Roaches. I once lived in a rental home that had been infested by the previous tenants. Not only did I fog it with 6 rounds of the roach bombs from Lowes, I also had 2 *count em* TWO exterminators come out. No dice. Those mother effers shook their disgusting roach fists in defiance and FLOURISHED.

Australia. I could list all the bugs down there that can kill you with a thought, but I believe there's a character limit on posts.

Last summer I had a severe flea infestation in the yard. Nothing worked UNTIL I used Beneficial Nematodes. I found them at a local nursery, sprayed them at night and within a few weeks the little buggers were gone.

I reapply once every four to five months to keep them out of my yard.

Roaches,roaches,roaches!!!

Roaches. Also, thanks woot. Because of this poll, I will have the "roaches EVERYWHERE" dream tonight.

stink bugs and roaches

I've experienced the menace of carpet beetles. Luckily a wonderful product by the name of Gentrol Point Source helped eliminate the insidious creatures.

Ordered a bunch of discs from Amazon, put them across the house, cleaned everything out (multiple vacuumings) and all traces are now gone. They won't prevent them from doing damage as adults, but will basically stop them from re-producing.

Ladybugs! They crawl everywhere, and when you step on one or crush one when you grab a a door knob you'll know it. Pee-you! They reek!

homeslice009 wrote:Ladybugs! They crawl everywhere, and when you step on one or crush one when you grab a a door knob you'll know it. Pee-you! They reek!

Yeah they emit this nasty yellow stuff that makes other bugs not want to be around them. Ladybugs looks so cute, but really they're just loner a-holes.

Ants.

Spiders. Horrible, 8-legged demons sent straight from Hell by Satan, himself, because he hates all that is good and not horrible.

Roaches make me shudder and cringe and just utterly gross me out, but NOTHING is worse than bed bugs. NOTHING. If you're lucky enough to not be allergic to bed bugs and don't mind the fact that they're sucking your blood every night, I guess you might consider roaches to be worse. If, however, you're allergic to bed bug bites, not only will you KNOW that they're feeding on you every night, but you'll have bites that itch for WEEKS and leave scars, and you'll experience just how astoundingly difficult it is to eradicate them.

Roaches go away if you keep your house spotless. Bed bugs have NOTHING to do with cleanliness, and you can end up bringing them home from your workplace, planes, hotels, schools, churches, you name it.

Roaches subsist on people's and pets' food. Bed bugs subsist on people and pets. No contest; bed bugs are the WORST.

Im amazed that fire ants aren't listed. Or yellow jackets. Or bees. But after seeing this, I agree with bedbugs

Ear whigs from Rath of Kahn

Roaches. Having lived in apartments? Yeah, roaches.

jnelson203 wrote:Roaches,roaches,roaches!!!

Can NOT kill them, once there in,
Move...

My mom had these mites that they could not identify. Billions of them smaller than a pin point. 5 exterminators it took. One thought bird mites, one spidermites, one even thoguth cheese mites. In the 7 cans of diffrent hardware bug killer, 9 treatments from the pros but in the end a tenting and super death spray that kills all life did the trick.

Bed bugs almost give me nightmares just thinking about them. That video of them was barf-worthy. Where is that, in a crack house?

I paid to have my moving van heat-treated in advance and certified free of bedbugs before we moved our stuff in it. Heat and ditomaceous earth seem to be the best solutions so far. Forget chemicals. Did you know there are trained beagles that can sniff out bedbugs? I saw an ad in Austin for a company that had one. But then, I'm on drugs after hernia surgery and rambling...

Every bug mentioned in the poll and comments (though very disgusting and nasty) CAN be eliminated by the correct treatment. I consider termites the worst because of the thousands in property damage they can inflict before being discovered. We got rid of our termite problem with the correct strain of beneficial nemotodes. We had live termites in the boards on the raised veggie garden next to the house before applying the nemotodes. I was skeptical they would work, but they did and no termites in the house or garden area for 3 years after application!

I hate centipedes.
My husband hates earwigs.

Although they aren't really a bug, we think that scorpions are the worst infestation.

Mites! I have chickens and am battling poultry mites! They get on me when I go and clean their coop, and I get all bit up. I want to nuke ALL freaking bugs! Now...I need to get back to itching.....

Lice. And yes, they can be gotten rid of fairly easily, it's hell until they're gone!!

(and if you can't figure out what kind of lice I'm referring to, just look down...)

Scabies. Worst experience of my entire bucking life. They're basically skin mites that can be spread by fabric (i.e. sitting on a couch, borrowing a sweater, etc). They burrow under your skin and you get a crazy rash that itches like nothing you've ever felt before. I have serious scars on my legs from scratching myself uncontrollably. You have to bag everything up like if you had lice as well as get your carpet, furniture, and care upholstry all cleaned. You have to put this awful, burning, medical cream on every inch of your skin from your scalp to the soles of your feet. It is seriously awful.

Worst part: people think they are an STD. THEY ARE NOT AN STD, PEOPLE. I got them in college, in dorm living, and felt like a totqal pariah. This has unwittingly become my cause. Now you know that scabies are not an STD... simply mutant-devil-body-lice-of-doom.

I'm going with lice....GROSS!

Crazy ants. (Yes that's a real insect.)

FRUIT FLIES!!! I HATE THEM SO MUCH!

I'm pretty sure termites win of the listed pests.

If you get a bad enough infestation of termites, they will eat your entire house.

I'm sure it wouldn't be fun, but you could live with all the others.

But, what if the termites eat all your walls and your roof smashes down while you sleep??? What then?

P.S. I would love to have an infestation of praying mantises in my garden. I like to imagine them going all kung-fu on spiders and other bad bugs that like to eat my Brussels sprout plants.

P.P.S. In my neighborhood [master planned community thing], they actually do a lady bug release every summer by the community garden plots. They let somewhere around 300,000 go. You can buy tubs of 1500 for like $2 and let them go in your yard. The kids love it!

I voted "bed bugs" but, really, I hate WATERBUGS! like giant cockroaches! we get them in the house and it drives me nuts! so glad my oldest son has been raised to "kill the bug for mommy!" and clean it up. I don't know what I'll do when he goes off to college in a few years because my younger son is just as scared of them as I am. guess I'll have to remarry soon...

GMC's Gypsy Moth Caterpillars - eat all the leaves on all the trees, were everywhere. You could not help but step on them walking outside. People wear using umbrellas to keep them from falling on them...

I listed fleas because you just can't get away from them until they are gone, but I would say the worst was scorpions. We lived in arid rocky terrain and the stinkers come in at night. Catch them with sticky traps near the doors. You never walk in the house without shoes!

LICE!!! YUCK

I had an answer, but after reading the trail of comments, I forgot what it was. Now I'm cringing in a corner holding my computer and a can of bug spray.

jennyestelle wrote:Roaches. I once lived in a rental home that had been infested by the previous tenants. Not only did I fog it with 6 rounds of the roach bombs from Lowes, I also had 2 *count em* TWO exterminators come out. No dice. Those mother effers shook their disgusting roach fists in defiance and FLOURISHED.

Combat. Always gotta go with Combat. Ya may have to buy a lot of it but it will work! =D

meadowlark wrote:Bed bugs almost give me nightmares just thinking about them. That video of them was barf-worthy. Where is that, in a crack house?

I paid to have my moving van heat-treated in advance and certified free of bedbugs before we moved our stuff in it. Heat and ditomaceous earth seem to be the best solutions so far. Forget chemicals. Did you know there are trained beagles that can sniff out bedbugs? I saw an ad in Austin for a company that had one. But then, I'm on drugs after hernia surgery and rambling...

Every bug mentioned in the poll and comments (though very disgusting and nasty) CAN be eliminated by the correct treatment. I consider termites the worst because of the thousands in property damage they can inflict before being discovered. We got rid of our termite problem with the correct strain of beneficial nemotodes. We had live termites in the boards on the raised veggie garden next to the house before applying the nemotodes. I was skeptical they would work, but they did and no termites in the house or garden area for 3 years after application!

Oh GOD, so gross!!! Heebie Geebies! What The Hay???? My skin is totally crawling now... :O

Termites! They can destroy your house if unchecked. Had to replace a whole ceiling once because they ate the wood that supported it. You can hear then munching away. They're definitely the most destructive out of all of the above.

My friend had bed bugs once and got rid of them by sprinkling diatomaceous earth around the bed and on the sheets. It got rid of them right away.

I have a flea problem right now because of all my dogs, which is a total pain, but at least my house is still standing! Termites are easily the most destructive!!

All of them. I hate bugs...

book lice.
it's the worst. But what would you nerds know about books. The only thing you read is the internet.

At home I have issues with ants from time to time. Nothing like coming home to ants everywhere, day after day. Best way to rid them is follow the trail outside and find their nest and kill them. I have apartment bldgs and have delt with roaches, fleas, & bed bugs over many years. Roaches are by far the worst for getting rid of. I have treated all infestations by my self except for 2 times many years ago when i used a service that was a big waste of $. The trick is researching the right treatment. Re-treating every 10-14 days. Using egg killer along with stuff to keep them from being able to reproduce. Staying diligent until the are gone.....til the next person moves in and brings them with them. You don't have to be dirty to have a roach problem. Clutter makes then harder to get rid of. I could give a class on BUG eradicating. lol

Cicadas! Their noise drives me insane!!!!!!!!