ARIZONA, USA – The weekend rain brought much-needed relief to the Valley, but some creepy creatures came out of the woodwork as well.
“Bugs are literally on the verge of death with no moisture. When moisture comes in it brings them all out,” said Brad Olsen. He is the owner of Urban Desert Pest Control.
The rain and subsequent dampness brought out the expected mosquitos, but there may be some bugs in your yard that you won’t even recognize!
For example termites that can fly. No thanks.
“When the moisture gets through the roof, ants and termites say ‘let it do it’, they grow wings, they fly out to find new colonies, and those are hawk termites and ants.”
Even if you don’t notice them flying around, they can leave some clues.
“When they land they drop their wings pretty quickly. What happens is that eventually you go out and all you find is wings, so people call and literally say, ‘I have wings all over my pool'”, explained Olsen.
Are swarming termites harmful to me or my home?
The short answer is no.
You should only worry about termites while they are in your home. Before you get to this point, preventative treatments are available.
“Swarming termites don’t have a very good survival rate, it’s a very small amount that finds a new area, finds moisture, and creates a business The only time you need to lose sleep and panic is when you have termites in the structure. ”
Palo Verde beetle
Lots of people are talking about these bugs on the Nextdoor app. It’s probably because many in Arizona are not used to seeing them!
“Palo Verde beetles are literally only brought out by rain and moisture,” added Olsen.
“I’d say 3-4 inches, they’re scary.”
Harmful or harmless?
For the most part – harmless.
“They have pliers on the end so they have the ability to pinch you pretty well, but they’re not aggressive or chasing you. To get pinched, you’d literally have to put your toe in front of it and pick it up with your finger.”
OK, now I’m officially scared. Palo Verde beetles only come out after rainfall. The good news is – @urbandesertpest tells me they won’t bother you unless you bother them. But look how massive it is! @ 12News pic.twitter.com/E59eXlFc8E
– Jess Winters (@JessWintersTV) July 29, 2021
vinegar
Vinegars look like little lobsters and get their name from the substance they spit out.
“They have a hose at the end of their stomach to spray some vinegar on everything, it’s like an acidic liquid,” said Damien Renner, Senior Keeper of Ectotherms at the Phoenix Zoo.
Can I have a collective ‘EW ?!’ The recent rain has spawned a whole new wave of creepy Arizona small animals. This little lobster-like thing is called vinegar. @ 12News pic.twitter.com/B7VOXv1J4B
– Jess Winters (@JessWintersTV) July 29, 2021
You probably won’t see any vinegar near your property.
“They don’t usually like being in the suburbs,” explained Renner. “Vinegar isn’t an animal you normally see in your house. If they’re in there, they probably wouldn’t want to be in there.”
Although they are not directly attracted to the rain, Renner said they will take advantage of any other insects that thrive in moisture.
“You’d probably eat any of the other bugs that come out during the rainy season.”
Dangerous or just plain disgusting?
For the most part – just plain gross!
“In contrast to other arachnids, they are actually not poisonous, their only defense is their two little pince-nezers. Normally they would be under stones and tree trunks at night, but overall they are pretty harmless. “
