# What is this for a little one?



## Baywatch (Mar 30, 2014)

We have some of these. Seems to eat spider web

Any one knows the name? It is quite big


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## zach21uk (Jun 26, 2014)

Oh god! Now questioning if I REALLLLYYY want to move to Cyprus based on this picture.......... :O


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Its a praying mantis.


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## Baywatch (Mar 30, 2014)

zach21uk said:


> Oh god! Now questioning if I REALLLLYYY want to move to Cyprus based on this picture.......... :O


Thank you, we see a few of them. I read now that they are kept as pets.


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## zach21uk (Jun 26, 2014)

Veronica said:


> Its a praying mantis.


Currently praying that they decide to stay away from me! I do not like insects!


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## Baywatch (Mar 30, 2014)

zach21uk said:


> Currently praying that they decide to stay away from me! I do not like insects!


Welcome to Cyprus with all its mozzies flies neseeums and all kinds of bugs. Plus gecko's lizards, snakes etc:lalala:


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

I love praying mantis. They look just like little green aliens with their weird shaped heads. We have some very large ones in our garden at times and in the spring sometimes when I am watering plants zillions of tiny baby ones come scuttling out and run all over the place.


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Baywatch said:


> Thank you, we see a few of them. I read now that they are kept as pets.


I have never heard of anyone keeping them as pets in Cyprus but when I lived in Singapore they mantis there were much bigger than here and people did keep them as pets there. They are great for keeping the mossies down.


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## zach21uk (Jun 26, 2014)

As long as they all stay the f**k out of my apartment / house, I won't have any problems with them!


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

That's what fly screens are for. To keep out unwanted visitors


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## zach21uk (Jun 26, 2014)

Note to self: make sure house/apartment has fly screens.


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## nemo1843 (Sep 27, 2012)

Actually a praying mantis is quite a good thing to have in the house as they eat mozzies and other flying insects. They are completely harmless and so graceful to watch. We fished one out of our pool the other day and watched it dry himself or herself off in the sun totally unafraid of us.

If you don't like insects wait till you see the size of the spiders!!


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## bencooper (Mar 20, 2013)

With the speed they appear to operate at (NOT), it is surprising they are able to catch anything?


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

I would suggest that to anyone who really fears insects, spiders, creepy-crawlies etc, this planet is not for them.

Pete


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## Geraldine (Jan 3, 2009)

I had a teeny weeny, very light beige one in the house last week, left it for a few days to catch some persistent flies !


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Geraldine said:


> I had a teeny weeny, very light beige one in the house last week, left it for a few days to catch some persistent flies !


We had one a couple of weeks ago. The first time in 10 years having one in the house. Sadly I had to catch it and put it out as the cat was playing with it.


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## mdekkers (Jul 3, 2013)

We get loads of these around the house, and the cats keep bringing in the ones they killed. We also had a few Tarantula's inside now, and various other samples of the local fauna. The cats keep bringing in moths the size of B-52's, and most recently, a snake of some sort. 

The wildlife here is awesome  

Martijn :ranger:


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## lucibv (Jul 14, 2014)

Well, I can tell you that Cyprus is the bugs' paradise, no matter how much you will want to get rid of them, they will always find you... Especially the ants... and the local cockroaches...


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

lucibv said:


> Well, I can tell you that Cyprus is the bugs' paradise, no matter how much you will want to get rid of them, they will always find you... Especially the ants... and the local cockroaches...


Well if you think it's bad here just wait until you get to Oz !!!

Pete


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## lucibv (Jul 14, 2014)

I can't wait 
I have two anxious furry helpers ready to kill anything that moves


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## zach21uk (Jun 26, 2014)

mdekkers said:


> We also had a few Tarantula's inside now. The cats keep bringing in moths the size of B-52's, and most recently, a snake of some sort.


TARANTULAS? That the cats brought in? Or that found their way into your house/apartment?

How the heck did you get them out? :eek2:

B52 sized moths? Can you quantify this please?


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## lucibv (Jul 14, 2014)

Well, I would say that we saved one tarantula from the claws of our "beasts" 

It wasn't the size of the "regular" tarantulas, this one was a little bit smaller than half of my hand. 

But until we found that Cyprus has tarantulas, my wife had the shock of her life, waking up one morning and, being very sleepy, she picked up one strange black "thing" from our kitchen tiles. That "thing" that she picked up, studying it very intensely, turned out being a tarantula's leg... The rest of the poor tarantula? We asked our cat, and he said: "Yummy"


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

Oh dear..........






Pete


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Martyn can you please remove the huge picture of the plane and put it back reduced in size as it has thrown the whole page out of kilter. 
Thanks


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Actually I realised you cant as the page was so totally messed up so I went into the admin side to delete it.
If you want to replace the pics please resize them so they fit on the page.

Thanks


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## mdekkers (Jul 3, 2013)

Oops....


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## Cleo Shahateet (Feb 23, 2009)

There has been a myth since around the 50's in the US that it is illegal to kill a praying mantis!! It seems to charm even those who don't care for bugs (in the US). Like a multigenerational game of "Telephone," this myth has been passed down for decades from parent to child. Oddly enough, it is even a state insect in two of the states. Why they have/need a "state insect" is beyond me :-/

Speaking of creepy crawlies also - my MIL found a scorpion under her sofa cushion in Marathounda a few months ago! They have fly screens, cats, dogs and have a company that sprays for bugs and it still made its way in somehow!!!


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## lucibv (Jul 14, 2014)

Cleo Shahateet said:


> There has been a myth since around the 50's in the US that it is illegal to kill a praying mantis!! It seems to charm even those who don't care for bugs (in the US). Like a multigenerational game of "Telephone," this myth has been passed down for decades from parent to child. Oddly enough, it is even a state insect in two of the states. Why they have/need a "state insect" is beyond me :-/
> 
> Speaking of creepy crawlies also - my MIL found a scorpion under her sofa cushion in Marathounda a few months ago! They have fly screens, cats, dogs and have a company that sprays for bugs and it still made its way in somehow!!!


@zach21uk Told ya...  You can run, but you can't hide


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## zach21uk (Jun 26, 2014)

Jesus, you guys are freaking me the f**k out.


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## lucibv (Jul 14, 2014)

zach21uk said:


> Jesus, you guys are freaking me the f**k out.


Don't worry, they can be killed 

And most of them are harmless; one trick that I use, when they are becoming a pain in the a*s: spray the corners/paths/doors/windows' frames with Biokill, it will last for sometime, and you can sleep good in the night (valid only for crawling creatures); for flying stuff you can use pretty effective Raid, the small bottles of solution, the one that you put in the socket and evaporate (forgot the name of it...). I can't guarantee it though for snakes, scorpions and bigger creatures, for that, better take a cat (or two), here's plenty of them


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## zach21uk (Jun 26, 2014)

Perhaps one solution would be to never open any doors or windows lol.


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

zach21uk said:


> Perhaps one solution would be to never open any doors or windows lol.


Plenty of ex-pats live like that!

To put it into perspective from my experience:

*Flies *and noseeums are the biggest problem and can be sprayed.
*Ants* are a nuisance and powder or Biokill works and keeps them out.
*Indian moths* that appear in food cupboards can be eliminated with a sticky sheet on the inside of the door.
*Tarantulas* are occasional visitors and will be pretty scared of you. I get them in the pool filter and 2 or 3 in the house each year. I can't get to the truth of how dangerous they can be. So far they've ended up dead somehow and we're still alive.
*Snakes*: vipers are rare and the common black whip tail which you are most likely to get in the garden will keep them away and feast on rats. They are terrified of you and will disappear amazingly quickly when they spot you.
*Rats *have been our most expensive nuisance having eaten and damaged many items in our shed and devoured the small fruit crop we had last year. This year our Muktar distributed vast amounts of rat poison bags (legal type) to the village and we've not had a sighting or problem since then.
*Scorpions *are relatively rare, I've seen less than 1 per year on average although Sylvi did discover one in the washing basket last year. They can be dangerous and life threatening to some people.
*Lizards and Geckos* are everywhere, are harmless and delightful to watch. We have house geckos who do an excellent job of preventing cobwebs and insects on the ceiling.
*Chameleons* are rarer. They move very slowly and are harmless.
*Lawyers *are found throughout Cyprus. They tend to move slowly and are often unpredictable. Some are harmless but there are breeds that can cause great distress. Unfortunately the cost of eliminating them is high.

Pete


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## zach21uk (Jun 26, 2014)

PeteandSylv said:


> Plenty of ex-pats live like that!
> *Lawyers *are found throughout Cyprus. They tend to move slowly and are often unpredictable. Some are harmless but there are breeds that can cause great distress. Unfortunately the cost of eliminating them is high.


LOL! Ohh this made me laugh! Not just in Cyprus though, throughout the world!


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## Geraldine (Jan 3, 2009)

I just love the new Fly Catcher bags of foul smelling liquid, by 'eck, they love it.....for the first time today I caught a whiff of it as the wind changed direction, phew, but hey, a small price to pay to see them FLOCK to it, queuing to get in !

Better than watching telly...all for €5.


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## zach21uk (Jun 26, 2014)

Geraldine said:


> I just love the new Fly Catcher bags of foul smelling liquid, by 'eck, they love it.....for the first time today I caught a whiff of it as the wind changed direction, phew, but hey, a small price to pay to see them FLOCK to it, queuing to get in !
> 
> Better than watching telly...all for €5.


Sounds like I need some of these ^_^


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## CyprusDream2014 (Dec 29, 2013)

Geraldine said:


> I just love the new Fly Catcher bags of foul smelling liquid, by 'eck, they love it.....for the first time today I caught a whiff of it as the wind changed direction, phew, but hey, a small price to pay to see them FLOCK to it, queuing to get in !
> 
> Better than watching telly...all for &#128;5.


Wow where can I get these please? X


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## mdekkers (Jul 3, 2013)

PeteandSylv;4603233
[B said:


> Tarantulas[/B] are occasional visitors and will be pretty scared of you. I get them in the pool filter and 2 or 3 in the house each year. I can't get to the truth of how dangerous they can be. So far they've ended up dead somehow and we're still alive.


I gently catch them in a box, slide a cardboard underneath and let them out in the garden (My better half thinks I should kill them with fire...) They are very effective in keeping the general bug population down. I am very happy to have a few of these around.

Martijn :ranger:


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## hiatusxenia (May 6, 2013)

You forgot to mention the hideous cockroaches. Flying & crawling.


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## zach21uk (Jun 26, 2014)

Flying cockroaches??


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## Geraldine (Jan 3, 2009)

CyprusDream2014 said:


> Wow where can I get these please? X


I got mine from Super Home near the garden section in the main store not the basementIt has a flower covered bottom pattern which covers all the gunk and floating victims..€4.95.approx


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## mdekkers (Jul 3, 2013)

zach21uk said:


> Flying cockroaches??


About the size of your thumb for the small ones....


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

When we lived in Singapore we were on the 15th floor of a multi storey block but this did not save us from the flying cockroaches:eek2:
We had a little Malay girl who cleaned forus and she used to catch them, kill them carefully and put them in a bowl in our fridge. At the end of the day the bowl would be full and she took it home and her family had fried cockroaches and rice for dinner.


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## lucibv (Jul 14, 2014)

Veronica said:


> When we lived in Singapore we were on the 15th floor of a multi storey block but this did not save us from the flying cockroaches:eek2:
> We had a little Malay girl who cleaned forus and she used to catch them, kill them carefully and put them in a bowl in our fridge. At the end of the day the bowl would be full and she took it home and her family had fried cockroaches and rice for dinner.


We would have done it through this world without this small piece of info...


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

lucibv said:


> We would have done it through this world without this small piece of info...


:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
As a matter of fact my sister and I were invited to a Malay wedding and the meal was lots of courses of little dishes. At about the 7th course we had no idea what we had eaten to that point although everything was delicious. We then had batter balls with a lovely succulent white meat and we asked what the meat was. Turned out it was cockroach
Believe it or not it was really tasty. However we then kept to the veg dishes after that and wondered what on earth we had eaten up to that point


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## lucibv (Jul 14, 2014)

Geez... Really, I don't wanna know more  I would try almost anything to eat, but bugs...

(Offtopic: ) Oh, btw, I got my grant letter today morning, Canberra, here we come!!!!!!


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## Baywatch (Mar 30, 2014)

lucibv said:


> Geez... Really, I don't wanna know more  I would try almost anything to eat, but bugs...
> 
> (Offtopic: ) Oh, btw, I got my grant letter today morning, Canberra, here we come!!!!!!


Everyone who goes to a Chinese restaurant in Europe think that this is typical Chinese food. But it is very far from the truth. It is very much adapted to our taste.

I was once in a Chinese restaurant with 90% Chinese customers and the food were totally different. Duck feet, Shark brain etc.


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## hiatusxenia (May 6, 2013)

One evening I was invited to view a friend's new retire (penthouse ) flat in Larnaca. Having taken the grand tour we sat out on the balcony to enjoy the cool night breeze. After a few minutes I realised things appeared to be flying in out of the night. Could they be little bats, I wondered? My friend replied quite unconcernedly that they were "only cockroaches". I was absolutely horrified to see these revolting things flying out of the evening air and in some cases, dropping, onto the balcony. Until that moment I had only seen them on the ground, lurking in dark kitchen cupboards or in the bathroom - and they were bad enough. These looked absolutely huge and even after 20 years back in the UK I have never got over my horror of them.


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

So I infer that if they'd just been bats that would have been OK but because they were cockroaches they become revolting and cause long lasting horror.

Would I be correct in assuming that a cockroach has never caused you any harm or threat?

Pete


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## hiatusxenia (May 6, 2013)

PeteandSylv said:


> So I infer that if they'd just been bats that would have been OK but because they were cockroaches they become revolting and cause long lasting horror. Would I be correct in assuming that a cockroach has never caused you any harm or threat? Pete


Yes, I think can withstand almost anything but cockroaches.


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