Backswimmers (water wasps) in pools, any suggestions other than a nuke? - Page 1

Site Notices

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Backswimmers (water wasps) in pools, any suggestions other than a nuke?

Posted: 7/26/2013 8:37:48 AM EDT

Found about 3 this week so far. The damn things bite and it hurts like a wasper sting. A chlorinated pool don't even kill them because they breath air. Anyone have any success killing these little bastards?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notonectidae

Posted: 7/26/2013 8:42:57 AM EDT

[#1]

I hadn't heard of it till now. The dragonfly (aka 'snake doctor') has competition for the most awesome insect on earth.

Thinking aloud: Maybe a tiny amount of vegitable oil or something else that floats on water that maybe annoys them enough to fly to the neighbor's pool instead?

Posted: 7/26/2013 8:50:02 AM EDT

[#2]

Quote History

Quoted:
I hadn't heard of it till now. The dragonfly (aka 'snake doctor') has competition for the most awesome insect on earth.

Thinking aloud: Maybe a tiny amount of vegitable oil or something else that floats on water that maybe annoys them enough to fly to the neighbor's pool instead?

View Quote

It's a 15,000 gallon pool 28ft round. I've thought about that vegitable oil as well but not sure how much it'd take and it would probaly be to messy in getting in your hair and everything.

I'll try to take a picture if I catch another one. I was swimming yesterday and damn me if I diden't swim right into the bastard. Diden't get bit though.

Posted: 7/26/2013 8:51:46 AM EDT

[#3]

How to Get Rid of Swimming Bugs
11/01/2012

Picture
Notonectidae or backswimmer bug
The Old Solution
My customers have asked me for years, "how do we get rid of those swimming bugs?" They are called boatmen or backswimmers and they fly in to your pool. For a while I was using Bug Off. Then the state of California decided to prevent the use of that chemical here due to environmental reasons.

A New Solution?
Since Bug Off wasn't for sale I tried an algaecide ( why the state of California says we can still use algaecide and not Bug Off I'll never understand) The algaecide was expensive but I was told it would work well against the swimming bugs. The algaecide worked alright but it had limited success. There were still a lot of bugs in those pools.

A Better Solution
I came across a home remedy to resolve the issue. An old buddy of mine said, "Use some dish soap." Dish soap?! I couldn't believe it. Obviously my customers didn't either. One customer that had hundreds of these bugs in his pool flatly said, "I'm not putting dish soap in my pool. Now, how do we get rid of the bugs?" I couldn't blame him since it did sound ridiculous. Still I had to try. When he was away one day I convinced his wife to try it. After asking her for the dish soap I squirt a good portion (1/4 cup) over the middle of the pool (it was a 20,000 gallon pool). It was like a swimming bug grenade had gone off! It took a couple of days for the soap to take effect. Hundreds of bugs showed up dead in the skimmer and automatic cleaner bag. I couldn't find even one of them left! Success!!!

I told the homeowner to reapply the dish soap on a weekly or biweekly basis as needed. There wasn't a problem with bubbles from the soap because the soap is very diluted in a swimming pool of over 10,000 gallons. The bugs have been gone all season and I still have a great customer! The husband hasn't complained about the soap either. ; )

How does it work?
The soap is a surfactant; so the soap interferes with the water surface tension in the pool. As it turns out, the little boatmen and backswimmers trap air against their little bodies by utilizing the properties of water surface tension. They use those little air bubbles to breath under water. When there is little to no water surface tension then they run out of air and die by drowning. So, if the dish soap doesn't work for you at first then just use a little more until it does.

View Quote

Try this sounds cheap

Posted: 7/26/2013 8:53:17 AM EDT

[#4]

I imagine they're in the pool because there's a food source. They're predators.

I got bit by one of them when I was a kid - we always had them in our cow tanks. Nasty little bugs.

Posted: 7/26/2013 8:59:31 AM EDT

[#5]

Quote History

Quoted:

Try this sounds cheap

View Quote View All Quotes

View All Quotes

Quote History

Quoted:

How to Get Rid of Swimming Bugs
11/01/2012

Picture
Notonectidae or backswimmer bug
The Old Solution
My customers have asked me for years, "how do we get rid of those swimming bugs?" They are called boatmen or backswimmers and they fly in to your pool. For a while I was using Bug Off. Then the state of California decided to prevent the use of that chemical here due to environmental reasons.

A New Solution?
Since Bug Off wasn't for sale I tried an algaecide ( why the state of California says we can still use algaecide and not Bug Off I'll never understand) The algaecide was expensive but I was told it would work well against the swimming bugs. The algaecide worked alright but it had limited success. There were still a lot of bugs in those pools.

A Better Solution
I came across a home remedy to resolve the issue. An old buddy of mine said, "Use some dish soap." Dish soap?! I couldn't believe it. Obviously my customers didn't either. One customer that had hundreds of these bugs in his pool flatly said, "I'm not putting dish soap in my pool. Now, how do we get rid of the bugs?" I couldn't blame him since it did sound ridiculous. Still I had to try. When he was away one day I convinced his wife to try it. After asking her for the dish soap I squirt a good portion (1/4 cup) over the middle of the pool (it was a 20,000 gallon pool). It was like a swimming bug grenade had gone off! It took a couple of days for the soap to take effect. Hundreds of bugs showed up dead in the skimmer and automatic cleaner bag. I couldn't find even one of them left! Success!!!

I told the homeowner to reapply the dish soap on a weekly or biweekly basis as needed. There wasn't a problem with bubbles from the soap because the soap is very diluted in a swimming pool of over 10,000 gallons. The bugs have been gone all season and I still have a great customer! The husband hasn't complained about the soap either. ; )

How does it work?
The soap is a surfactant; so the soap interferes with the water surface tension in the pool. As it turns out, the little boatmen and backswimmers trap air against their little bodies by utilizing the properties of water surface tension. They use those little air bubbles to breath under water. When there is little to no water surface tension then they run out of air and die by drowning. So, if the dish soap doesn't work for you at first then just use a little more until it does.

Try this sounds cheap

I'm going to try that, along with algaecide. My pool is chrystal clear blue but I think the algae is on the sides and you can't see it. We have water june bugs as well in the pool but their not bad.

Posted: 7/26/2013 9:08:08 AM EDT

[#6]

We used the dish soap, squirted a few ounces right into the center of the pool...about a day later those jokers were dead and in the skimmer screen. Have been repeating as necessary.