Proper Insect Etiquette (Portland, Newport: apartment, how much, house)

[bghouse]

Okay, "etiquette" is a bit of a joke because I have some serious insect phobias, but I'm trying to work on those. :-) I do want to understand about the insects I'll encounter here in Newport and the best way to approach the situation.

First, do I need to worry about mosquitoes and standing water? I arrived to my place Wed night, and it rained most of yesterday. There is an empty garden pot on my back porch, that is currently full of water. Should I be emptying that every time there is a break in the rain so it isn't a standing water trap for mosquitoes? Or is this not really an issue because of the continual rain? In Florida where I grew up, mosquitoes were so bad the city had to spray nightly during the summer rainy season, so we were very careful about standing water around the house.

Next up is spiders. I'm getting better with this phobia, but for some reason in my last home on the LA coast I had spiders inside the house constantly, and every morning I would wake up with some sort of little bite on my neck. I generally would have "conversations" every evening with the spiders in my shower / bathroom telling them they really needed to be gone in the morning :-) Is there a "season" for spiders here on the central coast? Any biters or poisonous ones I should read up on?

Obviously, I'm not trying to scare myself silly here - but this is my first time living in such a rainy climate, and I don't want to accidentally create problems for myself by being uninformed.

Thanks in advance!

[Nell Plotts]

We do have mosquitoes but no where near the problem you describe. Empty your bird bath once a week and you should be fine. Garden pots need to drain, they shouldn't hold water. If yours don't have holes in the bottom drill a few or throw them away.

Happens rarely: If you experience 'no-see-ums' (a tiny biting insect) then there is a bog nearby or you are over watering your grass, check drainage and consider aerating your lawn. Along that line if your downspouts aren't connected to a storm water system look for water accumulating around the foundation, you may need to connect downspouts to dry wells away from the foundation.

Spider webs trap flies and other insects you don't want, leave them be or look for the reason why a spider thinks the vicinity is a great neighborhood. It may be that your flowers have bugs.

I haven't encountered biting spiders in the house at all, if you find a spider web in your house or where you walk use a broom to remove the web. From time to time you may see what I have always called a 'daddy long legs', they are harmless and may be living in your drains.

[backdrifter]

The raininess of our climate is different than the raininess of a Florida climate. Just because it's wet here doesn't mean there are a lot of creepy crawlers. The temperate rainforest areas have a different mix of insects than you'll find in a more tropical or sub-tropical zone. Honestly, I think it's probably similar to California, really.

So let's get the worst out of the way first! The worst creepy-crawler you could encounter in the Pacific Northwest is a black widow. You will not likely run into one in your home. Maybe not ever. I had really bad luck and rented an apartment with an infestation in Portland, but that is really bizarrely uncommon. Growing up I saw a few solitary individuals who wandered inside and found a nice quiet corner to hang out in, but very uncommon inside.

Next there are hobo spiders which you may not have heard of before. They are nearly impossible to distinguish from some of the regular house spiders (of the same genus) that you find indoors in the PNW. These spiders' bites allegedly can cause necrosis at the bite site similar to that of a brown recluse. Although it has yet to be substantially verified, it is commonly accepted that they are capable of causing necrotic lesions, but rarely do. They're really nothing to be scared of. If you develop a necrotic lesion, it's most likely not from a spider bite. If a spider bites you, you most likely will only have a small, red, itchy bump that goes away quickly, if anything.

Other than harmless house spiders and daddy-long-legs, as Nell mentioned, there aren't many insects/arachnids you'll find to be actually inside your house. I see moths fairly often. Ants are fairly common too, but usually if you just keep a clean kitchen they'll keep out. Flies are somewhat common in the summer and mosquitoes are about as bad as they are in California (in other words they're not bad here). Occasionally you'll find a cricket or an earwig indoors too.

If you venture out of your house and really go looking for bugs you'll find all kinds. In your yard you may see roly polies (wood lice or pill bugs), ladybugs, honey and bumble bees, more ants, various jumping, wolf, barn, and garden spiders, earthworms, millipedes, and so on. Nothing harmful except perhaps yellowjackets. They built a nest on a tree next to my front door growing up. My dad was a bit sluggish in getting around to having it removed until I got stung by one trying to come inside the house after school one day. I had a welt on my hand the size of a clementine for about a week! Ouch! I still remember how much that hurt. But generally they're not too common, really.

The PNW is really a great place for people who don't like or have phobias of bugs, compared to most places in the country (coastal California may be an exception). Spiders are common though, but aside from the two species mentioned, they're all harmless and actually beneficial.

[hamellr]

The proper etiquette is apparently what my wife does

"OH MY GOD!!!!!!! COME KILL IT!!!!"

and then when I'm there "DON'T KILL IT!!! Don't pick it up with your bare hands!!!! OH MY GOD!!!! KILL IT!!! IT'S GETTING AWAY!!!"

[bghouse]

Thanks all. Hamellr, I totally empathize with your wife :-)

What about ants? I have just found two black ants wandering in the kitchen. Didn't really have ant issues ever in LA, except one bad rainstorm years ago where they came into the bathtub (I guess trying not to drown, but I washed em back down the drain anyway).

[Steve Pickering]

Spiders will be the big seasonal issue on the Coast. Ants can be on a house by house basis. Mostly carpenter ants, but the don't actually eat your house. They just tunnel into it until it falls down. If they have wings, they have been there awhile. Sugar ants will drive you crazy as they raid the cupboards. Pavement ants just want to get warm.

[Hawk J]

If you go hiking in the forest, especially in the spring, wear a hat cos sometimes ticks are up in the tree branch's, & will fall on you. Check your head & body after a day of hiking.

Not a bug, but if your hiking in the forest or by a pond, creek, river,etc, you might come upon/see some Rough-skinned Newts. They are cute, pretty much harmless, & kids like to play with them. But if you touch them you should wash your hands cos they do excrete a poison thru their skin pores. I've seen big bull frogs die, that tried to swallow a newt.
Taricha granulosa - Rough-skinned Newt

There are some species of salamanders in the water which have gills.

Have an Awesome adventure exploring Oregon.

[Random_Walk]

Originally Posted by hamellr

The proper etiquette is apparently what my wife does

"OH MY GOD!!!!!!! COME KILL IT!!!!"

My wife did that when she found a slug yesterday in the yard (she saw her first one ever). I live near a wetland, so I kind of expected to see them.

[bghouse]

Wow, Newts huh. Never seen one before, at least not that I know of. They kind of look like the salamanders we used to torture.. er play with.. as kids back in Florida. I guess this is where the whole "eye of newt" comes into play :-)

[bghouse]

By slugs, you guys mean the snails that come out a lot after raining, yes? The ones that eat the heck out of your plants? My friend in So Cal gardens a lot and hates snails / slugs. She makes an art form out of grabbing them and tossing them out of the garden :-)

If we're talking about the same thing, I guess the traditional bowl of beer to trap them won't work, because of the rain... I haven't seen any here yet...

If it's something else, can someone suggest a link with a picture?