BUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Riley Smith]

Mississippi is the bug capital of the entire world. We have EVERYTHING! Every creepy-crawly bloodthirsty biting thing in existence. And right now mosquitoes are top of the market after monsoon rains. It's the worst infestation I've seen in many years. You can't go outside without some kind of chemical screen to keep the bloody leeches from latching on you. We went upstate where there hadn't been as much rain today to get away from them. The other night we pulled up and opened the doors to the car and those monsters BOILED into the car. You could see them reflecting the interior lights. We RAN!!!

Look, I'm used to mosquitoes. Those little tiny Asian Tigers. The regular whatever they are that live here. And those big swamp buzzards that look like a 747 flying around. I've killed them as big as a dime and almost as tiny as the dot at the end of this sentence. Usually, if you keep moving or find a little breeze somewhere, they not that big a deal. ONE mosquito buzzing around is nothing.

 A HUNDRED is something!!!

 And don't EVEN get me to mentioning fleas. And flies. It IS an El Nino year, and that increases the vermin. I just hope we don't get any cross contamination from places that still have malaria!!! I'm ready to bring back DDT. For real, the county does spray. It is of absolutely no use whatsoever. It might make them pause for a short time. A few hours. Then it's business as usual the next day. There are a million little pools of water in the adjacent square mile and every one of them is breeding bugs. Bugs that LOVE blood. I'm serious as a heart attack, right now were you to get stranded in the swamp or shoreline, you'd be drained in a few hours. The Chinese should have named this year The Year of the Mosquito.

[Doug SC]

I am well aware of how bad they can be from hunting in the swamps of FL for wild turkeys to camping on undeveloped
barrier islands surrounded by both salt and freshwater marshes here in SC. Those big ones are called gallinippers and you immediately know when one of them sticks its nose in you. I carry a Thermacell (sometimes 2), mosquito coils, citronella candles, DEET, no-see-um mesh head nets, and sometimes a mesh bug jacket. For chiggers and ticks I spray my pants and bug jacket with Sawyer premium insect repellent for clothing gear and tents. I will most likely spray the exterior of my canvas tent for the Scamp. The primary ingredient is Permethrin and kills any insect that comes in contact with it. I like that!! A stiff onshore wind is a blessing. Don't make the mistake of heading into the bushes when they are bad. Y'all have my deepest sympathy!

[Riley Smith]

Yeah, I sorta live in the bushes!!!       On that note I'm am well and perfectly screwed. Give me a cigarette!!!

The dragon flies are getting more numerous though. I cheer for those little Apache helicopters!!! And should my sorry butt MOW, it might give those little fighters a clear shot at all the vermin! I'm trying to stay well from the sinus attacks to get cataract on my OTHER eye done next Friday, and all these allergies to everything blooming are making it difficult. Mowing seems like a  bad idea. I still like the blooms though, and there are several rare things blooming at the moment including ginger and Brazilian Plume.

And to empathize all this about bugs, I was out and saw a gigantic bug flying around. I have never seen one similar; it was about three inches long, big eyes, and ugly. No not a cicada, either. Long and slim, not fat and big. I went for the camera but it was gone when I returned. Drat! It wasn't as big as a giant water bug but it was also big around and not flat.

https://passtheflamingo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/img_74411.jpg

[noelH]

Great year for wood ticks, but zilch for mossies or bitting flies.  Too dry until yesterday.  Finally some rain v. maybe a sprinkle once in awhile.  +5cm/2" yesterday with another ~1" overnight up at the house.  Headed into town yesterday to drop off some library material. Rivers of water running downhill on the sidewalks and streets to the Lake. NWS noted the storm the last storm line that blew through over the night traversed L. Superior.  Sound of howling wind (+40kt) ripping through the woods and the crack of a tree somewhere in the forest woke me for a moment.  Today... Uggg.  Humidity was more than high at sunrise. Temps low 70s and dead calm.  Noon temps hit 90F, but the RH has dropped to mid 50s.  The bad. Bitting flies hatched overnight. Not a good day to be drifting out on L. Superior. Like you would be today.  Glassy surface with a few lines of ripples here and there.  The buggers seem to find you if sailing within a couple miles of any shoreline. 

[pgandw]

I was complaining about our yellow flies, which are horrible this year. I get bit everyday, and they leave welts. A friend said to try posting a few artificial dragon flies around (the beautiful dragons eat mosquitoes and yellow flies, so are much loved in these parts). Says it actually works.

Fred W
Stuart (ODay) Mariner 19 Sweet P
the swamps of NE North Carolina

[Spot]

I am still getting the occasional paper wasp nest in the big boat.
We have had fireflies the last week or so making the twilight hours more interesting.

[Riley Smith]

It has been a slow year for wasps here. Maybe because of all the rain, I don't know. I did manage to evade an attack. I had a fan underneath the cabana where we'd let the baby sleep while we were swimming. I started working in the shop and decided the fan would make it nicer. I lugged it all the way to the shop and set it down before the Guinea wasps came boiling out! Color me VERY lucky!!!!

[noelH]

Risky behavior this AM.  Little bit veggie garden time in the cool(60sF) morning conditions. Hit 90F yesterday. The risk exposure. No Picaridin to keep the ticks off of me.  No mossies and I already forgot about the Apostle Is. Black Flies(AIBF).  Until a few bit me around the ankles. They use their proboscis like a lancet. Quick fast cut to inflect pain.  No marks, no welts, no itching.  Just a level of discomfort that is beyond pleasant. 20% picaridin seems to be needed.  Lower concentration and DEET are not very effective.

Not sure if accurate.  Red color fly swatter seems to be the most effective in terms of color.  Keep a red one on Vela.  When the wind drops and you venture too close to any beach on the mainland or islands the buggers seem to find you.  The critters are very fast and quick.  Even with a swatter you miss many.  When you do smush one their is a feeling of satisfaction.  We need a long hot and dry period to rid us of this first of the season hatching.  Definitely do not go down to a beach on a calm or offshore breeze day. 

Years ago a sailing friend was giving lessons to a couple that were new to sailing, but had the means to purchase a nice larger non-trailerable sailboat.  Days of no wind.  Just a lot of practice pulling out and into the slip, harbor.  Setting, reefing the sail in windless conditions.  One day they decided to motor to Long Is. Came within a mile or so of the island and got swarmed with the AIBF.  Couple took cover inside the cabin while John reversed course at max throttle to get away from the island.  A flock of the flies followed the couple into cabin before they could seal it shut. He could here the wife verbally beating up her husband about the ....sailboat, sailing.....  Thought eventually hit his brain.  They probably would take a low ball offer for their brand new lux sailboat. 

[Chris Muthig]

I'm with you...  I live in Ocala National Forest, the mosquitoes look more like a chinook helicopter than an insect.  I have velvet ants (cow killers) which are actually a wasp, deerflies, horseflies, massive millipedes, shield bugs, golden orb weaver spiders, assassin bugs, wood boring bees, the biggest and most colorful dragon flies I've ever seen, and tons of lightning bugs.  That's a tiny percentage of what we see in a single day.  I use my app constantly to ID bugs, mainly to see if they can kill us.

[Chris Muthig]

Oh, and the katydids are incredibly thick this year, usually you seen one a week or so, at them moment every time we open the door 3 or 4 fly in at night or in the early morning.  Never seen this many by a long shot.

[Riley Smith]

The mosquitoes have suffered from little rain and me emptying every tiny bit of something that would hold their attention.They're almost bearable with a little spray. And the dragonflies. Yes, every color under the rainbow in their little Apache bodies. This year it seems a red male Eastern Amberwing has taken a liking to the perch near the morning coffee spot; last year it was a blue Pond Hawk. Those cow ants are difficult to kill aren't they? I have never been stung by one but have seen the stinger of a captured one. No thank you. The Ibis have been visiting every day and gleaning in the yards and fields. And one of my favorite activities this time of the year is to watch the Mississippi Kites thermal upward. Mid day seems to be their fav time to fly and Thursday I saw one catch a thermal over the house and rise to a very tiny speck. His mate lounged around well above the treetops but decided not to get up high where it was cool. I did notice that the soaring bird went up under a white cumulus cloud that was beginning to show gray near the base. Maybe that indicates lift....