Bugs best not squished

[Pete Bog]

Did not want to derail a previous topic that touched on Daddy Long legs so I started this one. It seems it is better to brush the Daddy Long Legs off than it is to squish them. Now, given a choice, I'll brush them off and let them go on about their business. They don't seem to hurt anything beyond being a little creepy feeling when they crawl on you. Not hardly worthy of a death sentence just for existing. However, through place and circumstance I have squished a few plumb flat over the years with no consequences, olfactory or otherwise. Is there something I'm missing?

We do have something we call a "Stink Bug". Usually found around dead rotting carcasses. Now if you squish them, you know it when you smell it, and you sure don't want to squish them with your hands! It's bad enough when you step on them.

What's the story on the Daddy Long Legs? And what else is out there that is creepy crawly and best not squished? I know about the Wasps, Hornets, Yellow jackets and other flying demons of pain but are there other things I don't know about? Types of ants, moths, butterflys, etc.?

[crashdive123]

One species of Daddy Long Legs is considered venemous, but since it almost never bites humans they are fairly harmless.  In the rare cases of bite reports, there have not been any adverse reactions reported.

[xj35s]

There are two daddy long legs right? one is a spider and lives in your bathroom the other is a sort of beetle that lives in the woods. As far as I know the venomous factor is 100% myth.https://www.livescience.com/33625-daddy-longlegs-spiders-poisonous.html
not a spider
Spider.


I hate these little Centepedes. They say the bite is worse than a hornet sting. I've never
been bitten but am careful moving wood especially punky wood.

[madmax]

I don't squish caterpillars.  There's one down here that is a stinger and it hurts.  Being allergic to them could be a bad deal.

I don't kill butterflies or moths.  And admittedly feel bad if I accidently do.

Fire ants are a nightmare.  They seem to delay stinging until there's about a million of them on you.  You'll do the dance like you just stepped in a yellow jackets nest.  But the fire ant sting doesn't stop there.  The sting lingers and days later you'll still have pimply itching bites. 

The Hoverfly looks like a big black and yellow hornet.  It's loud and always seems curious about stuff so it just hovers making noise and creeping you out.  It doesn't sting.  It's a no kill bug.

We've had a Guinee wasp nest in our front screen door for years.  When the Jehovah's witness' come to call, I stand there and drum on the door while they make their spiel.  It takes awhile to jazz them up and we use the front door all the time without getting stung.  But they will attack given a little time and effort.

[wsdstan]

Like Tony I don't kill everything that lives around my place but fire ants, sugar ants, wasps, ticks, boxelder bugs, muskrats, and raccoons are on the elimination list.  I lose to all of them every year but it keeps me thinking up new ways to get them. 

We get a lot of moths, Blue Jays, Grackles, Red wing blackbirds, and vultures around here and tolerate their existence.  Dozens of other critters too, some with legs and some with wings are safe.  There is one bug however that I would like to get rid of but it exists in numbers  that are probably in the millions.  It is some kind of gnat.  When you ride a 4 wheeler or motorcycle up our driveway certain times of the day in the warmer months there are places where, if you forgot the goggles, you just close your eyes and hope you don't run into anything.  No breathing is allowed either or your lungs will be full of them.  They get in your teeth and hair and while they don't bite or itch much they do interfere with how you act.  You walk up to the house looking like an escapee from some asylum for the hair combing challenged and usually remove your T shirt to shake them off before you go in the house.  For some reason pretty girls don't seem to be bothered and don't take off anything but the smile on your face.   

[wolfy]

If you've ever encountered a house centipede racing across your floor your natural instinct is to wipe it from the face of the earth, but despite it's formidable appearance we should be cultivating, rather than destroying them. 

I recall Heather's sister in-law being here for a visit one time and while we were watching a movie in our basement family room.....suddenly, she bolted from her chair with an upraised flip-flop and proceeded to whack our pet house centipede that we had been watching develop from a baby.   We both shouted out, ''NOOOO!" but it was too late.....'Hairy' had met his Waterloo.   

https://www.familyhandyman.com/pest-control/heres-why-you-should-never-kill-a-house-centipede/ 

[wsdstan]

Never had any of those around here.  The only skinny and long bodied bugs we have are earwigs..... mostly outside under stuff.  A few get in the house but I kill em' as I see no real benefit to sharing occupancy with them.

[wolfy]

Stan, if you watched the short video in that link, you know that house centipedes feed voraciously on earwigs.      If you want, I could probably round up a few of Hairy's progeny and overnight them to you via FedEx.

[crashdive123]

I only kill bugs if I'm being paid to do it.

Well, except for fire ants.

Well, except for wasps.

Well, except for yellow jackets.

Well, except for mosquitoes.

[wsdstan]

Stan, if you watched the short video in that link, you know that house centipedes feed voraciously on earwigs.      If you want, I could probably round up a few of Hairy's progeny and overnight them to you via FedEx.

I asked my wife if it would be okay.  She looked at me like I was some alien from another planet.  I think that means "I'll pass".   

[Mannlicher]

I kill bugs.  Period.  No remorse,  no hesitation.

[madmax]

I kill bugs.  Period.  No remorse,  no hesitation.

You could substitute a lot for "bugs".  Owls.  Sandhill cranes. Pink flamingos. Manatees...  lol

[hayshaker]

wasps hornets lives DON"T matter

[Dabberty]

I only kill bugs if I'm being paid to do it.

Well, except for fire ants.

Well, except for wasps.

Well, except for yellow jackets.

Well, except for mosquitoes.

Similar here. except I have no clue what is a yellow jacket :-)
wasps you just let them be, and they will go away, I never understand why people start panicking and waving at them manically, that will only piss them off.
Those 'daddy long legs', just take them by a leg and carry it outside and put it in the garden, all solved.

[wsdstan]

Most of the world calls them wasps but there are little differences........ .....
 
Yellow jackets are restricted to two genera only, whereas wasps in general consist of many genera.

Wasps are comparatively larger than yellow jackets.

The colouration of yellow jackets is much like honeybees, while not all the wasps do have such colouration pattern.

Wasps are primarily parasitic while yellow jackets are predatory.

Yellow jackets fly sideways rapidly just before landing while not all the wasps do that.