advice on palmetto bugs? (Miami: house, buy, organic)

[bon1234]

Ok. We have lived here for about 2 1/2 months. I have always heard about these palmetto bugs and saw 1 at Disney @5 years ago. Up until this morning I haven't even seen one outside, much less inside. I am a clean freak because I hate bugs. Well, we have one inside as I write this. We saw it on the wall earlier, then as my husband tried to kill it, it flew to a destination unknown. Then my daughter saw it in her bathroom and came out screaming. We locked my husband in the bathroom with it saying "Don't come out till it's dead". He never did see it. (Of course, we eventually let him out, LOL) My DD and I will not be able to sleep tonight if we can't find it and get rid of it. I know this is Florida and have heard "get used to it" but, I don't know if I can get "used" to them and I have no intention of leaving Fl. Any constructive advice on how to locate the one we have? We will have an exterminator in on Tues to try and prevent any future ones.

[jenniferashley99]

I lived in Miami and come summer (ugh) they are everywhere. Go buy spray and spray your house thoroughly. Even those roach traps work well. They are disgusting and I can not sleep if I know one is lurking. Tuesday is around the corner so good luck.

[wewerethere]

Originally Posted by bon1234

Ok. We have lived here for about 2 1/2 months. I have always heard about these palmetto bugs and saw 1 at Disney @5 years ago. Up until this morning I haven't even seen one outside, much less inside. I am a clean freak because I hate bugs. Well, we have one inside as I write this. We saw it on the wall earlier, then as my husband tried to kill it, it flew to a destination unknown. Then my daughter saw it in her bathroom and came out screaming. We locked my husband in the bathroom with it saying "Don't come out till it's dead". He never did see it. (Of course, we eventually let him out, LOL) My DD and I will not be able to sleep tonight if we can't find it and get rid of it. I know this is Florida and have heard "get used to it" but, I don't know if I can get "used" to them and I have no intention of leaving Fl. Any constructive advice on how to locate the one we have? We will have an exterminator in on Tues to try and prevent any future ones.

Invest in a COMBAT ROACH KILLING GEL syringe. It's in most hardware stores and grocery stores. Cost about $7, less in Dollar Stores and does your whole house for a couple of months. You can put a --dab-- on the back of anything, in cracks, outside, near the door, almost anywhere. It's brown and icky looking, but does the trick for ALL kinds of roaches.
Best roach killer I've found in years.!!!

[Zeerow6]

Many roach species found in FL are often referred to as Palmetto Bugs.

Control starts on the outside perimeter, usually with a micro-encapulated
application around the foundation, windows, doors and other entry areas.
Micro-encapulated solutions are slower acting, but long lasting and safer.

Interior service should include: crack and crevice, traps(monitors), and applications of bait and gels in sensitive areas. Gel type baits work best on chemically resistant cockroaches such as the German cockroach. Palmetto bugs may eat the bait and gels, but there are other control measures that are fast, safe and effective.

Your pest tech should evaluate the problem, and will probably (or should do) all the above. It's an easy fix.

[joninclay]

Approach #1: Use a pest control service. There are lots of them, and most are effective at dealing with roaches/palmetto bugs and other pests.

Approach #2: RoachPruf. It's a powder that K-Mart used to sell (they still might). My parents have been using it since 1986, and they've seen ONE roach in that entire time frame (whereas they saw many more before using that stuff).

[EricBoyd]

Really funny, fsu813!!! Is this an original work of yours?

[amy_sk]

oh come one....OP has been here for just 2.5 months!!!

Originally Posted by fsu813

1) They can sense fear. They probably marked you with thier scent (which they can spray up to 10 feet) and will come find you later, once your asleep.

2) They will crawl or fly queitly, slowly to your hair and face, then carefully reveal their egg pouch.

3) They'll then drop tiny eggs in in the roots of your hair and down your ear canal to grow and mature. The eggs have very small spikes/stems on hem so it's extremely difficult to wash them out or comb them off.

4) After a few weeks of maturation in your hair and ears, the eggs burst open and small, baby palmetto bugs scatter around looking for food.

5) Unfortunately for you they are most attracted to fresh, organic food (ie, ear wax, dead skin flakes, bodily oils & fluids, etc). Forunatley for them, you are covered with them. So natually they'll feast in your hair and some in your ears, although not nearly as much. The bad part is is that these babies are so small & lite that you probably won't even realize they are there besides a itch here or there. Word of warning, they have been known travel through the ear to the surface of the brain, in which case you'll have severe migrane headaches coupled with nausea, confusion, and memory loss. You'll quite literally be losing your mind - seek immediate medical attention if this should happen to you.

6) After a week or so of feeding on you, the palmetto bugs will have doubled in size and will begin to drop off your body and scatter into the dark cracks, holes, and spaces in and around your house. For the next month they will eat small bugs, mold, crumbs, and anything else they can get thier mopist, mucus-producing, hair-lined, spincher-wielding, mouth-resembling, orafice on.

7) Once they are plump, they emerge from thier nests and go looking for a host, this is when most people see them around thier house (ie, the palmetto bug that you saw in your house was probably searching for you, your husband, or your daughter). Once they find a suitable host, which they can detect through your body heat with great accuracy, they open up thier abdomen and spray a mixture of hormones & intestinal juices on you in an undetectable airy, stream of mist. The susbtnace bonds to your skin or clothing, in which they can later trace this it back to the target for up three days.

8) Once they lay thier eggs on or in you, they instinctually find sunlight and die.

[amy_sk]

get a cat....seriously....our cat sniffs them out and then proceeds to play soccer matches with them!!

Originally Posted by bon1234

Ok. We have lived here for about 2 1/2 months. I have always heard about these palmetto bugs and saw 1 at Disney @5 years ago. Up until this morning I haven't even seen one outside, much less inside. I am a clean freak because I hate bugs. Well, we have one inside as I write this. We saw it on the wall earlier, then as my husband tried to kill it, it flew to a destination unknown. Then my daughter saw it in her bathroom and came out screaming. We locked my husband in the bathroom with it saying "Don't come out till it's dead". He never did see it. (Of course, we eventually let him out, LOL) My DD and I will not be able to sleep tonight if we can't find it and get rid of it. I know this is Florida and have heard "get used to it" but, I don't know if I can get "used" to them and I have no intention of leaving Fl. Any constructive advice on how to locate the one we have? We will have an exterminator in on Tues to try and prevent any future ones.

[Sensei Han]

Originally Posted by fsu813

1) They can sense fear. They probably marked you with thier scent (which they can spray up to 10 feet) and will come find you later, once your asleep.

2) They will crawl or fly queitly, slowly to your hair and face, then carefully reveal their egg pouch.

3) They'll then drop tiny eggs in in the roots of your hair and down your ear canal to grow and mature. The eggs have very small spikes/stems on hem so it's extremely difficult to wash them out or comb them off.

4) After a few weeks of maturation in your hair and ears, the eggs burst open and small, baby palmetto bugs scatter around looking for food.

5) Unfortunately for you they are most attracted to fresh, organic food (ie, ear wax, dead skin flakes, bodily oils & fluids, etc). Forunatley for them, you are covered with them. So natually they'll feast in your hair and some in your ears, although not nearly as much. The bad part is is that these babies are so small & lite that you probably won't even realize they are there besides a itch here or there. Word of warning, they have been known travel through the ear to the surface of the brain, in which case you'll have severe migrane headaches coupled with nausea, confusion, and memory loss. You'll quite literally be losing your mind - seek immediate medical attention if this should happen to you.

6) After a week or so of feeding on you, the palmetto bugs will have doubled in size and will begin to drop off your body and scatter into the dark cracks, holes, and spaces in and around your house. For the next month they will eat small bugs, mold, crumbs, and anything else they can get thier mopist, mucus-producing, hair-lined, spincher-wielding, mouth-resembling, orafice on.

7) Once they are plump, they emerge from thier nests and go looking for a host, this is when most people see them around thier house (ie, the palmetto bug that you saw in your house was probably searching for you, your husband, or your daughter). Once they find a suitable host, which they can detect through your body heat with great accuracy, they open up thier abdomen and spray a mixture of hormones & intestinal juices on you in an undetectable airy, stream of mist. The susbtnace bonds to your skin or clothing, in which they can later trace this it back to the target for up three days.

8) Once they lay thier eggs on or in you, they instinctually find sunlight and die.

Man! That was almost believable!

I'm willing to bet there IS something that lurks around that fits this description to the "T".

[Sensei Han]

Originally Posted by fsquid

While that is classic, it is also disturbing for a Monday. Can a cracker at least get 2 cups of coffee in him before reading that?

Someone in another Forum I participate in used "nilla"...

Can a nilla at least get 2 cups of coffee in him before reading that?