Buggy Day

 How many bugs do you encounter in your home on an ordinary day? 

 I would rather not encounter any but with a rickety screen door and an ant problem, that day rarely occurs. Yesterday I started keeping count. I had come in from gardening and was reading on the couch when I spied this critter walking up my arm. I gently shepherded it into a jar for further examination. If it was a tick I would want it tested and tick was my first guess. A few minutes later, another appeared. I added it to my collection. They were rosy-hued and I discovered that there is a bug identifier on google, useful for this purpose https://insect-identifier.netlify.app/ I discovered that thankfully these were not ticks, but instead, rose aphids. I was not anywhere near the roses but I guess they feed on other plants as well. 

 

 

Meanwhile, I have an ant problem on my counter. The counter where I feed Pinky. They also seem to enjoy the crumbs from the toaster. Usually Terra traps work but these are a stubborn, late summer bunch so it is taking longer than usual to eradicate them. They prefer the crumbs to the poison though I have finally lured them to licking it up.  Count 3...(If I counted all the ants I see in a day that would be an unreasonable amount so I will consider one ant..+ 2 aphids..

 

Later on I spied a black dot walking on my arm.  I did not investigate what it might be, assuming it also came from the yard. I just squashed it and tossed it. And thankfully none of these critters bit or stung me so far.. Count now 4

 

In the evening, a large flying creature began fluttering around the living room. (Count 5) Pinky, clearly no huntress, feigned mild interest in trying to catch it but soon tired of tracking it and went off to observe some crickets hopping around the kitchen.  I was left to trap the insect and forgot to photograph it. I think it was a green lace-wing. https://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.php?identification=Green-Lacewing I am glad I set it free because apparently they are known as "aphid-lions".. beneficial for eating garden pests.  Meanwhile back to the two crickets. Occhi used to make quick business of those crickets. She loved crunching them up.. Pinky seems to appreciate their existence, watches them and goes off to nap.

 

Just when I thought I had exhausted insect sightings for the day and was getting ready to go up for bed,  I came across a large-ish spider in the bathroom. She had already trapped some tinier creatures and of course had a small web. I tend to leave spiders alone because they do trap other insects and I am reminded of Charlotte. So I let her be for the time being. Final count, EIGHT... and that is a low figure, considering that I likely missed some others skittering by.  You might think city folk don't have to deal with insects but I always maintain that compared to NYC, Jersey City is the country...

 

So do tell, how many critters do you encounter in a day?