Few things are more relaxing than floating on a raft in your swimming pool with a good book or even just the sounds of summer. However, if you’re not a fan of insects, the sight of pool bugs in your backyard oasis could ruin your day.
Take a look at some facts about pool bugs, as well as what you need to do to help get rid of them.
How Do I Help Get Rid of Pool Bugs?
An effective way to help get rid of pool bugs is to use your skimmer. However, that’s a short-term solution. The key to trying to keep pool bugs from coming back is to ask yourself where they’re coming from.
Your pool is (likely) outside, which is where these pool bugs live to begin with. That means these insects may be making their way into your swimming pool in search of food and water. You can’t do much about the water and still enjoy your pool, but what you can do is eliminate the insects’ food sources to help keep them away.
What are some pool bugs?
There are many insects that live or breed in the water. Mosquitoes are one of the more commonly known, as they lay their eggs on still water where the larvae hatch and mature into pupae before reaching adulthood. However, mosquitoes aren’t the most frequent offenders when it comes to clean, filtered swimming pools.
Among others, these three insects often find their way into pools.
Water striders
The aptly named water strider looks like a large mosquito with incredibly long splayed legs. These insects have tiny hairs on their legs that allow them to stand on the water as they search for prey.
Backswimmers
Also known as “water skimmers,” backswimmers are one-half inch long in size and swim on their backs using their legs as oars. Though you’ll usually notice them on the surface of your pool, backswimmers are able to dive under the water by storing bubbles of air under their wings so they can breathe.
Water boatmen
Yet another insect that earned its name, the water boatman has a flat body that’s shaped like a boat. Like the backswimmer, it uses its legs as oars to propel itself across the water. The water boatman can also dive down under the water using an envelope of air stored around its body.
Can Pool Bugs Hurt Me?
The backswimmer has been known to bite humans and in addition to being notoriously painful, its bite can cause some pretty awful welts.
The other two bugs (water striders and water boatmen) can actually be beneficial to your pool area. For example, both water striders and water boatmen feed on mosquito larvae. So, in a way, they’re doing you a favor.
For help keeping mosquitoes out of your backyard, contact Terminix® today. While Terminix will not treat your pool, having your yard treated for mosquitoes will help you be able to to enjoy spending time in your backyard this summer.
Planning on spending a lot of time in your backyard this summer? If you’re going to be hosting family cookouts or barbecues, you’ll want to make sure you’re keeping pests to a minimum. Check out these tips on booting pests from your outdoor gatherings.
