# What's your least favorite insect?



## SMUG BUG (Nov 8, 2017)

For me it's that baby face cricket or katydids.  :gun_bandana: get em outta here  :gun_bandana:


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## rantology (Nov 8, 2017)

I'm with you there, I have a phobia of crickets/grasshoppers. And Beetles. They jump and fly and are really unpredictable.... Though ironically I have a pet angel wing katydid right now because she was camped outside my door for 4 days straight seemingly begging to be saved from the impending freezing temps... I don't dare try to handle her though, lol.


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## River Dane (Nov 8, 2017)

Yep, same for me. I won’t kill them if avoidable, just hightail outta there, lol. They creep me out more than anything. I also have a female _Stagmomantis limbata, _and while I love her to death, she scares me to death too. Crickets also make me shudder.


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## Nanodot (Nov 8, 2017)

Mosquitoes.  

Among pet insects, I'm not happy about Madascar hissing roaches.  I like almost everything else from Madagascar...


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## Teamonger (Nov 9, 2017)

Ants. Just something about them and their swarming that gives me the willies. They are neat and all but I just can't. Might have something to do with the wars I had with them every summer as they tried to take over my kitchen.

Crickets are a close second just because They are horrid escaping stinky little disease vectors.


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## hibiscusmile (Nov 9, 2017)

k leggers and silverfish


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## Connor (Nov 9, 2017)

hibiscusmile said:


> k leggers and silverfish


+1


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## Cloud the Dinosaur King (Nov 9, 2017)

I'm pretty much fine with almost all insects. I'm fine with crickets and roaches, but not mosquitoes or biting stable flies. I'm fine with horseflies, but not those other biting flies!


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## SMUG BUG (Nov 9, 2017)

Teamonger said:


> Ants. Just something about them and their swarming that gives me the willies


I've never heard of anyone who dislikes ants that much  :no: 

and my goodness I've seen those k leggy boys in my house before, screw those things  :2guns: get em out


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## Bathory (Nov 9, 2017)

Crane flies!!!! Every summer when I forget to put up a net they come through the window, and if I'm on my phone or laptop they crash straight into my face and I can't deal


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## Serle (Nov 9, 2017)

''MOSI's'' , mosquitoes.


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## Serle (Nov 9, 2017)

Teamonger said:


> Ants. Just something about them and their swarming that gives me the willies. They are neat and all but I just can't. Might have something to do with the wars I had with them every summer as they tried to take over my kitchen.
> 
> Crickets are a close second just because They are horrid escaping stinky little disease vectors.


hy Tea , good to see you back on the forum.............. S


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## Okoboji22 (Nov 9, 2017)

Only 2 bugs have messed with me enough to earn a spot on my bad side.

1. Mosquitos: They are literally good for nothing. I remeber 1 night at a friends I went to get a moth for my mantis and when I came back in I had about a dozen mosquito bites. The only thing they would able to do for me is be some extra mantis food, but they aren't even good for that due to how hard it is to catch them.

2. Box elder bugs: when I saw the first couple I thought they were pretty cool looking with their black and red color, but one can only take so many nights of feeling a slight itch in my arm to see that one of them was running around my arm. Mantises also don't like to eat them so that's another downside.


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## PrayingMantisPets (Nov 9, 2017)

For some reason i dislike roaches. I can handle small ones. But adult american cockroaches i cant stand.


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## Bdawg (Nov 10, 2017)

hibiscusmile said:


> k leggers and silverfish


Silverfish are horrible things, sometimes impossible to get rid of in older buildings.


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## callisto9 (Nov 12, 2017)

House centipedes, aka "turbo moustaches". Ugh. So fast!


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## PrayingMantisPets (Nov 13, 2017)

callisto9 said:


> House centipedes, aka "turbo moustaches". Ugh. So fast!
> 
> View attachment 9975


im so happy ive never seen one before id pack up and move.

jk looks ehhhhhh.....i wouldnt touch it.


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## callisto9 (Nov 13, 2017)

I know - they are so gross. When I first started seeing them, I flipped out. Then, I made my peace with them (well, they're in the basement). I still hate them, but I do eliminate them when I see them.


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## Okoboji22 (Nov 13, 2017)

callisto9 said:


> House centipedes, aka "turbo moustaches". Ugh. So fast!
> 
> View attachment 9975


Turbo moustaches is the best name for an animal that I have ever heard. I'm going to use this from now on.


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## callisto9 (Nov 13, 2017)

Okoboji22 said:


> Turbo moustaches is the best name for an animal that I have ever heard. I'm going to use this from now on.


I know! I think I first saw it on reddit. I've been using it ever since. It's so... fitting.


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## Ratmosphere (Dec 10, 2017)

Ticks, mosquitos, Jerusalem cricket.


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## Aristalochia (Dec 11, 2017)

I like bugs, just not being bitten or infested by them. I even like the predatory 'pests' like spiders and centipedes who eat any stray bugs in my basement. Thanks bugs. Okay the beetles who were growing in my flour and rice kinda ticked me off though..


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## CosbyArt (Dec 14, 2017)

Anything parasitic, or related pests, including parasitoid animals. Interesting to study I admit, but not from personal misery. So for insects that includes parasitic wasps, bot flies, bed bugs (Cimicidae), any mites (especially chiggers (Trombiculidae) and Sarcoptes scabiei), and so much more.

Not a fan of ticks or mosquitoes either but they are so tame in comparison to the others, even to the common chigger.  

My least favorite insect that is by some considered a pet, I guess (I still will get one) would be the assassin bug called a wheel bug (Arilus cristatus). The potential bite has made me leave the dozens of them I've found in the wild alone so far. The extreme and long lasting pain and numbness that can last for days, makes me double think capturing one. I will still have to get one eventually though, I'm really a fan of anything including nearly all the insects on the list so far besides mine.


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## BringontheBugs (Dec 17, 2017)

CosbyArt said:


> My least favorite insect that is by some considered a pet, I guess (I still will get one) would be the assassin bug called a wheel bug (Arilus cristatus). The potential bite has made me leave the dozens of them I've found in the wild alone so far. The extreme and long lasting pain and numbness that can last for days, makes me double think capturing one. I will still have to get one eventually though, I'm really a fan of anything including nearly all the insects on the list so far besides mine.


Have you checked out Psytalla horrida?


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## CosbyArt (Dec 18, 2017)

All About Insects said:


> Have you checked out Psytalla horrida?


You have a point. Looking at the ones Peter sells, it seems they do have the added bonus of, "can supposedly shoot venom out of their rostrum (beaklike mouthpart)". Bite wise I'm not sure is worse, and don't want to find out.


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## Salmonsaladsandwich (Dec 23, 2017)

CosbyArt said:


> You have a point. Looking at the ones Peter sells, it seems they do have the added bonus of, "can supposedly shoot venom out of their rostrum (beaklike mouthpart)". Bite wise I'm not sure is worse, and don't want to find out.


One person claimed that the bite of _Platymeris biguttatus _(slightly smaller than but similar to _P. horrida_) is more painful than that of _Scolopendra subspinipes. _Everyone probably has different sensitivities though.

I have a large colony of _P. biguttatus _and I have yet to be bitten despite frequent handling when they crawl out of the tank/on my hands during cage maintenance. All assassin bugs I've seen seem to be the same in terms of aggressiveness: they don't bite defensively unless you pinch them.

I have seen the venom spitting thing a couple times. They can aim pretty well, but so far they've only targeted my hands, not my eyes.


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## CosbyArt (Dec 24, 2017)

@Salmonsaladsandwich Indeed that is a strong possibility itself, and where the bite is received versus a previous bite too. So many variables it is hard to say without extensive testing.

Good to know they don't readily bite unless provoked. That is more useful to know than what bite is worse anyway.  I'd rather know their temperament - as you pointed out a interaction between a pet will happen sooner or later.

Awesome to hear of a firsthand account of the spitting, and glad they didn't aim for your eyes.


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## Connor (Dec 24, 2017)

@Salmonsaladsandwich @CosbyArt

I wonder how painful their bite is.... I imagine much worse than a bee sting but anything you can compare to? I was thinking of getting some horridas but kinda drawn back because of the venom. Beautiful creatures though.


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## CosbyArt (Dec 25, 2017)

@Connor Personally I can't compare their bites as I have not been bitten by assassin bugs; however, the whole bite and pain aspect has too many variables anyway. Bites are often compared to various bees/wasps stings and cat bites (for tarantulas) as most people have experienced those sources of pain; however, in reality there is little to compare it to beyond that.

Pain is also very subjective to the person receiving a bite, where the bite occurred, a persons allergic/body reaction, and how much if any venom was injected (as venom varies between bites of the same specimen even).

Take for instance a yellow-jacket bee sting on a arm. I'd rate the pain a 2, while my sister rates it a 8 (out of the typical 1 to 10 on pain, with 10 being the maximum). For me a 8 would have been the kidney stone I passed, and I actually passed-out for at least 10 minutes afterwards. I've had worse pain though and why I rate that kidney stone an 8 - Others may have never experienced that level of pain, or experienced worse pain, so their rating could be much different than mine. Personally when comparing things I try to rate the experience to make the comparison, and as demonstrated, that can wildly vary between people with the same experience.

I've also received a yellow-jacket sting on my eyelid, and would rate that maybe a 5. So if I would use that as a basis to compare to something else it would be vastly different than the sting on my arm. That is one important aspect of the bite pain of various things, as many people have only one bite/sting experience to compare something to. That single bite/sting is also likely vastly different than the bite/sting that is being compared (where it occurred, level of venom, etc).

My mom is highly allergic to bee stings so she would rate that sting much higher too, as she would trouble breathing (and can go into anaphylactic shock). She has to go the hospital to get treated usually after a bee sting; although, some stings have been mild for her through the years and only resulted in some swelling. So even similar yellow-jacket stings are not the same for her, and is a aspect of her allergic reaction and likely the amount of venom.

Then there are some such as the YouTube user Brave Wilderness that lets things bite him intentionally, see leaf-cutter ant biting for 60 seconds. His other videos show a range of bites and stings from jellyfish, centipedes, scorpions, etc. so obviously his pain tolerance/threshold is much different than most.


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## Connor (Dec 25, 2017)

@CosbyArt Yeah I can see how comparing and such can be quite a bit off and inaccurate.

I actually have been watching Coyote Peterson for a while now, though his more recent videos have seemed a little over dramatic in my opinion. But I still love all the info in each video.

I guess I will be doing some research into how venomous the assasain bugs really are.

Thanks for the help!


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## CosbyArt (Dec 25, 2017)

@Connor I'd say go for them as pets, if you are not allergic to bites and stings, I know I am once I get a chance this year. After all the chances of being bit by a assassin is rather low, and is not life threatening - even if painful.


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## Salmonsaladsandwich (Dec 26, 2017)

There's no way you're going to get bitten by assassins unless you're really stupid around them. I know I am and I still haven't been bitten!

I'll probably sell some soon.


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## Connor (Dec 26, 2017)

@Salmonsaladsandwich lol well I will give them a try. I’ll take some if you decide to sell


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## Mantis Lady (Jan 30, 2018)

There are a couple of insects that i hate:


mosquito's: they keep you from sleeping with their annoying noise when they fly.

wasps:  in the summer. when you sitting outside with a nice drink and they are coming to bother you and your drink.

ticks: because they are just disgusting. Removed several from my dog.


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## eak (Mar 9, 2018)

Fire ants.


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## Serle (Mar 9, 2018)

There are plenty of bitting , stinging and spraying insects that are dangerous and/or painful . I still say that mosquitoes are the most widespread , disease carrying and just about the most annoying insect. ........  S


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## sschind (Mar 9, 2018)

I'm tempted to say mosquitoes but I find their natural history and their evolution, if you want to call it that, alongside humans fascinating.  Their connection with so many of the worlds most debilitating diseases  and the triumph over them in many cases is something i can read volumes about.

To answer the question I have to go with bugs I have interactions with.   To say something like the giant Asian hornets because they just creep me out doesn't make much sense to me.  To me, to be a least favorite it has to be more than just creepy to qualify, it has to give me a more specific reason to dislike it.  To that end I would say deer flies because they are so damn pesky, and their bites hurt, and earwigs because dumping a nest of them down your back by accident is ... well it just plain sucks.  Plus they creep me the heck out.


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## Sticky (Mar 12, 2018)

Ants! They make me scream!


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## Viking (May 5, 2019)

I have a list now.

Fire Ants: I live Louisiana for several years. After Hurricane Gustav I was inspecting my plants outside while standing in water A group mas bite. I spend the rest of the day suffering, itching, rashes, swelling and 20 pussicles on my left foot. Now it it is personal. They do not have to bite to a reaction. Fire ants have wiped all other ants damaging the enviroment. They like to build colonies in large clay pots. They like the warmth. I put a clay in water and ant floated for days.

June bugs flying in my bedroom in the dark hitting ceiling landing a thud on me in bed.  It was very warm so little clothing

Jiggers: A speaker that regularly visits Africa explained how his whole family (him, parents and girlfriend) were infected with the parasite in both feet Jigger swell witheggs and need to be cut out hopefully without releasing any eggs.


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## hysteresis (May 5, 2019)

I thought they were called chiggers! 

I spent seven years in TX and got to know chiggers once or twice hiking around Austin's beautiful parks, as well as tromping through hill Country. 

I saw fire ants. Might have gotten bit once or twice but that was a small nuisance. 

For me it's mosquitos. We have them in abundance here in Canada. Biting black flies here in the spring. Mostly an hour or so north of Toronto, it gets bad. 

Ighhh.


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## hcarlton (May 6, 2019)

Jiggers and chiggers are two different pests entirely. The former is a tropical flea, the latter a temperate mite larva.


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## hysteresis (May 6, 2019)

hcarlton said:


> Jiggers and chiggers are two different pests entirely. The former is a tropical flea, the latter a temperate mite larva.


Well there. Thank you.


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## Mantis Lady (May 6, 2019)

Ticks and it is now tick season. Didn't I mention fleas already? They are dog torturers. Good I haven't seen much fleas on my dog. They give nasty bites.


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## MantisGirl13 (May 6, 2019)

I hate mosquitoes.

- MantisGirl13


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## Viking (May 6, 2019)

If a fire ants bite you are aware it for days. It looks like a pimple with a white head about 1/4 inch across. It is worst than a mosquito bite. You can smear a paste of baking soda on the bite help draw out the poison.


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## Viking (May 11, 2019)

I second on ticks. I was laying on the crouch under a blanket and felt something on my right knee. I thought it might be bug. I saw the legs and thought spider but no it was tick. I pulled one off one of the dogs a week ago. I think Lyme disease.


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## Mantis Lady (May 12, 2019)

Gladly enough I haven't found any ticks on my dog yet. They give me the shivers They are so disgusting

Hubby still has to go to the vet to get anti tick/flea droplets for Scooby. Or maybe i should go to pet shop and get it myself when fruitfly culture dies off and i need to get a new one.


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## hysteresis (May 12, 2019)

Because NOTHING says I love you, like burrowing your face into a body and sucking their blood.


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## MantisGirl13 (May 12, 2019)

hysteresis said:


> Because NOTHING says I love you, like burrowing your face into a body and sucking their blood.


Exactly! Lol (I guess they love your blood anyway...)

- MantisGirl13


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## MintyWood826 (May 12, 2019)

There are other insects I'm not a fan of, but I hate mosquitoes just so much. Sadly I live in a state filled with lakes.


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## hysteresis (May 12, 2019)

MintyWood826 said:


> There are other insects I'm not a fan of, but I hate mosquitoes just so much. Sadly I live in a state filled with lakes.


Canada. Mosquitos EVERYWHERE!


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## MantisGirl13 (May 12, 2019)

hysteresis said:


> Canada. Mosquitos EVERYWHERE!


USA too!

- MantisGirl13


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## MintyWood826 (May 14, 2019)

MantisGirl13 said:


> USA too!
> 
> - MantisGirl13


Yep.


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## MantisGirl13 (May 14, 2019)

MintyWood826 said:


> Yep.


Sadly 

- MantisGirl13


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## Mantis Lady (May 17, 2019)

Europe is full with mosquitos too. Think they are everywhere A good mosquito is a dead mostquito.


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## ohaple (Jun 12, 2019)

Field crickets. I can't explain it, but they creep me out. I am ok with almost everything else (heck, we keep cockroach colonies), but those big black crickets.......


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## Jaywo (Jun 12, 2019)

mosquitos!


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## Synapze (Jun 12, 2019)

Fleas!


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## PlayingMantis (Jun 12, 2019)

Mosquitoes! I get eaten alive! I now go out of my way to pick off all the male mosquitoes under the porch light and feed them to my mantis nymphs. It's just so satisfying to watch them die. I once fed a female mosquito and the mantis started drinking blood from the mosquito's perforated stomach. It was a bit disturbing  , but hey, the mantis had a nice meal.

And I also hate all the various pests that plague my plants. Scale, mealybugs, spider mites (I know, not really insects), aphids, white flies, and such.


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## Evan Bulcao (Nov 11, 2019)

Phorid flies trying to get in my dang ear super annoying I need to find where they're coming from


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## MrGhostMantis (Dec 17, 2019)

100% house centipedes. Those speed moustaches are horrifying. Also American roaches. I can’t do it. I was at Disneyland once and one crawled out from under me. Then once I got off the ride it flew onto my head. Nope nope nope.


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## jrh3 (Feb 21, 2020)

100% Ticks. I loathe them.


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## Jaywo (Feb 21, 2020)

mosquitos hands down


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## MantisMart (Jul 17, 2020)

Silverfish and mosquitoes


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## Mantis Lady (Jul 25, 2020)

I would like to add green bottle flies. We have Too many flies here at my home. They are noisy while they are flying. Bah! try to catch them alive. You know my mantids love a fly as snack.

Hubby think I am crazy to catch them flies must die off course. But like them to be eaten so their bodies feed my mantids.


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## Rotsuoy (Aug 28, 2020)

Crickets! Grey crickets, house crickets, whatever you want to call them! Stinky bastards is what I call them! XD

And also house centipedes, but only because the jerks like to fall on my head when I pass under doorways or in the basement, and it makes me crazy every time. It's happened twice this year already! I'm grateful for them though, because they eat the silverfish!


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## hibiscusmile (Aug 31, 2020)

yeah, centipedes and silverfish, heck will be full of them.


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## Mantis Lady (Sep 20, 2020)

Still have fly problem. But Esmeralda and Clarrissa are helping me with hunting flies Free food for my girls. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh I hate flies


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## TheWrongCrowd (Feb 19, 2021)

Well for least favorite inverts I have to say ticks, mosquitos, leeches, lice, bed bugs, chiggers, fleas, loa loa worms, roundworms, tape worms, hook worms, hair worms, really any parasitoid, especially if it's a worm and travels via blood stream (or effects your brain). I like normal worms, but something about a creature wiggling, curling/flipping around, breeding, growing, being longer than you can predict, under your skin, feeding off your tissue, causing chaos to your body, is simply unsettling. I have a love hate relationship with the giant weta, but as for insects the only one I truly dislike is the mosquito. And I don't know exactly why but I also hate those god dam Jerusalem crickets.


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## MrGhostMantis (Feb 19, 2021)

TheWrongCrowd said:


> Well for least favorite inverts I have to say ticks, mosquitos, leeches, lice, bed bugs, chiggers, fleas, loa loa worms, roundworms, tape worms, hook worms, hair worms, really any parasitoid, especially if it's a worm and travels via blood stream (or effects your brain). I like normal worms, but something about a creature wiggling, curling/flipping around, breeding, growing, being longer than you can predict, under your skin, feeding off your tissue, causing chaos to your body, is simply unsettling. I have a love hate relationship with the giant weta, but as for insects the only one I truly dislike is the mosquito. And I don't know exactly why but I also hate those god dam Jerusalem crickets.


I keep jerusalem crickets


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## TheWrongCrowd (Feb 20, 2021)

MrGhostMantis said:


> I keep jerusalem crickets


Oh no im sorry  well I don't know much about them so never mind


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## MrGhostMantis (Feb 20, 2021)

TheWrongCrowd said:


> Oh no im sorry  well I don't know much about them so never mind


Haha, it’s ok


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## Mantidfinatic13 (Mar 1, 2021)

roaches definitely creep me out- the fast ones you find running around in your house to be precise.

Love Madagascar hissers tho


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## Mantidfinatic13 (Mar 1, 2021)

Mantidfinatic13 said:


> Love Madagascar hissers tho


and any other large slow specie for that matter


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