A Daily Afternoon Bug Attack
Decatur Metro | October 25, 2010 | 10:35 amAn interesting question – that I don’t have the answer to – from Amy…
I am very new to Decatur and everything I have learned about this town I have learned from your blog. I didn’t know who else to turn to with this question, so I thought if maybe a few other people had noticed and mentioned it to you, you could crack this case.
I live on the 4th floor of in a condo with a westward facing window and balcony. I just moved in 3 weeks ago, so I have no idea how long this has been happening,but I didn’t notice it until my second week here. Every afternoon, from about 3 to 5, my windows and glass door become covered with bugs. They are a little smaller than ladybugs, brown, round, and really icky. There is also the occasional stinkbug, which really steams my muffin because I thought I was getting away from those despicable creatures when I moved here from Maryland.
Just wondered if you had any insight…
Kudzu bugs!
http://www.walterreeves.com/gardening-q-and-a/kudzu-bug-identification/
Dear OP:
I’m planning to steal “really steams my muffin” from you. Are you ok with that?
In exchange, I offer “woven from unicorn mane,” as an expression to refer to comically rare or hard-to-find objects.
Uh…Marcus? Not a blueberry muffin.
You are welcome to it… I stole it from some guy I went to high school with. He used it during a passionate debate in AP US.
I am pretty excited about finding a use for my new acquisition.
I’m gonna steal “woven from Unicorn mane” from you because everyone is tired of me using “Unobtainium”.
You might want to reconsider that new catchphrase. For those who don’t traffic in double entendres, muffin doesn’t just mean a tasty baked good that comes out of the oven. And I’d go so far as to say that telling someone that yours is steamy could connote the exact opposite of displeasure.
Just to drive the point home:
Thanks for posting the links AMB! We’ve had the same problem in our area, only they completely covered a 15′ dogwood tree (leaves and all). We were wondering what those things were.
FYI. Atlanta is technically in the subtropical. With air-conditioning, that distinction doesn’t seem as important to every day life but it’s quite relevant to bug life. Atlanta is quite abundant in bugs, molds, and other things that like heat and humidity. I am still getting used to “palmetto bugs”, the polite term for giant cockroaches that fly.
Whoops….make that “Atlanta is technically in the subtropics”.
Aha!!! Mystery solved … I just took several horrifying pictures of these little guys in our yard and had planned to post them on Facebook for an ID. But, once again, DecaturMetro comes to the rescue.
I knew my home couldn’t be the only one with a sudden influx of these mystery bugs. Thanks for the link.
Ours is covered with these Kudzu Beetles (aka Stinkbugs) too, though I’ve never seen them before this year… I’m also seeing a very small black bug with two yellow stripes inside our house. Never seen one of these before either. Anyone know what they are?
Scroll down and check out the smokybrown cockroach nymph picture. That may be your yellow striped bug:
http://insects.tamu.edu/extension/publications/epubs/e_359.cfm
It’s late October and I’m STILL killing roaches in my house! Aren’t they supposed to have died off (or hibernated or gone to ground or moved to Florida or something)?
It also doesn’t help that my kids think I’m a monster for killing roaches. “Daddy, you’re hurting nature!”. Yeah, well, kiddo, wait until a roach decides to crawl on YOUR head when you’re asleep. You’ll happily spray half a can of Raid on them too.
Sorry about the rant. I hate roaches.
It always seems to be the season for ants or roaches. In the winter, when you see them, I’m told they are coming in from the cold. In the rain, they are coming in from the rain. They also come inside because of the drought. And heat. Basically, our home was evidently built right in the middle of their ecologic niche and center of their civilization. I’ve given up. We co-exist. If anyone in the house is feeling violent and wants to squash one that’s ok but otherwise I just assume that they will eventually keep on going on their superhighway through our home and continue on their way.
Well, as everyone knows, cockroaches always vote Democratic.
Seriously.
I grew up in New Orleans where roaches are so ubiquitous, we have reverted to celebrating them in parades. You literally cannot get them out of your house completely.
Best thing is powdered boric acid squirted into all the cracks and crevices. Not sure how it kills them..they either ingest it and die, or it scratches their exoskeleton and die. But this is what works.
“Well, as everyone knows, cockroaches always vote Democratic.”
I could do SO much with that statement, but I’ll refrain and just let you ponder it for a bit.
Thanks for a great laugh to start off the morning.
I will definitely try the boric acid trick. Die, little Democrats, die! Oops, I mean cockroaches.
To all the Dems that are sure to be offended by that; my apologies. I was just having a little harmless fun with Diane’s wording.
Democrats, like cockroaches, will still be here even after Armageddon, the nuclear blast, global warming……..saying “We told you so!”
Well played, Karass! Well played.
I hate those (Walmart/Dunwoody asterisk logo) roaches too! I raised a different breed of kid–those who sang “we’re off to kill the woaches” while carrying a broom– they fear no bug, they love ladybugs and daddy long legs, but not the evil palmetto bug! Unfortunately they are a fact of life in the South, and yes, they will conquer the world–e ventually. In the meantime, I am squashing them at every opportunity.
P.S. And yes, we’ve used the boric acid powder, to some success. But those suckers find a way!
Just make sure you distinguish between palmetto bugs and actual roach infestations. Palmetto bugs live outside, are usually solitary, and come inside when it gets cold or wet (seems sensible). Many people see them in their house and assume they are an indicator of thousands of identical bugs seething behind their walls, and similarly assume that they are filthy disease carriers. Neither is true. But it’s still not pleasant to have to deal with them (I favor chucking them down the garbage disposal, though occasionally I’ll be merciful and release them into the wild).
It’s when you see LITTLE roaches (and you’ll never see just one) that it’s time to call the exterminator.
Thank you!!!!!!!! DecaturMetro and AMB are my heroes!
I had a feeling they were little tiny stink bugs. They are gross, but not as bad as their gigantic cousins, brown marmorated stink bugs, which I had to deal with in Maryland. Those things are huge, grotesque, and unstoppable. I may have cried when I saw one here the other day. The BMSBs were only a big problem in MD during September and October when they tried to sneak into houses for the winter… anyone know if these are the same way? Will I get my balcony back soon?
I’ve lived in and around Atlanta all my life and I’ve never once experienced a stink bug invasion. I actually see them as kind of a novelty. That’s how rare they are down here.
Now ladybugs and potato bugs, on the other hand…
WSB’s noon news contained a stink bugs story. Hmmm.
Really? LOL.
I had always heard of stinkbugs but weren’t sure they existed. Saw these strange bugs in my home recently and, uncharacteristically, gently escorted them out instead of killing them. Then saw another one several days later. So, walking into my house from outside, and I keep wondering what smells so awful. Then I feel something on my neck and a sting! Darn thing bit me! I ran to computer and finally ID’d it as a stinkbug! September? check. Stink? check. Will Bite- yes!