Subject: Jerusalem Beetle

From: [email-masked](CHV)
Date: 3 Jul 1996 19:19:23 GMT

I apologize for posting here but in all the news groups, you were the
only one even close to what I wanted:  Maybe someone who likes
butterflies can help point me in the right direction at least.  My
problem is that my home seems to be built on top of a nest of Jerusalem
beetles.  When I was a child, we called them potato bugs but in
researching them at the local library, I find that there are a number
of bugs called potato bugs.  I identified the actual beast by a picture
and they are Jerusalem beetles.  In Mexico children keep them and call
them "nino" because the configuration of spots on the head look like a
face.  They are huge and truely frightening to see crawling around in
your house in the summer when all are running around barefoot. We all
have the heeby jeebies for a week after seeing one.  What I want to
know is their propagation/living habit and the best (most final) way to
get rid of them.  Attrition does not seem to have slowed them down any.
 Local exterminators assure me that for several hundred dollars they
can get rid of them but I don't like the idea of a lot of poison being
sprayed around our living area.  Another question is are they
poisonous?  They certainly look venomous and I'm afraid of what might
happen if my bug-chasing dog got hold of one and it bit him.