Help! We Have Waterbugs!

Hi T..

I'm M.'s mom & can still remember my first encounter with waterbugs in a Chicago townhouse, even though it was almost 30 years ago! Although I'm not particularly afraid of bugs in general, waterbugs (from roach family) are NOT anything I wanted to share my home with. Fortunately, my own mom was there as we were unpacking & she was able to convince me that all was not lost & we did not have to immediately repack & move again. Hope the following helps.

1.) Waterbugs have nothing to do with you personally. Their presence has nothing to do with your housekeeping skills. They are creatures of opportunity.
2.) They do traverse through pipes & even walls, so if you are in a townhouse, condo, or apartment w/ shared walls, if your neighbors have waterbugs, chances are you will too.
3.) They love paper & paste. While you are mounting your little war with these critters, do not keep newspapers, magazines, or even cardboard boxes stacked up- get rid of this stuff right away. They can lay eggs in the grocery store storage room in the dried paste of a 6-pac container of Coke & you don't know you're bringing home the next round of babies from your weekly trek to Jewel!
4.) Read up & get a handle on what you're dealing with. Like the regular old 9-to-5 roach, waterbugs are highly resilient. It sounds like you know the point of origin, but they may have moved on by this point. Also, are you talking about a couple, or are you creeping (excuse the pun) up to double digets? Either way, YOU WILL NEED TO BE PRO-ACTIVE.
5.) If you are only talkng 1/2 dozen or so, go to your best garden or yard store and talk w/ the pesticide salesperson. Be honset & don't be embarrassed-lots of people have this problem. You will probably need to purchase a chemical that will require use of gloves & perhaps even a face mask. Don't be freaked, but you might feel better having the kids (and any pets) stay at Grandma's while you are spraying the poison.
6.) If you are talking about spotting more than 8 or 10, you may want to consider having a professional come in & spray the house for you. While the lawncare centers have excellent resources, let's face it, the pros will have access to a wider variety of chemicals. And after they come, it's usually a matter of staying on top of it rather than continually rooting out new nests.
7.) Hang in there-don't take this personally!
Best of luck-
Kat
(MC's mom)

They come in from the pipes in the basement. You can try raid bombs but if you are looking for a safer approach try eco smart organic insecticide, it works great and is safe around the kids.spray it aroun the base boards and doorways. good luck !!! I know how gross they are.

Ugh. I know. We had the same things for a while. (They have been working on our street and the construction stirred them up....plus...all of the rain didn't help much either) What worked for us....is to spray Raid or something similar along the baseboard in the room where we saw them. And then we covered the drain in the basement (after spraying in there too) and we haven't seen any since. Knock on wood. Good luck....and keep your shoes on for a while. HA.