Flying Insects

You wanna know #WhatBugsMe? Flying insects in Maryville Tennessee

Flying insects are a pain in the butt. So let’s talk about what you can do about it. There are thousands if not millions of kinds of flying insects. This is important because some sting or bite, and others are just an annoyance to have flying around your head. Most flying insects don’t bite, sting, or really do anything bad past annoying and scaring you. Just shew them away, no harm no foul. There are some bugs like the mayfly or cicadas that are seasonal and come out in large numbers certain times of the year. During this time be careful yawning or chewing with your mouth open, you might get some extra protein, but it won’t hurt you.

Flies and Sanitation

With Flies we move from not just the annoying but the nasty. Flies love filth, decaying matter to include excrement….. for the less cultured of us… that’s poop. It can be human, animal, or anything in-between. They love to land on it, get a taste and lay eggs in it. Then they walk over your picnic spread. YUM. They transfer that fecal matter from when they landed on the poo into Aunt Jolines’ famous potato salad. Are you hungry now?

How to Prevent Flies

If you are going to be outside there will be bugs. But when it comes to flies there are things you can do to restrict them from coming to say hi. It sounds simple, but cover the food. Whether you are inside or outside under a tree with your honey-bunny, the flies are attracted to the food, fresh and rotten. This also goes for whatever evil resides in your trashcans. I have had customers in the past with dogs in the back yard and when dogs do what they do and you don’t clean it up, the flies will be attracted and lay eggs making more flies. Eventually you will be overrun. This applies to any animals that use your yard as their toilet, chickens, goats, pigs, and any other farm animals. Your best recourse is to keep the droppings cleaned up. There is even a service here locally that does this for you. Clear Your Mines, great company name that makes me giggle every time I see it. It’s also a plus when the kids can play in the yard without slipping on poo. If you have horses, cows or farms close by but you don’t have any animals, good luck. If the source is off your property then there isn’t much you can do about that. We can do a treatment that will kill millions of flies but perspective is important here. No matter how many we kill, the source will always be sending more. This is a perpetual maintenance program.

Stinging Flying Insects

Stinging insects that fly are dangerous for different reasons. Nobody likes to get stung unless you are just weird and some can have some serious medical issues when stung. The source is important here as well as with the flies. Most stinging insects are social insects. The sting is meant to tell you you got too close to them or the nest. The good thing is insects like wasps, yellow jackets, hornets, and bees pretty much leave you alone unless you are threatening the nest. You are massive compared to them and can swat them easily. They don’t want to pick a fight with you one on one. The nest is the important thing. Removing that, especially if it is in a place where humans want to be is the key. There isn’t much that can be done about any flying insect that is just flying around. It’s not like we can fog the entire neighborhood and even if we could it wouldn’t do any good. So, remove the nest and you are good.

Overwintering Flying Insects

Ladybugs, Boxelder Beetles, Kudzu Bugs, and Stink Bugs are overwintering pests that fly. They show up in massive numbers before the first frost on the side of the house that faces the sun. They also show up in the spring as they emerge from overwintering. Overwintering is the bug version of hibernating. They don’t harm anything but can have an odor and be very numerous. If they are in the walls and you kill them in there, you could have a major issue with dermestid beetles feeding on the carcasses. So leave them alone. Sometimes you can treat the bark on trees and surfaces of the house to reduce the numbers but it’s outside, there will be bugs. Preventing them from entering the home with treatments helps but it’s a numbers game, a reduction, not elimination. Sealing holes so they cant overwinter in your walls is best.

Mosquitos

Mosquitos are the most dangerous bug on the planet because of transferring disease. Not so much here in the US as some 3rd world countries, but they still get the trophy. Unlike wasps, they aren’t social insects so they don’t live together in a colony but they do lay eggs in specific types of areas. Preventing the laying of eggs is where the magic happens. Everybody has heard about reducing standing water and that is good but most don’t realize they can lay eggs in a pool smaller than a bottlecap. So the chance of you eliminating every water spot is slim to none. Even a leaf can hold enough for Mrs Mosquito to contaminate your yard. Worse than that, they seem to know where water will gather later, lay eggs in a dry spot, then when it rains it’s game on. Treating for mosquitos is also a numbers game, just like the overwintering pests. Reducing the numbers of adults is great and will give you enough relief for your BBQ birthday party on Saturday but just like any other bugs, the adults aren’t the problem, the eggs are. So for that there are some innovative ways to affect egg production.

The Harsh Reality of Flying Insects

At the end of the day again, perspective is important here. Remember, there is no Zero with flying insects. Heck, there is no Zero with insects outside. There has been a trend of people moving here to TN from….. let’s call them “Less Rural” areas that aren’t used to bug country. Some of them freak out a bit where as an old country boy understands most bugs aren’t a big deal. I’ve actually had to explain to people that if they are outside…. there will be bugs. Nothing anyone can do about it. If you don’t like bugs you moved to the wrong state. Don’t go further south, it only gets worse. Besides, you wouldn’t want to annihilate all the bugs in your yard. They serve many beneficial purposes including a symbiosis with all the flowers and plants you love. The concrete jungle you came from usually only had bad bugs. Here we have all kinds. Let them be outside, there is nothing we can do about it anyway. Outside is their home, our purpose is to keep them out there, and not inside your home. Location location location.

You wanna know #WhatBugsMe? Flying Insects, but I love to kill ’em