Help! Anyone know about Vinegaroon insects and how to stop them? (Reno: house, neighborhood)

[PropertyTruth]

Hi, Anyone know about Vinegaroons and how to stop them? We're calling 'douche bugs' because that's what it smells like when they spray their nasty spray! My husband knew immediately what they were because he lived in Texas and Oklahoma long before we met. We've asked different people such as workers that came to our house here in Reno if they ever experienced problems with any bugs that spray a lot of vinegar like spray and several said 'Yes!' Asking where they were from and some of the workers were from neighboring counties such as Lyon and Storey in addition to others who live in Reno and Sparks (which is Washoe County) One pair of workers who lived out on a ranch said chickens are pretty good at keeping Vinegaroons, he called them 'Roons' under control but we just live in a modest 3br. house on under .25 acre with no pets and no inclination to have chickens.
They look like 4" or bigger scorpions with no stinger and they keep spraying messy puddles of vinegar smelling spray on us, our furniture and sometimes on our beds and inside our shoes in the closet. We keep using about 4 towels a day to clean up the mess and it's getting to be a big pain in the butt to dry them. Some days we have to run the dryer 4 or 5 times on a 20 to 30 minute cycle to dry our clothes and towels because they literally soak us when we are sitting in our living room or sometimes at night after they spray us. The heat of the dryer dissipates the vinegar spray and we found the clothes are perfectly clean after drying, no need to keep washing them after being soaked by these nasty bugs! They also make a weird 'hoo, hoo' sound in whichever area they are too.
We've tried various sticky traps but they don't work because the bugs spray when they land on them and quickly escape, we tried spraying Bay Rum aftershave because Bay Leaf Oil seems to slow them down quite a bit but is not eliminating them and pesticides, including those used for scorpions and other pests do not work!
Anyone with any creative idea to either catch them, kill them or keep them out of the house your help is appreciated!
Thanks!

[smegmatite]

wtf you have 4" bugs crawling all over you and leaving puddles of vinegar in your house?

[tomchard]

Originally Posted by PropertyTruth

Hi, Anyone know about Vinegaroons and how to stop them? ...
Anyone with any creative idea to either catch them, kill them or keep them out of the house your help is appreciated!
Thanks!

Used to see them in Texas, too, but never more than 1, and we lived on an acre, in the country.
You mostly need to find out where they are coming into your home ... a space between moldings & walls; a space between floor moldings and floor surfaces; any space between a door and jamb ... or, a hole in a wall, or floor, or an open drain or pipe.
It’s possible they have a nest, possibly under the flooring, or under the foundation, or at worst, inside a wall.
Find a reputable exterminator who would be willing to come onsite to identify where they’re getting in, and would be willing to treat that spot. Once you know where they get into the house, you can use whatever method the exterminator recommends, and do the work yourself, or pay him/her to do it on a recurring basis.
If it was me, I wouldn’t sign up for any recurring treatments until and unless the exterminator locates the exact spot the vinegaroons are using to enter your home.

My 2-cents’ worth ...

[Gatopescado]

Bug Spray.

I would assume an outdoor cat would probably keep them few and far between. My wife has chickens all over hell, so I rarely see them, but I'd rather have them than the chickens!

[suzy_q2010]

Dang!

Catch em 'n sell em!

https://undergroundreptiles.com/shop/vinegaroon/

[PropertyTruth]

Originally Posted by smegmatite

wtf you have 4" bugs crawling all over you and leaving puddles of vinegar in your house?

Answer: Yes along with less mature ones that are 1 to 3 inches. The largest is a female that seems to 'rule' over the others that come into the 'territory' She has lived here for 3 years now. The behavior of the females in terms of spraying is different than the males: the females are more precise in immobilizing their prey/the spiders that come in by using much less spray that comes out more often as a smaller squirt or mist vs. the males that are forceful and 'buddy up' with one 'tapping' the 'buddy' when it is time to unload on the insect they are about to catch and eat!

[PropertyTruth]

Originally Posted by suzy_q2010

Dang!

Catch em 'n sell em!

https://undergroundreptiles.com/shop/vinegaroon/

Answer: We're trying but they are very fast! When I first began researching these bugs I was shocked that people buy them as pets and have youtube videos of their pet Vinegaroon sharing that they got sprayed in the eyes by it! That does not compare to the amount of spraying we experience including full on forceful direct hits to one or both of our eyes and the splatter all over my glasses and hair not to mention the extreme pain and redness for a few days when this happens!

[PropertyTruth]

Originally Posted by Gatopescado

Bug Spray.

I would assume an outdoor cat would probably keep them few and far between. My wife has chickens all over hell, so I rarely see them, but I'd rather have them than the chickens!

Answer: There are a few neighborhood cats, Quail and other birds but these do not seem to be deterring these Vinegaroons!

[PropertyTruth]

Originally Posted by tomchard

Used to see them in Texas, too, but never more than 1, and we lived on an acre, in the country.
You mostly need to find out where they are coming into your home ... a space between moldings & walls; a space between floor moldings and floor surfaces; any space between a door and jamb ... or, a hole in a wall, or floor, or an open drain or pipe.
It’s possible they have a nest, possibly under the flooring, or under the foundation, or at worst, inside a wall.
Find a reputable exterminator who would be willing to come onsite to identify where they’re getting in, and would be willing to treat that spot. Once you know where they get into the house, you can use whatever method the exterminator recommends, and do the work yourself, or pay him/her to do it on a recurring basis.
If it was me, I wouldn’t sign up for any recurring treatments until and unless the exterminator locates the exact spot the vinegaroons are using to enter your home.

My 2-cents’ worth ...

Answer: We do know they love to hang out in the front lawn and when the mail comes just opening the front door they sneak in and hitch rides on our shoes and pants! They also sneak in from the garage through the kitchen door leading to it when we open it and, they are so fast we can't stop them! Also, husband was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam so we try to avoid pesticides as much as possible. Also, neighbors have the same problem and the pest control services have to come out every couple of months to spray and basically, the pesticide kills the smaller insects such as spiders and scorpions but not Vinegaroons because they are too large and resistant so the idea is to 'starve' them of the smaller prey.
Thanks for the suggestions!

[smegmatite]

Originally Posted by PropertyTruth

Answer: Yes along with less mature ones that are 1 to 3 inches. The largest is a female that seems to 'rule' over the others that come into the 'territory' She has lived here for 3 years now. The behavior of the females in terms of spraying is different than the males: the females are more precise in immobilizing their prey/the spiders that come in by using much less spray that comes out more often as a smaller squirt or mist vs. the males that are forceful and 'buddy up' with one 'tapping' the 'buddy' when it is time to unload on the insect they are about to catch and eat!

if I see any bugs in my house I call an exterminator ASAP!
3 years? omg