Recreational Marijuana Sales Started in Oregon October 1

As I think you have already determined, thrips feed exclusively on plants. They use their mouth parts to suck juice from the tissues. I had never before heard that they bite humans, but I guess they actually do sometimes. My first thought when I read this was bedbugs, which are a growing problem, but they leave small red marks and happen mostly at night, so it doesn't sound right.Thrips are a common problem in the greenhouse but they have developed resistance to most commonly used fungicides, so biocontrol is how we control them. We use a predatory mite that comes in a small packet that you hang out near your plants (or where ever they frequent). The mites then climb on to the thrips and parasitize them (yummy!). However, what we buy comes in boxes of 1,000 and have a useful life of about 3 weeks, so I don't think that would work for you. Maybe you could suggest it to your neighbor though Razd's idea of using boron is good, but the thrips would have to get it on them and then ingest it, so I am not sure it would work. What you might try is using yellow sticky traps to control them. We use them in the greenhouse as a monitoring tool - so we know exactly what pest is present. They don't provide effective control in the greenhouse because of the number of insects that are present, but in your case it may be effective enough to keep the population under control. The other advantage to the sticky trap is you could actually see what the pest that is causing problems is (although you may need a magnifying glass).Here is a link to yellow sticky traps but you should be able to pick them up at a local gardening shop. You will need to place them where the thrips are flying and would be attracted to them but out of the way of where you work because they are very sticky and can be messy. (If the sticky stuff gets on you, it can be cleaned off with mineral oil - vegetable oil also works, just not as good)Good luck with this, it sounds annoying. But if it is thrips, that is so, so, soooo much easier to deal with than bedbugs.HBD

This sounds more like delusory parasitosis to me.This is a real condition that can ruin people's lives.At the entomology lab where I worked, we had sufferers of this condition bring samples in several times a year. Often they brought in pieces of sticky tape that they claimed had parasites stuck on. When we examined them under microscopes there were all sorts of things stuck on the tape, but no organisms.I have a form of neuropathy myself that causes the sensation of something crawling on my skin when nothing is there. It happens to me mostly in bed and sometimes feels so real that I would swear something is there. I can see there is nothing there using a 20x handlens but the sensation remains. Scratching does not always relieve the sensation.I would doubt that any plant pests found on marijuana would cause this level of infestation and problem in a next door apartment.I will say that the knowledge we have about small to microscopic insect pests is not that great. We (entomologists) are always learning new and amazing things about these organisms.Good luck.Edited by Tanypteryx, : No reason given.

That stuff should have a warning on the package telling you not to get it on your skin.Borax is safer and can be used for killing ants and roaches. Don't know how either of them works on thirps.Edited by NoNukes, : No reason given.

I did think of bedbugs because I do have buggy sensations in bed too but I don't have any of the telltale red bites, just itchy spots, and besides, bedbugs don't hang out on the kitchen floor or under your computer and jump on your legs, do they? But then I couldn't think of anything but fleas that do that. Until I read this stuff about thrips. Although the description I found is the closest I've come to what I'm experiencing I'm still not absolutely sure that's what this is, though I think I should treat them as thrips until further notice.I did strongly consider tiny gnats because besides the stinging pricking sensations I also get sensations of something tiny bumping against my skin, of something flying into me. But I guess thrips could do that too.If and when I see my pot-smoking neighbor again I'll bring all this up with him. He sometimes wanders around this side of the building.I did read about a remedy called Blue Sticky Traps for thrips, not yellow, wonder what the difference is. I'm willing to try anything but I'm dependent on my brother to drive me places and get things for me these days and it may be a while before he can help with this. Meanwhile I've got the orthoboric acid and baking soda and salt and clorox and things like that.

Oh good, you aren't just an expert in dragonflies but an entomologist who would know something about this stuff. Thanks for your input.Yeah I'm aware of the delusory versions of this stuff, but after reading about all the poor people who have similar symptoms being told they're delusional I don't want to go there yet. Also there's a lot of information on mites that can cause creepy crawly sensations too, are too tiny to be seen and usually stay deep in the skin.I think the main clue will be if this problem goes away or diminishes when the weather gets cold, which should be toward the end of this month. It started when the weather warmed up so maybe it will die down with the cold weather.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.

It will be interesting to see. Once pests are in the home I would not expect the weather outside to have much affect on them.A fun fact,Thrips is both singular and plural.There are a huge number of mites and many are mostly unknown to science as far as their life history and foods and predators/parasites are concerned.We did quite a lot of work on mites in the lab. One of our entomologists became a mite specialist/expert. In addition to my photomicrography equipment I had a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and we had a lot of fun imaging and photographing various bizarro mites.It turns out that there are very few mite experts worldwide.

It does have a warning label but a couple things keep me from taking it too seriously: one, the alternative health sites claim it is far from toxic at the usual levels it would be used, and two, it's another term for boric acid, which my parents kept in the medicine cabinet and diluted for use as an eyewash. This bottle I have isn't pure boric acid though, it has "inactive ingredients" as well, which aren't named.In any case, such a label does give me pause, so I'll wait to see if others have more to say about it.If it would kill thrips, just using it along baseboards and under the sink probably wouldn't deal with them. I'd want to use it in the computer area and next to the bed too. Edited by Faith, : No reason given.

The weather might have an effect here because the floors can get very cold, and I think there is a space between the walls of my apartment and the smoking neighbor's that communicates with the outside air.IF there really are bugs on the kitchen floor that are jumping on my legs I would think a cold floor would discourage them. But we'll see. Edited by Faith, : No reason given.

Good ideas, thanks. Want to try this and RAZD's suggestion.I have some caulking, but I can't get down on my knees any more so my brother will have to help when he can come by again.

Do you have cats or have you visited somewher where cats have been? Cat fleas jump from carpets to legs, especially when cats have left a house and human is all they can get.Heat rash?

Daughter used to bring her cat when she visited but that was years ago. But this isn't fleas because I'm convinced now that I'd see fleas and they'd leave a welt too. And as I mentioned, somebody did tell me fleas can't live in this climate. Too dry? I don't know. It is desert but then we're right up against the Sierra mountains and we know there are fleas in the mountains because there is bubonic plague in the mountains from time to time. But it's not fleas anyway.

Can we get back on topic and move Faith's infestation issue elsewhere?

Recreational Marijuana is quite popular and profitable here in Colorado. Better the state make the money versus organized crime.Pot is harmless in moderation, though I have found that it makes me too carnally minded and less spiritually disciplined, which is why I largely avoid it.People are gonna do what they do regardless of legality or not, so the tax benefits are reason enough to consider state legalization. When I was younger I smoked nearly every day, but stopped after I was "saved".Ive imbibed a few times since then (1993) but I wont buy the stuff and keep it around.Avoiding reality is a national pastime.

Google it:
Boric acid - Wikipedia

quote:

---

Boric acid, also called hydrogen borate, boracic acid, orthoboric acid and acidum boricum, is a weak, monobasic Lewis acid of boron often used as an antiseptic, insecticide, flame retardant, neutron absorber, or precursor to other chemical ....

​

Chemical formula: H3BO3

---

No. Google again:
Pacific Coast Borax Company - Wikipedia

quote:

---

Borax has also been scientifically called sodium borate, sodium tetra borate, and disodium tetraborate. Simply put, borax is a boron compound, mineral, and a salt of boric acid which most often comes in a powdered form. Consequently, Boraxo is powdered, white and somewhat grainy and will dissolve in water but only after a long period of exfoliating dirty hands. The powdered form of Borax has the ability to emulsify and trap dirt and oil.[1]

​

Chemical formula
Na2B4O710H2O or Na2[B4O5(OH)4]8H2O

---

The "salt of" means it is a different compound, where sodium is added reducing the acid quality I wouldn't.Boraxo however can also be used as regular soap, good at exfoliation, etc and I find my skin feels nice and soft after using it. It was recommended to me when I worked with fiberglass which can be very very very itchy.If nothing else it may provide relief from the itchy feeling.Takes the grease off my hands after working on the bike too.EnjoyEdited by RAZD, : .

None of this has anything to do with the topic of this thread, Marijuana.Faith said her neighbor smokes pot and that she is infested with invisible ankle biters. There is no relationship between her neighbor's pot and her invisible bugs.Chemistry is not the topic either.