Weird teeny tiny bugs and stinging/flying ant things

Our pool is no fun because of insects. First, we seem to have some type of light brown, TEENY TINY worm/bug thing all over the pool. I mean, ALL OVER IT. On the sides, in the skimmer, in the water - the whole pool is covered with these things. Never seen anything like them before. Pool is brand new, just installed 2 weeks ago. Water is beautiful and clear, other than these bugs. If I stick my hand in the pool, and retrieve it, my hand will be covered with them. I think they look like teeny tine maggots - my husband thought chiggars (spelling?) but I thought chiggars (although small) looked like spiders? These are more 'worm-like'. We live in the Mid-South (just south of Memphis, in Mississippi).

Also, we have these terrible biting/stinging flying ant or very very small wasp things. At first glance, they look like large black ants. But they have wings. And Stingers! And their stings are terrible, resulting in large welts. It's no fun to be in the pool because these things are always stinging us. They get into the pool, and of course most end up dead, but if YOU are in the pool, they crawl all over YOU (or your float, or whatever) in order to not drown, and in the process, sting you.

We spent lots of $$ on the pool and a nice deck, etc.. And can't enjoy it. Can a pest control company do anything? I mean, it seems silly - kind of like asking a pest control company to come get rid of the wasps or mosquitos - yet I can't help but think there has to be SOMETHING that could be done..

Any suggestions on EITHER of these pests would be greatly appreciated!!!

There are a lot of insecticides out there like Ortho Bug-B-Gon Max that you can broadcast on your yard with a spreader. They'll kill a wide variety of pests. Much cheaper than hiring a pest control company. You can't kill everything annoying but this type of product will help a lot.

I hate to tell you this, but the flying ants (and yes, that's exactly what they are!) is something you will have to get used to. :( They are "swarming" and it's something they frequently do on clear, sunny days. Several times a month we will go out to swim and they will be all over our pool. At first we just stayed out of the pool on those days for fear of getting stung, but after almost 5 years, we have taken back our pool.
We just get in and make as big of waves as we can to drown as many as we can at once. Also, it seems the splashing about inhibits more from coming in.
We try not to leave any toys floating in the pool for them to climb up on and that seems to help, too.
No amount of insecticide will alleviate the flying ant problem as they "fly in" from other locations, but it will definitely help with other bugs.
I have NO idea what the brown, wormy things are.
Sorry I can't be more help.
Good luck!

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Originally Posted by hopeless

Our pool is no fun because of insects. First, we seem to have some type of light brown, TEENY TINY worm/bug thing all over the pool. I mean, ALL OVER IT. On the sides, in the skimmer, in the water - the whole pool is covered with these things. Never seen anything like them before. Pool is brand new, just installed 2 weeks ago. Water is beautiful and clear, other than these bugs. If I stick my hand in the pool, and retrieve it, my hand will be covered with them. I think they look like teeny tine maggots - my husband thought chiggars (spelling?) but I thought chiggars (although small) looked like spiders? These are more 'worm-like'. We live in the Mid-South (just south of Memphis, in Mississippi).

Also, we have these terrible biting/stinging flying ant or very very small wasp things. At first glance, they look like large black ants. But they have wings. And Stingers! And their stings are terrible, resulting in large welts. It's no fun to be in the pool because these things are always stinging us. They get into the pool, and of course most end up dead, but if YOU are in the pool, they crawl all over YOU (or your float, or whatever) in order to not drown, and in the process, sting you.

We spent lots of $$ on the pool and a nice deck, etc.. And can't enjoy it. Can a pest control company do anything? I mean, it seems silly - kind of like asking a pest control company to come get rid of the wasps or mosquitos - yet I can't help but think there has to be SOMETHING that could be done..

Any suggestions on EITHER of these pests would be greatly appreciated!!!

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We have a bug the locals call "No see ums" usually found very close to the salt water. They sting like hell and leave welts

The flying ants are a problem here during the summer, especially after rainstorms. If you'll take a 3-4 of those cloth splash balls and let them float in your pool overnight, the ants will crawl up on them. Then you scoop them out and spray them down with ant killer so they don't end up back in the pool. Wash the ant spray out of the ball before putting them back in the pool for the next night. Works like a charm!

Janet

Janet,

What is a cloth splash ball? Your idea makes sense because they do tend to climb onto any float that's in the pool?

Thanks,
Robert

They're sold in the pool toys section at WalMart or most anyplace that sells pool toys, usually in packs of 3 or 4--they're just balls made of cloth, about tennis-ball sized, that you put in the water and it soaks water up, like a sponge, then your kids throw them at each other--sort of like cloth water balloons. But it doesn't have to be those--you can float a couple of tennis balls, or a nerf ball, or anything else that will float and is small enough for you to cover in ant spray before they all crawl off.

Janet

Thanks Janet. I know what you're talking about now. In fact, we may already have some of those.

Robert

I know they are expensive - but what about a screened pool enclosure? We would never be able to go out from dusk to dawn without one here in FL. You'll get 2-3 mosquito bites just running from the car to the house on a bad day.

Those worm things - they must crawl across the dirt to get to your pool? Have you tried some sort of residual bug killer around the pool so when they crawl over it they die BEFORE they make it to the pool?

We also get the flying ants in the Houston area, especially after rain. (No sign of the wormy things, though...:eek: ) I just take my trusty net skimmer thingy and scoop them all off before getting into the pool.