How are the bugs in Texas? (Houston, Dallas: how much, house, live in)

[ThinkingOfTexas]

First of many questions from a family considering a move to Texas...

What's the bug situation like? I'm thinking specifically of mosquitos. How much of a nuisance are they? For those that have lived in other states, how does it compare? Of the major metro areas, are any better or worse in this respect?

We've lived in states where they're bad in the summer, but also where they hardly exist at all.

[Trainwreck20]

Where they are worse/better:
- Coastal Texas will have the most mosquitoes due to milder winters and wetter environment. You know how towns have themed festivals? Clute has a mosquito fesitival. Freeport and north/east is wetter and will have more (throw most of East Texas in this group), while southward down the coast, past Corpus Christi, will not be nearly as bad.
- West Texas has almost no mosquitos, between colder winters and more arid environemnt.
- The middle of the state (San Antonio, Austin, Dallas) is in between and whether you have mosquitoes or not will vary block by block on micro environments.

Now, I don't know what kind of mosquitoes you are used to, but I presonally am familiar with two types:
- The Minnesota Mosquito. These SOBs are big and dumb. They drift toward you like the flying zombie apocalypse and manage to bite you by sheer overwhelming numbers, sturdiness, and unwavering resolve. They often leave a huge welt. Michigan and Wisconsin are apparently home to this mutant lot, as well.
- The Texas Mosquitoes. Tiny. So no problem, right? Well, what they lack in size they make up for in wiles. They often begin their assault solo or in pairs, so small as to escape notice at first....then you hear a buzz around your ear and turn, but it is gone and you cannot locate it. Then another buzz, another disappearing act. You start to get annoyed and stalk the bastard. Then suddenly you find you have small lumps on the back of your calf or arm where his cohorts took advantage of an opening.

Anyway, the real question is what part of Texas are you looking at?

[ThinkingOfTexas]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Where they are worse/better:
- Coastal Texas will have the most mosquitoes due to milder winters and wetter environment. You know how towns have themed festivals? Clute has a mosquito fesitival. Freeport and north/east is wetter and will have more (throw most of East Texas in this group), while southward down the coast, past Corpus Christi, will not be nearly as bad.
- West Texas has almost no mosquitos, between colder winters and more arid environemnt.
- The middle of the state (San Antonio, Austin, Dallas) is in between and whether you have mosquitoes or not will vary block by block on micro environments.

Now, I don't know what kind of mosquitoes you are used to, but I presonally am familiar with two types:
- The Minnesota Mosquito. These SOBs are big and dumb. They drift toward you like the flying zombie apocalypse and manage to bite you by sheer overwhelming numbers, sturdiness, and unwavering resolve. They often leave a huge welt. Michigan and Wisconsin are apparently home to this mutant lot, as well.
- The Texas Mosquitoes. Tiny. So no problem, right? Well, what they lack in size they make up for in wiles. They often begin their assault solo or in pairs, so small as to escape notice at first....then you hear a buzz around your ear and turn, but it is gone and you cannot locate it. Then another buzz, another disappearing act. You start to get annoyed and stalk the bastard. Then suddenly you find you have small lumps on the back of your calf or arm where his cohorts took advantage of an opening.

Anyway, the real question is what part of Texas are you looking at?

Thanks. Leaning toward DFW but also considering the San Antonio and Houston areas.

[DanielWayne]

The bugs depend on the region. Lots of variation I am sure.

I'm outside Houston in the suburbs. Right now I can sit outside probably any time of day with no ill effects. It may or may not get worse during the summer. Some years mosquitoes are almost nonexistent. Every once in a while they do get bad. Horse flies and deer flies are another pest that don't seem to wax and wane like the mosquitoes. They are always there in the hottest part of the summer, but not in swarms like mosquitoes. But they tend to wait until dark, right when it cools off enough to comfortably mow your lawn.

That being said, I just visited a walking trail near a marsh about an hour away, and I got bit by every known species of biting insect in the Western Hemisphere. So it really just depends. Probably best to stay away from water.

[C24L]

Originally Posted by ThinkingOfTexas

First of many questions from a family considering a move to Texas...

What's the bug situation like? I'm thinking specifically of mosquitos. How much of a nuisance are they? For those that have lived in other states, how does it compare? Of the major metro areas, are any better or worse in this respect?

We've lived in states where they're bad in the summer, but also where they hardly exist at all.

I would advise u to Stick to West Texas and the Panhandle if you want to avoid mosquitos.El Paso is the only major metro where they are not that big of a issue compared to Dallas,Houston,San Antone and Austin.

[Kerby W-R]

Originally Posted by ThinkingOfTexas

First of many questions from a family considering a move to Texas...

What's the bug situation like? I'm thinking specifically of mosquitos. How much of a nuisance are they? For those that have lived in other states, how does it compare? Of the major metro areas, are any better or worse in this respect?

We've lived in states where they're bad in the summer, but also where they hardly exist at all.

Horrible. Bugs everywhere, spiders and four deadly poisonous snakes.

[RSTX]

Unless you are independently wealthy, I would be concerned about securing a job first. Bugs are way down the list of worries.

As everyone else has correctly mentioned, it depends on many variables. Also, for whatever reason, mosquitoes bite me like I'm an all you can eat buffet. My wife seldom gets a single bite. It drives me crazy, but she loves her strange mosquito repellent ability. I wish I had it.

TL;DR: Bugs are probably no worse in TX than anywhere else.

[turf3]

The bugs are fine, strong, healthy and thriving! They're waiting for you - come on down!

[KathrynAragon]

I live in NE Texas. It's supposedly humid here (but I've lived in GA, SC, VA, NC and AL and believe me - they were more humid!). I mean, I guess it gets humid here but I don't usually notice it. Anyway, in our former home, we lived across the street from a creek, and we also had a lot of trees on our property - and we ended up getting a mosquito service to eliminate them - which they did. After we signed up for their service - which was every three weeks from April through about October - we never had a problem at all. Prior to that, we did.

But we moved in September to a home that doesn't have a creek nearby. It was still hot and still mosquito season per se when we moved here, and we had no issues at all. Also no issues now and we're a month into "mosquito season" again. So we have cancelled the mosquito service.

I've lived in Texas for nearly 30 years and never had any significant "bug issues" in my house or on my property. That being said, I do use an exterminator service occasionally because I don't WANT any bugs or spiders in my house either.

[supfromthesite]

My ex girlfriend is from up north and she couldn't believe fire ants were real when she moved down here