Archive for March, 2012

Insect Spotlight: Even spiders are afraid of spiders – Tri-State Neighbor

Insect Spotlight: Even spiders are afraid of spiders
Tri-State Neighbor
And we are not alone: insects fear spiders, too, although they have more to worry about than we do. Heck, even spiders are afraid of spiders. A fear of spiders, or arachnophobia, is one of the most common phobias described in humans.

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Pests in the NewsMarch 08, 2012

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Mar 6, 2012 – Ninety Nine Thump

QUESTION:

Is there a difference between a centipede and a millipede?


ANSWER:

Sorry Jodi, but I had to toss in some fun, and the question is what goes “99 thump, 99 thump” and the answer is a centipede with a wooden leg. Yes, there is a very big difference between centipedes and millipedes and it pays to be able to tell them apart before you pick one up. As it turns out, many centipedes are quite capable of inflicting a painful sting, using the venom glands located in their front pair of legs. These two legs may be mistaken for mandibles, as they are enlarged and curved and pointed at the end, and generally extend across the actual mouthparts. While the venom of a centipede is considered NOT to be life threatening to people, it can cause serious pain and in some sensitive people even a possible allergic response. 

Centipedes are predators that feed on any other small insects, earthworms, and even small rodents, lizards, or birds if the centipede is large enough. Millipedes, on the other hand, will generally feed on decaying plant materials, sometimes on green plants, and a few may be predatory. They cannot bite or sting, but this does not mean they are defenseless. Many millipedes exude a foul liquid from glands along their body when they are disturbed, and this liquid consists of a mixture of benzoquinones that serve as a very effective insect repellent, helping to keep other predatory insects away from them. This does not work against all enemies though, as the larva of one beetle in the family Phengodidae (lightning beetles) is immune to the repellent and easily burrows right into the millipede to consume it. 
To go one step further, large tropical millipedes in the family Polydesmidae actually exude hydrogen cyanide from glands along their body in quantities designed to keep from being eaten, but even potentially enough to kill a bird or rodent. 
The difference visually between millipedes and centipedes is the number of legs they have on each body segment – centipedes have 1 pair and millipedes have 2 pairs. The legs of millipedes also are generally much shorter and the result is the animal moves along more slowly and methodically. Many millipedes will roll into a coil when disturbed. Centipedes have much longer legs and can move very rapidly, helpful for a predator that needs to chase down and capture its food. In North America we have the odd “House Centipede”, and the legs on this creature, which may be 2 inches in length, are extremely long and thin. When it runs across the floor or wall in a home it looks for all the world like a feather moving along, and this is guaranteed to scare the daylights out of the homeowner. 
Some of the largest millipedes are African species that grow to 12 inches in length. Some of the largest centipedes also may be 1 foot long, and in the U.S. the Arizona Giant Centipede is probably our largest species at about 8 inches long and very wide. Despite the name “centi pede”, meaning 100 legs, the number of legs on adult centipedes ranges from 30 to over 300. 

View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.

Pest QuestionsMarch 08, 2012

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Spider mite genome sequence establishes tools to tackle resistance

Among the most difficult to , spider mites rapidly develop resistance to management pesticides.  Last year, the genome sequencing of the two-spotted spider mite was deciphered in a project led by researchers at Western University.

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Pests in the NewsMarch 07, 2012

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‘We’re in for it’: Balmy winter means more mosquitoes and crop come summer

The mild winter has been a blessing for so many cold-weary people across the United States, but it could feel more like a curse come spring and summer — thanks to a surge of mosquitoes and crop . This January and February have been among the warmest …

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Pests in the NewsMarch 07, 2012

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One bedbug dog not certified to sweep rooms – Daily Nebraskan

One bedbug dog not certified to sweep rooms
Daily Nebraskan
Tracker, a beagle mix, was due for recertification by the National Entomology Scent Detection Canine Association (NESDCA) in mid-January, but came to UNL because of the severity of the bedbug issue, said MaryLou Wick of Plunkett's Pest Control's …

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Pests in the NewsMarch 07, 2012

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Mysterious insect found at Baruch’s Library Building – Baruch College The Ticker

Mysterious insect found at Baruch's Library Building
Baruch College The Ticker
It is unknown whether the insect was a bedbug, and according to Lloyd, it is most likely that it wasn't. "There are insects that do look like bed bugs but are not," said Lloyd in an email to The Ticker. Nevertheless, he contacted [Baruch's] …

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Pests in the NewsMarch 07, 2012

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Mar 7, 2012 – Removing Their Clutter

QUESTION:

How long do wings stay on carpenter ants?

ANSWER:

We know that both termites and carpenter ants do shed their wings at some point in time, and there are a couple of reasons for this. In fact, it appears that the loss of their wings is consistent for all species of ants once they have mated. Queen ants and termites resign themselves to a life indoors after they have mated, and once they are sequestered within the chambers in wood or the soil those long wings would just be in the way. So, according to E. O. Wilson in his extraordinary book “The Ants”, “as soon as the queens are inseminated they shed their membranous wings by raking their middle and hind legs forward and snapping the wings free at the basal dehiscent sutures”. 

He goes on to add that (and again I quote from his book), “Over the coming weeks the alary muscles and fat bodies are metabolized and converted into eggs, as well as food to rear the first batch of larvae”. So, there is the primary reason the wings are lost – they are no longer needed for the “Queen” and the large muscles that operated the wings now are used as food reserves for the development of eggs and to feed the first brood of larvae. It appears that this “dealation” occurs almost immediately after the new Queen is inseminated by the male, as this causes the production of pheromones that trigger the instinct to remove the wings and for the muscles to convert to other needs. 
While winged reproductives, those males and females still loitering in the colony, are still inside the colony the Queen of that colony produces chemicals that prevent these new reproductives from mating or beginning to lay eggs, and this is why they may hang around in the colony for a whole year with their wings intact. Once they finally swarm and mate they now are free of the influence of the colony’s Queen, and their chemical changes take place. Apparently this occurs in the termites as well, so when porch lights draw thousands of swarming termites to a structure some evening the porch may be littered with thousands of wings the next morning. It seems that an orgy took place on the porch that night. 

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Pest QuestionsMarch 07, 2012

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Insect Outbreaks Kill Forests and Release Carbon

This Behind the Scenes article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation. are essential to a healthy forest environment, but bad bugs are bad news for forests. Throughout North America and the world …

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Pests in the NewsMarch 06, 2012

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Mild Winter Means More Pests – WBKO

Mild Winter Means More Pests
WBKO
Because of the mild winter, experts are predicting a much earlier invasion and larger populations of pests and bugs like mosquitoes and termites. Some local companies say they are already getting more calls than usual for this time of year.
A Warm Winter Actually Means Less Termites This SeasonThe State Journal-Register (blog)

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Pests in the NewsMarch 06, 2012

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Oldest fossilised fleas were giant, bloodsucking

The , some twice the size of modern fleas, have been dated to between 165 and 125 million years ago. Based on their anatomical features, they appear to be a mishmash of two different types of insect – fleas as we know them, and a type of insect …

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Pests in the NewsMarch 06, 2012

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