Not a conclusive list, just those few that I have noticed, So lets start with the caterpillar/centipede looking thing (pictured.) Many of these to be seen, though mostly outside, and, so far as (I know, with no adverse impact on humans. Well, me, at any rate. And they seem to proliferate after rain, with little defence against fierce sun, when they can be seen shrivelled.
Ants are far more of a nuisance inside, and pretty ubiquitous, even in relatively clean environments. They come in three sizes. The largest are pretty scary-looking, but I used to think they were the most fun, as you could wave a foot in their general direction, and they would indeed appear to scurry away. However, they have a nasty bite, apparently; Aparna showed me a nasty sore on her arm.
The middle-sized ants, normal by European standards, are less prevalent, it seems to me, but I did have to fight a running battle with a line of them who were making a solid incursion, with a line descending from a high window and down the wall; I thought at first it was a dark smear of dirt, but closer inspection revealed it to be a moving line. They did not like being squirted with window cleaner, the only detergent or whatever to hand, though for a while this meant they simply moved their line of attack a few inches to one side or the other. But I was persistent, and eventually they gave up.
It is the tiny ants which are probably the most harmless, though the most ubiquitous, as they run around everywhere, even over you if you are sitting somewhere, and all over the floor. They cause a nuisance when they get into food bags, but even then they can easily be weeded out and destroyed. If I feel sorry for any, it is those who wander across one of my screens – computer, tablet, phone – who, backlit, are easy prey to my thumb.
Mosquitoes are a potential problem, but for the most part the screens across the windows seem to do a good job in keeping them out. Thugh one evening, I was unaccountably swarmed, only discovering the following morning that the cleaner, in an admirable attempt to get some air through the room, had left one window, and screen, completely open.
Which brings me to the final example, which is… I have no idea, But last night I found I was being bitten, and, unusually for me, the result was a series of large raised bumps in various places. Not a mosquito, unless it’s an invisible, silent version – a frightening thought. Not the ants, for they’ve been here all the time; why would they suddenly attack now. Something small and flying is my guess, a sort of midge. I shall have to seek advice (Aparna, probably.)
