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Pest Trivia

Insects

Insects are incredibly diverse, but some types are more diverse than others. There are approximately 1.6 million described species. About one-half of these species are insects and around one-third of all insect species are classified as beetles!

Ants

Some ants appear to measure distance from point A to point B by counting their steps. In an experiment on desert ants (Wittinger, Wehner and Wolf 2006), some ants had their legs artificially lengthened with tiny pig-hair "stilts" and some had their legs trimmed short. After works from a foraging column had had their leg length altered, the ones with longer legs overshot their destination while those with shorter legs did not reach it. However, the affected ants quickly adjusted and became able to compensate for their new leg length.

House Centipedes

House centipedes are quite alarming to many homeowners due to their many-legged "hairy" appearance, lightning speed and tendency to appear in unexpected areas (bathrooms). However, they are not only harmless to humans but are beneficial due to their diet of small arthropods such as flies, spiders, beg bugs, termites, silverfish and ants. Their appearance is an indicator that conditions inside the home may be favorable for their prey. Reduction or elimination of excess moisture, food and shelter should reduce their numbers.

Bat Bugs and Bed Bugs

Bat bugs are similar in appearance and behavior to bed bugs. One way to tell these insects apart is by examining the hairs on the pronotum with a dissecting scope or powerful hand lens. In bed bugs, these hairs are shorter than their eyes are wide (but longer in the bat bug).

The presence of bats in a structure could mean that a bed bug infestation is actually instead one of bat bugs. In this case, dealing with the bats first is vital — they are the primary host and their presence will provide bat bugs with an essentially unlimited food source and make elimination very difficult.

Pest Trivia