Best products from r/whatsthisbug

We found 48 comments on r/whatsthisbug discussing the most recommended products. We ran sentiment analysis on each of these comments to determine how redditors feel about different products. We found 125 products and ranked them based on the amount of positive reactions they received. Here are the top 20.

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ClimbUp 12Climbup System Bug Interceptors (Pack of 12) Passive Traps for Bed Legs, White
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Top comments mentioning products on r/whatsthisbug:

u/chandalowe · 8 pointsr/whatsthisbug

I don't really have formal lesson plans - more of a very loose outline. It's not a formal class - more like a two-week show-and-tell, featuring whatever bugs I have on-hand. I have a number of species that I keep as pets year-round (mostly arachnids and myriapods) supplemented with whatever insects I am able to catch or purchase in the weeks leading up to the class - and whatever the kids bring in.

I introduce the kids to the major classes/subphyla (arachnids, crustaceans, insects, myriapods, trilobites) and orders within each. For the younger kids, we look at what characteristics identify something as an arthropod and that differentiate between the classes/subphyla. We also look at the differences and similarities between the various insect orders.

We go over the anatomy of the various creatures - more in depth with the older kids, including building those 4D Vision models of beetles, a tarantula, and a scorpion so they can get a better idea of what the internal organs are and how they differ from human organs. I also show the kids the insect x-rays (which also include arachnids and myriapods) and have them compare those to x-rays of vertebrates.

We talk about molting and for a visual demonstration of how the bug can be bigger after it molts, even though it's coming out of a smaller shell, I take two balloons (a small water balloon and a larger party balloon). I stuff the larger balloon inside the water balloon and blow up the larger balloon as much as possible, until the water balloon is tight. (I clamp the neck of the balloon rather than tying it.) I show that to the kids and explain that the exoskeleton can't stretch and is getting too tight for the growing bug. Then, I carefully cut the water balloon (without puncturing the inner balloon) to represent shedding the old skin and it bursts off the other balloon. Finally, I explain that when the bug is newly-molted, the new exoskeleton is still soft and stretchy, so the bug inflates itself with air and body fluids to expand the new exoskeleton before it hardens, and I inflate the balloon further to show them what I mean.

We go over life cycles and metamorphosis and I show them the various life-cycle models for different types of insects.

We touch briefly on social insects and the difference between social and solitary wasps and bees.

For the younger kids, we do a "bug hunt" where I hide a bunch of bug-shaped Easter eggs in the school garden. I let the older kids do this too - but we also go out and hunt for real bugs. I'll give them a scavenger hunt list of things to find, including things like insect eggs, an orb web, a crustacean, a beetle, a member of the heteroptera, an insect larva, an insect nymph, etc.

I bring in an entire room full of live pet bugs as well as an assortment of preserved bugs for the kids to look at. I group them by class and order, so the kids can see at a glance which ones are related to each other.

We spend a couple of days talking about spiders, including the various uses of webbing, different types of webs the spiders make, going out around campus and seeing how many kinds of web we can find (we can usually at least find a cobweb, an orb web, and a funnel web). We talk about venom, the difference between venom and poison, and different methods that venom can be administered (here we broaden out to include other arachnids, myriapods, insects - and even snakes.) The older kids built hydraulic arms so they could understand how hydraulics work when we talked about how spiders use hydraulic pressure to extend their legs, rather than relying solely on muscles like people do. (I use rubber bands and craft sticks to demonstrate to the kids how muscles work in pairs to extend/retract a limb in other animals.)

We also go over various mouth parts and how those are adapted to the foods the insects eat. I use props like a syringe and an orange to demonstrate how heteroptera and mosquitoes have piercing/sucking mouthparts, zig-zag craft scissors and leaves to demonstrate chewing mouthparts, a straw with a paintbrush inside it and a shallow bowl of water to demonstrate the lapping mouthparts of a bee, a long tube connected to a syringe (without the needle - just the plastic part) to demonstrate the long, coiled proboscis of some lepidoptera - and a homemade paper trumpet flower to show how the long proboscis can reach deep inside, where shorter mouthparts might not.

We talk about the different types of wings and make paper insect wings for different orders, including butterflies, moths, beetles (with paper elytra and folded hind wings to show how the wings fold up to fit underneath the elytra), bees/wasps (with tape to represent the hamuli that connect the wings together in flight). We talk about the relationship between wing surface area, body size and weight, how fast the insect has to flap to become airborne, and how fast and skillful the insect is in the air. We also talk about how flies use their halteres to keep themselves oriented in flight.

I tell them about various interactions, too - like the male soldier beetles that harvest cantharidins from blister beetles, to present them as courting gifts to the females, so they can use them to protect their eggs, or plants that - when chewed on by caterpillars - release scents that attract parasitic wasps to come lay eggs on the caterpillars, or ants that tend aphids and scale insects, protecting them from predators in exchange for honeydew, and phoretic mites that hitch a ride on other bugs - and how the phoretic mites can be beneficial to the transporting bugs, like the mites that hitch rides on carrion beetles and then eat the fly eggs and larvae that might otherwise compete with the beetles' larvae for food.

We will talk a little bit about reproductive strategies, including ways the bugs care for or protect their eggs or their young (if they do) and alternatives like laying lots of eggs at once or laying eggs singly and the advantages/disadvantages of each. We'll usually go out and look for examples of these - like the brown widow spiders actively guarding their eggs, the lacewing eggs at the end of those long hairs to protect them from predators, mantis eggs in a protective case, moth eggs just laid en masse, etc.

We usually finish up with a sampling of the defensive strategies that various bugs use, such as running away, hiding, biting or stinging, camouflage, fecal shields, aposematic coloration, and various types of mimicry.

I hope that helps! :-)

u/Joseph_P_Brenner · 3 pointsr/whatsthisbug

For beetles north of Mexico, I recommend the old favourite, Peterson Field Guides: Beetles of North America. People who complain that the book should have photos instead line drawings don't know what they're talking about. Line drawings are superior for identification because diagnostic traits are more visible. The purpose of a field guide of identification, not to a pretty coffee book (if you want a pretty coffee book, The Book of Beetles is my favorite, and I have it in my living room at the moment).

For insects in general north of Mexico, I recommend the counterpart from the same series.

If you insist on photos, I recommend the National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Insects and Spiders & Related Species of North America (which, by the way, was written by a member of BugGuide.net). Since it has photos, I'd recommend it for beginners. Once they feel more comfortable with insect taxonomy, they should add the Peterson Field Guides to their collection. Avoid the popular Audubon series because it values pretty photos over practicality.

The Peterson Field Guides are great because they provide keys, diagnostic traits, similar families, collecting methods, and a plethora of amazingly detailed line drawings (and color slides). They also have great introductory material. The taxonomy is outdated, but it's not a big issue when you have online guides, like BugGuide.net, that keep their taxonomy current. The more important takeaway is that these guides will quickly teach you insect taxonomy, and you quickly develop a big-picture sense--that is, the diversity--and a granular sense--that is, the subtle difference between similar clades.

As for "state by state" guides, I have the California Natural History Guides: Field Guide to Beetles of California. There aren't line drawings like those in the Peterson Field Guides, but you do have some photographic slides in the middle section. For this, I would only recommend the book for those with enough familiarity with beetles.

Like you said, "the scope of insects is way too huge for a simple, small field guide." Many reviewers don't understand this, and complain about the lack of specificity. To satisfy their specificity, you'd probably need a guide at the city or county level (without exceeding a million pages, and assuming an entomologist is willing to take on that task LOL). Insects are so grossly misunderstood by most people (that is, most people compare the taxonomic scope of insects with that of let's say, mammals, which is like comparing travel guides for the Vatican with that of Russia--or the United States), you are better off ignoring most laymen reviews if your goal is to actually learn.

u/tyrannoAdjudica · 4 pointsr/whatsthisbug

A specific regional guide will usually be more meaningful to own than a general guide that covers all of North America.

That been said, I personally own and recommend the National Wildlife Federation's Field Guide to Insects and Spiders of North America. It's packed with pictures and organizes everything by order, and then by family (to really understand the groupings, you should familiarize yourself with taxonomic rank). For each order, it includes some basic anatomical diagrams to help you distinguish one order from another.

It's also printed on some pretty durable gloss paper and has a water resistant cover, as icing on the cake.



I have not compared it to the Kaufman guide, since my book store does not carry it.

Comparing it to the Audubon version, I find that the NWF's guide is better for beginners due to having a picture for everything it lists. I also noticed the toner was coming off on my hand on the audubon guide while I was flipping through it in the book store.

I scarcely use it now because I've gotten good enough at identifying orders and a good number of families to use bugguide to narrow things down, but it was nice to take along on a camping trip.

Note that if you want to learn how to differentiate families of beetles or butterflies or spiders based on their anatomical traits, you'll probably need a specific field guide pertaining only to that bug. I can't recommend any, since I don't own any. Or use online references - again, bugguide is pretty good for a lot of things, but I have learned a ton from just googling for the information on a specific taxon.

u/SirMildredPierce · 2 pointsr/whatsthisbug

Time to get something with Fipronil in it!

Make sure you clean your kitchen EVERY DAY, leave no crumb out. They like kitchens and bathrooms cuz there's always something to drink and eat there. Check areas that are warm, the hot water pipes under the sink, the compression coils on your fride, the processor on your computer, the backlight of your computer monitor/TV, etc.

If you are seeing them in multiple places in your house, then it's already a serious problem. Keep an eye out for roach shit and their egg pods, you'll usually find them near where they hang out in groups.

I don't know what sort of old piece of paper that is next to the roach, but throw stuff like that out. They like to hang out in places that they can just barely fit in to. Old piles of junk mail. Bags full of old grocery bags. Stuff like that. Don't horde any sort of trash. Check behind anything hanging on your walls, framed pictures, posters you've got tacked up, etc...

Might be time to invest in a powerful handheld vacuum cleaner, something that plugs into the wall. A powerful vacuum cleaner can eviscerate them as it sucks them up. A battery powered "dust buster" isn't usually powerful enough to kill them, and they'll crawl right back out after you turn the thing off.

Having a vacuum like this is handy when you go start checking each little nook and cranny in your house. You'll stumble onto a colony, be amazed at the size of the colony, and then be amazed at how quickly they scatter.

u/naroom · 4 pointsr/whatsthisbug

Oh, I hate these moths! I flip out every time I see one of these, from all the food I've had to throw away because of them. I've gotten them two or three times.

They typically come into your house by way of a bag of flour containing the larvae. Plenty of grocery store flour containers will have something living in them, and if left on the shelf for long enough, the moths will hatch and get out. Most commonly the larvae will be in bags of corn flour ("Indian meal").

You have to be thorough in eradication or you will never get rid of them. These traps are a good start, but they won't do the job alone. You have to go through all your food and eliminate anything they've gotten into.

And they get into all kinds of food - there's the obvious ones like flour and pasta, but they also love tea and spices. Check everywhere. Once you're done throwing everything out, wipe down your surfaces with diluted bleach.

Long-term, get yourself some airtight containers. The [lock-and-lock containers](http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A1055398%2Ck%3Alock%20and%20lock
) work well.

Good luck!

u/OSUBedbugs · 1 pointr/whatsthisbug

Yea, I feel bad for you. Here is a pretty good resource to get you started on inspecting for bugs. Also, if you are really paranoid consider the use of climb up monitors on the legs of beds, couches, etc. It is unlikely that you would infest your house if you are taking these kind of precautions, but passive monitors can help you keep a long term strategy in place (and may help you sleep better at night depending on how paranoid you are).

https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/vector/bed-bug-guide.pdf

https://www.amazon.com/ClimbUp-Interceptors-pack-passive-traps/dp/B0028Z0LDQ

u/MrSlumpy · 2 pointsr/whatsthisbug

In addition to what has been said, these moth traps (or something similar) will help to get rid of them. Most important though is to take away everything that they love as has been mentioned. And don't bring anything into the house that they infest, like grain sacks, bird food, etc. And if you do need to bring that stuff in then store it in a sealed container and/or in the freezer.

u/Kenley · 3 pointsr/whatsthisbug

If you live in eastern North America, I highly recommend Stephen Marshall's Insects: Their Natural History and Diversity. It has a brief written overview for each insect order, and is filled with tons of captioned color photos showcasing common or interesting species. It's basically a mega field guide, so don't expect a huge amount of written discussion, but I love my copy so much!

u/bug-a-pottamus · 8 pointsr/whatsthisbug

The LiceMeister® Comb https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001FVR0KG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_IzLEybZ0TEP13

This got them all out of my daughters hair in one round. Only took about an hour and a half to get them all. Follow instructions and make sure you check again every few days after.

Good luck! You'll be fine!

u/EasterBuggy · 2 pointsr/whatsthisbug

She definitely overpaid. =}

https://www.amazon.com/1500-Live-Ladybugs-Guaranteed-Delivery/dp/B00533KOIC

I think it is better to encourage the locals to populate though, however in Germany, Netherlands and presumedly Switzerland there are already huge populations of the Asian Multicolor that I do not know if it can get any worse for the natives.

This one is a different species though:

https://www.planetnatural.com/product/live-ladybugs/

2000 beetles for $25. And some of the related products include ladybug food to keep them from straying so quickly.

But you are correct! Crazy expensive in the UK (which is like Switzerland in being outrageous price-wise, or unwise maybe):

http://www.greengardener.co.uk/product.asp?id_pc=34&cat=75

Germany though has German eBay and its own Amazon and prices can be super reasonable there.

Another strategy is to not release all of them at once which would cause an over-population almost guaranteed to make them disperse.

Ladybugs can be safely kept in the refrigerator produce drawers which stimulates winter for them. But they are hungry when released so hence the ladybug food to keep them from straying.

And it is a good idea to familiarize oneself with what the larvae of all of them look like because they scare most people who do not know and think they are monsters (so often sadly kill them).

Anyway, there are a lot of other organic and inexpensive strategies such as neem oil, insecticidal soap, and even nicotine (not a lot).

u/BugLuv79 · 1 pointr/whatsthisbug

They look like German roaches. You can get Gentrol which is a hormone regulator for them. It’s safe in areas in which people inhabit and food stuff is kept. There may be a living population in another unit or in the walls of the building. These work and keep them from reproducing. I have used this treatment and worked in the industry where I was introduced to the product. There is also gel bait if you are seeing a lot of them. Hope this helps.

u/Hawkeve · 2 pointsr/whatsthisbug

Yeah, SF is great. I miss it. Good luck with fixing your problem! The dryer is a good method for getting them off cloths, blankets, etc. You can also buy a bedbug cover to reduce their hiding places. Then you can get a trap filled with cornmeal and place that around the base of the bed (assuming it's lifted). As long as you pull your bed from the wall, that should help. The traps will also let you know how many bedbugs there are and you can give the info to an exterminator. Keep in mind that probably no matter what you do you'll eventually have to call a professional.

Bedbug trap: http://www.amazon.com/ClimbUp%C2%AE-Interceptors-pack-passive-traps/dp/B0028Z0LDQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380818397&sr=8-1&keywords=bed+bug+trap

Bedbug cover: http://www.amazon.com/SafeRest-Waterproof-Certified-Zippered-Encasement/dp/B004BAPK8C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380818468&sr=8-1&keywords=bed+bug+cover

u/MarginalOmnivore · 1 pointr/whatsthisbug

I'd say Aphids. You could try to get a close-up, for a better ID.

Most of my advice for aphids (soapy water in a squirt bottle, etc.) is more suited to gardens, not trees. Maybe hit up r/arborists?

Probably couldn't go wrong by hiring some ladybugs. Always make sure insect imports are legal in your area, since interstate delivery could be considered "importing"! Sometimes laws vary from state to state, maybe try a local source.

u/TGuy773 · 1 pointr/whatsthisbug

Came here to say "aphids" as well. Can I reccomend the world's finest aphid "insecticide"? ;)

https://www.amazon.com/1500-Live-Ladybugs-Guaranteed-Delivery/dp/B00533KOIC

u/BagelTrollop · 9 pointsr/whatsthisbug

To the best of my knowledge, those appear to be pantry moth larvae. Get yourself some of these before your dried goods are infested and you have to throw everything out.

The larvae squish nasty green goo when you kill them. Best to detach and pinch rather than bash against the wall.

u/Cylius · 1 pointr/whatsthisbug

Yea, or just online. Through amazon for example