Earwigs and Spiders in my house!

Gamer Bhoy 89

WARNING: There are pretty nasty details in here if you don't want to lose your appetite.

I have been getting them pretty frequently now since July or August.
Every day I have killed at least 1 wig and 1 spider.

The spiders don't bother me as much as the earwigs though. I've had to pretty much DISINFECT the dish-rack because I saw one crawling around dishes I recently washed and I also had to throw a bag of bread out because there was one lurking around inside.

I'm getting the odd BIG spider aswell recently. Not ones that are as small as a rice-krispy now, these are about as long as a bookie's pen and as wide as a euro coin (bad comparisons. I know, sorry *snigger*) and I've only saw 4 in total since July. And the fright I get when I run into one is ridiculous. They're the biggest spiders I've seen inside my home.

Where are these wigs and spiders coming from and what is their purpose? (like, what is attracting them?). I think dirty clothes attract the spiders (like clothes sitting in the washing basket waiting to be thrown in the machine). But I have no idea what is attracting the earwigs.

If anyone is unsure what an earwig is, I won't post an in-your-face picture here it's pretty disgusting.

Here's 2 links for each:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earwig

http://img.ehowcdn.com/article-page-main/ehow/images/a07/ft/e0/identify-common-household-spiders-oklahoma-800x800.jpg

Now, that is the spider that, I THINK, looks like the ones that have been crawling around my house.

(and I am constantly reflectively itching myself every 5 seconds because i'm getting squeamish!)

Thanks *shivers*

BBDBB

maybe you are some kind of parselmouth and dont realise it

Emiko

You could put some conkers under your furniture to scare off the spiders.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/6255510/Spiders-v-conkers-are-arachnids-really-scared-of-horse-chestnuts.html

puzzle factory

theres a spider in my bathroom the size of a dinner plate

delly

Those crazy big spiders are very common these days. They don't spin webs like your regular friendly spider, therefore they wander around hunting for prey. I know the site of them scurrying across the floor can be offputting, but if you move quick enough they can make a tasty snack.

badabing106

Does anyone try to rescue flys or wasps that get trapped in spiders webs. It always warms my cockles when I save a fly from being embalmed to death.

pow wow

My flat was infested with maggots and flies from my decomposing dead neighbour upstairs a few years ago. The horror will leave you eventually, don't worry.

JONJO THE MISER

I hate earwigs and there seems to be rakes of them in my house at the moment, i killed about 8 of the things last night alone.

Wooden Jesus

puzzle factory wrote: »

theres a spider in my bathroom the size of a dinner plate

Throw a dinner plate at it and see if it survives

Duckworth_Luas

badabing106 wrote: »

Does anyone try to rescue flys or wasps that get trapped in spiders webs. It always warms my cockles when I save a fly from being embalmed to death.

What? Why? Spiders are our allies in the never ending battle against flying, buzzing nuisances.

pragmatic1

One of those little earwig mother****ers pinched me the other day. And yeah the spiders we've been getting over the past few years are definitely bigger than what I remember.

Kevin Duffy

So they're in your house, so what? There's worse places for them. When I was a kid I took a big swig from a milkbottle that had been standing in the back garden for a while. A total mouthful of hundreds of earwigs, swallowed a few, got some up my nose, spat the rest quite some distance.

Gamer Bhoy 89

Kevin Duffy wrote: »

So they're in your house, so what? There's worse places for them. When I was a kid I took a big swig from a milkbottle that had been standing in the back garden for a while. A total mouthful of hundreds of earwigs, swallowed a few, got some up my nose, spat the rest quite some distance.

Well, if that's true, I actually get very creeped out by spiders, and the earwigs are disgusting to look at. I wouldn't care if it was just one earwig every few weeks but 2-3 every few hours is p*ssing me off.

Comparing it to you allegedly drinking them out a milkbottle is a bit silly because it....isn't very common :S

westendgirlie

I couldn't open the earwig link and I'm not sure what they look like.

Don't mind spiders. They kill the flies!! And its bad luck to kill em so put them in a matchbox and bring them to bingo!

If earwigs are what I think they aren then I have loads. But I have been cutting my own sticks this year and I think they are still on the wood when I bring it into the house.

marcsignal

Go to the hardware, and buy Ant killer, or any similar spray that contains permethrin, or deltametherin. At home, before you start spraying, move all furniture etc, into the middle of the room and spray around the skirting boards of the entire ground floor of the house. (You may need more than one bottle)

Initially you will appear to see more spiders/insects in the few days following spraying, as they will be dying off, and wandering around under the effect of the chemical, but after about 48hrs this will subside. These sprays have a residual effect that last about 2 weeks. That should solve your problem.

It is important that you WEAR A MASK when using stuff like that, it is bad for your nervous system to inhale it.

Late Edit: IMPORTANT - Permethrin is Very Toxic for cats OP. If you're going to use a spray that contains it, and you have a cat, leave it with a neighbour for the night.

discus

A good read here...

http://prospect.rsc.org/blogs/rsc/2009/10/09/jon/are-spiders-scared-of-conkers/

Remember OP, for every earwig and spider you see, there's 50 more in hiding in your house* :cool:



*This may be actually made up.

MerryLegs

gamercfc wrote: »

WARNING: There are pretty nasty details in here if you don't want to lose your appetite.

I have been getting them pretty frequently now since July or August.
Every day I have killed at least 1 wig and 1 spider.

The spiders don't bother me as much as the earwigs though. I've had to pretty much DISINFECT the dish-rack because I saw one crawling around dishes I recently washed and I also had to throw a bag of bread out because there was one lurking around inside.

I'm getting the odd BIG spider aswell recently. Not ones that are as small as a rice-krispy now, these are about as long as a bookie's pen and as wide as a euro coin (bad comparisons. I know, sorry *snigger*) and I've only saw 4 in total since July. And the fright I get when I run into one is ridiculous. They're the biggest spiders I've seen inside my home.

Where are these wigs and spiders coming from and what is their purpose? (like, what is attracting them?). I think dirty clothes attract the spiders (like clothes sitting in the washing basket waiting to be thrown in the machine). But I have no idea what is attracting the earwigs.

If anyone is unsure what an earwig is, I won't post an in-your-face picture here it's pretty disgusting.

Here's 2 links for each:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earwig

http://img.ehowcdn.com/article-page-main/ehow/images/a07/ft/e0/identify-common-household-spiders-oklahoma-800x800.jpg

Now, that is the spider that, I THINK, looks like the ones that have been crawling around my house.

(and I am constantly reflectively itching myself every 5 seconds because i'm getting squeamish!)

Thanks *shivers*

Ya conkers on ur windowsill will work I swear by it! Or in the corners of the ceiling, theres some chemical in them spiders can smell that they dont like.

marcsignal

MerryLegs wrote: »

Ya conkers on ur windowsill will work I swear by it! Or in the corners of the ceiling, theres some chemical in them spiders can smell that they dont like.

Was just looking at the vids in the link discus posted. There could well be something in that. Maybe it's a natural chemical in the white part of the skin around the chestnut, that protects it from worms when its growing.

Pyrethrins are made from plant extracts, afaik.

Jaxxy

There's been a huge increase in Giant House Spiders in the last few years, and I think most of us have seen one or two lurking ominously around the house. I wouldn't be too worried about these OP, though they have a nasty enough bite they can't harm you.

As for the earwigs, as far as I know they're attracted to dusty, damp areas. They like moist conditions. Make sure all your windows are fixed and that they can't gain entrance to your house through your ground level windows or loose doors. Boric acid works well and it's harmless to humans and animals (if you have any pets).

If all else fails, the vacuum is your friend.

Sofiztikated

JaxxYChicK wrote: »

There's been a huge increase in Giant House Spiders in the last few years, and I think most of us have seen one or two lurking ominously around the house. I wouldn't be too worried about these OP, though they have a nasty enough bite they can't harm you.

As for the earwigs, as far as I know they're attracted to dusty, damp areas. They like moist conditions. Make sure all your windows are fixed and that they can't gain entrance to your house through your ground level windows or loose doors. Boric acid works well and it's harmless to humans and animals (if you have any pets).

If all else fails, the vacuum is your friend.

Or a hammer. Smash the bastids!

westendgirlie wrote: »

I couldn't open the earwig link and I'm not sure what they look like.

Don't mind spiders. They kill the flies!! And its bad luck to kill em so put them in a matchbox and bring them to bingo!

If earwigs are what I think they aren then I have loads. But I have been cutting my own sticks this year and I think they are still on the wood when I bring it into the house.

Wait, what?

carlybabe1

marcsignal wrote: »

Go to the hardware, and buy Ant killer, or any similar spray that contains permethrin, or deltametherin. At home, before you start spraying, move all furniture etc, into the middle of the room and spray around the skirting boards of the entire ground floor of the house. (You may need more than one bottle)

Initially you will appear to see more spiders/insects in the few days following spraying, as they will be dying off, and wandering around under the effect of the chemical, but after about 48hrs this will subside. These sprays have a residual effect that last about 2 weeks. That should solve your problem.

It is important that you WEAR A MASK when using stuff like that, it is bad for your nervous system to inhale it.

Late Edit: IMPORTANT - Permethrin is Very Toxic for cats OP. If you're going to use a spray that contains it, and you have a cat, leave it with a neighbour for the night.

:eek::eek: thats horrendous!!!! If ye must kill them, and I seriously wish ye wouldnt (the size of them ffs, they are a fraction of your size) then do it quickly, and dont leave them in bits, put them outta thier misery.........
I like spidies......:(

JaxxYChicK wrote: »

There's been a huge increase in Giant House Spiders in the last few years, and I think most of us have seen one or two lurking ominously around the house. I wouldn't be too worried about these OP, though they have a nasty enough bite they can't harm you.

As for the earwigs, as far as I know they're attracted to dusty, damp areas. They like moist conditions. Make sure all your windows are fixed and that they can't gain entrance to your house through your ground level windows or loose doors. Boric acid works well and it's harmless to humans and animals (if you have any pets).

If all else fails, the vacuum is your friend.

Ummmmm, nooo?? I dont think spiders here bite, ants, earwigs ,wasps etc all have venom of some degree, but dont think our spideys bite

W.Shakes-Beer

Funny this thread had been started.

Im sitting in the front room now, a half hour ago my mam sat down and almost had a heart attack because there was a spider walking along the top of one of the walls. This thing had the diameter of a tennis ball, huge fecker.

I caught him in a glass and launched him out the window.

The Arnie of the house spider world.

Geekness1234

Get a brick and bash the big fcukers head in.Remember when your facing a spider the size of a plate,its like Christmas,it's all about the giving!

Kevin Duffy

W.Shakes-Beer wrote: »

Funny this thread had been started.

Im sitting in the front room now, a half hour ago my mam sat down and almost had a heart attack because there was a spider walking along the top of one of the walls. This thing had the diameter of a tennis ball, huge fecker.

I caught him in a glass and launched him out the window.

The Arnie of the house spider world .

He'll be back.

Jaxxy

carlybabe1 wrote: »

Ummmmm, nooo?? I dont think spiders here bite, ants, earwigs ,wasps etc all have venom of some degree, but dont think our spideys bite

The woodlouse spider can bite humans effectively. AFAIK most of our spiders here are unable to actually pierce skin and I'm not sure if the Giant House Spider is big enough to draw blood but I've heard reports from people that unknowingly disturbed them only to get a sharp jab.

Those feckers jump too.

Sofiztikated

carlybabe1 wrote: »

:eek::eek: thats horrendous!!!! If ye must kill them, and I seriously wish ye wouldnt (the size of them ffs, they are a fraction of your size) then do it quickly, and dont leave them in bits, put them outta thier misery.........
I like spidies......:(



Ummmmm, nooo?? I dont think spiders here bite, ants, earwigs ,wasps etc all have venom of some degree, but dont think our spideys bite

Sorry to do this, but darlin, all spiders bite. It's how they subdue their prey. The seriousness of the bite is all that differs.

carlybabe1

JaxxYChicK wrote: »

The woodlouse spider can bite humans effectively. AFAIK most of our spiders here are unable to actually pierce skin and I'm not sure if the Giant House Spider is big enough to draw blood but I've heard reports from people that unknowingly disturbed them only to get a sharp jab.

Those feckers jump too.

:eek::eek:
ok, officially know what the phrase 'making your skin crawl' feels like...*shudders
Think the phobia is hard-wired into the brain...evolutionary sumthin sumthin
Ive moved spiders so big that you can clearly see the hairs on thier legs ...

Yakult

Duckworth_Luas wrote: »

What? Why? Spiders are our allies in the never ending battle against flying, buzzing nuisances.

Even tho I hate spiders, this.

They are better than dirty ****ing flies landing on your food etc.

revell

I had to move out of my previous ground floor flat and moved to a tall building a few years ago because the giant spiders. they were everywhere and even I had a one sight-one kill policy against them

Jaxxy

carlybabe1 wrote: »

:eek::eek:
ok, officially know what the phrase 'making your skin crawl' feels like...*shudders
Think the phobia is hard-wired into the brain...evolutionary sumthin sumthin
Ive moved spiders so big that you can clearly see the hairs on thier legs ...

Same here! I'm surrounded by people who have serious spider fears and I'm always getting rid of them! Even though I actually like the creatures (they're pretty fascinating and the eat all the other creepy crawlies) reading some of the posts here does give me that shivery feeling. It's definitely hard-wired!

W.Shakes-Beer

Kevin Duffy wrote: »

He'll be back.

I'd say so, this fécker was on a mission alright.

Kevin Duffy

W.Shakes-Beer wrote: »

I'd say so, this fécker was on a mission alright.

And since you're the one who threw him out, he'll be looking for you if he remembers. You better pray he doesn't have Total Recall.

force eleven

The wife made me collect and throw out 4 large spiders the other day from the bathroom. They were big feckers too, but I gather them up in a glass and went to go outside. On the way out,the wife told me to go to the front garden and spin around five times to disorientate them so they wouldn't come back in. Four times I did this,one time after the other. On the fourth time I saw the next door neighbour watching from the upstairs window at my shennanigans. Ah well. Her and her cats. And shopping trolley.

But they haven't come back yet :rolleyes:

--Kaiser--

delly wrote: »

Those crazy big spiders are very common these days. They don't spin webs like your regular friendly spider, therefore they wander around hunting for prey. I know the site of them scurrying across the floor can be offputting, but if you move quick enough they can make a tasty snack.

Wrong and wrong I'm afraid. These are Giant House Spiders, Tegenaria Duellica (formerly Gigantea). Tegenaria are matt-weavers, they tend to spin webs on the corners of floors and ceilings. The reason they are more prevalent around autumn is that it is mating season and the males are in search of a mate.

--Kaiser--

force eleven wrote: »

The wife made me collect and throw out 4 large spiders the other day from the bathroom. They were big feckers too, but I gather them up in a glass and went to go outside. On the way out,the wife told me to go to the front garden and spin around five times to disorientate them so they wouldn't come back in. Four times I did this,one time after the other. On the fourth time I saw the next door neighbour watching from the upstairs window at my shennanigans. Ah well. Her and her cats. And shopping trolley.

But they haven't come back yet :rolleyes:

Laughed at the spinning around thing.
To be honest, these spiders can't survive outside (indoor spiders can't live outdoors and vice-versa) so you might as well kill them, you're doing them no favours by ejecting them from their house

some_dose

Though we think we have it bad here, it could be so much worse. For example, a friend of mine was in Thailand a few years ago. He was in bed trying to sleep but wasn't able to as it was too hot. In an effort to cool himself down he lifted up his blanket to let some cool air in. As he lifted up the blanket he heard a rather loud thud followed by the noise of something rather large and with numerous legs scurrying away.

smash

Jumped into the shower on Saturday morning and saw a tiny little spider on the wall. Then I noticed another, and another.... I stopped and looked around and counted 42 of them! Straight out with the hoover, got every one of them.

whatdoicare

No spiders or Earwigs here but these F**kin tiny (like grains of salt) white bugs are all over my kitchen counter and NOTHING seems to kill them - not bleach, not bug killer, nothing!!! Not a scrap of food in the house and threw out my bin - which is where I believe they came from.

I haven't eaten in the kitchen in 4 days - been living on take aways and packaged goods. I have taken to going around my counter and sink with sellotape picking them up but they keep coming back!!:eek:

What the hell are these things and how do I get rid of them??

smash

whatdoicare wrote: »

What the hell are these things and how do I get rid of them??

Lice? fleas? fruit fly maggots?

Azureus

I havent noticed any spiders but everything that can fly seems to come into my fourth floor apartment. Moths/wasps/flies like crazy everywhere-no idea why they're coming in but Ive been armed with wasp killler every time I go to relax on my couch!

daenerysstormborn3

some_dose wrote: »

Though we think we have it bad here, it could be so much worse. For example, a friend of mine was in Thailand a few years ago. He was in bed trying to sleep but wasn't able to as it was too hot. In an effort to cool himself down he lifted up his blanket to let some cool air in. As he lifted up the blanket he heard a rather loud thud followed by the noise of something rather large and with numerous legs scurrying away.

:eek: oh holy crap!

Elmidena

carlybabe1 wrote: »

:eek::eek: thats horrendous!!!! If ye must kill them, and I seriously wish ye wouldnt (the size of them ffs, they are a fraction of your size) then do it quickly, and dont leave them in bits, put them outta thier misery.........
I like spidies......:(



Ummmmm, nooo?? I dont think spiders here bite, ants, earwigs ,wasps etc all have venom of some degree, but dont think our spideys bite

My right inner thigh will contest to that statement. That was one horrific trip to the bathroom to suddenly see it there and CHOMP....had a bit of a limp for a day as it got a nerve :mad:
The only other worse trip to the bathroom was going for toilet roll to see one on the opposing side of the toilet paper. Had the paper been the other way around on the holder, I would've grabbed it. The toilet roll ALWAYS stays the "right" way around and always will now!
Note: both these buggers were the massive horrible types. Huge brown one on thigh, huge hairy black one on toilet roll. It was luck (?) of it's size that I saw it's leg on the other side before I went to take the paper.



Shudder.

Though I am less of an arachnaphobe these days, still wouldn't EVER want to relive those!

whatdoicare

smash wrote: »

Lice? fleas? fruit fly maggots?

Nope - non of the above - they don't jump, can't fly and have tiny legs. They trundle along quite lazily.
Lice are black, fleas jump and maggots don't have legs - I've been on google all day trying to find what they are!

marcsignal

whatdoicare wrote: »

No spiders or Earwigs here but these F**kin tiny (like grains of salt) white bugs are all over my kitchen counter and NOTHING seems to kill them - not bleach, not bug killer, nothing!!! Not a scrap of food in the house and threw out my bin - which is where I believe they came from.

can you take a pic of one and post it ? I'm intrigued if i'm honest.

some insects emerge form eggs in nymph (exact minature) form, and are white, but become coloured as they grow.

smash

Ah they're just little mites or Booklice. Every house has them really.
http://www.livingwithbugs.com/mites.html

marcsignal

smash wrote: »

Ah they're just little mites or Booklice. Every house has them really.
http://www.livingwithbugs.com/mites.html

yeah, was just thinking booklice.

look anything like this whatdoicare ?

whatdoicare

marcsignal wrote: »

can you take a pic of one and post it ? I'm intrigued if i'm honest.

some insects emerge form eggs in nymph (exact minature) form, and are white, but become coloured as they grow.

Someone sent a message there saying they might be grain/rice mites...which I think they might be as the photo looks like them. They are too small to take a proper photo of but here's a link to the grain mite: http://archive.gipsa.usda.gov/tech-servsup/visualref/VRI/HTML_Pages/Insects/bug27.htm
I'm having a look for mould/leaky pipes as it says that they feed of it.

marcsignal

whatdoicare wrote: »

Someone sent a message there saying they might be grain/rice mites...which I think they might be as the photo looks like them. They are too small to take a proper photo of but here's a link to the grain mite: http://archive.gipsa.usda.gov/tech-servsup/visualref/VRI/HTML_Pages/Insects/bug27.htm
I'm having a look for mould/leaky pipes as it says that they feed of it.

Could be. Do you have a bag of flour in the cupboard ? if so, examine the under the folds of the bag, thats where they hide. They could be some kind of stored product insect. You could also check any other cereal based product you have in the house, particularly if you've had the product for a long time.

whatdoicare

marcsignal wrote: »

Could be. Do you have a bag of flour in the cupboard ? if so, examine the under the folds of the bag, thats where they hide. They could be some kind of stored product insect. You could also check any other cereal based product you have in the house, particularly if you've had the product for a long time.

I think they first came from the bin -- We recycle alot and have a food bin outside so the kitchen bin rarely gets emptied out - perfect conditions for mites. We dumped the bin and bought a new one and just in case I dumped all my flour and cereal goods too - I usually put them in containers anyway but I took no chances!

Jude13

As a kid flying and spiders never bothered me, now both do.
The spider issue I think is mainly due to a camping trip in the desert in the Middle East, it started raining huge drops, pelting down, which was lovely until the spiders started coming of the feckin sand. My self and the other boys luaghed even though they were massive as we sat on the bonnet taking snaps, the girls got inside the 4x4. the laughing stopped when the spiders decided to take refuge on the only high point on the sands my 4x4, cue scrambling in through the windows. I wouldnt walk bear foot on the sand the next day. I know we get cammel spiders here but not sure it was them, there had legs as thick as my fingers.