Bugs in Hawaii...What is it really like for those who live there?
 

Having been to the islands a few times, I know that bugs are an issue. But for those that live in Hawaii, how big of a concern is it? I envision waking up and finding a cockroach crawling on my face! Is that far fetched or more like reality? How do you deal with bugs when you live there? Or do you just get used to it!

Aside from the occasional centipede, I think the bugs in SoCal were worse than they are where I live on Maui. In CA I had to worry about red ants, killer bees, wasps, wood ants, black widows, brown recluse, scorpions, vinegaroons, wolf spiders and the dreaded potato bug.

But I live leeward, and it is dry here, so I don't have bus issues like you do on the other side. Mosquitoes are not a problem at my house, but they are if you live windward where it rains quite a bit. I have seen no cockroaches in my house, and very few outside. But I do have a problem with crazy ants--those very tiny sweet-eating brown ants that spin around and are impossible to get rid of. But we had those just as bad in the mainland. Terro is my friend. And after lving in close quarters with all myriad of spiders in SoCal, I do not believe I have seen a single on in my house here, and very few in my garden.

And that brings us back the to centipedes. Having grown up in CA, I learned to check inside my shoes for scorpions and balck widow, and to not run around barefoot in the dark for fear of stepping on a potato bug. This was good training for living in centipede country. I have no idea how they get into my house, but they do--usually about two or three a month.

My friends who live upcountry and windward have worse bug issues. The King of Cockroaches lives with my friend upcountry. He is probably the largest roach (we called them "water bugs" in L.A.) that I have ever seen, and he is not the least bit intimidated by people.

But the good news, there are no potato bugs! *shudder* Those things creep me out!

I've lived here for over 40 years and never even considered this state as having a bug problem. So that should tell you something.

I don't think this place has any more/less bugs than any place else.

Maybe 3 or 4 times a year we will find a cockroach in the house..which is the main reason I have a central vaccuum!

I am very careful to put combat stations out every 6 months..in the 10 years or so since they were invented, I've never felt we had roaches living in the house..more like ones that cruised in when the doors were open.

We are also very careful to keep all food sealed up or in the refrigerator, and the kitchen clean. No leaving pizza out overnight like my friends on the mainland do.

On occasion, the kids will get a roach in their room-- and usually after I've been finding opened bags of chips or cookies, or stale sodas in their rooms. I refuse to deal with "their" bugs, so after they scream, they have to haul up the vaccuum.

We had bigger problems with ants in the yard. Until I started a quarterly treatment program, they kept invading the house and seriously overtaking all my plants outside. Since then, they haven't been an issue, though I do hate having the yard treated.

Termites are the big bug issue for many of us. It is a constant battle to check that they aren't eating the homes, and treating or tenting when they do.

I read on another site about someone who had an ant problem in her kitchen. She said that her aunt told her to sprinkle bay leaves around the kitchen and they won't come back because they hate the smell. Apparently it works.

Bugs are only an occasional event for me.....last week we had a large "B52" roach in my mom's house and it was such a huge event!

The worst for me are the mosquitos. Not that there are so many that it's a problem for *most* people - it's just that I seem to attract them like crazy. Everyone else will be sitting around without a bite, and I'll have at least 5 or 6 - that I've received in a 10 minute period.

There are roaches - the big flying brown ones are the worst. It always seems that once you go after them, they start divebombing your head. They seem to come out more in the hot weather - but they're just a fact of life and you get used to them.

My sister has a serious roach phobia - she has Orkin come to her house every month to spray for bugs. So you don't necessarily have to "put up" with them if you don't want to.

B52 Cockroach! LOL! What exactly is a potato bug, or don't I want to know?

Potato bug:
http://www.potatobugs.com/articles/parts.html

Here_today, I've lived in L.A. my whole life and nose around VERY closely in the garden and have never see a potato bug. I did like that photo you linked to though, "ramming plate" and "opposable thumbs"?! Pretty soon they're going to be letting themselves in the front door and opening soda cans!

love
roxy

We had quarterly exterminator service when we lived on Kauai. They were quite thorough and I rarely saw any bugs. Tho my cats did haul in a gigantic centipede once......

We had a/c in the bedroom which discouraged those annoying buzz-in-your-ear nighttime mosquitoes.

I should post a correction/clarification to this: It depends <b>where</b> in Hawaii you live. I live in metro Honolulu, the heart of the urban jungle, so critters are a rarity.

Last night I visited friends who live in the heart of a tropical rain forest <b>deep</b> in Kalihi Valley (you will find this climate all the way back in Palolo Valley, Manoa Valley, up in Tantalus, etc--all areas amazingly just 10 minutes away from my urban lifestyle). They were talking about how there are centipedes in the area. There is also an abundance of geckos in their neighborhood, since they feed on the abundance of critters there.

But please keep in mind, you are talking about a vastly different climate from what tourists and newcomers generally move to.

Roxy, I am from Pasadena foothills/Sierra Madre area, and I can assure you that they are out there! I have crunched enough of them under my bare feet to know! They tend to come out when it is cooler.

While we're on this subject - if you rent a car in Hawaii, don't be surprised if there are roaches in it. I had roaches in my cars most of the three years I lived on Oahu. And my husband's favorite story is the time he was driving on the H-1 freeway, looked at the dashboard, and saw a 12&quot; centipede going from the dash onto the steering wheel! I'll never know how he avoided an accident.

At night time the large roaches (B52's or 747's) were all over outside. But they generally only came in the house occasionally.