Mosquito hell, daddy-long-legs heaven?

[rodawn]

Anyone else having a banner year for mosquitos and daddy-long-legs spiders (don't know the actual name for these)?

Every couple inches of grass contain a spider.

And the mosquitoes come in black swarming clouds. Not a single fly spray works and I've tried them ALL. Even ones with Citronella and spearmint oil. Deep Woods Off works for about an hour. One might as well walk around in a tent. :( :no:

[mybeau1999]

I've definitely noticed a LOT of daddy-long-legs in our barn. Though, we only built it a few months ago, so maybe it's just our area...

[Seven-up]

I live in Louisiana. Even in the dead of winter it's mosquito hell. When it's cold they just put on a sweater.



And I think the daddy longlegs are mosquitio hawks? Unless that's a nickname too.

[rodawn]

We have lots of mosquite hawks and as ugly as those are, they are welcome becuse they prey on mosquitoes. Obviously, we need more because the swarms of mosquitoes are driving us nuts.

I've always known these spiders with really long legs as being called daddy-long-legs. Have no idea what they do in particular, but they never seem to try to bite.

I just found something on the internet about them. Apparently, they're not really a spider!

http://www.canadianforestry.com/html/forest/speaking8_e.html

[Seven-up]

Oh, wait. A mosquito hawk has wings. I was thinking of something else.


Sorry, this pic makes the bug look huge, and it creeps me out.
http://www.psychicgoldfish.com/photo/critters/skeeterhawk.jpg

[KrazyTBMare]

Mosquito hell? Oh yes. I think in the last 3 months there may have been a total of 6-7 days when it didnt rain. It has been the wettest summer I can recall. Its DISGUSTING and the mosquitos are having a ball. I have tried all mixtures and Deep woods OFF and ugh nothing works.

As far as daddy long legs, nope I really dont have them here. I have the Fl house spiders and they are awful but dont really eat the mosquitos - they mostly catch horse and deer flies in their webs.

I stood outside last night to watch the shuttle take off and I am now covered in mosquito bites. UGH.

[fourmares]

What most people call Daddy Longlegs are also called Harvestmen. They are arachnids, but not spiders. Spiders have multiple parts to their bodys. Harvestmen only have one.

[glitterless]

Ew ew ew ew! Yes! Major daddy long legs problem here. I've posted before about my snake phobia. I swear the daddy long legs thing is catching up. I used to be okay about spiders, but now any spiders that resemble a daddy long legs (apparently daddy long legs' aren't really spiders?) freak me out.

We have a ton of flying bugs around this year. Mosquitoes, among other things...I also thought that maybe the daddy long legs' are thriving because of all the extra food this year.

I was sitting on the couch eating something about a week ago. Just me and the dog were at home. I'd dropped some food on the floor and looked down to see if he grabbed it. There was a daddy long legs sitting right beside him! Good thing I don't have nearby neighbours, because they would have thought I was being murdered! LOL

I told the dog that he was useless and that I was trading him in for a cat ;)

[Seven-up]

I told the dog that he was useless and that I was trading him in for a cat ;)

Before you do that, you should know what occurred a few days ago in my house.

I walked into the living room and saw a spider the size of a hamster on the floor in front of a chair my cat was sitting on. I freaked, and yelled at her to get to work. Cat looked at me, wide-eyed, as if to say, "Why the hell do you think I'm up in this chair?! That thing is HUGE!"


Of course, as I type this, the other cat is hunting the baby lizard that fell out of the window I just opened.

So I guess your odds are about 50/50 that a cat would actually be useful. Maybe 25/75, since cat has yet to catch the lizard. 20 bucks says she catches it and hides it in my bed.:eek:

[SarahandSam]

Well, the lizard's cute, the spider is less so!

It's been horrendous this year for mosquitoes, and if I venture into the yard at all (rarely) to do gardening I see daddy-long-legs everywhere, which is why I am not doing much gardening and my garden is being eaten by shrubs.

I have tried the Listerine trick and I actually do think it helps. I spray my deck and right around it daily with Listerine in a spray bottle, and though there are still some mosquitoes, there are fewer than in the areas farther out in the garden where I don't spray.

At the barn, I haven't gotten to go out on trails for more than 10 minutes this summer before being swarmed. I will coat my horse and me in Deep Woods Off and there are still mosquitoes all over his poor face, and they actually bite me through my breeches. So much for a nice relaxing post-workout ride around the hayfields.

[Seven-up]

Kitty just dispatched the lizard. Now I can safely climb into bed.:cool:



Listerine, you say? Just listerine or do you mix it with something?

[JanM]

Don't think because Daddy Long Legs look harmless that they won't become a problem. A few years ago a friend had a few in her garage, and she left them alone to eat the other bugs. A couple of years later her entire garage was polluted with them-she called her local pest control guy immediately. She said she couldn't stand the feeling of all of the lurking creatures when she went in the garage.

[SarahandSam]

Just plain Listerine. I get the generic kind from the dollar store. (:

[rodawn]

Glitterless and SevenUp - - ROFL - - I have tears running down my face.

Just what IS it this year where the bugs are the size of house cats!

SarahandSam - I have never heard of Listerine for controlling mosquitoes....... HMMMM, will have to give that a try!!! I tried to sit outside earlier this month to watch the Perseids meteorite shower and couldn't take the mosquitoes. Even Deep Woods Off didn't work. <BIG FROWN>

(Can someone please tell me why I rarely have the smilies listed on the right with all replies, despite the fact smiles are ON???)

[MunchkinsMom]

You are all giving me yet another reason why I am happy to be living in Ocala. At least at my farm, mosquitos are not really a problem. I have a ton of bug eating creatures here, dragonflies, birds, and some web building orb spiders that I let live because I have seen how much they eat. And the lizards, love to watch them gobbling bugs. My farm is high and dry, no standing water or ponds anywhere nearby, no woods either.

Now, we do have a bumper crop of grasshoppers, and I mean BIG ones - as long as my thumb. And it hurts when they hit you when you are out mowing or walking, loved the one that glommed onto my face one night, almost drove the mower into a fence, and my neighbors learned a few new swear words. And dung beetles - which can and do fly, sounds like a B52 bomber.

I have heard that those mosquito foggers that run on a small propane tank are pretty effective, if used dilegently and often.

[SarahandSam]

Here's Snopes on the Listerine trick:
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/mosquitoes.asp

I wouldn't hail it as a miracle cure, but I do think it seems to be somewhat effective--though as Snopes says, for a limited time. I spray in the afternoon and it usually lasts a little ways into the evening before they start ignoring it completely. And if I spray it into a bush where mosquitoes are hanging out, they all come flying out in a panic and go away for a little bit, so at least it seems to annoy them if not kill them outright. d;

[rodawn]

You are all giving me yet another reason why I am happy to be living in Ocala.

Now, we do have a bumper crop of grasshoppers, and I mean BIG ones - . . . . loved the one that glommed onto my face one night, almost drove the mower into a fence, and my neighbors learned a few new swear words.

:eek: <hysterically> ROFL

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww. I hate how they go crunch when you run them over ...................


Good minds-eye visual, however....