Problems With Live Bugs in a Swimming Pool

Bees and Wasps

• Although bees and wasps don't survive long in water, their stingers do. According to the University of Missouri Extension, mining bees are sometimes attracted to swimming pools, and pests with painful stingers such as hornets and wasps build their nests along the edges of above-ground swimming pools. When bees and wasps end up in the water, they pose a stinging risk for swimmers, which is especially dangerous for adults and children who are allergic to bees. Wasp traps and a working filter system are essential to keeping the pool bee-free.

Dobsonfly

• Dobsonflies are pests that lay their eggs in standing water or pool water. The larvae are swimming pests that are 2 to 3 inches in size. Their presence in pools becomes a problem because they can bite swimmers if they are threatened or mishandled, according to the Ohio State University website. The bite is not dangerous and does not present a risk of infection, but it is painful. Good pool maintenance and regular chemical treatments help kill dobsonflies and prevent larvae from becoming a problem.

Water Boatmen and Backswimmers

• Water boatmen are common companions in swimming pools. These small, fast swimmers overwinter in pools unless the water is kept at a chemical level that kills them. Water boatmen are not a threat to swimmers. Backswimmers, on the other hand, are problematic, and look quite similar to water boatmen. Backswimmers, as with dobsonflies, bite. The Ohio State University website compares the feeling of the bite to a bee sting. Backswimmers can be controlled with the proper chemical treatments.

Giant Water Bug

• The giant water bug is unlikely to be present in a swimming pool unless chemical treatments are generally neglected. These pests are 2 inches long or longer and die quickly when removed from water. However, giant water bugs bite hard when handled or disturbed, and should be removed with a net or gloves to prevent painful encounters. Levels of chlorine high enough to kill insects may be damaging to swimmers, but regular chlorine shock treatments help with pest problems and avoid raising chlorine levels too high.