[sdreloc]

I have already heard plenty of talk about scorpions, crickets, roaches and bed bugs.

Are house centipedes, spiders and ants also a problem?

What else?

[PinkString]

Spiders and ants. Ants are worse, but spiders eat them.
No centipedes yet. Only things that like to bug me are giant roaches, ants and spiders. Crickets are not a bother. The cats like to play with them. The crickets don't like that though. The spiders don't bug me much and they eat the ants.

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by sdreloc

I have already heard plenty of talk about scorpions, crickets, roaches and bed bugs.

Are house centipedes, spiders and ants also a problem?

What else?

Without even knowing where you are from, I would bet that you have 100 times more bugs wherever you are than you'll ever be bothered by in Las Vegas.

[delgadobb]

Originally Posted by PinkString

No centipedes yet. Only things that like to bug me are giant roaches, ants and spiders. Crickets are not a bother. The cats like to play with them. The crickets don't like that though. The spiders don't bug me much and they eat the ants.

LOL, my ferrets (one in particular) LOVE to play with Crickets when they get inside. As you mentioned, though, the crickets don't like it.

My DEW (Dark-Eyed White) ferret will bat at the cricket(s) with her paws, much like a kitten with a toy in front of them. Only problem is, she grows bored once they stop moving. I'm not sure if it's more predatory instinct or just plain having fun thinking they're a toy, but it means we get to dispose of the dead crickets. It's a small price to pay for the smile they put on our face every day.

Back to the OP's question - most of what I've seen so far is crickets, but that was last year - not as many this year. Occasionally we find a cockroach or spider. Last year, we had problems with flies a couple times, but that was when my girlfriend got lazy & left stinky meat scraps & fat in the kitchen trash under the sink or in the disposal - reeked like H-E-doublehockeysticks. No problems since we started double-bagging that stuff. On rare occasions we've found small black chigger/gnat type things (get through window screens I think). We've had one silverfish & two earwigs in two years. No sign of any scorpions whatsoever. Overall, we don't see many bugs inside, but I spray the inner & outer perimeter of the house a few times per year. As a result, we may have a below average number of insects, I dunno.

[PinkString]

I forgot about those darn gnats! I think it's virtually impossible to buy any potting soil that doesn't have those in it. I really want to re-pot my aloe vera plant, bought the "new" planter at a yard sale but afraid to buy the soil because of those gnats. They are easily the most annoying besides ants. And the giant roaches are less annoying than them if you can believe it.

[sdreloc]

Originally Posted by PinkString

Spiders and ants. Ants are worse, but spiders eat them.
No centipedes yet. Only things that like to bug me are giant roaches, ants and spiders. Crickets are not a bother. The cats like to play with them. The crickets don't like that though. The spiders don't bug me much and they eat the ants.

The problem with crickets besides annoying noise if inside, is that scorpions eat them. If you have crickets, then scorpions may follow.

[BUGBULLY]

These are the common ones: ants, crickets, earwigs, roaches, silverfish, spiders, scorpions, rats, mice, and pigeons.

These are the un-common, seen but not an every day occurrence: bed bugs, centipedes, weevils, flour beetles, common beetles, carpet beetles, cinch bugs (like gnats), and termites.

I think I got most of them.

Weird, but every year we get something new, that we have to figure out. But you have to remember, that we have a lot of people that move from differant areas of World. Some of the insects that they bring may not survive in our climate and some can survive only in the home.

[Robustus]

Originally Posted by PinkString

I forgot about those darn gnats! I think it's virtually impossible to buy any potting soil that doesn't have those in it. I really want to re-pot my aloe vera plant, bought the "new" planter at a yard sale but afraid to buy the soil because of those gnats. They are easily the most annoying besides ants. And the giant roaches are less annoying than them if you can believe it.

How do you get rid of those gnats? My plants got them last year after I re-potted (apparently with infested Miracle-Gro potting soil from Home Depot). I then had to re-pot several times with good soil, and they seem to be gone, but they'll probably come back. Is there a spray of some sort that'll do the job?

[sdreloc]

Bake your potting soil in a glass lasagna pan covered with aluminum foil until the soil is at a temperature of about 180 degrees for 30 minutes. Use a thermometer to make sure it's hot enough, but still stays below 200 degrees where it will ruin the soil and make it toxic for the plants.
This will easily kill all the bugs and eggs in the soil.

You have to have open windows near the oven to do this because the baking soil will fill the house with a bad smell.

If you can let your existing plant soil get completely dry without killing the plants, the gnats will die also.

[SportyandMisty]

Originally Posted by BUGBULLY

... These are the un-common, seen but not an every day occurrence: ... termites...

Bugbully, Someone told me that unlike California, termites are not a problem here because of the climate - its too dry for them. I'm not sure if they meant subterranean or dry-wood.

How common are wood-destroying pests such as termites here in Las Vegas? Should I get my house inspected periodically for termites (of course, in California, termites are endemic & houses are routinely treated for termites).