Is anyone else having problems with insects due to the unusually warm late winter we've had here in the Midwest and eastern US?

No insect invasions, yet, but, the frogs are roaring in all the ponds and creeks and, just now, the cat brought in a baby deer mouse. I live in a rodent wonderland, always a mouse or vole or gopher coming in via the cat door. lol

Well, there are a few of those stupid fruit flies, and I blame @etpro.
And there was one of those pants wettingly scary jumper spiders in my hallway a couple nights ago. I swear to god it squared off with me. It got into the middle of the hall and faced me as if to not let me by. I have my stand-by answer to that and turned around and got the spray. But I had to spray and dodge because it jumped towards me and then sideways.
Maybe the apocalypse is imminent. (Sorry, I have no idea what those are. Besides creepy.)
At least they have the courtesy to drop dead in a convenient place for easy clean up.
...what the hell? Looking again at the morning after, how did they manage it? Do they get a-going really fast and fly head first into the window, conk themselves on the head and just die? How fast were they going to bounce back that far? Maybe my curse worked when I said “May they all crash and burn.”

@Coloma I won’t complain about the frogs. I noticed them almost a week ago. They are lovely!

@Trillian I had one of those spiders staring at me when I was on the toilet the other day. I looked to my left as I grabbed some toilet paper and it was just standing there, looking like it was challenging me to a duel. Silly little bugger didn’t see it coming.

See, just thinking about it gives me the willies. (Whole body shudder, progressing out to arm flail)

I am in a third floor walk up in a city. I have found a couple of carpenter ants today in my apartment. I have never seen this go on in March before.

Oh wow Carpenter ants, I forgot about those monsters. lol I also get Carpenter Bees, those HUGE black bumble bee types that bore into the wood and are so scary. I don’t know if they sting, I hope I never find out. :-/

@jonsblond Oh I love the frogs too. I was driving home tonight around 8 and had my window down some and everywhere frogs singing, I have a creek below my house and my neighbors have a big pond, it is very loud over here right now. :-)

We have all sorts of flying pond bugs waking up due to this weather. Summer spiders now have enormous webs. Moths are already flying around the street lamps. This is the weirdest March I’ve been witness to @jonsblond and if I recall correctly I’m quite a ways north of you.

We have witnessed swarms of ants rising out of sidewalks cracks yesterday & today…Bizarre!

Haha, yes, the moths are out in force. I JUST had one banging around the lamp next to my laptop here and the cat caught it and ate it. Mmm, nice little bedtime snack I guess. lol

They look like mosquitoes. Have you checked for any water ponds that may have been left behind from the winter? Check your plants pots too! So far the only thing I’ve noticed is the early start of ants get the go ahead to go and collect whatever they find suitable for their colony!

I’m located San Diego, Cali.

Could they be termites? I don’t know what they look like, but I know during certain seasons they swarm, I think March is typical if I am not mistaken? I’m no expert though. A friend of mine all of a sudden had areas full of termites in her new home (the house wasn’t new, just new for her) and a few months after living there with seemingly no problem, all of a sudden one day she walked into a room to find tons and tons of insect all over the wall. Termites.

They do look like mosquitoes though in the photos. Do you have any lights on in the house attracting them at night?

Watch out for the Copperheads.

@jonsblond Wow, there’s mayflies and all sorts of hatchling insects in that mix. I knew the air was warm, I didn’t realize the water was that warm already. This is going to be the insect year from hell.

It hit 80F in rochester on Wednestday breaking the record of 72 set in 1921. this is 44 degrees above our average temp of 36F! The local bugs are usually frozen out by our extreme cold so it takes them a little while for them to move up here. The birds are frantically looking for food and are propabely eating anything that moves.
I’m worried about what will happen when we get the next ice storm in a couple of weeks. Trees that are full of water might crack taking down power lines. I’d better check the generator today.

We’re already seeing an increase in the dreaded stink bugs. Other than that, though, nothing yet. I wonder if leaving a light on outside, and turning off the lights inside might keep those buggers out of your windows. What a pain in the ass it must be to deal with that every morning!

@Coloma: Carpenter (or Borer) bees are large and noisy and show-offy with their perfect 3/8’ diameter holes, but the males do not sting and the females (they gather pollen and nectar) have to be really annoyed to nip you.

When I first discovered their holes above my head in the cedar lintel over my garage door, I foolishly stuck a broom straw up one of them to see what was cooking. Out they came, but I did get away.

I have lots of wasps and yellow jackets and stink bugs in the house because I am now leaving the doors open for Milo’s convenience. He likes to go in and out at will; the insects like to come in and stay.

The good news is that the cluster flies, who plague me all winter, are now outside, a month early.

@gailcalled They are impressive insects, good to know they don’t pack a sting to match their ominous looks. :-)

Here I have woodpeckers (probably flickers) who can hear the rustle of the borer bees’ larvae and then rip off large strips of my cedar in order to eat them.

So I have holes and long gouges. Soon the lintel will look like lace.

The apron of my driveway has piles of sawdust and pieces of cedar (looking almost as big as roof shingles) lying on it.

Here is a spring pic ( in my avatar ) I took the other day. The unrequited love affair between my goose “Sonora” and her her sheep pal. They are absolutely infatuated with each other and spend hours visiting at the fenceline to the exclusion of their own kind. Mysterious animal relationships # 412. haha
They are inseparable and my goose gets extremely upset when she cannot follow her friend around. Some nutty spring flings going on over here.

@Coloma: The picture is truly charming. (Hope Maryn is still around and wearing his striped stockings.)

@gailcalled Yes, poor Marwyn he has been rejected by his wife for a mixed species relationship, sooo, he clings to me. Our mixed union is a source of angst for him too. lol

@Adirondackwannabe It’s so crazy warm, I expect to see June bugs anyday now. All of the bugs I’m seeing are typical for June.

The mosquitoes, fleas and ticks will be horrendous this year.

@SpatzieLover Yes, it’s been colder and rainy again the last 10 days, but…I had to start up the Frontline tick treatments on my cats in Feb.!
Unheard of usually. Normally it is around April that the ticks come out.

I never treat my animals for fleas & ticks. This year, I’ve already seen fleas outside. I am taking no chances. Every four-legged family member with fur is getting treated.

@SpatzieLover Yes, I am lucky, no fleas ever, they just don’t thrive in this area, but the wood ticks are baaad. Yuck..nothing worse than feeling a tick when you cuddle your pet. Ewwww! lol