Boopy

Are they more prevalent in the north where it's warmer. Is they anything you can do to keep them out. The thought of them crawling over my bed when I'm in it, makes me all shivery.
Boopy

melting pot

We are in Auckland,so meant to be quite warm here so sumer should be interesting to see how many more appear
I havent noticed them anywhere else, and I have now set traps in the house so I will let you know the outcome...

shepslady

As far as I know the dreaded cockroach is alive & well in most parts of NZ. In my 40 years of living there I can honestly say I never once saw one in any of the houses I lived in & as someone else in a previous thread mentioned they "used" to be associated with dirty unkept homes but sad to say Im not sure that is the case today. When I moved over here 3 years ago my hubby was amazed that I had never seen one before. We are in the house remodelling business here & some of the houses Ive been in have been crawling with the little blighters so bad that before we could start working in them we have had to have the pest control people come in & spray first. Have never seen anything like that in NZ but thats not to say it doesnt happen.

As for Wetas, well yes they are huge & can be more than a little scarey but more common in areas that are near wooded forest areas. I remember seeing one during my teen years when we were camping in an area full of native bush etc but other than that they didnt pose a problem. Guess it just depends on the area you live huh? On the bright side it could be worse, at least you dont have to worry about snakes & other horrible creepy crawlies

Cindy

Boopy

Hi Cindy,

Thanks for that reassurance.

Boopy

PRinAuckland

Ewww ewww eeeeewwwww - I've now found about about the Weta, very large roaches and NZ's catalogue of spiders... as an insect phobic person can someone please tell me how common these are and which of them can hurt me?!! Am seriously considering a change of mind... I've heard weta's fall out of trees and stick to you - is this true. Do they bite you? Does anything else bite you? Can anything kill you? Do they bite and not let go? Pleeeese put me out of my misery I'm totally freaked lol. :scared:

Is Auckland or Wellington worse for creepy crawlies. Can you have your house and garden sprayed on a regular basis? Can they harm my pets?

Insect-phobic Person

shepslady

PMSL @ the idea of wetas falling out of trees & sticking to you....what fantasy book did you dig that one out of?? No they cant kill you, they dont bite. Would you believe you some people can go for years living in NZ & never even see one at all. I seriously wouldnt worry about them. You are letting your imagination run wild & worrying yourself over nothing really.
As for Wellington or Auckland which is worse I really cant tell you but dont think you will be too bothered by too much in either place. Just relax a little & chill, there are much more worse things in this life to worry about.

Cheers
Cindy

PRinAuckland

Thanx Cindy,

I was really worried there for a moment... an ex-Kiwi told me that she said they fell out of trees and stuck to you.... drama beeyach!! I think she was pulling my leg or dramatising now lol. I spent too long earlier this eve looking at websites with creepy things on it before I made that last post :scared:

Anyone else got their take on insect life? *just double-checking* lmao

Scaredy Pants ;-)

jueinnz

I used to live backing on to the bush, and you have to admit the bugs take some getting used too.......if ever.... When cleaning out the guttering (sorry spouting) on day I was attatcked by mosquitoes and recieved over 30 bites to body ...had to take a cold shower, they seem to like the fresh pommy blood.

Then there is the story of the weta in my shoe.... :scared:
Then the story of the spider the size of a fist that got up my trouser leg... :scared:
The one about the rats in the loft... :scared:

Hence to say we moved away from the bush!!!!!

Tech21

Just how big and how common are these spiders then?

Gill and Rob

I'm not sure which spiders they are on about, but we have had some spiders that must be 2 inches in diameter, with fairly thick legs. It is very common to have your house sprayed every year to kill flies and to stop cock roaches coming in. You find dead creepies by your entrances on a morning. !!

Check out ciccadas, these creatures will sing all summer like crickets.

Gill

PRinAuckland

Ewwww I've checked out ciccadas - do they just make noises or do they come in the house or fly on you?!! :scared:

shepslady

Again ciccadas hang around trees & are rarely seen in most housing areas. In Christchurch for instance, Hagley Park is full of them in the trees there. The sound can be quite deafening during the summer months. Often its a case of hearing them & not seeing them. Not scarey at all compared to the 17 year ciccadas we had over here last year....different from the normal ciccada with bright orange & purple on them making them look almost alien like. For 6 weeks or so we had to drive around with our car windows shut for fear of having them fly in as we were driving & whilst in downtown Cincinatti they were all over the ground, crunching beneath our feet as we walked. Now thats an experience I for one wont be in a hurry to repeat again. thankgoodness it will be another 17 years before they return because I will be safely & happily living back in NZ by then

mikedesign

Hi all im new to the expats site but in particular am looking to move to NZ in the Near future im reading this post and giggling with glee at the fact that i alone am not perculiar and have had the same thoughts as the rest of you.

regarding our 6 legged friends that is you may be happy to discover that all but 3 types of cockroach could be considered friendly

Im currently a contractor a design engineer by trade and have worked for periods of a couple of years at a time in various countries last year was NZ but for now im in the Spain designing americas Cup Boatsthe current place my company rented seemed to be quite nice clean and a good catch as appartments went

I had never come across a cockroach and like many others had the association of dirtyness with cockroaches so after being in my appartment
for a week and not seing one was quite horrified to wake in the middle of the night and go for a drink to find find at least 12 of the little swine collected and chatting away on the sink draining board, not just one type but 3 different types.

After a week of setting fire to everyone i caught out in the open and burning my thumb i had to find a more efficient way of dispensing with the critters en mass i did some research on the net and found that theyre not such bad little guys at all ,unless you just dont like crawlys they are definitely not something to be hated

There are 3000 different types of cockroach only 10 are considerd verminous or a health risk by the W.H.O so that leave 2990 friendly types

this link to the site answers some really interesting questions and both answers those which frighten most people the most interesting is the part about cockroaches possibly surviving a nuclear war

http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/kun...ch_faq.html#Q8

now i leave them alone hoping they will kind of clean the place on a bug eat bug basis if i keep the place clean there is nothing for them to eat but the other vermin im way more happy to see a cuccaracha than a mozzie

also I was reading about ways of controlling them ecologically this was either the use of frogs or spiders but research had shown this to me more effective than acid and chemicals

Tech21

Thanks for that.
Is that 2 inch diameter just body or body and legs (most important to get this clarified)?
We get spiders in the house usually when it is raining 'cause we always leave the windows open (on locks of course) 1/4 - 1/2 inch all the time so the spiders come in for shelter, normally 2.5 to 3.5 inches diameter including the legs 9they can normally reach 1/2 way up a pint beer glass at full stretch, they tend not to last to long as one or more of our 6 cats usually nails 'em. The worst time is at night when you are in bed and there are 1 or more of the cats scrabbling round under the bed or in corners of the bedroom 'cause you know there is a spider some where in the room.
We did have a big 'un run across the duvet one night closely followed by the 2 cats who had flushed it out and knocked it off the curtains (presumably straight on to the bed), it ran within 6 inches of my face, 1 inch from my arm and onto the floor. I now hold the world record for getting out of bed, running down stairs naked, getting a torch and a rolled up news paper, running back up stairs (still naked) finding and beating the living sh*t out of the great hairy legged bast*rd before the cats had even got to it. My wife thought the whole episode most hilarious.

PRinAuckland

Most excellent feedback guys, although I'm kind of wondering whether it was a good idea to ask now, with both myself and my partner being scared witless of all things creepy crawly. Now for a quick straw poll if you would, and any other feedback appreciated. Could you please answer the following:-

* How long have you lived in NZ?
* How many times have you been bitten, and what by?
* How many times have you seen a Wita?
* How many times has a spider or roach touched you?
* How many times has an Argentine ant bit you?
* How many times has a wasp bitten you?

This would be good to get things in perspective pleeeeeeeease!!!