Hawaiian Insects: Are they really that bad? (Hilo: inspector, live)

[Afishwithabike]

Originally Posted by Honolulu21

I

I have also never seen a centipede, scorpian or cane spider in my parent's home while growing up, nor the condo I have now lived in for over 10 years.

Same here. I haven't ever seen a centipede, scorpian, or cane spider in any of the places where I've lived. I've lived in Hawaii for 30 some years now. I do wonder if it's the location that matters. I've lived in parts of Honolulu and the windward side of Oahu. I haven't lived in Central or Leeward Oahu or the Neighbor Islands, and perhaps in those areas those critters are more prevalent.

[leilaniguy]

I'm in the Puna rainforest. We get all shapes, sizes and colors of roaches here, tons of termites, fruitflies & mosquitos too, but I only see a centipede maybe once every two years. Haven't seen a cane spider since I lived here in the early 1990's. Never once seen a scorpion.

[zoa]

Oh! Bugs! LOL! Here is what I've seen (and this is my home!). Of note, I live up in Wahiawa on Oahu. Lots of rain, lots of vegetation. Used to be pineapple fields, but those are gone so are now weed fields.

There are three categories of bugs for me, anywhere bugs, country bugs and town bugs... The following will be marked as which they are....


Centipedes: Country Bug - City if you live in Aiea Heights, Makiki Heights or Tantalus areas. In Hawaii they like water. If you have outside plant and keep water in the overflow tray, they may find you. The especially like wetter areas of the islands (mountains & valleys on the windward sides). The babies are more aggressive and poisonous than the grown-ups... so if you see two or three babies in your plant's overflow dish, just walk away sloooowly and get a hose. The babies are quick-silver and will skitter fast if you try and kill them outright. Just get the water hose, and spray them away from you and your plant, then remember to avoid that area for about 3 weeks until they move on...

Gardeners actually LIKE centipedes as they kill and eat things that would otherwise harm their plants. Our family never kills a centipede. We just get a water hose and gently encourage them to move in the other direction.



Scorpions: Country Bug - mostly north shore area, or Waianae, Nanakuli, Kapolei... but RARE as they are night dwellers. Once in a while you will find scorpions. Particularly in dryish areas with lots of trees and dry ground covering. They also like DRY sand... remember.. dry. Mostly on the leeward side of the islands or areas that don't get much rain. Once in a great while, when getting fresh eggs from the egg farm, you will find a scorpion caparice. Interesting.....


Garden Spider (Orbweaver) Country Bug Found guarding orchid gardens from flower eating wasps! When threatened, they will shake their webs. Kinda creepy... but they are slow movers and not aggressive. Basically, leave their webs alone, and they will keep bugs from eating your flowers.



Jumping Spider Anywhere Bug These little guys, no larger than a pea, will jump everywhere and flee if they see you. Shy, skittish, and will eat sugar ants like kids eating candy corn!




Cane Spiders: Country Bug - near ANY large area of TALL leafy vegetation. Bamboo, cane or elephant grass especially. Legendary! If you live anywhere near bamboo groves or agricultrual land, you will have to deal with these BIG, BROWN, FAST and sometimes AGRESSIVE spiders. They will not hunt you down and bite for the most part, but if a female is carrying her eggs, you best get a broom and be fast with it! Slippers are no dice for stalking the female cane, she jumps! One went after my mom and leapt 5 feet from the wall into my mother's hair! Yeah, that was a fun day! (of note, I suffer arachnaphobia - so the fun was in sarcism). Here's what one looks like....



Black Widows: Anywhere Bug. Especially Waipahu. These love dry areas... Waipahu. Or dark dry areas in your home. Yes, they do bite. Yes, they also scream when you pour everclear 110-proof on them and light a match! This is the reason I do not live in Waipahu.

"Crab" Spiders: Country Bug - orchid gardens, banana patches. Mostly seen in damper climates. Cute little crab looking spiders that tickle when they crawl on you. Maybe at max 1/4 to 3/8 inch in size, at least I've never seen one bigger than that. Mandibles too small for breakin human skin, so I actually let these guys live around my house. Their legs are too small for me to notice (apparently what contributes to my phobia mentioned above... long spider legs) so they look like little buttons spinning webs. Pointy to protect themselves, they are in all kinds of colors...



Geckos: Anywhere there is a bug! Actually, these are lizards, and GOOD LUCK for you! If your house has geckos, that means you DO NOT have a problem with smaller roaches - but you may have ants (see later)! I've watched geckos hunt, they are like little sleek raptors stalking out a small roach and nabbing it! Love these guys, for their classic "clack clack clack" call means they got another roach! ^.^
These are sandy to brown in color. They are NOT the green-variety that you find on plants... those are Chameleons (see the green one).

Gecko: indoors, eats smaller roaches & ants, makes clacking sound when happy. Shy buggers, will run from you before doing anything else.


Chameleon: outside on plants, eats anything that don't eat it first, when threatened will bob head up and down at you with an extension from under its jaw turning red and jutting out. Kinda aggressive, and will hang on once they get a hold of your finger!






Ants will get into everything - including the electrical wiring of an older home. Anywhere Bug - It is not often, but no surprise, when an older home has a fire due to ants eating into the wiring. They will chew up most anything but metal - that I know for a fact.

There are all kinds of ants here. Little bitty sugar ants (look like sugar until they are full of something like syrup then they actually grow). Large black carpenter ants, medium problematic red ants, ants I cannot even begin to name. One blessing, we do not have fire ants like they do in Texas! The insect gods decided to spare us of those!

Basically, in some parts of the islands, you deal with ants or roaches. I've never noticed an infestation of BOTH at the same time. I suppse is because the ants will team up against a roach. I've watched ants swarm over a 747 and dismember it in about 10 minutes. Talk about war!

Ants can be controlled with strategically placed syruppy poisons. Even the larger carpenter ants will chew up the cardboard laced with syrup poison and take it back to the nest which will (in time) kill the queen. Ant hives on the move are obvious - they carry their pupae when they evacuate.

Ants are NOT to be confused with termites (see below).


Sand Mites Beach Bug (special category!) These are really in existence. They like shore areas that do not have too much pounding surf, and very much act like chiggers in that they bury their heads under your skin and itch like mad! So that calm, lazy beach you were eye-balling might have sand mites! In recent years its gotten very nice so is not a bad thing. Mostly experienced sand mites along the Hawaii Kai shoreline where the water barely moves. The will especially infest your dog, so make sure to give Fido a bath after visiting the beach.




Bed Bugs - Town Bug - particularly lower-rate hotels and some choice homeless shelters. Yes, they are here too. Check your hotel beds (seams and stitching areas) and definitely if you are going to sleep at a friend's house who lives in dryer, beach areas. Basically, if you do not keep your place clean, they will show up. Don't ask me how they travel... all I know is once they get into a futon, its toast.





Ukuus - or more commonly, Head Lice & Crabs. Children Bug - but I did know of an entire family getting infested after camping on the beach. Although we still call them crabs when they are .. uhm... you know... in places where the sun don't shine. ANYWAY - if you got kids in school, you will eventually get to deal with these things. However is not as bad as it was when I was a little kid in school... but still.. something to keep a lookout for.





B-52 Bombers or 747 Roaches: Anywhere Bug... literally! What most people talk about when talking about roaches here. They are BIG suckers. They FLY! They do not have any control of their flight so most times you will run into them as you are screaming. These are the (in)famous roaches that are rumoured to move families out of houses if they do not like you. These are the terrors of the luau for they carry of the pig! These... are the roaches that freak people out. They come up your sewer pipes, in from the garden, live in your attic and yes, will take a shower in the raid you spray on them then ask you for soap.

On a serious note, ground level dwellings will deal with them. Also houses with lots of bushes/plants close to the windows (that ficas tree out there? secret B-52 headquarters!). If you leave food out, or have "damp" under the sinks/tub/toilet, they will be visiting you.

Roaches have a DISTINCT smell to them. If you enter a place you are looking at, and get a whiff of that smell, leave. No matter how much fumigating is done, no matter how much spray you might lay down, or poison you scatter, or roach-motel you place... they will visit you every time it gets dry, or rains too much. If you smell that odour it means the previous tenants had to deal with them, and so you too will have visitors. They do not like... erm... hmm....

They do not like... light. That's about it. When you turn on the lights, they will fly or scatter... depends on their elevation in the room when the lights come on. These are the roaches you get to deal with in Hawaii....



The big one, American, flies - this is your classic B-52 Bomber. And when the moon is full, and it is dry out, they WILL fly. Doubt you not, they love to fly. They climb the walls and sometimes the ceilings until they shiver, then LEAP and you know what, they have installed guided radar! THEY KAMAKAZI YOU!!! I've seen some of these get to be almost 3 inches (without the feelers) so if you live country, have shrubbery, have leaky plumbing and do not keep your food in tupperware containers, you may wind up paying them rent for living in their space.

Orientals stick mostly to grass, but do come inside when looking for water during drier months.

Germans are those that infest and once you have them, you GOTTA fumigate (tent) your house. They breed worse than rabbits! They will infest anything, each through cardboard and plastic bags into your food, and will even survive for days inside your fridge! They are prolific once established. They are also a serious bane in apartment buildings. They may be "cleaned" out of one apartment - they just move on to the next! In about 6 months, you will have the great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandchildren of the ones chased out of your apartment!

Brown-Banded are mostly dark dwellers under elevated houses and will creep into your outdoor plants. I only notice them when I prep my plants for indoor display, so removing them is pretty easy.




Of course you have flies, fruit flies, gnats, mosquitos, and if you are the outdoorsey type, chiggers! Many people here swear by Avon's Skin-So-Soft! Is the best repellent there is.

Wasps Country Bug - mostly around deserted fields.... like to nest in the stranges places... open fence pipes, garbage cans, house eaves, swing sets, soda cans in a hedge... you get the idea. When you look at a property, check for that stuff...

Honey Bees Somewhere Bug??? They used to be prolific.. I don't see them much anymore.... but when they are seen, please leave them be. They help our farmers.

Carpenter Bees Country Bug - specifically around older trees or in the upper mountain homes above Honolulu. These can and do chew into the wooden eaves of houses. This will damage your home and lead to....


TERMITES who swarm... a lot... and will be attracted to any light you have on. Anywhere Bug - Particularly if you live in an older, wooden home. Do not let the owners/realtors fool you. ANY HOUSE OLDER THAN 10 YEARS WOULD HAVE SOME SORT OF TERMITE AFFLICTION. If they are "dry" termites, you are in luck for tenting gets rid of them pretty easy. But "wet" termites, termites who live in the ground, just think your house is another hors devours once the tenting is done. Make sure if you buy you get a termite inspection done by a REPUTABLE inspector, AND NEVER MISS a tenting appointment - about every 3 to 5 years (depending on the area you live). Also ask the termite guys to check for GROUND termites, and if you even think you may be at risk for them, get those ground things and pay for the monitoring service - is worth it!!!





And the last of the "legendaries" of the insect realm in Hawaii, although now in dwindling populations...the classic Praying Mantis - some old timers say they will return when the rains return to normal (has been oncommonly dry the past few years). And the gorgeous Monarch Butterfly. Although I did see some just last month, so maybe they are making a return? It is beautiful seeing 20 or 30 of them flit on the trade winds.



For a bit more info, check out the following page. Is what the UH Hilo has up for incoming students: A Slice of Hawaiian Life
And another link for the Bishop Museum: http://ask.bishopmuseum.org/wordpres...egory/insects/



*end public service post for the week*

[Naturen]

I guess the OP might have second thoughts about the move. Great post

[Wendyllen]

Originally Posted by zoa

One blessing, we do not have fire ants like they do in Texas!

lol, yeah I guess I forgot about those fire ants, rattlesnakes too.

Roaches.....

I had an experience with a similar type of flying roach several years back. Remember that movie "Joes Apartment"? OMG!....When I moved into my very first apartment I didn't know anything about flying roaches, didn't even know they existed. I was getting ready for work one morning and one was flying around my living room. At first all I heard was like a fluttering sound brushing up against something. Freaked me out, until I actually saw it and then I almost started crying (of course I can laugh about it now). It flew across the room from my entertainment center to the arm of my couch and sat right up like it was looking right at me and that's when I thought about Joe's Apartment because I could've sworn that if that roach could've spoke to me it would have. Just absolutely freaked me out. So then I ran, grabbed the phone and called the office and told, not asked, them to send a maintenance man to come get the roach because I was not going to touch it. So then the maintenance man comes in, grabs it with a paper towel and puts it in his pocket! I'm like...whadaya gonna do, save it for lunch!?

Anyway, just thought I'd share that story.

[SkyBob]

Originally Posted by zoa

And the gorgeous Monarch Butterfly. Although I did see some just last month, so maybe they are making a return? It is beautiful seeing 20 or 30 of them flit on the trade winds.

That was a fun and interesting post. My question - where do the Monarch Butterflies "make a return" from? Do they hide in a small part of one of the islands that no human knows about or do they cross the ocean? If they cross the ocean is it just dumb luck that they stumble onto one of the Hawaiian Islands in the middle of the big Pacific?

Bob

[mogon]

Originally Posted by zoa

TERMITES who swarm... a lot... and will be attracted to any light you have on.

Oh my yes. Have done lots of summer evening meetings where the termites swarmed (usually after a very hot day) and we tried to do business while termites are dropping in our drinks, flying into our mouths, etc.

When it happens at home, turn every light out in the house but one table light; put a pan of water under that light. Most of the termites will end up in the water.

[Afishwithabike]

Great post, Zoa!

[zoa]

Originally Posted by SkyBob

That was a fun and interesting post. My question - where do the Monarch Butterflies "make a return" from? Do they hide in a small part of one of the islands that no human knows about or do they cross the ocean? If they cross the ocean is it just dumb luck that they stumble onto one of the Hawaiian Islands in the middle of the big Pacific?

Bob

Hey Bob -

Monarchs in Hawaii do not migrate (so far as we know). Perhaps they love it here in paradise!

Actually - some surmise the Monarch got to Hawaii (and beyond) due to being blown off course on their migrations from North to South America and during the 1800's - or maybe on ships carrying plants from other ports (whalers come to mind). They've become established here, multiplying, and one of the main pollinators in the islands (next to the honey bee). In the 70's & 80's we'd watch them in large groups just fly around on the trade breezes. Sometimes they would go from island to island.

A UH study done back in the 80's actually tagged some Monarchs to see if they migrated out of the state. Not a one did. They spent their entire lives in Hawaii, as did each generation after. The scholars who care to report suggest that Monarch do not migrate from Hawaii for the temperature does not get to the extremes as it does on the continent.

In the 90's, the Monarch in Hawaii just about disappeared. Many speculate is because of the birds (hurricanes Iwa and Iniki smashed cages @ the zoo and some shipments of birds from South America got loose - we now have some new bird species in Hawaii! Not for the better, mind you!), or some unknown parasite or perhaps they are leaving like the honey bee... no carcasses are found of either species. Or maybe they are just not reproducing... not enough of the plants to support them (especially on Oahu) as development infringes on their habitat. No one really knows.

What I meant by "return", is I actually saw some Monarchs during the summer. They were flitting around my gardenias. Before that, I cannot remember seeing any since 1989!


Some websites about the Monarch Butterfly in Hawaii:
Organization helping to bring the population uo - HAWAIIAN MONARCH BUTTERFLY..HOME
The White Monarch - Monarch Watch : Reading Room : Articles : The White Monarch
Butterflies of Hawaii - Butterflies of Hawaii (Danaus plexippus)

[thrillobyte]

Originally Posted by KoaKine

All good posts. I dont live on the Islands but spend alot of time there. I havnt seen the cents to much at all the geckos are great its the roaches you need to woorie about... I almost lost a good slippah once. The wife had a roach try to hand her a towel in the shower and i threw my slippah at him and he tried to walk of with it i caught him in the hallway with it on and was looking for the other one when I caught up to him and he ran out the door.

Reminds me of the story (true) of the Israeli wife who got a fright from a BIG cockroach in the house. She swatted it with a slipper, scooped it up and threw it into the toilet. When she saw it was still alive struggling to get out she emptied half a can of Raid into the bowl. Don't ask me why she didn't flush. Anyway, the husband comes home, has to use the toilet. He throws his lighted cigarette into the bowl while he's sitting on it and what do you think! BOOM! He goes flying off the toilet, his bottom and privates are burned raw. When the paramedics carrying him down the steps on a gurney ask him what happened, he tells them and they start laughing so hard they drop the poor guy. Whether he slid to the bottom of the stairway strapped to the gurney I don't know but this made headlines around the world.