Head lice are a common school year problem.

The call comes from school that your child has head lice. What to do, what to do?

You could panic, scream, wail and curse the gods.  After all, head lice prove that you and your family are no-good, rotten, filthy low class people, sure to be shunned by society.  Right? Well, not exactly.

Head lice are one of the most common school age problems, afflicting over 12 million kids each year.  Fortunately, head lice are harmless and  fairly simple to eradicate.

So take a deep breath, calm down and follow a few simple steps to be covered in the next few posts.

Silverfish are insects, related to cockroaches and ants.

Colored blueish-silver to greenish-silver, these slippery creatures carry the moniker “fish”because their movements mimic small fish.

Silverfish are ½ to 1 inch long scaly pests that thrive in damp environments.  They feast on starch and carbohydrates, eating everything from cereals and bread to cardboard boxes and wallpaper (they love the starchy glue).

Very little harm is caused by silverfish and they post no health risk or threat of pain or stinging.  Silverfish just want to quietly go about their life living in the damp crevices of your home whilst munching on your books, walls and photos.

The most important thing to remember when encountering a silverfish is to remain completely still and avoid direct eye contact.  An irritated silverfish has the ability to bite the head off a normal sized human.

Actually, that last bit was just a bit of posh.

Brown recluse spiders can also be colored gray.

Very distinct features identify the brown recluse.  Brown to gray in color, it has a distinctive violin marking on its back.

The marking is seen on the portion of the body attached to the legs.   The well defined violin shape explains why the brown recluse is also called a fiddleback  spider, a brown fiddler and a violin spider.

The brown recluse is a bit larger than a quarter with long legs.  The legs are covered in light hair and have no adhering spines.

Unlike most spiders, the brown recluse has only six eyes, two forward looking and four side looking.  Go figure!

The University of California Riverside has performed a great deal of spider research.  Check out their site http://spiders.ucr.edu/recluseid.html if you are looking for great information about the brown recluse spider.

Don’t “go hatin” on the stink bug, or you’ll be sorry!

Do not under any circumstances squish, squash, stomp,  crush or snuff out stink bugs. Any squishing, squashing, stomping, crushing and snuffing will result in the release of a malodorous chemical. You will be sorry.

Vacuuming is an effective strategy to get rid of stink bugs but you must be very careful when handling the vacuum bag or cannister.  Vacuuming will not kill the insects, but it will disturb them enough that they may emit their smell.  Work quickly to remove the vacuum bag, place in an airtight plastic garbage sack and throw it out far away from your home or any other inhabitable area.

The only sure fire way to get rid of stink bugs is to conduct a thorough inspection of your home and seal up any entry points you may see.  Check your outside foundation, water spigots, siding, windows and window sills, doors, basement and attic.  You will find openings and you should caulk them shut.

Stink Bugs Guide educates us all about the brown marmorated stink bug.  The site uses words like pentatomoidea and heteroptera suborder, so you know it’s got to be good!

Good luck getting rid of stink bugs!

Searching for warmer temperatures, pests come through doors and windows.

Temperatures are beginning to dip down into the range of what meteorologist call “chilly.”  The change in temperature makes our friend, the brown marmorated stink bug look for warmth.

Stink bugs come into our homes because they are looking for a place to hibernate over autumn and winter.  This means that we are witnessing the first of an ever mounting ascension of these pesky bugs around our doors and windows.

Remember, stink bugs do more damage outside than they do inside.  Crops and foliage pierced by their pincers are susceptible to fungus and disease.  Stink bugs, however, do very little damage to homes, furniture or clothing.

Great stink bug information can be found at stinkbug411.com.  Highly recommended site.

They simply bother humans when they are inside our homes.  Maybe it’s because we know that a disturbed stink bug will live up to its name.

Let’s home this year’s crop of stink bugs is imperturbable!

Super simple home made way to catch flies.

Flies are among the most irritating house pests.  Nobody wants to see a fly land on a morsel of food whose next destination was going to be your mouth.  Luckily, you can easily make a home made fly trap using only the most basic ingredients.

First, get a jar and pour a bit of honey or syrup on the bottom.  Next, roll up a piece of paper into a cone and tape it together.

Snip off a small portion at the bottom of the cone and fit the remaining contraption onto the top of the jar.  The bottom of the cone should be large enough for flies to fly into, but not much larger.  Flies will easily go down your home made funnel but will find it difficult to get out.

The hole in the cone should be about one inch above the sweet treat at the bottom of the jar.  You may want to create a tight seal by taping the cone to the rim of the jar.

This ingenious trap will work for house flies.  If you want to catch fruit flies, watch this instructive video.

So there you have it.  A simple, inexpensive way to catch flies.  And it’s pretty wholesome sport at that!

Spiders use their sense of vibration to detect critters caught in their web.

Spiders have very bad eyesight, but that doesn’t stop them from being successful predators.  A spider’s tool is a well spun web.

A spider web has a wonderfully efficient design and construction, honed to capture unsuspecting prey.

Did you ever wonder why a spider does not get trapped in it’s own web?  Watch a fascinating video on HowStuffWorks to see the intricacies of spider web design.

You can get rid of spiders if you keep your home free of other bugs and insects.  Spiders are pretty smart and they won’t build webs in areas where there isn’t much prey.

Watching a spider spin a web is equally delightful as hearing an old man spin a yarn!

Humans tend to love, hate, or be fascinated by spiders.

Spiders are one of the most feared and reviled creatures on earth.  No one quite knows why we love to hate spiders like we do.

Arachnophobia is real, and there are people who would rather jump off a cliff than take on a spider.  But in reality, most spiders are harmless.

There are a few spiders, like the brown recluse and the black widow, which can cause serious harm if they bite. The majority of spiders only bite when threatened and their bites are usually less bothersome than a mosquito or fly bite.

As irrational as it seems, spider fear still exists.  Fortunately you can get rid of spiders fairly easily if they scare the bajeebers out of you, and we’ll examine the topic of how to get rid of spiders over the next few posts.

Examine windows and doors where flies may enter.

Screens and open doors are the main sources of entry to your house. Unlike other insects that need to eat through wood, crawl under your siding or burrow into your foundation, flies waltz right in as though they were invited guests.

Screen holes can be easily repaired with screen repair kits available at any hardware store.

Remember what your mother always told you – “Close the door!”

And never leave a fresh peach pie to cool on an open window sill.  This action can only invite a great swarm of flies.  Woe!

You have to admit, getting rid of flies in not rocket science.  All it takes is a little determination and attention to detail.  Good luck getting rid of flies.

Effective strategy for eliminating house flies.

A good strategy to eliminate flies is to find out where they eat and where they breed. That’s pretty simple. Flies eat and breed in the same place – garbage, waste and organic matter.

Flies love to eat and lay eggs in moist, rotting foods like beef, chicken and fruits. Make an inspection of all your garbage cans to make sure they are tightly sealed and that no organic matter has leaked out or dropped to the bottom.

Remember, keep your trash tightly sealed and dispose of it on a regular basis if you are to get rid of flies.

Now shoo!