Bugs on the Brain: Wild life and insects in Panama

Quick word: I have finished the website that showcases my house for rent and for sale here in El Valle de Anton, Panama. See it at http://www.CasaPanama.com/

Now on to the wildlife:

One of the joys of life in the tropics is the incredible wealth of life, both plant life and animal life. Panama boasts more species of birds than any nation in the Americas. El Valle is a birder's mecca. People come here from all over the world to hike up into the hills and birdwatch. Within a few hours hike you can spot toucans, a huge variety of hummingbirds, herons, eagles, many species of quail, macaws, parrots, cuckoos, owls of all kinds... the list goes on.

In this house, I wake up to bird song. It's a lovely sound to be greeted by. Often when I walk in the evening, I pass horses grazing on the road in front of the house (it's a grass "street"). I see owls, bats, possums, armadillos, ñeques, and the occasional sloth. And I sleep to a symphony of frogs and crickets.

Speaking of crickets, however, that brings me to an aspect of life in the tropics that may annoy some people: the bugs.

Anyone who is afraid of insects would need some therapy here. This is a tropical country, and bugs of all kinds are a fact of life. Right now it's beetle season. Every day I find several in the house, usually upside-down and waving their legs in slow motion, like a drunk trying to flag a taxi. They are beneficial insects, so I pick them up and take them outside.

By the way, did you know that there are more species of beetles than of any other animal in the world? There is a mind-boggling 350,000 known species of beetles in the world, which is 40% of all described insect species, and 25% of all life on earth!

Every now and then I'll find a large spider in some corner. They are gray, hairy spiders the size of my palm. Again, I scoop them up with a dustpan and toss them out.

There are at least four varieties of ants that are common here. One always has to be aware of food storage and disposal. Leave anything sweet or sugary out (even juice residue in a glass) and tiny sugar ants will be all over it within a half hour. Breakfast cereal, candy or sweets, and of course sugar must all be stored in the refrigerator. Leave anything with protein out, and black ants will march in to devour it. The same black ants will consume the beetles or other insects if they die in the house and remain on the floor too long. These blank ants bite, and if you accidentally step in their way they will be all over your leg before you know it, biting like Mike Tyson.

I have my own strategy for dealing with mosquitoes. I have gotten very good at killing them and can snatch one out of the air with one hand. The real problem comes at night, when one becomes an unconscious feast. What I do is, in the evening I keep the bedroom dark, and I turn a bright light on in some other part of the house to draw them out. When I go to sleep I shut the bedroom door so they can't get in. If I do get bitten, I've found that a brief application of ice to the bite will cure the inflammation and itch completely, if you don't scratch.

The mosquitoes and moths attract geckos, which can frequently be seen on the walls or ceiling. Again, I don't know how they get in, but they are beneficial and I leave them alone. In fact in Panama they call them "limpia casa", house cleaner. They have a distinctive call that sounds like a mocking laugh. Occasionally they time it just right, for example after I've said something silly or forgot what I was doing, and I have to say, "Yeah, very funny!"

Outdoors is another matter. There is a teeming variety of both beneficial and harmful insects, with the real pests being ants and noseeums (also called chiggers or sand flies). Leaf cutter ants are everywhere, and it's not a good idea to step in their path. Fortunately they are easy to spot, with their clear-cut trails through the grass, and their leaf pieces moving along as if by magic.

The noseeums fertilize cocoa trees, so I realize that they too have a purpose in God's plan, but their bites are maddening, much worse than mosquito bites. I never walk outdoors (even in the yard) barefoot or in slippers. I always wear shoes, socks and long pants.

Bees and wasps are common, and we have twice had to remove wasp nests from the eaves of the house.

With all that said, you get used to it. It's a part of life here and eventually you adjust. It's the price you pay for the fruits that drop from the trees right into your hand, the profusion of flowers, the hummingbirds that can be seen outside the window every day, the amazing variety of bird calls, and all the other wonderful aspects of life in the tropics.

One Mosquito...

... can ruin your whole night. Particularly when you live in a country where it's too warm to sleep under the covers, or even clothed.

Now that the dry season has arrived, the insects have reappeared in force. I am seeing spiders on the floor, sugar ants everywhere, crane flies, moths, and the occasional mosquito. And the dreaded noseeums...

Anyway, by 3 am last night I had a cluster of mosquito bites on my left hip, another on my left shoulder and another on my left arm. I must have been sleeping on my right side.

Enough was enough. I applied this wonderfully effective cream called Systral (active ingredient chlorphenoxamine) to the bites, then I put on socks, jeans, and a long sleeved linen summer shirt. I opened the windows to the night breeze, turned the ceiling fan on the lowest setting, and went back to sleep. I still got another bite on the back of my hand.

But I've learned that mosquitos are to be appreciated and commended for the moderation of their bites. There are much worse buggers out there, like the noseeums, also known as midges or sand flies, shown greatly magnified at right. In Spanish they are called purrujas. These little monsters swarm in the late afternoon and around dusk, and they will drop a cluster bomb of bites on your ankles, legs and arms before you even know what hit you.

These bites are nasty, far more irritating than mosquito bites, and they last much longer. With mosquito bites I slap on a bit of Systral cream and leave them alone, and within a matter of hours I forget all about them. Noseeum bites, however, persist for days, and the itch is maddening. The bites are much more prominent and raised, with a crimson red spot in the center. Systral cream soothes the itch only a tiny bit. I hate these little devils! I always wear long pants now when I go outside, and sometimes I smear on some insect repellent oil. I recently learned that they lay eggs in water and rotting vegetable matter, so perhaps I should reconsider my compost pile and simply burn the waste like everyone else does here.

The University of California at Davis, Calif., a well known agricultural and environmental center (and the one from which my parents graduated), reports that no-see-ums will bite humans, domestic and wild animals and birds. They also may feed on other insects. Voracious!

But they say that God created everything for a purpose, right? And guess what? Noseeums are responsible for pollinating cocoa trees. So, no sand flies, no chocolate! I suppose I can put up with a few bites now and then...