Eeewww in Idaho!!

As Spring time approaches, the bugs come out! I hate nothing worse than bugs!! Here's what you should be on the lookout for in and around your home this Spring.

I've been lucky. I haven't seen one single bug in our home since I moved here, but I've been here during the winter, so the bugs are bound to pop up soon. If you're new to the area, like me, here's what you may see as the weather gets warmer. You can click on the links to get a better view of each bug!

1. The Bark Crab Spider: They have Giant front legs and hide under tree bark just waiting for their next snack! Luckily, these spiders aren't poisonous. 

2. The Assassin Bug: It's got a curved beak that acts like a machete to murder it's victims! Then it gets even worse. They carry their victims on their backs to serve as camouflage! They aren't poisonous to humans but they carry a mean bite!

3. The Windscorpion: It's half spider, half scorpion, and although they're relatively harmless, they look really scary!

4. The Banded Wooleybear: It looks all cute and cuddly, but then it turns into a nasty moth. Again, it's harmless, but I sure don't want it in my kitchen!

5. The Blister Beetle: This one scares me to death! They cause painful blisters on contact and they'll kill you if you eat them! (Not that you would, but they like to hide in alfalfa hay and they can be toxic to animals, so be careful!)

6. The Mormon Cricket: They tend to come in swarms, which is the scariest thing about these crickets! I don't want a swarm of anything! They won't hurt you, but they'll take down crops in a hurry, so farmers hate them!

7. The Cow Killer Ant: This is actually not an ant, it's a wasp that can cause a sting so painful a cow will drop to its knees! They actually look kind of cute and fluffy, but don't let that fluffiness fool you!

8. The Tarantula Hawk Wasp: They eat tarantulas for breakfast and their sting is so painful that some people claim they would rather be shot! Luckily, they are rarely found in Idaho, but some say they could be headed to our area!

9. The Masked Hunter: They eat bedbugs and earwigs, which I guess is a good thing. But if you have bed bugs, its likely you have a few masked hunters as well. Plus they are excellent at hiding in the dirt, so they may catch you by surprise in the garden. 

10. Earwigs: I'll never forget the story of my Dad getting a snow cone, sucking up the juice through a straw, and getting a little "extra" in the form of an earwig! So so gross! Luckily, they're completely harmless, just nasty looking!