The Natural History of Foster City, California

by James K. Sayre

a draft manuscript

12 May 2005

Chapter 20: Indoor things: molds, mildews, insects and others

A short list of indoor critters: Ants, Argentine; Flour moths; House flies; Spiders; molds; mildews;

The .i.Argentine ant;, .i.Urudintrnex humilis;, has been in America for over one hundred years. The common House fly is Musca domestica. The common European earwig is Forticula auricularia.

Many small parts of the outdoor natural world manage to find their way into our homes. Even the bathtub has an interesting set of life forms and chemical deposits. If one only showers in the bathtub, stands regularly in one spot, and does not regularly scour the inside surfaces, an interesting pattern of soap scum and residual dirt develops on the floor of the tub: an inner clean area in the shape of a ellipse, surrounded by a layer of grayish scum.

The yellow-orange scum that occurs in the uncleaned toilet bowl is probably a colony of bacteria. It cannot live constantly submerged in water, although it obviously enjoys a somewhat wet environment. It must be able to get nutrition from urine that is periodically put into the toilet bowl.

End.

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