Scorpions are practically impossible to kill. Control measures: Boards, stones, wood piles and similar harborage sites should be removed from around the house. Firewood and lumber should be stored off the ground. During dry weather, scorpions may be attracted to wet burlap bags spread on the ground around the house and then killed by crushing with a heavy object. Eliminating insect populations from around the house helps because it removes the scorpion's food source. Caulking or other means of closing cracks under and around doors and windows is advised. Ducks and chickens maintained in the yard around a house will eliminate most scorpions. Applying a barrier strip of residual pesticide around the house helps repel scorpions. Spray the ground from the foundation out about 10 feet and the foundation from the ground up about 2 feet. Particular attention should be paid to treating weep holes in brick veneer and around basement window wells. Use one of the following: bendiocarb (FicamŽ), carbaryl (SevinŽ), chlorpyrifos (DursbanŽ), cyfluthrin (TempoŽ), deltamethrin (DeltaGardŽ), diazinon, permethrin (PreludeŽ) or propoxur (BaygonŽ). Follow label instructions. Attics, wall voids and crawl spaces are best treated with a dust formulation of one of these pesticides. Residual sprays into cracks and crevices also help.

Scorpion stings: All scorpions have poison glands located in the bulbous last segment of the abdomen, which ends in the stinger. Scorpions rarely sting humans except when pinned against the skin. The sting of the striped scorpion usually results in a localized painful swelling and discoloration at the sting site. The effect lasts only for a few hours and has been described as being similar to a bee or wasp sting. The centipedes, or hundred-legged-worms, are the closest relatives of the true insect. Most centipedes are predaceous, feeding mainly on insects.

Description: The centipedes, as a group, are considered beneficial. However, some of the species, especially the larger ones, which may reach a length of 18" in the tropics, can inflict very painful bites upon humans. Centipedes are usually brownish, flattened, elongate animals, having many body segments with one pair of legs per segment. Centipedes are worm-like in form, with a distinct head that possesses a pair of antennae. The legs are conspicuous, numbering from 15 to 100 pairs. In spite of the large number of walking appendages, centipedes crawl very rapidly. They range in length from 1 to 8 inches in the U.S.

Hazards: All centipedes have venom glands. The jaws of the smaller species normally cannot easily penetrate human skin. However, even the house centipede can pierce the skin and cause severe pain with some swelling at the site of the bite. The larger centipedes found in the southern states cannot inject enough poison to be dangerous to humans, although their strong jaws may tear the skin. They are commonly regarded as venomous and generally feared. Centipedes have powerful poison claws, the maxillipeds are the appendages of the first body segment behind the head. Large insects are quickly killed when the poison claws of a large centipede close upon them.

Habits/Life History: Centipedes may be found in damp locations, such as under leaves, rotten logs, stones, or boards. They run swiftly when disturbed. Centipedes prey on many species of arthropods, earthworms, snails, and other small animals, killing them with poison. Centipedes are long-lived, some species living as long as 5 or 6 years. Egg laying occurs in spring and fall. Eggs are laid in masses of 10 to 50 in the soil. Most centipedes guard the eggs and new youth. The immature stage (larva) hatches from the egg. The young have fewer pairs of legs, adding more legs as they pass through several larval stages. There are also several adolescent stages, which appear similar to the adult stage, before maturity. This development takes up to 3 years.

House Centipede: The house centipede has a very strange appearance. It often invades houses, particularly if subfloor areas or basements are damp. It searches for insects at night. The house centipede is 1-1.5 inches long, greyish, with 3 longitudinal dorsal stripes and 15 pairs of extremely long legs, which hold the body off the surface. The antennae and the last pair of legs are each nearly twice the length of the body itself. This centipede lays eggs singly and can reproduce within the house unlike other centipedes. It has spread from Mexico to all states. It occurs only indoors in the northern states. A common source of centipedes in the home is under the bark of old firewood with loose bark. As with other predators (spiders, pseudo scorpions), elimination of their food source helps to eliminate the nuisance. Dry out basements and seal cracks. Chemical treatments for controlling the house centipede are limited to thorough indoor treatment. Apply insecticide to baseboard crevices, cracks, or openings in concrete slabs and other hiding places, paying particular attention to damp areas.

Bites: Many species of centipedes can inflict venomous wounds on humans, but these are seldom serious. Wounds caused by centipedes should be disinfected and a physician should be consulted.

Spiders - While spiders are beneficial in that they feed on various insects, there are at least two in Texas that are dangerous to man. One is the black widow. It is a shiny black with a red hour glass design under the abdomen. This spider makes an irregular web in piles of trash and lumbers. She is timid and will not usually bite unless handled. The other is the brown recluse; its dark violin-shaped marking is distinctive. It is also a timid spider and seldom seen since it lives in undisturbed areas inside buildings (under the basement steps, unused clothing, etc.), or outside under rocks, piles of tires, under houses or under loose tree bark. The bite of the black widow is very painful, while the bite of the brown recluse can cause a spreading ulcer that is slow to heal and can leave a scar. Suspected bites should be treated promptly by a physician and the identification of the spider confirmed - your county Extension agent can help.

Control - Control fleas on pet dogs and cats greatly reduces the problem on man. Vacuuming pet resting areas at least twice a week in the house reduces all flea stages in the carpet and flooring. Aerosol sprays can be used to fumigate infested rooms. The inclusion of methoprene, a growth regulator, with an insecticide is the best combination for long control. Methoprene is slow in its action since it does not kill (the insecticide usually with it will give a quick kill), but stops the growth of the flea. This is a very safe and effective long-term control method. Outside various formulations of chlorpyrifos (Dursban), diazinon or Sevin can be used in the yard. Read the label carefully for proper use. For outdoor control of chiggers and ticks, personal protection from a repellent is often the most practical due to the wide spread areas in which they are found. Repellents containing "deet" (N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide) are available under many brand names. Application to the skin or clothing will usually give several hours protection. Those with a higher percentage active ingredient usually last longer, but also often cost more. Permethrin (Permanone by brand name) comes as an aerosol and is applied to the clothing only. It is effective in repelling and killing chiggers and ticks. Using "deet" on the skin and permethrin on the clothing seems to give the best protection, although either alone is effective. Open sunlit areas where the grass is cut short discourages ticks and chiggers because these areas are not humid enough for their survival. Formulations of a chlorpyrifos EC (Dursban) or diazinon can be used in yards and other high-use areas to kill chiggers and ticks. Reduce spiders by removing piles of wood and trash close to inhabited areas. Spot-treat infested areas with a propoxur (Baygon) aerosol or diazinon. You should plant a bermuda lawn from seed using one of the hybrid types such as Sahara or Cheyenne. Sow seeds NO EARLIER than May and water three times a day for 5 - 7 days until the seed sprouts. You can apply a pre-plant, starter fertilizer formulation before you seed the bermuda.You should be able to find all of the gardening information you need on PLANTanswers. To begin with, look under the "Publications" section at site:
aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu...
for the spring gardening information you need. For more personal information, contact my good friend Weldon Riggs, County Extension Agent for Atascosa County in Jourdanton at 830-769-3066. Please let me know soon.I hope this information finds you well and still alive!?!?!?!?!!?