How are the bugs in Texas?

[ThinkingOfTexas]

I've seen a few mentions of "Hill Country". What area exactly does that entail?

[RSTX]

Originally Posted by ThinkingOfTexas

I've seen a few mentions of "Hill Country". What area exactly does that entail?

https://hill-country-visitor.com/hill-country-map/

[TheOverdog]

I mention the Hill Country because the bugs are different in the Dallas area. The only centipede I've seen is a regular small one and I've never seen a scorpion here. Tons of mosquitoes, and some spiders, but fewer big stingy bugs than the Hill Country versus north east Texas.

[Trainwreck20]

Yeah, you really can' talk generically about anything 'Texas'. It will all be regional. You can divide it many ways, but coastal, panhandle, west Texas, the Valley, Central Texas, North Texas, and East Texas are a pretty good start, imho. All of those will share some things with other areas, but not with all other areas or all things. All will vary significantly somehow from the others.

[turf3]

The biggest dilemma in Houston - Cockroaches - too big to step on, too small to shoot. What's a body to do?

[BobTex]

Funny responses.

With Texas being almost 900 mile wide and tall asking what the bugs are like could take a thesis paper to scratch the surface.

In the far eastern part of the state it is swampy, flat, warm and humid. It gets 50-70 inches of rain a year and is heavily wooded. Sure this environment will support a wide variety of bug type critters. With me growing up on the coast and now living 75 miles inland in the southern Pineywoods there are 2 totally different types of mosquitoes in these 2 locales. On the coast there are saltwater mosquitoes from the coastal marshes. They are fast and voracious. My grandparents told me when they moved to the area (coast) in the early 1940's it was known these mosquitoes could be so thick they'd get in the noses of cattle and smother them. Still can be bad when at the beaches IF the coastal inshore breezes die down. Most counties have mosquito control budgets (airborne and truck spraying) so in the cities never an issue to me.

As a guy that has lived way up north most mosquitoes are wimps compared to black flies !

Up here in the woods the mosquitoes still bite but are no match for the coastal variety. They buzz around, floating around, and will bite but they are generally not around more than for short periods (a few weeks). They haven't been bad here in several years. (Let me preface this by saying I live out in a forest. quarter to a half mile from a creek with significant low areas in the "creek bottom" that hold water at least 2/3 of the year). Mosquitoes not a real issue 95% of the time. Deer flies usually are aggravating for about 2 months late spring and early summer. An occasional scorpion here but never been stung. No giant centipedes (2"-3" only). There are big wood roaches but they live in the bush. In Fla they are called palmetto bugs. I have most of the wasps species but the real flying nemesis is yellow jackets when mowing (ground hornets?). I spray 1-2 times a year. Few issues even to my ex-Canadian wife if one is not phobic.

I'm sure in desert/arid environment in the west they don't see near the variety nor numbers of crawling/flying critters. Same going north toward the panhandle where it gets colder and is drier. I'll say this ... in suburban and city environs most bug issues are less simply because the sheer number of people. The exception would be German roaches and neighbors that don't use controls nor keep their homes/apartments clean ... them critters will migrate and they flourish in filth.

If you're Texas tough you'll poo poo off the bugs .

[lhafer]

Originally Posted by turf3

The biggest dilemma in Houston - Cockroaches - too big to step on, too small to shoot. What's a body to do?

It took 3 pages in before somebody mentioned the roaches!!! They fly and are enormous.

[Need4Camaro]

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?

I had no idea our mosquitoes were so strategic.

[soletaire1]

Although East Texas feels more humid than areas of the Mid Atlantic like Virginia and North Carolina, I find the bugs are about the same in each place. Only I experienced more spiders and centipedes in the Mid Atlantic vs cockroaches & mosquitos in East Texas.

[LocalPlanner]

Glad someone mentioned the salt marsh mosquitoes - they are bigger than other mosquitoes and extremely aggressive. They can bite through regular clothing. Fortunately, they are only a concern right along the coast.

We had a home in Houston with a backyard wood deck under which rainwater would collect, creating a mosquito farm. The backyard was thus almost unusable during the summer except during the hottest times of day.

One thing prevalent for a few weeks in SE TX during mid-to-late spring is June bugs. Harmless, but incredibly annoying at night, they'll fly anywhere they see light, and you can get big clouds of them.

Certain times of year we can also get "lovebugs" that have pretty much the same effect, except are daytime only.

Lastly, not sure if this is specific to SE TX, but if I ride my bike around dawn or in the twilight during warm months, the gnats are infuriating - I practically need eye shields and a mask.