Interesting Facts About Pests

8 Things You Probably Don’t Know

There are several interesting and unique facts about common pests that may intrigue you. Below are a few of them that will blow your mind.

1. Termites

These are the only social insects without a complete metamorphosis, like what moths and butterflies have. Expert pest control company refers Termites as “silent destroyer”. They may be harmful to your home, but they can also be beneficial to the environment. They play a vital role in the decomposition of the earth’s tough plant fibres. 

These pests spend the greater part of their life cleaning other termites in the colony. They spend a significant amount of time grooming each other to prevent fungal and bacterial infections. A termite’s antennae enable it to detect infections as they clean.

2. Cockroaches

Did you know that a cockroach can live up to 1 week without its head, two weeks without water, and a month without food? That’s right.

Also, cockroaches can run as fast as 2 miles an hour. They can eat pretty much anything they find. But they prefer sugar and sweet foods. In nature, they’re useful because they consume organic waste, not in your homes though. 

Cockroaches also like to be touched. They are thigmotropic, which means their bodies like coming into contact with solid objects.  They sort of want to be loved. 

3. Ants

Ants display spectacular behavior by using their head to protect their colonies from harm. They are also able to carry objects 50 times their body weight. It is believed that over 130 million years ago, ants lived alongside the dinosaurs. 

4. Bed Bugs

Bed bugs are a menace in our homes. They inject anesthetics and anti-coagulants into your skin before they feed. Then they hide before you realize they bit you. A bed bug’s saliva acts as an anesthetic that masks the bite and increases the speed at which it feeds on your blood.

Did you know bed bugs feed off avian and mammalian blood? They are like vampires. They can live for a few months without a blood meal. If you thought starving them was the solution, think again. Consider a much extreme strategy to get rid of bed bugs from your house. 

Generally, the crunchy sound you hear when you crash a bug is a result of their skeleton on the outside. Their skeleton is made of a material like our fingernails and hair which is a bit rough and hard.

5. Spiders

While almost all spiders are venomous, most spider’s teeth either lack the potency of venom to harm people or are too small. It’s not a spider’s venom and fangs that scare people off. Turns out spiders move in a way that isn’t so different from machines.

Mechanically speaking, a spider’s limbs move exactly like the common construction site excavator. They can control the flow of blood in their limbs by combining extensor muscles in three hip joints with hemolymph (arthropod blood). This also helps in movement and jumping especially for jumping spiders.

6. Bees

When queen bees are dying, they emit pheromones that make them smell like stranger bees. In so doing, all the worker bees in the colony form a ball and kill her. They immediately create a new queen from existing larvae. 

Honey bees don’t always die after a sting. A bee stinger could get caught in human skin because it is very tender. It’s not the case with animals because their skins are tougher. So no, a bee doesn’t always die when it stings. Despite the violent behavior, bees are community-driven.

7. Houseflies

The taste receptors of flies called chemosensillar are found in their legs. When flies land on their potential meal, it walks around to taste before it eats. Flies don’t chew food thus live on a liquid diet.

 Once they’ve tasted their food, they vomit their digestive juices onto it which is then broken down into small pieces that they can eat.

8. Mosquitoes 

Have you ever noticed mosquitoes around your ankles and feet especially when wearing sandals or on bare feet? Smelly sweaty feet attract mosquitoes towards you. Mosquito’s sense of smell is greater than their sight. Deodorants, perfumes, soaps among others also attract them.

Conclusion 

Whether pests intrigue or scare you, the above facts could come in handy when you want to get rid of them from your home. For effective results, contact the pros to handle any pest-related issues you have.