Bugs in the house!

There are 22 replies in this Thread which has previously been viewed 1,053 times. The latest Post (December 5, 2025 at 7:21 PM) was by Rice.

    I think we are all used to mosquitos, ants and especially cockroaches (which scare me to death), living in Argentina, but there are some bugs that are really annoying.

    Over the last few days we've been trying to get rid of those pesky fruit flies. You know the ones - they hover erratically over fruit and dark corners of the kitchen. When you go to swat them, they have lightning-fast reactions and you usually miss. We always cover food in plastic containers and now do the same for fruit for obvious reasons. We also clean and empty the bin (a favourite haunt for them) regularly.

    On Sunday, I went to war with them, blasted the kitchen with Raid and shut the doors. After a couple of hours I went back in and some were still hovering around, but I did manage to swat a few with a wet rag, which was quite satisfying, but I didn't spot any corpses on the floor.

    These bugs are only about 2.5mm long and I have identified them on Google Lens as fruit flies which, believe it or not, have been studied extensively for disease cures.

    Anyway, I think we're winning the battle, even though they keep reappearing, but from where, I haven't a clue.

    They haven't locked me up for schizoid paranoia just yet.

    :any-help:

    We just had a bout with them too. Kept trying to find where they were coming from. Finally checked potatoes in a big wooden bowl, and disturbed a bunch of them attending a convention on how to make humans crazy.

    Raid also makes aerosol bombs /foggers that you set off in a closed house, then run like hell without inhaling until you’re outdoors. Leave for 4 hours, quickly open windows and doors (again without inhaling) and allow the house to air out before going back in. They kill everything.

    Quote from Rice

    Raid also makes aerosol bombs /foggers that you set off in a closed house, then run like hell without inhaling until you’re outdoors. Leave for 4 hours, quickly open windows and doors (again without inhaling) and allow the house to air out before going back in. They kill everything.

    The missus nearly came a cropper with those things. Her own fault for setting them off in the wrong order to ensure a safe escape. I remind her of it whenever she moans about my smoking habit.

    Flying ant invasion?

    Quote

    Why is there an invasion of flying ants in the AMBA

    The AMBA was filled with flying ants because the mating season began. This situation is repeated every year towards the end of spring and beginning of summer, because it is the time of year when these insects find the ideal temperature to reproduce.

    The humidity and heat create the right environment for this natural process and that is why they abandon the anthills to carry out the well-known “bridal flight”.

    The ants mate in the air and after doing so, the male falls to the ground, dead, while the female flies until she loses her wings and then settles underground and becomes the queen ant of a new colony.

    I hate all ants as they crawl on to you and bite you before you know it. Been bitten several times since the warmer weather arrived. They especially like my neck for some reason....bastards!! :cursing:

    Quote from UK Man

    I hate all ants as they crawl on to you and bite you before you know it. Been bitten several times since the warmer weather arrived. They especially like my neck for some reason....bastards!! :cursing:

    You’re still good to eat. I would take it as a good sign.

    Quote from Splinter

    It's the cockroaches that I can't stand. I can't even step on them to kill them and use spray instead. Adri is braver than I.

    :any-help:

    We've had a few recently. I stamp on them if I'm quick enough otherwise Minnie sniffs them out and chews them. Yesterday Nazarena was here doing some cleaning and spraying. The missus spotted one and couldn't believe it when Nazarena picked it up and squeezed it between her fingers. 8|

    We have two street lights outside our bedroom window and in the damp weather, midges/gnats in their thousands get attracted by them. But they then manage to get past the mosquito sheet in the window and possibly through other gaps and plague us, even when no lights are on in the bedroom.

    We have double glazing in that room and I now shut the windows tight and lower the blind, which is also new, which keep the buggers out. But yesterday I forgot and it was like an infestation, horrible. In the end, after shutting everything down, I grabbed our powerful vacuum cleaner and managed to get rid of then, even though they kept reappearing from nowhere.

    Lesson learned and windows and blinds get closed up tight at about 5pm.

    Our sidewalk is covered in giants ants. It is quite a sight because it just seems dirty on the pavement from a distance. They keep going from a street tree to under a tile. I always scroll my shoes when passing through them - God forbid if I took one home with me. I am sure the others would follow it.

    We have a lot of camuati wasp nests out at the quinta. According to the missus their sting is bad however in all my years here I've never been stung. They usually make their nests in trees but last year they built one next to a security camera on the house. It was small but has got much bigger this year and has started to block the view from the camera.