URL: http://www.abqjournal.com/bugman/bugman06-28-03.htm

Saturday, June 28, 2003
Get Rid of Flies' Nursery
By Dick Fagerlund For the Journal     THE BUGMAN: Q: I have flies at my front door and flies at my back door! A lot of them! I have four kids and they are in and out and now I can't seem to get them out (the flies, not kids). It started a couple of weeks ago. I did what a friend said and hung up some plastic bags of water on my patio. That does not work. I bought some fly strips and they don't work. We have used a yard treatment, and it doesn't work. There is no trash, no dog mess, no dead animals, not even food. How in the heck can I get them to go away? I'm not talking about a few pesky flies. I count about 25-30. All they do is fly around and around in a circle pattern. What gives? — K.B., Albuquerque (Taylor Ranch)
    A: You have what are known as "little house flies." Their scientific name is Fannia cunicularia. I also have them on my front porch. These pesky little flies breed in any decaying organic material including pet feces, grass clippings, dead leaves and compost piles. The only hope you have of controlling them is to eliminate the breeding site, which may be difficult or impossible. There is nothing you can do to kill the adults except swat them with a fly swatter. I use a fly swatter with sticky stuff on it, so you can smack and catch the fly at the same time. If you want something like this contact me and I will give you the Web site where they are available.
    Q: Do bugs make a sound that people cannot hear, but which animals can hear? For years I've observed my cats spotting a bug on the wall, carpet or elsewhere, way before I even see the bug. I can only deduce that the cat must hear a sound which draws the cat's attention. I've wondered about this for years. -- S.R., Albuquerque
    A: Sure they do. Many insects beat their wings in frequencies that are beyond our hearing capabilities but that are easily heard by other animals. I also believe cats and other animals are sentient beings that can sense many things that our species is incapable of sensing, and that they communicate with each other in ways that we don't understand.
    Q: I have a fairly new house. It is straw bale construction with stucco outside and structolite stucco inside. I have been finding tiny bugs, about the size of a pin head. The bugs don't move much, so they look like specs of dust, but when probed, they move some. I first noticed them on the sides of a small Mexican ceramic sink in the bathroom. Then I found a bunch in a new set of glass bowls that had white thin foam separating each bowl. They seem to like white things best. Sometimes I see them on the walls. -- R.S., Ilfield, N.M.
    A: You are finding plaster beetles. These little beetles feed on mold inside the walls of straw bale homes. There is absolutely nothing you can do about them. As long as there is straw, there will be mold and these beetles will be present. You cannot eradicate them with pesticides because you can't get the pesticides to the source. When you buy a straw bale home you will have plaster beetles (and probably booklice and other mold feeding insects). They come with the house. Fortunately they don't do any damage, don't bite and are just a nuisance by their presence.
    Q: Is there a good snail bait available? All the ones I see in stores contain products that can be dangerous for pets. — R.O., Blue Lake, Calif.
    A: Good question. Never, ever use any snail baits that contain metaldehyde, as this material is very dangerous for dogs. There is a product called EscarGo that is available from Gardens Alive! that works very well and is safe.
    The biggest problem with many products sold in stores is that they contain pesticides that are, in reality, weapons of mass destruction. When you spray pesticides along baseboards or around the outside foundation of your home, you are not going to kill one particular pest, you are going to kill large numbers of insects and other organisms, many of them beneficial.
    You may even kill small birds and small animals with pesticides applied carelessly. All pesticides, if they have to be used, should be applied as a crack and crevice treatment, which means you inject the pesticide in areas where the target pest is hiding or living. To do otherwise, you will kill a lot of nontarget organisms, which is called collateral damage when we fight wars. Pesticides are Weapons of Mass Destruction, and should be handled as such and should never be used unless absolutely necessary.
   

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    Dick Fagerlund, a board certified entomologist, is currently the integrated pest manager at the University of New Mexico. If you have any questions for the Bugman, you can e-mail him at fagerlun@unm.edu or mail him at P.O. Box 1173, Corrales, NM, 87048. His book, "Ask the Bugman," based on his nationally distributed column, is available at most bookstores or on his Web site (for a signed copy) at www.askthebugman.com.