# How do you feel about flying insects in your house? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 21, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-flying-insects-in-your-house/497179 "2009-05-21T15:49:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-flying-insects-in-your-house/497179/21 "2009-05-22T09:02:26Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > Ewwww, don’t let it touch me, kill it, kill it, KILL IT! > > What’s your wife’s problem, opening windows and doors without screens? That’s uncivilized. This is my reaction. > [@pbbth](#): > > I have 2 cats, so flying insects last only as long as it takes them to land or fly low enough to the ground for a cat to catch them. Perhaps you need a cat or a death ray of some kind to take care of your bug problem. Fortunately, all three of our cats LOVE flying insects in the house. The only problem is that the cats can’t fly, and have to track the insects around the house, waiting for them to get low enough. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-flying-insects-in-your-house/497179/22 "2009-05-22T09:47:38Z")
> [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](#): > > I just let the centipedes and spiders roam the apartment unharassed, seems to keep the other insect populations down to a reasonable level. Extreme nit: centipedes and spiders aren’t insects, so the “other” is unnecessary there. ---
**Author:** ![Brandus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@Brandus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brandus)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-flying-insects-in-your-house/497179/23 "2009-05-22T14:15:14Z")
Nothing lives in my house without permission. All insects are destroyed as soon as I’m alerted. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-flying-insects-in-your-house/497179/24 "2009-05-22T14:56:00Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > The bug zapper is way more fun, actually. There is nothing like wielding deadly electricity in the form of [a tennis racket](http://www.amazon.com/Charcoal-Companion-Amazing-Bug-Zapper/dp/B00008GS96/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1242929078&sr=8-4). It’s an entirely different kind of zen, altogether. Sounds to me like you don’t have much of a problem, then. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-flying-insects-in-your-house/497179/25 "2009-05-22T15:34:09Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Sounds to me like you don’t have much of a problem, then. 😉 Heh…if all the bugs who entered the house would present themselves to me for zapping upon entry, then yes, I’d agree with you – it’d just be free entertainment. But it’s a big house, and they don’t really and truly make themselves known until later in the evening, when we start having single light sources present in the house. At least the moths are easy to catch, but the flies? Not so much. When we have a little more money, I will definitely be looking into the screen door solution. I’m just not certain of how practical it will be because of how the doors are framed. Someone smarter than I am will have to figure that out. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-flying-insects-in-your-house/497179/26 "2009-05-22T16:17:59Z")
Fireflies and ladybugs are the exception to my general rule of dealing with flying insects in the house. Those I will catch and release outside. All other flying insects will be killed, either by one of the humans or by one of the cats. Heavy objects, chemicals, or any other means fair or foul of killing the bugs may be used. No guarantees that fireflies or ladybugs won’t be caught and eaten by the cats before I find them, so I still don’t recommend that they come into my house. Crawling insects and centipedes will be dealt with in the same way as flying ones. Spiders may be spared if it’s obvious from a few feet away that they are neither black widows nor brown recluses (No WAY am I getting close enough to something that might be a brown recluse to look for stuff like violin markings.). Again, no guarantees for spiders that the cats won’t kill them. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-flying-insects-in-your-house/497179/27 "2009-05-22T17:41:18Z")
Anything that buzzes is annoying and has to go. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-flying-insects-in-your-house/497179/28 "2009-05-22T18:29:32Z")
If it doesn’t bite or sting then it’s a mere annoyance and I want it the hell out of my house. If it does bite or sting I can’t relax or take my eyes off of it until I can either kill it or get it to fly out the door or window. I don’t like having to kill an insect but will do so if I feel sufficiently threatened by its presence and am not able to escape from it. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-flying-insects-in-your-house/497179/29 "2009-05-23T15:26:04Z")
Speaking of cheap entertainment (and a valuable skill) - one night recently I was working at the computer (all right, _not_ working at the computer), and an annoyingly persistent giant housefly was buzzing around me. I kept waving it off and it kept hanging around, until it made the mistage of buzzing Bessie the Labrador. She snapped at it, knocking it out of the skies like a Zero fighter trailing smoke, and, when it fell to earth, calmly ate it. I applauded. Bessie responded with one of her classic belch/burp/retch noises. You don’t mess with Bessie. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-flying-insects-in-your-house/497179/30 "2009-05-23T18:51:28Z")
Stupid bug! You go squish now. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-flying-insects-in-your-house/497179/31 "2009-05-23T21:55:01Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Extreme nit: centipedes and spiders aren’t insects, so the “other” is unnecessary there. And thats why I prefer this board to all others. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-flying-insects-in-your-house/497179/32 "2009-05-23T21:57:32Z")
I like them. They entertain my cats and feed my carnivorous plants. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-flying-insects-in-your-house/497179/33 "2009-05-23T23:00:54Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > I have 2 cats, so flying insects last only as long as it takes them to land or fly low enough to the ground for a cat to catch them. Perhaps you need a cat or a death ray of some kind to take care of your bug problem. This. And one of my cats can jump up to the ceiling. She caught a fly that way, last summer. ---
**Author:** ![Proudest\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/proudest_monkey/32/13257_2.png) [@Proudest\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Proudest_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-flying-insects-in-your-house/497179/34 "2009-05-23T23:18:38Z")
We don’t get a lot of bugs, flying or otherwise, in our house. The occsional bee gets trapped in a jar and released. Ladybugs, a random moth or two – I let 'em be and they either die of bashing their heads against the window, or a member of Team Kitty gets them. But I cannot abide houseflies. SWAT! We only have them once in a great while here, but the town where I work is home to a huge egg farm, and the local farmers spread the chicken manure like crazy. So my workplace (school) is full of flies. I hate them so much! Every classroom teacher is issued a flyswatter along with pencils, paper, and textbooks. SWAT! Many of my co-workers live there and it’s the same deal at their houses. I don’t know how they stand it. Those little bastards (the flies – not the co-workers 😃 ) were born and raised in chicken shit, and they want nothing more than to land on my lunch. SWAT! I celebrate every fly death for which I am responsible. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-flying-insects-in-your-house/497179/35 "2009-05-24T02:10:30Z")
> [@](#): > > I celebrate every fly death for which I am responsible. I say “Ten points!” each time I kill a mosquito. I don’t like flies, but I despise skeeters. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-flying-insects-in-your-house/497179/36 "2009-05-25T03:28:01Z")
I just leave the crane flies (if indeed that’s what they are) on the theory that they will eat the mosquitoes or something. I try to swat the mosquitoes & usually the moths. I feel sorry for the hornets & try to get them outside. Houseflies are kind of annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Teacake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Teacake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teacake)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-flying-insects-in-your-house/497179/37 "2009-05-25T12:50:21Z")
Oh boy. We can’t have our windows open right now because of crane flies. My partner is completely phobic about them. We’re looking into flyscreens (we just moved to a new place and they’re never fitted as standard here in the UK, for no good reason I can tell) but they are _absurdly_ expensive. To get a screen fitted to our back door would cost about £150, from what I’ve seen so far. That’s $240 for ONE single-width door. I generally dislike having any living thing in my house that I didn’t invite, but as I say, crane flies lead to screaming and hives. The phobia is so extreme it actually produces a physical reaction, seriously, from the merest touch. So, we don’t have the windows open much! We have a tennis racquet too. It’s the best fun when you’re in the middle of a swarm of mosquitoes and can just light-sabre dozens of the little sods in smooth strokes. ---
**Author:** ![Stauderhorse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Stauderhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stauderhorse)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-flying-insects-in-your-house/497179/38 "2009-05-25T13:44:10Z")
The same way I’d feel about flying rabid monkeys in my house…get them the hell out of here, _now_! We keep the patio door open for fresh air for a good portion of the day, so we’re always dealing with mosquitoes in the house. I show the buggers no mercy; if they have the gall to come into my house, they’re getting squashed in short order. Especially if they start biting me. When I was younger, we used to have these…I’m not sure what they’re called, but they were basically huge ants with wings. Ah, here’s a [picture](http://i.pbase.com/u18/larena/upload/43052477.DSCN6891.JPG). They were attracted to the light, and during the summer, they would actually invade my house. I’m pretty sure they had a nest in my walls somewhere, since there were probably hundreds of them in the house at any given time. Even if we turned all the lights off by eight o clock, I could still feel them crawling over me in bed. Talk about your nightmare-inducing experiences. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-flying-insects-in-your-house/497179/39 "2009-05-26T07:15:14Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > This morning, when I went to the bathroom at 4:30am, I was surprised by a rather large mosquito flying around me while trying to pee. This did not end well (for me or the mosquito) and required some cleanup afterward (for me and the mosquito). Next time wait until the mosquito has finished peeing, then go after it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-flying-insects-in-your-house/497179.md?page=1)