10% flea cocoons and only 5% are adult fleas