Thrips invaded my house in Pennsylvania the Sunday after Thanksgiving. It's now January 15th and I've finally had 2 days free of them. I use peppermint essential oil to keep them off me. Off and deet are useless. The ones I killed have been identified as idolothripinae. Native to the Philippines and SE Asia. We buy things from wal mart or online that comes from China, well now their Thrips and Mites are here. And they are very aggressive. I own no plants and it's taken me all of 6 weeks to get to this point. They disappeared for a week or so around Christmas but that is when the Mites, spider and bird were most prevalent. I know that it was warm after Thanksgiving and had a wood stove going to get the chill out of the air. Well it got a little too hot and I stupidly turned on an AC unit. Just for a few mins I thought. I vividly remember seeing what looked like a whisp of smoke float by as I watched football. I smoke, but looked at my ashtray and thought, that's weird, I put that out ten minutes ago. That "whisp" was their eggs. By morning it was already too late. Within a week they had gotten into everything and were crawling "all" over me. Biting, trying to get into my eyes. The mites came about a week later. Craziest thing I've ever experienced. I having no plant knowledge had to find answers and fast as everything on the Internet said they were harmless, and did not bite. Lol. Not only did they bite, 3 eventually got into my eyes. I would have to deal with at least 50 a day trying. They would also spray eggs as they fly by. More than once I'd look down only to see their eggs and fluid across my shirt. They also are very vindictive. Once a couple weeks back after they resurfaced the 2nd time I found they had made a huge nest in a small crevice between cabinets. I sprayed them and killed them with a sulfur h202 and vinegar mixture (figured that one out. Kills them and their eggs all in one.). That night I was about to fall asleep, and thought I saw the whisps. I drifted in and out of sleep. I suddenly felt an urge to get up. I started to sit up and noticed a small batch of eggs just to the left of me on my comforter. When. I sat up completely to my shock they had laid eggs all around my head. On the pillow and comforter. They are some real sons a B's. But now I am adept at handling them, and getting them out of my clothes, since they would nest in my dryers door gasket. Also the were in my vehicle and would hatch when I turned the heater on. Even worse is they would hatch from what looked like perfectly clean clothing I just took out of the dryer while I was at work. Adding some sulfur powder to the laundry fixed that. The car is being helped as we speak with a cold spell we are getting here. Temp has been below freezing for 2 days. 3 or more should wipe them out. So I turned the heat on full blast on the way to work, so that they hatch only to be stuck in freezing temps for 10 hrs while I work. It's been quite the ordeal. But I've learned the internet hides what these things have evolved to. Not to mention the article in 2020 talking of how the military has started using them for farming purposes to inject plants with whatever. Basically story goes they could stop a plague of locusts by unleashing them and other aphids ahead of the locusts, as they eat the crops they are injecting a chemical to stop the locust and whala no plague. The reality is it's a kick ass bio weapon. At any rate if anyone ends up in a situation like mine, here is what I've learned. H202 kills their eggs. Vinegar kills the insect. Combining the peroxide and vinegar creates paracitic acid. Be careful, it will burn some if left on skin. But it really decimates them. Then using wettable sulfur will kill adults as well as repel if sprayed about your home or yard. Peppermint oil alone is the best repellant if they are aggressive and biting. Air diffusers that you can use essential oils with also help keep them at bay but they won't keep them away if they are hellbent. They killed themselves killing my 1st diffuser. Then the ones that didn't die laid eggs all over the interior of the thing. Was pissed but admired their resolve. At any rate hope this helps someone. Lord knows how desperate I was when this became my life for the last several weeks. I pray this last bout was the end of it. I am moving from this place in a few weeks. But they say it only takes 1 female which can lay 10000 eggs, and the party starts all over again. Good luck.

Cori Ann - !!! - that is sooo cool!!! I have tons of ants too....I hate them, because they love to go all around my brick circle inside my perennial arch. I'm always pouring cinammon on the bricks...otherwise the ants will crawl up my legs en masse. blech. Okay after seeing your later pictures (what a difference!!)...maybe I'll be more tolerant to ants. I was thinking of putting cinnamon powder all over the soil in my rose pots. What is the name of the first light pink rose you show in your 2nd batch of pictures? Witchygirl - bees drop kicking wasps!!! That's a strong image!! Really well put. :) I like wasps...they never bother me, but love to look all over rose leaves to get critters. They're an unsung hero to me. :) Fire ants sound truly horrible. Sultry - ewww!!! Carol

the chillis will come on in the hot weather. Having host plants around that they overwinter on can be a problem. What I do is to spray the horticultural oil early on then wait for signs of the distorted growth. I usually get about two flushes before they attack. If you want to use sprays I think spinosad is the one commonly used. That wont harm earthworms or bees like the systemics. Most times I stop cutting the roses and let the hips mature. The chillis like new growth. Any cutting that starts the rose growing the chillis will attack. I leave it alone and when the weather cools off then I cut it off and spray again with the oil. If you want flowers during chilli season, youre pretty much forced to spray.

Sherry - I had problems with rabbits earlier too. Way back in April I applied a product called Rabbit and Groundhog Out since new foliage and new scapes were being eaten. It worked pretty well. I wish I hadn't used all my Deer Out last year. It had an oil in it that allows to last thorugh three or four rains. It's much more effective than Repels All and Deer Fence, the other products I've used. It's really dry here, and I've been watering for the past few days. Let's hope we both get some rain soon! jrb451 - My camera is a Nikon D70, and it's pretty old. Thanks for your comments! Kate - It sounds like you apply the deterrent more frequently than I do. Sensational Heart has fantastic color in the morning, but it starts to fade pretty early in the afternoon. Browns Ferry Debutante is a good one - read what I told Mantis about it. Lonesome Jaguar - and all of Mike Derrow's plants - are excellent. Debra