wriggly things

[deb]

having a phobia of anything that resembles a worm it is really freaking me out that our campo house has loads of black things that look like a worm cross centipede crawling over the outside on a night, they then curl up into a ball in the day time. can anyone tell me what they are and what i can do to get rid of them.

[gente]

sounds like they could be processionary caterpillars, if so they are highly poisonous and should be avoided at all costs also be careful if you have pets.not sure though what the procedure is as to disposing of them

http://web.cortland.edu/fitzgerald/Pine ... onary.html

have a look at the above link

[BENIDORM]

Deb....You don't mean the wood lice type things , that have lived on earth for about 40 million years ..do you ?
If so I've found that just about any type of powder insect repellent, comes in a puffer thingy, will see them off quite quickly, and if you put some powder in any cracks around tiles etc, it will keep them clear for ages..We get them on our patio, but rarely inside the house.

Regards,
Gordon

[gente]

re reading your description dont think they are processionary caterpillars

[tjtops]

It's the orange 'wriggly things' which SHOULD be freaking you out....they are the poisonous millipedes which give a VERY nasty bite and grow to around 4 to 5 inches long!!!

[pigs-might-fly]

Nah - they are politicians in camouflage!

[tjtops]

In that case, the camouflage doesn't work!!

[pwwm]

It's the orange 'wriggly things' which SHOULD be freaking you out....they are the poisonous millipedes which give a VERY nasty bite and grow to around 4 to 5 inches long!!!

I find these occasionally inside my house, think they crawl under the door, if you had not used the word freaking I would have said they freak me out get them outside and batter them to death, not having them around with the animals etc.

[teralin]

Deb, I know what you mean, we have them on the walls and the terrace at the moment. They are black, about 3-4 centimetres long and don't seems to cause any problems. If you touch them, they curl up into a ball and then you can get rid of them quite easily. They look like a millipede but they dont seem to have the pincers, nor are they aggressive. Having said all that, I haven't a clue what they are.

[fearless nige]

Found it Deb! Good to know we're not the only ones! Seems strange that most of the replies concerning these creatures are from the Torrox area(?). As I sit here writing this i just noticed another little critter walking across the floor! Damn things! I know that some strong aerosols work on them once inside - we tried a cockroach spray on the ones on the ceiling and sure enough they all fell off and died - but my desire is to prevent them from entering in the first place! Maybe I'll try ant powder.

Re: the orange centipede things:- check your bed at night! Just about every instance I've heard of concerning these things (and it's quite a few!) is being bitten by them whilst in BED! We've had one in the bedroom which we sprayed with cockroach spray and it did the trick again.

As for processionary catapillers (spelling?!) - they are brown and kind of furry I believe - keep clear! They create nesting areas on pine trees - the nest usually looks like a cross between a spiders web and candyfloss - dangerous to both humans and dogs.

[Jool]

Not always brown and furry, can look very grey in sunlight with black hairs - we´ve had several nests.

[Sandramay]

http://www.ento.csiro.au/education/alli ... opoda.html

Am I correct in thinking this is the little critter you are talking about? Last month we were watching wasps capturing them from off our outside walls, they seemed to be positively hunting for them, Facinating

[fearless nige]

Sandra I think that you're spot on - looks pretty much what I'm talking about. Good find - thanks! Shame it doesn't tell you how to keep them from getting into the house!

[Sandramay]

Well, at least they are vegetarians so you can sleep easy at nights