Insects, arthropods and other creepy-crawlies often get a bad rap. They often lurk in dark, damp corners of your house and then scuttle out across your unsuspecting path when least expected like tiny extras in a horror flick. But not every bug is your enemy.
Some bugs are quite innocuous and just want to hang out in your space, preferring to be left alone. Others can be among the best lines of defense against those pests that can cause damage or actual harm to people and pets.
Here are five pests in Maine that are really quite beneficial.
The house centipede
Left to their own devices, a house centipede is a solitary critter that prefers to live in the dark and not interact with the humans of the house. Instead, the centipede spends its time hunting and eating a variety of other pests like ants, silverfish, beetle larvae and roaches. They don’t attack people and they don’t chew on woodwork or paper.
Spiders
Inside or out, a spider is a highly effective natural pest control. They feed almost exclusively on insects. Other than by observing their webs in the corners of your house, you may not even know you have a spider as a houseguest. While most spiders do bite as a defense if provoked, none of the more than 400 species in Maine are poisonous.
Nematodes
These tiny predatory worms will hunt down and kill destructive pest insects or grubs out in your lawn and garden. These nematodes pose no threat to people, pets or plants and won’t harm beneficial insects. University of Maine researchers are studying the effectiveness of using nematodes to kill fire ant colonies.
Green lacewing
The larvae of the green lacewing is a deadly predator of aphids. Aphids feed on the sap of plants which can severely damage or kill crops. Not only can the green lacewing larvae attack, immobilize and suck the blood of an aphid in under 90 seconds, the larvae will toss the dried out husk of its kill up onto its back. In time, a larva will have so many aphid corpses attached to its body, it resembles a moving piece of popcorn.
Pseudoscorpions
There are more than 3,000 species of pseudoscorpions in the world and the ones in Maine are native to the state and among the smallest. They are common household pests. They lack the characteristic large, curved stinger of true scorpions, and even though their front pincer appendage does contain venom, it’s not enough to harm a human. Insead, this pest uses it to hunt and kill small insects and mites found in homes.
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