Transcript
Alexis: Hello, beautiful plant people and co hosts. How are we doing today?
Brett: Wow.
atack2010: Mm.
Brett: So we're not beautiful plant people.
Jessica : Hello.
Alexis: I mean, you're, you're an extraordinary plant person.
atack2010: I'm a co -host, so I'm not a beautiful plant people.
Brett: Yeah.
Jessica : um Oh.
Alexis: Let's not, not, ah yeah, but not, you're welcome.
Brett: Wow.
atack2010: You guys are all both.
Brett: But not beautiful, not defined by my looks. I like that.
Alexis: You're welcome. How's everybody feeling? Good. Yeah.
Jessica : Pretty good.
Alexis: Chris fall, all those good things.
atack2010: Good feeling fall -like here in Kentucky at the time of this recording.
Brett: feeling Feeling crisp.
Alexis: Yeah.
Brett: I do feel a bit crackly.
atack2010: The weather is very nice.
Jessica : This is very nice.
Alexis: Yeah. I think I'm going to answer with that. Like how are you? How are you? How are you? I'm just gonna be like crisp. I feel like that's going to be my new answer.
atack2010: Crisp.
Alexis: I'm just crisp.
Jessica : I'm going to be like, OK.
Alexis: Yeah.
atack2010: Bubbly.
Alexis: Uh, all right. Well, pretty used to that Alexis. Uh, okay. Question.
atack2010: Of course.
Alexis: What is a food that you don't like, but that everybody else does?
atack2010: I got it.
Alexis: Like what got it go, right?
Jessica : Mm, yeah, I got one.
atack2010: Pickled pig's feet.
Jessica : That everybody else likes.
Alexis: and Okay. Okay. Not everybody else likes that one, babe.
atack2010: No.
Brett: That was the inverse.
Alexis: but No, no.
atack2010: No, I thought you said that I like that not not everybody else likes.
Brett: That was the opposite. No, no, no.
atack2010: as i I reverse that.
Brett: One that you don't like that everybody else does.
Alexis: The opposite of that.
Jessica : Oh, you like Pickle's Pig's Feet?
Brett: in Inverse of that.
atack2010: Oh, so we're we're we're we're going the inverse way of this.
Alexis: Yeah.
atack2010: Well, then I'll just think about it.
Brett: andop Basically your unpopular food opinion.
Alexis: Yeah.
Jessica : But you do like those, Ray?
Alexis: What's your unpopular food opinion?
atack2010: Yes.
atack2010: Hmm.
Jessica : You like Pickle Pig's Feet?
atack2010: Oh, I do. I absolutely love those. Yes, I do. um
Brett: Is there memory attached to it in particular or you feel like you would love it you would just for the love of the foot?
Jessica : Don on a foot.
atack2010: No, just as a kid seeing that in the jar and thinking, wow, that's gross.
Alexis: but
atack2010: I'm going to have to give me some of that. Yeah, no. And Kroger's, it was, I remember the aisle and everything.
Brett: a
atack2010: Mom was like, you're not going to eat that. That's disgusting. I'm like, I want that. So, and and I love it.
Jessica : Oh, no, I just know.
atack2010: So.
Alexis: And now we know where your kid gets it from.
atack2010: Yeah, strange, but no, um I miss them.
Brett: Wait, so so you're saying that you were a pioneer of eating putt pickled pig's feet in your family?
atack2010: I mean, I think it was done before then because, you know, we butchered our own hogs in the in the fall.
Brett: Skip's a generation.
atack2010: It was kind of a tradition.
Jessica : is yeah
atack2010: We'd all get the uncles together and scrape and do all that and, you know, all the stuff.
Jessica : Yeah, but.
atack2010: Now we never pickled our own pigs feet because that was a very involved process.
Jessica : Yeah. And like, like, it's different.
atack2010: Very.
Jessica : Like you see the pig, but then the pigs turn into sausage and other things and you're like, Oh, that's just sausage.
Alexis: Really?
Jessica : Versus if you see the feet in the freezer, you're like, Oh, that was.
Alexis: Yeah. See the foot.
atack2010: Yeah.
Alexis: That was Gub Gub's foot.
Jessica : as our Yeah. Oh.
atack2010: Yes, that was bacon or Sally's foot or whoever.
Jessica : go go
atack2010: Yeah, that's a little different. Yeah, I derailed this conversation.
Jessica : ah govin reba
Brett: he loved He loved that foot.
atack2010: Yeah, not a foot to stand on.
Alexis: isn
Jessica : Yeah, can't do it.
Brett: It was one of four he that he had.
atack2010: Yeah. Yes, it doesn't need that one.
Alexis: ah His back right one was his favorite.
atack2010: Yeah, so I messed that up. I messed that up. So ah somebody else go.
Jessica : I have two that I feel like are kind of similar.
atack2010: OK.
Alexis: Hmm.
Jessica : Maybe not. They're both cheeses.
atack2010: Oh.
Jessica : I do not like blue cheese.
atack2010: Oh, man.
Jessica : No matter how many times I try it.
Brett: Oh.
Alexis: Fair.
Jessica : And the same thing with goat cheese.
atack2010: a
Jessica : Goat cheese tastes like how goats smell.
atack2010: then
Brett: Yeah, yeah, I can i could see that.
atack2010: I don't, yeah, I don't like goat cheese per se.
Alexis: Fair, yeah.
Jessica : what I mean?
atack2010: Yeah.
Jessica : Right?
Brett: Barnyard.
Jessica : And it's one of those things like, I keep trying it.
atack2010: Sour.
Jessica : Or yeah, there's other things like that I keep trying that I'm like, this is the year I'm gonna like it.
Alexis: I'm proud of you for keeping for keep trying, though I am.
Jessica : Like, right, but it it never works out. I just don't like them.
Brett: ah Friend friend of the friend of the pot maybe this is a common thing with people with kids friend of the pod Sean in his house refers to a Bite of something that you think you're probably not gonna like and then you don't like it as a no.
Alexis: It's okay.
Brett: Thank you bite So you tried it.
Alexis: and My coworker called them hello bites, but I guess that was like ah trying something new.
Jessica : ah yeah
Brett: No. Thank you.
Brett: Oh Wow So
Alexis: Hello bite. Yeah.
atack2010: I have a tough time.
Alexis: I like both of those. Yeah. Brett, what's your thing that you don't like that most people do?
Alexis: The limit does not exist.
atack2010: I like the inverse better than this.
Brett: i i I would say within like normie people, I am extremely not picky.
Jessica : Ah,
atack2010: Muggles.
atack2010: Yeah.
Brett: um Like, I mean, I wouldn't be like the guy who's like, oh yeah, I love, you know, I love everything.
Alexis: yeah
Jessica : yeah.
Alexis: name
Brett: I'll eat anything. That's not necessarily true. But as far as like things that are popular, I do think for me, my opinions tend to manifest more as people think this is really good.
Brett: And I'm like, it's fine.
Jessica : You're like, eh.
Alexis: okay Yeah.
Brett: Yeah. I'm trying to, and I'm trying to think of examples that wouldn't offend people.
atack2010: Hmm.
Alexis: Yeah.
Brett: Um,
atack2010: Yeah.
Jessica : Oh, say the ones I don't want to offend.
atack2010: That's a tough question. it's That's a tough one. I mean, popular things are popular for a reason, generally.
Brett: so we'll like, when we went on the, um, Oh, pumpkin spice, that, that is a good example.
Jessica : Is it pumpkin spice?
Brett: I do not care for pumpkin spice.
Jessica : There you go.
atack2010: Jessica, what do you got against Nutmed?
Brett: Thank you, Jessica. That's a good save. But like again, then again, if if someone made me a pumpkin spice latte, I would drink it and be like, yeah, this is pretty good. But I am not like, this is good.
Alexis: Right.
atack2010: mid
Alexis: Yeah, fair.
Brett: Is candy corn popular?
Jessica : You're not counting.
atack2010: This what?
Alexis: Is candy corn popular?
Jessica : Candy corn.
Brett: Is candy corn popular?
Alexis: Are we bringing candy corn back into the discussion again?
Jessica : Again!
atack2010: Candy corn is popular, Brett.
Jessica : It is popular.
atack2010: Candy corn is popular.
Brett: Then mark me down for candy corn because it sucks.
atack2010: Yes. For those that like sorrow, here's the food for you.
Jessica : Oh!
Brett: is
Jessica : ah Right, I told you.
Brett: Yeah, I thought a lot about the idea of like, well, if you just add a bunch of stuff to it, it actually tastes pretty good.
atack2010: Jessica, if you totally mask the taste and texture and hide it into oblivion, it's not bad.
Brett: and Like, okay.
Brett: Yeah. If you had enough peanuts that it tastes like you're eating peanuts, then it's pretty good.
Alexis: I like the taste and the texture of candy corn.
atack2010: Sorry, Jessica.
atack2010: If it tastes like peanuts.
Alexis: Um, my thing.
Brett: What about you? What about you, Alexis?
Alexis: Yeah. My thing that I will eat. It's just like, I'll pick them off if the opportunity presents itself is bell peppers. I don't like bell peppers. I've never liked them.
Brett: Like green ones?
Alexis: any of them i can taste the flavor yeah and i like if they're on if they're on something or in something i will eat them if they're cooked if they're fresh i will absolutely not touch them i don't care what they're dipped in lard
atack2010: Oh, what?
Brett: Even red?
atack2010: Even the red ones, the sweet ones?
Brett: Bro.
atack2010: How about if they're dipped in blue cheese, would you eat them?
Brett: I can, oh my gosh, I can go with you.
atack2010: Wow.
Jessica : Thank you. I, I get that though.
Brett: I can go with you on the green ones, but not the colored ones.
atack2010: wow Wow.
Alexis: Whatever, you know, that flavor that the green ones have, that like aftertaste, I taste that in the red ones as well.
Brett: Yes.
Alexis: And that's what I don't like. I can like, whatever that compound is, I'm just like, well yeah, fresh.
Jessica : Yeah, I get that.
Brett: Jessica, you get it or you agree?
atack2010: i'm not like
Alexis: I won't touch them.
atack2010: um
Jessica : I, I like, I prefer them cooked than a fresh web hopper.
Brett: Yeah.
Alexis: I can tolerate them cooked, but I don't.
Jessica : Like I can't stand out in the fit. I can eat a tomato out in the field, like an apple, but I'm not going to do that with a pepper.
Alexis: Yes, same.
Jessica : but like people in my family can like just eat them like an apple out in the field.
atack2010: and I like bell peppers, however. Yeah.
Alexis: Hmm. Yeah, whatever that I don't know what that compound is. I need to look it up.
atack2010: I'm that way with arugula, that compound. I'm a part of the minority that can taste that. And it makes me physically gag when I taste like a fancy salad.
Jessica : Oh, I like arugula.
Brett: It's cilantro or arugula?
Alexis: Oh, of rocket.
atack2010: What's that?
Brett: Cilantro or arugula?
Alexis: So.
atack2010: Arugula. It's more arugula, like a, now maybe cilantro is kind of fine, but there's a compound in there.
Jessica : oh
Brett: Whoa, I've never heard of that.
Jessica : Now,
atack2010: It makes me gag, makes me, look yeah, I can't do it.
Alexis: So.
Jessica : cilantro kind of ties in to what we're going to talk to about today.
Alexis: Oh, beautiful, beautiful segue, Jessica.
atack2010: Okay.
Brett: What are we talking about?
atack2010: Nice.
Jessica : Now that is something, now that you now now that you have brought that up, that is something I also, I can deal with it, but every time when I eat cilantro, I'm going to think of stink bugs.
atack2010: Jessica's bringing us home.
Brett: I don't even remember.
atack2010: Bring us home.
Brett: a
Jessica : Because the same chemical that like makes up cilantro, that like tastes the smell is the same thing that stink bugs use for their stinkiness.
Brett: That's so true
Alexis: for there.
Brett: yeah see I can eat I can eat I can eat stink bugs, but I can't eat cilantro.
Jessica : So everyone always talks about it being soap, but for me, stink bugs.
Brett: It's weird
Jessica : Right.
atack2010: So that compound, is that a defense mechanism?
Jessica : Yeah.
atack2010: The stinkiness of the stink bug?
Jessica : Yeah. Just a way to try to deter predators and us from bothering them.
atack2010: Gotcha. Like eating? Gotcha.
Alexis: i
Brett: Makes me get out the limes.
Alexis: i yeah see I feel like we should take a second to be like how humans, when there's plants, they're just like, oh, was this used to deflect anybody from bothering you? ah Make it mine.
Alexis: like We're like a tobacco, like a hot capsaicin peppers, where humans are like, ah this is great.
atack2010: Yes.
Alexis: like Every time a plant's like, damn it, I just feel like they get
Brett: Yeah. It's like, I got i got this sweet defense mechanism. Check it out. And they're like, oh, this is delicious slash gets me jacked.
Alexis: And then we came meandering by and we're like, let's do it.
Jessica : I love it.
atack2010: Oh, give me some of that.
Alexis: Does it assault my taste buds? Yes. Do I love it? Absolutely.
Jessica : Mm hmm.
Brett: Yes and yes.
atack2010: Yeah. So I guess backing up just one step. That was a beautiful segue, by the way, Jessica.
Jessica : That was good.
atack2010: Fall invaders is the topic of the day. More specifically, ah seasonal insect invaders, because fall invaders could be many things when we're talking about invaders.
Alexis: Invaders.
atack2010: But in this case, we're talking about mostly insects, mostly. And we started off this conversation with stink bugs. Is it about that time of the year for those, Jessica, or?
Jessica : ah Yes, I have already started smelling them health outside my garage.
atack2010: No.
atack2010: Oh, wow.
Jessica : I used to, in a previous life job, ah when brown marmorated stink bug first arrived at our state, I actually helped raise them in colonies, which sounds crazy, but it was a way ah we were putting the eggs bright.
Brett: You were the one that released them.
atack2010: you I was thinking, you're the one.
Jessica : ah We were putting eggs out ah to see what parasitized them, because we were hoping for some like natural predators.
Alexis: that'
atack2010: No.
Jessica : It was really cool when it happened to see like wasp hatch out of the stink bug eggs. But anyways, it is the time that time for them to start coming in.
Brett: Whoa.
Jessica : And once they start coming, they kind of release pheromones that say, hey, everybody, come on over. It's at a great place to stay. And then you can see quite a few. um that come in. Probably more are in your house than you realize are there. um They can get in some pretty tight spaces. ah But the thing to keep in mind with the brown marmorary stink bug is they're not reproducing in your house. They are not trying to eat any of your house plants or anything. I haven't ever seen anything on my house plants.
Jessica : I know they freak a lot of people out because they're really loud when they fly around. um They have that cilantro smell, but they're basically there to hang out for the winter and then leave immediately in the spring when it starts getting warm again.
Jessica : um ah But the trick with those guys is to knock them in some soapy water. Don't crush them because that's when they really start to stink or can you know draw some other guys in there, unless you like that smell.
Alexis: Unless you like the smell of cilantro.
atack2010: is is Is it the brown marmorated that the stink bug that you can put a lot over of just like a shallow dish of water and they'll be gravitated towards that? I've seen that as a trap solution for those.
Jessica : Yeah. And that works great also with like attic flies when people get attic flies, um, which are the same as like those horn and face flies.
atack2010: Does it? OK. Well, gotcha. Yeah.
Jessica : So those of you who live out in the country and have a lot of cattle around you, and then you suddenly have an influx of flies in your house.
atack2010: Mm.
atack2010: Yeah, we we get calls on that all the time in Bourbon County, yeah.
Jessica : Those are those guys. But that's a common thing, like a light over a bucket of water and they kind of just like knock themselves down in there.
atack2010: Fall down in. I have read and heard, I've never tried that trap myself, but it's a very effective trap for like, you know, distinct bugs and other insects, as you're saying.
Jessica : hu so Oh my goodness.
atack2010: So cool.
Brett: See, I get confused because my my soapy water always tastes like cilantro water.
atack2010: Yeah, it's weird. and Yeah, don't drink the soapy water.
Alexis: I don't, I don't smell, I've never smelled cilantro from a stink bug. So I don't know. And I do like cilantro, which is good.
Brett: Are you for real?
Alexis: Yeah, no, I've never, I never noticed it. Even when I've crushed them, I literally crushed one in my fingers last night and did not smell it.
atack2010: i I don't have much of a sensitivity to it either.
Brett: You didn't smell it at all?
Alexis: No.
Jessica : Oh my gosh.
atack2010: You got a weak one.
Brett: Bro, do you have, do you maybe you have COVID?
Alexis: I can taste the cilantro.
Brett: I thought you were gonna say you can taste the stink bug.
Jessica : Did you taste the stink bug?
atack2010: You tasted a stink bug? Yeah.
Brett: Yeah.
atack2010: Did you taste the stink bug? I hope not.
Alexis: Cilantro.
atack2010: Yeah.
Jessica : Hmm.
atack2010: So stink bugs, they don't.
Alexis: Just throw it.
Brett: yeah to to me To me, the stink bugs have more of a strong smell than this. i Well, I haven't tasted the stink bugs, to be fair.
atack2010: and
Jessica : I have not either.
Alexis: I wonder if Dr.
Brett: yeah Could you?
Alexis: Potter has, because I feel like if anybody has, it's him.
Jessica : He, yeah, he would most likely be the one.
Brett: Is there a toxicity issue there?
Alexis: Yeah, don't eat sink bugs.
Jessica : He would taste them.
Alexis: I feel like we need to say that.
Brett: We don't, I mean,
Jessica : But they're not gonna hurt your pets and stuff if they do.
Brett: Yeah, until until we can do until we can do more research.
atack2010: They don't typically sting or bite or anything like that, do they?
Jessica : Like, if you... No, no.
atack2010: Once they get in, yeah.
Brett: How many stink bugs is too many stink bugs to eat?
Jessica : Yeah, they're just...
atack2010: Yeah.
atack2010: It's like peaches.
Jessica : It's a good question.
Alexis: The limit does not exist.
Jessica : You know what? I bet Dr. Larson would do a research study on that for us as well.
Brett: and well Yeah, it reminds me of the of the cicada episode.
Jessica : Mm -hmm.
Alexis: Oh yeah.
atack2010: Oh, that was a good one. That veered off in a direction.
Brett: and ah ray ray Ray was like so excited when we started talking about eating them. And Josh mett josh too.
atack2010: Absolutely.
Brett: I'm like, yeah, okay.
atack2010: Extreme food.
Alexis: And then we learned that like if you have a shellfish allergy, you can't eat cicadas. And that was mind -boggling to me.
Jessica : right
Alexis: like Excuse me, what?
Brett: I would say in general, I find that there's times where like with the idea of these home invader pest insects that come in when it basically starts getting cold outside.
atack2010: How did they found that out?
Brett: A lot of times I look and I find them and I'm like, oh man, people are really concerned about this. It must be like really destructive in some way. And usually they're not.
atack2010: Yeah.
Brett: That's been my experience.
Jessica : Right.
Brett: it's like It's gross and therefore I would like for it to die.
Jessica : Most?
atack2010: Well, I saw the study was amazing that, like you said, they they don't do anything, but ah it was a UK study. I'm pretty sure an old one that did they just polled people and they had just a just overwhelmingly negative opinion, even though the insects were not having like a big impact on. It was the fact that there was a spider there or a stink bug or whatever. so yeah
Jessica : yeah As you know, I am a bug person. And I think it like either her people are like amazed or they're terrified when I always am like, look, insects are all around you, like all the time. And if we did not have them, we could not function. And they get freaked out by that. But right, you're exactly right. Almost all those insects that come in in the fall and not all insects, right? Some of our arachnids too that cause I feel like the most issues for people.
atack2010: Have no love for spiders.
Alexis: KBGBs.
Jessica : myself included with some of them, because again, that's an arachnid, not an insect. um You know, none of them, they're just there to hang out.
atack2010: Yeah.
Alexis: Mm hmm.
Jessica : I mean, I don't necessarily want them hanging out in my house either, but I'm not a worried that they're going to hurt my pets or my children or eat my food or stuff. You know, the fall invaders are very different than cockroaches, right?
Alexis: Yeah.
Alexis: yeah
atack2010: That can reproduce inside your home, yeah.
Jessica : That's a whole different ball game.
atack2010: yeah Yeah, we were talking about, oh, yeah, go ahead, Alexis.
Alexis: Who? What about I would say, well, what about Asian lady beetles? Coming inside.
Jessica : Yeah, there it is same as like the brown marmorated stink bug, right?
atack2010: Same, or is it the same for them?
Jessica : They've been around longer, I think. okay they are Well, brown marmorated and like these those lady beetles both arrived in like the 90s, but we just now, you know the lady beetles have been here a lot longer.
Jessica : Originally, it was thought that they were harming a lot of our native lady beetles, but they've done recent studies that have showed that they're really not, that they, They're not bad, like you know but they're not like making a huge biological control impact either, but they're not you know they're just around, and they do the same thing.
Alexis: Sweet. There's kind of around.
Jessica : They're coming in, they are overwintering, and then they want to get out. ah With those guys, you just got to be careful about crushing them because they can stain like fabric and stuff, yeah.
atack2010: Yeah, stain things, yeah.
Alexis: saying Suck up with your vacuum.
atack2010: On all of them, you know, the thing about a vacuum I've learned with like all of these, and and that's my preferred method on the inside where I don't put down a lot of chemical products at all because in the end, if they die, you're going to have to vacuum them up.
atack2010: So I skip the middle step of the the chemical product just personally and go straight for the vacuum. But I have learned I have both a bagged and a bagless vac. If you suck up a lot of lady beetles in a vacuum that has a bag, that's going to release some interesting interesting smells if you keep that bag in the vacuum.
Alexis: It's a bad time.
Jessica : Yeah.
atack2010: So beware that if you have a new bag, you may want to, if you have a choice, go with the bag list because you have to empty the bag list almost every single time.
Alexis: ah
atack2010: and it it doesn't produce that smell because you're emptying it. But once you pick up a lot of these stink bugs or lady beetles in a bagged vacuum, the very fact that they're just mixed in with all the dust and stuff in there and the air comes in and then it's pushed back out of that bagged vacuum, there will be a smell in your house, I assure you.
atack2010: So be be aware of that, but I do like the vacuuming method for just kind of picking them up and getting getting rid of them that way.
Jessica : Mm hmm.
atack2010: I think it's um one of the best options for a lot of these things on the inside is just quickly dispatching them with that method.
atack2010: We have been getting a few calls and and is it it must be really hard to predict Like when's going to be a bad year for lady beetles or brown marmorated stink bugs.
atack2010: I mean, is that the case or are there models or I mean, is there any kind of predictor methods for this?
Jessica : i where I worked with Brian Marmarated, you know, Lexington hit its peak a couple of years ago with peak population numbers.
atack2010: Okay. Yeah.
Jessica : And it is, it's usually around that first weekend in October, we start seeing them roll in.
atack2010: Cooler weather. Okay.
Jessica : um Yeah, and it kind of, it's just ah like with all insects, and daylight changing, right? Days are getting shorter. That's what like, you know, triggers it for them to be like, oh, it's time to start like moving in.
Jessica : Even if those temperatures are not cooler yet, it's at daylight. Um, cause I've, I've seen, you know, I've seen stink bugs. I've seen some of the Asian lady beetles. Unfortunately where I live, like the flies cause I have cattle around me.
atack2010: Yes.
Jessica : Um, I ah don't around me, but I get lots of calls about it. Uh, box elder bugs.
atack2010: Yeah, we get a lot of those calls. And ah people that live around streams where is the preferred habitat of boxed elder trees, which is a native habitat for the boxed elder bugs.
atack2010: anybody it's always always the My first question to homeowners is, do you live around a stream or waterway? And you know the majority of times they do. where And that leads me immediately to go down the boxed elder bug path.
Alexis: Describe what those bugs look like.
atack2010: so
Alexis: Cause I think that one's like less known than stink bugs and Asian lady beetle.
atack2010: The Box Teller bug?
Alexis: Yeah.
atack2010: Well, it changes radically over its lifetime. Jessica, I mean, the look of it really changes.
Alexis: Well, like what, what would the adults look like that are coming into your home?
Jessica : Yeah, it's gonna have like that diamond shaped body.
atack2010: Yeah.
atack2010: Yeah.
Jessica : And the other thing about it, it's gonna be like a dark, almost like a charcoal color with bright red striping kind of on it, bright red marking, which I think that's what also gets people worried about it.
atack2010: Yeah.
Jessica : The other thing that it looks and we won't go to a lot of detail about this, but it also isn't like the same kind of family as the kissing bug. That is a dangerous insect.
Jessica : But these guys do not bite humans or anything. They again are looking for a place to overwinter.
atack2010: Yeah.
Jessica : Sometimes you'll see them actually just kind of like on the outside of houses hanging out, um but they don't harm anything.
Alexis: Oh, yeah.
Jessica : They also often get confused with milkweed bugs as well because they have that bright red color, um but they'll be in masses together.
atack2010: yeah Yeah, the immature stages of those are very striking, very red.
Alexis: Mm hmm.
atack2010: If you've ah seen a lot of those in one spot, they can be, I mean, the color you can pick out from a long ways away. on the immature stages of those. But I know that one's often mistaken for some of our natives, but so is the brown marmorated in it.
atack2010: Isn't there a stink bug that is native? too I was thinking to Kentucky, ah there's some lookalocks I was thinking. I don't i don't remember the specifics.
Jessica : Yeah, we have several brown stink bugs that look native or like spine soldier bug that looks like a, looks like a stink bug.
atack2010: Okay, yeah.
Jessica : Um, that is brown in color. Um, the, that, uh, brown marmorated stink bug, it's actually, it's a little bigger, which is kind of impressive that it can fit into so many places, like tight fittings spaces for it to be such a larger, uh, stink bug to get in your house.
Alexis: this
atack2010: Yeah.
Alexis: That's how I feel when I get into my jeans in the morning.
atack2010: It's the dryer don't line dry everything.
Jessica : Right.
Alexis: I'm like, how did I get these on?
atack2010: So that that's the three biggies is the, uh, the three we just now talked about, but there are some others, uh, but other than, I mean, I know we're talking about fall invaders here, but it seems like that we get calls throughout the year here recently, for instance.
atack2010: We had a lot of moisture, a lot of rain. I mean, you know, lots of rain up down the East coast. But when we get either a really dry spell or will a really wet spell, we tend to have home invaders as far as insects go during those times, too, I've noticed. But fall, it seems like that's a seasonal thing. um It just comes every single year. You can kind of look for these things, seems like.
Jessica : Another one to mention that I said, not an insect, but arachnids are wolf spiders.
atack2010: and
Jessica : This is the time where they're trying to run in. I know, like, I have to tell myself constantly that I'm like, you are good. You are a great predator. You're eating all the bad things out there, but they're just so big.
Jessica : Right? Like they can live to be five years old.
atack2010: They're impressive, yeah.
Jessica : They're big. They're fast. Um, I live in an older farmhouse, so they like run in my door this time of year and I kind of like stomp my feet and chase them back out the door.
Jessica : I'm trying not to kill them.
Alexis: I'm just, are you going to just imagine Jessica just stomping her feet facing off with a giant spider trying to get it out the door?
Jessica : And I'm like, get out.
Jessica : right? Um, but because I try to tell myself, I'm like, they're good. And they, that you see them more with the, the weather change, right? Where the temperatures have started getting cooler.
atack2010: Oh, okay. Are they temperature too? Okay.
Jessica : Yeah. And then a lot of times when they come in your house, like, again, they're not, they're not harmful to you. They will bite, right? Like if you were to pick it up and mess with it. And people have, I've been told, like like they say, they compare it to like a bee sting, maybe feeling, but otherwise they're not going to bite their predators.
Jessica : They don't make, you know, webs or anything really. Um, but they're going to eat other insects in your house and they're most acci, they're like an accidental, like coming in your house just to escape the element.
atack2010: Yeah, we get those in our basement.
Alexis: Mm hmm.
Jessica : Mm -hmm.
atack2010: We have glue traps out and it's amazing how many of those, like little insect glue traps that we leave out year round and like our the utility room part of our basement. It's amazing how many of those things we catch in the fall.
Jessica : And that's a great way to combat those guys. Like if you do not want them in your house um or if any spiders, if you ever have any concerns about like, did I see a brown recluse?
Alexis: Mm hmm.
Jessica : Which probably most likely you did not. ah Most of the time, you know, a lot of people think they see brown recluses and we have hundreds of brown spiders. But once you um actually see one and know what it looks like, it's very easy to identify.
Alexis: Yeah, you know.
Jessica : But going back to what Ray said, those sticky cards, putting them in the corners of rooms because spiders tend to walk around the perimeter of rooms. And that's the best way to trap you know those kind of critters.
Jessica : They like to go around perimeters of rooms along the walls. um But that's just good to you know if you think you have something, catch them that way.
Alexis: Jessica, are you the insect catcher in your house or ah does Sean participate in that activity?
Jessica : Um, I am the insect cut. We're insect people.
Alexis: That's true.
Jessica : Um, but yes.
Alexis: I mean, he did grow up with an entomologist as a father, so.
Jessica : So I would say I'm good at getting them all out. Some of the wolf spiders, I make him get out one time in my life though. There's one spider in Kentucky that I just can't deal with.
Jessica : I can't deal with, and that's a fishing spider. Have anyone ever seen those?
atack2010: Oh, huge. They're huge.
Alexis: No, I don't think I have.
Jessica : Oh my gosh. Like.
atack2010: They're massive. Yeah.
Jessica : I just, I can't, I can't. it does
atack2010: Arachnophobia.
Brett: they're They're mostly just crawling around when I when i see him. I've never caught him out on the on the lake.
Jessica : They're huge.
atack2010: You never went after the hunted them, Brett?
Alexis: Oh, those guys.
atack2010: and
Jessica : Yeah. So I had one and get in my house once and I, yeah, kind of freaked out.
Alexis: Yeah.
atack2010: I realize how big spiders can get when I go down to like Florida and you go to like far Florida. And then you see the webs that are eight foot across the trail and there's tiny birds in the, the web.
Alexis: Eh.
atack2010: And I'm like, whoo, Sheila, I like giant spider territory.
Alexis: and
atack2010: Yeah. Uh, but spiders are my least favorite of all of the, uh, the, I guess they're more of a, not a seasonal invader, but sort of an accidental invader, like you said, but they are my least favorite.
Brett: Can you, can you put words, can you put words to why, why they're, why they're your least favorite or why, you know, like I'm i'm not questioning you.
atack2010: Was that a spider?
atack2010: Probably I grew up with like, no, no, no, uh, spiders have always been snakes.
Brett: I'm just curious if you could put words to it.
atack2010: No problem.
Alexis: Did you see him start to itch when he started talking about it?
atack2010: Copperheads and rattlesnakes. Yeah.
Jessica : Yeah.
atack2010: I started scratching, but, uh, I think it was when I was very young and, you know, we had lots of like fields around and then in the morning I hated walking through like, even though they're beautiful now and appreciation for them, like the orb weavers, the big spiders that have impressive size or the yellow garden spiders, people call them.
Alexis: it
Alexis: a
atack2010: But I'd walk through those webs, and I immediately would start just beating myself, trying to figure out where the spider was. And we had those everywhere around some of our fields.
Jessica : and hu
atack2010: And I would just walk through spider webs. And I think it all started there, and me wondering, where is this spider on me? So it started at a very young age, yeah.
Alexis: That's fair.
Jessica : I like used to not like all spiders and then now I'm like good with most of them, right?
Brett: See ya.
Alexis: Mhm.
Jessica : But except those fishing spiders and I even, my father -in -law is an anthropologist.
atack2010: ah Black widows you're good with? Like even the nasties?
Jessica : Yeah, I think, well, I wouldn't, yeah, black widows are totally fine. um Brown recluses, I definitely do not want them in my house or anything.
atack2010: Uh, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Jessica : um But I don't know what it is about that fishing spider. And I asked my father -in -law, who is an entomologist? And I was like, why do they bother me? And he was just like, I don't know. And I was like, I can't, they had one in the lab on campus and I would just see it.
atack2010: Something about him.
Jessica : And I was just like, oh my gosh.
Alexis: o It's a
Jessica : Like, I don't know.
atack2010: something about it
Jessica : And there would be a tarantula right next to it. Now am I gonna pick that tarantula up? No, I'm not because that's not like a dog and a cat. Like it's a, you know, it's a spider, right?
atack2010: It's a wild animal.
Brett: Is it that is it the movement of it or is it more the like static shape of it?
Jessica : But I don't know. I don't know what it is about them because the black and yellow ones don't bother me.
Brett: Woman like it like what it freaked you out if it was still And
atack2010: all of the
Jessica : I mean, they're pretty, every time I've seen them, they've been still, I think it's because they've surprised me.
Brett: it freaked you yeah And
Jessica : like everyone that I have approached in the wild.
Alexis: So don't throw Jessica a surprise party because she will cringe.
Brett: if you do it better not be a fishing trip
Jessica : Yeah.
Jessica : All right.
atack2010: Yeah.
Jessica : ah
atack2010: Do not not throw that, Marty.
Alexis: i um I went when I was a student with the UK Horticulture Club to Belize in Guatemala and Mexico. And while we were in Guatemala, we were looking at the ruins there and like walking through the jungle with our guide. And he they have wild tarantulas there, right? And he picked one up just off the forest floor.
Alexis: And it goes here and then just set it on me before I really knew what was happening. So ah I do have a really cool picture from that, ah but that is the.
atack2010: Have you panicking or just playing with the spider?
Alexis: ah ah Yeah, it well, it was kind of like, don't panic, or you're going to freak it out. So you just kind of have to hold all your emotions in.
atack2010: Oh, yeah.
Alexis: They don't exist during that period of time, but ah yeah, and they're really fragile, right?
atack2010: Yeah.
Alexis: Like I didn't know, like you can't drop those things.
atack2010: Yeah.
Jessica : Yeah.
Alexis: Like you would think like a spider, I always think of like spiders are sort of like cats, right?
atack2010: Yeah.
Alexis: Like you can drop them and they're gonna be fine. That is not the case with tarantulas. They will like explode.
Jessica : That's right.
Brett: Well, they aren't getting up to those heights without some dumb human picking them up and putting them on somebody's shoulder. they They're like, I'm staying in my lane down here on the forest floor.
Alexis: I let let it down carefully.
atack2010: And listen, minding my own business.
Alexis: Leave me alone.
Alexis: I want a pet. Okay. Listen, those little jumping spiders are super cute though. The little, the little fuzzy ones that are like, yeah, with the big eyes.
Jessica : Oh, those are cute.
Brett: With the big eyes.
atack2010: Unlike on Pixar.
Alexis: Um, yes.
Jessica : whom
Alexis: Very, but like even in real life, they're that cute, I think.
Brett: Mm hmm.
Alexis: And I, I'm not like a big spider lover, but, uh, I would totally have one of those as a pet.
Jessica : I have one living in my mailbox right now.
Brett: There's a YouTube guy that I... Oh. There's a YouTube guy I follow who has like ah fish and and lizards and and stuff and he has some jumping spiders.
Jessica : Oh. then
Alexis: Uh -huh. There's a girl, uh, I follow, she's got one of the white ones. They're not like something we'd find here, but they're, they're, it's white, which is extra cute.
Brett: Oh.
atack2010: Oh, wow.
Alexis: Cause you can really see all the little tiny cute details on it. And, uh, it's adorable. Like it'll like jump under her hand and then, you know, like it's like a parrot. Like she takes it places.
Alexis: It's crazy.
Brett: Oh, seriously? Yeah. I hadn't, I hadn't seen it out, out of the out of the container.
Alexis: Yeah.
Jessica : Wow.
atack2010: Traveling spotter. i
Alexis: Yeah. Yeah. It'll jump on her hand and I guess it had a some babies and it was like a whole, it was just like a little funny little, you know, Instagram reel about the, her babies and the the babies were contained.
Brett: Wow. This is, she did, she like released them in her house and turn her house into like a preserve for jumping spiders.
Alexis: I will say so.
Jessica : Those are so tiny.
atack2010: oh nots around
Jessica : and
Alexis: I know. Yeah, exactly. They're so they're like dust flying around at the time.
atack2010: we've We've talked about all these creepy crawlies, but we have not given much advice not much advice on ah things that we can do to not not eliminate. i don't think I've never seen anyone effectively eliminate in their home, not completely eliminate, minimize or reduce the prevalence of some of these fall invaders.
Alexis: Minimize.
Jessica : Yep.
atack2010: There are there's some things that we can do, I guess. ah We talked about the glue traps a little bit. That's one of the things I do just for the occasional, you know, spiders mostly because you guys have established my baseline disdain for spiders.
atack2010: ah But I do that for spiders. But what else? There's some other things that homeowners can do, isn't there? As far as um helping the the situation.
Jessica : Well, you know, just making sure like your windows still good.
atack2010: will open
Jessica : Um, I know a lot of people have issues with the at addicts, like insects coming in through there.
atack2010: Yeah.
atack2010: yeah
Jessica : Like my example, I have so many spiders coming in. My, my doors and stuff is because I, we need like a new piece of like weather stripping on the bottom of our screen door.
atack2010: Oh, yeah, that's a common one.
Jessica : Right. So like when our main door is open, it's just a screen door on because it's still, you know,
atack2010: That's a good one. yeah
Jessica : more, you know, decent outside during the day, things can get under there.
atack2010: Yeah.
Jessica : So that's like, should be, you know, a very easy, easy fix. ah ah You know.
Alexis: You add in a couple of kids and it it becomes a little bit more of a task.
atack2010: Seems like the ceiling around it, like caulking, I've heard of caulking around windows.
Jessica : Mm hmm.
Alexis: Around like vents and pipes and stuff like that too.
atack2010: ah Once again, yeah, yeah.
Alexis: um
atack2010: That's a big one. In older and newer homes, you'll find even in newer homes around the, you know, sink popping and, you know, different utilities coming into the home, there'll be some pretty good caps sometimes, especially in older homes.
Alexis: I'm staring at my, I live in an 1800s farmhouse and I'm staring at the brick that has like all kinds of cracks in it. And I'm like, I bet they can get through there. There's like, you know, mortar missing and they're definitely coming in somewhere.
atack2010: Yeah.
Jessica : Yeah. And you'll see like, cause you know, sometimes we've had calls about, well, I have these insects and then they're all around this one window, right? Well, they're probably coming in other places, but then when it's a nice warm sunny day and they're warm inside your house, they're trying to get out cause they think it's warm and then they all are congregating, you know, around the windows or, or particular rooms in the house.
atack2010: yeah
Jessica : It doesn't necessarily mean that room, is you know the source where they're coming in.
Alexis: where they're coming.
Jessica : right They're just trying to already get out of your house that way.
atack2010: And that's a homeowner's that I find, you know, some of the questions I ask when we get calls about, and you know, some of the home insect invaders is I do a lot of questioning on sun exposure and the type of material, the homes built out of, you know, and it all goes back to heat as far as being an attractive source for some of these things. And Jessica, I think you've already said it is, you know, when the temperatures start to drop, that's one of the.
atack2010: you know, days get shorter, nights get longer, ah but the temperature has something to do with it. And I'm assuming that the orientation of a lot of the homes of ah folks when I talk to them, it's homes that get like sun in the morning.
atack2010: And I guess that makes them more attractive to some of these insects because their neighbors won't have any issue, but their their house their home, their neighbor's house will be oriented just a little bit differently than theirs.
atack2010: Theirs will get more sun early.
Jessica : Yeah. And I think that's really common with um lady beetles from what I've read about them to do that.
atack2010: Yes. Lady, lady Beatles is what I was thinking of.
Jessica : And those um attic flies more so than like the the stink bugs.
atack2010: Yeah.
atack2010: Yes. Flies respond to that big time.
Jessica : The stink bugs are just like, we don't care as long as we can get in.
atack2010: I think they're there. Yeah.
Alexis: If it's warm, we're going.
atack2010: Yeah.
Jessica : Yeah.
atack2010: And then like we were talking about earlier, they, they, they love, like they come in high. I mean, they're going to get into a lot of different homes, but I see, I have a lot of calls that are two story homes with the, I don't know why that is with the stink bugs.
atack2010: And I'd read that somewhere was with Dr. Rick Pessin. Um, some of the information he put out that they tend to come in high on that. So yeah, but it's not, they don't seem to be as temperature sensitive.
Alexis: So check your attics.
atack2010: Yeah.
Alexis: Well, cool.
atack2010: Yeah. So screening and, um, exclusion, we talked about vacuuming, watch out for sucking those things up in, uh, bagged vax, because you may have to put a new bag in.
atack2010: I do when I forget and use the wrong vacuum, I do have to put a new bag in that thing, but glue traps, all of these are kind of a ah variety of. of controls that that you can use. Notice that we didn't, in ah this entire discussion, didn't mention a lot of chemical controls. if If you're a homeowner and want to explore that, you can call your local extension office. But that's not our first line of defense for these things. Not really.
Jessica : Right. That's it. I was going to mention that. That's like the very, like with our IPM, right, integrative pest management, that's going to be our, our last option that we choose to use and, um,
atack2010: Yes.
atack2010: Because what if you do a good job and you kill them? Guess what? You're still going to have to remove them. if you And I really caution people about setting off. I mean, like, there's many reasons why you would not like to set off a fogger inside your home.
atack2010: But let's say that you did something and killed a lot of lady beetles in a wall void. And that smell is going to stick with you for a while.
Jessica : Mm -hmm.
Alexis: haunt you.
atack2010: And um i ah yes, it will haunt you.
Jessica : It's oh
atack2010: And I've had that situation from a honer moment homeowner, they did a great job and then they opened wall voids and there was just tens of thousands of in all of their walls like these dead lady and they actually made the problem worse by killing them when normally that would vacate the premises when it warmed up.
Alexis: but
Jessica : As somebody through grad school who had to go through like jars and jars of dead insects, that's a whole different smell that you do not want in your house.
atack2010: The smell is pretty rank.
Alexis: m
atack2010: Yeah, it is. It was awful. The the smell was awful. for Yeah.
Brett: Well, I would say, you know, within, you mentioned IPM, you know, one of the, one of the questions that we even evaluate with a pest or disease in IPM is like, is it, is it causing some sort of, is it, is it overcoming the economic threshold of damage that it's, it's, is this a real problem or not?
atack2010: Yeah.
Alexis: Yeah.
Jessica : Right.
Alexis: Uh -huh.
Brett: And I think, you know, the first step in not to, not to, you know, down talk anybody's feelings is maybe just chill out about the bugs in your house a little bit.
Jessica : good
Alexis: Chill dude!
Brett: You know, just there are things to panic about and there are things that are, you know, it's kind of an inconvenience.
Jessica : Right. There are bugs to panic about in your house. Don't get me wrong.
Alexis: Yeah.
Jessica : There are ones.
Brett: It's kind of, but like the idea of we're going to, I like your comment earlier, Jessica, that like.
Jessica : There's annoyance.
Brett: Insects and arachnids and others are all around us all the time. And sometimes it's just our awareness of it that makes us freak out about it. And it's like, imagine if you didn't know, if you didn't worth thinking about it.
Alexis: and
Brett: And so the scorched earth policy to me, a lot of the stuff is just like not that big of a deal. So, you know, if you can't chill out, then you move forward and and address it and with all the things we've talked about.
Jessica : Right.
Brett: But there is a part of you that can just be like, it's okay, this actually isn't harming anything. and
Alexis: Yeah. Learn or go learn a little bit about it. I think that's what like helped me with a lot of insects was when I was like forced to take an entomology class and learned a little bit more about them. And some of that fear kind of subsides when you learn, you know, hey, they don't actually bite or they do, you know, help there. Those wolf spiders might be eating some of those stink bugs in your house, you know? So ah that can be helpful as well, I think. And I mean, if you're here, you're already If you're listening to this, you you are wanting to learn, but that I know that can be really helpful in scary situations for me.
Alexis: Yeah, sweet.
Jessica : Pressure. sure
Alexis: Any other lasting thoughts about your fall invaders? I feel like I need to put like a picture of an alien um like or a stink bug coming down from a UFO.
Jessica : no
Jessica : Well, army instinct bugs coming in.
atack2010: Is she inspired?
Alexis: Yeah. as As our Instagram photo, which you can go follow if you are an Instagram and you can send us messages there. If you would like at hort culture pod, if you are of an interest and you can look for said UFO stink bug thing.
Alexis: I don't know. I'm going to figure it out. i'mnna I'm going to, I'm going to find it. I'm sure it's out there. Dr. Larson probably has one of the, a photo like that on his phone.
Jessica : Oh, he probably does.
Alexis: If I had to guess.
atack2010: Has his wallpaper.
Alexis: as this wallpaper on his phone.
atack2010: Sure. Absolutely.
Brett: Yes.
Alexis: Well, cool. Well, thank you, guys. Brett, anything? Sorry.
Brett: No, no, that's okay.
Alexis: I cut you off. OK.
Brett: That's okay.
Alexis: Well, thanks for joining us. We wish you luck with your fall invaders. And maybe this has helped you chill a little bit. And if not, you maybe learned a new way to deal with them and ways to not let your vacuum stink.
Alexis: So thanks for being here with us today. And we hope that as we grow this podcast, you will grow with us. Have a great one.
