Trouble with the gendarmes

No, not the boys in blue but the insects.
gendarmes
These little so and so’s are invading our place at the moment. Interesting little creatures tho’ because they can actually be helpful to us in that they consume other insect eggs and bugs. They very much enjoy hibiscus bushes so it’s not unusual they like us as we have loads of these bushes in the garden. They are members of the ‘punaise’ family, related to this chap.
punaises
These little buggers are more of a pest and the smell they exude when splattered isn’t pleasant so, best to let them live and put them outside maybe. Apparently they can live for up to a year without eating.
Isn’t nature amazing ?

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We have the same here in southern burgundy, also fruit flies in our compost bin and one or two flies in the house.
It does not bode well for summer.

we have lovely little gendarmes running about in the garden.i love gendarmes bees and ladybirds.

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Gendarmes are not considered pests, so enjoy them. you can kill them with crawling insect powder, but why? let the birds eat them!

Shield bugs, stink bugs, punaises. Usually hibernate in houses, along with cluster flies and ladybirds. They eject a noxious, smelly fluid when squidged, so don’t squidge them. Put a wine glass over them, slide paper uderneath and release the bug outside, or vacuum them up.

Free Pest Control advice!

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I sneak up on them with the vac, don’t like them buzzing around in my bedroom and I hate the smell (punaise).

I am terrified of spiders, I think that they sense this so send the largest to my bath. The only way I can ‘tackle’ them is to turn the vac on before I enter the bathroom, close my eyes and ‘swish’ the hose around inside the bath. Do you know how I can deter them please Robert ?

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Spiders go into your bath to drink, the bath is too slippery for them to get out, so hang some string over the bath and they can climb out to carry on their job of munching all the other bugs in the house!

If you hang a towel over the bath, they’ll hide in the fabric and you’ll get the shock of your life next time to use it.

Preventing spiders involves housework, luckily I like spiders!

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Thanks for the advice Robert, I never knew they were in the bath for that reason. I know there must be loads in the house, it’s only if I see them that it becomes a real nightmare !

I used to do lots of housework and still had lots of spiders :wink:

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Interesting creatures both spiders and gendarmes, that’s for sure.

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Do birds eat the red and black garden bugs? My friends’ grounds and trees are covered in the things but I thought that birds ignored them?

Not sure but it’s a better bet than insecticide.

I’m a Pest Controller and Councillor. I’ve walked away from jobs because someone wants something destroyed and I’ve refused.

A pest is an animal in the wrong place, as a weed is to a plant.

Go on, try it, give a Gendarme a hug!!!

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I have hundreds of the black and red ones on my field during certain times of the year they pile up on top on one another and my Collies take a mild interest but mostly ignore them…( the same can’t be said for whatever it is that makes burrows on the field…although I have the odd molehill these burrows don’t show the characteristic signs of a mole…I’m reluctant to interfere with Mother Nature…I’m fascinated by spiders…,since being here there is only one I don’t recognise from England…it’s black and yellow…I’ve never killed a spider…maybe superstition but more likely I would rather leave them be to do their job…I do use food grade diatomaceous earth around doorways if there is any threat of an imminent invasion into the house…I used it in England and noted that spiders especially are adept at keeping their feet away from it…x :slight_smile:

Apart from ruining lawns, moles do a lot of work under the turf which other critters take advantage of. The tunnels (galeries, fr) are used by many other creatues from voles to rats.

Moles also spread disease which can be picked up by farm and domestic animals.

I have several wildlife cmeras in my arsenal. It’s worth getting one and seeing what’s running around your garden whilst you’re in zonkland.

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Having spent many years working on a golf course Robert, I can assure you moles are one heck of a nuisance !

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Re spiders, avoid the one with a distinctive white cross on its back, they can inflict a very painful bite, often found in shrubs and hedges.

To deter moles, I put a very small amount of Petrole/parrafin in the tunnel, they don’t like it, and buzz off :slightly_smiling_face:

Their guns get in the way, and they may not like it :rofl:

Can you recommend a make/model of camera for wildlife please Robert? We get loads of ‘visitors’ to our garden all year round and I’d love to be able to identify some of them!

I bought a cheap Chinese made wildlife camera from Amazon.fr. It’s brilliant and takes surprisingly high quality photos and videos, day and night.

The dates are wrong because the one thing I haven’t sorted out is how to serve thetime. The photos were taken last Summer.

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Was it this one David ?

Slightly different but exactly the same sort of thing.