We
swat them, squish them. step on them, and generally try to rid
them from our lives. But bugs and rodents are actually quite
interesting. Termites infest 600,000 homes a year, damaging
$1 billion in property.
Cockroaches have been on earth since almost the beginning of
time. They have survived floods, fires, famines, trips into
outer space and nuclear tests.
Above all, each household pest is a potential disease carrier.
And many household pests transmit the disease organisms responsible
for a number a serious illnesses, including salmonella, dysentery,
bubonic plague and Rocky Mountain fever.
Here are some other "fascinating facts" from the insect and
rodent worlds. |
A
REAL BOOKWORM...
Cockroaches
will nibble at book-bindings, photographic film, starched
linen, leather goods, almost anything... fouling them with
strong smelling scents.
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SURVIVAL
OF THE FITTEST...
A
German cockroach can survive a month or more without food...
but less than two weeks without water.
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TALK
ABOUT BEING A GOOD PROVIDER...
In
some species of praying mantis, the female begins to eat the
male while they are mating. She starts at his head and by
the time she reaches his abdomen, mating is completed. By
becoming a nourishing meal, the father provides a supply of
food for the eggs that are his children.
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DON'T
PRESS THIS ALARM...
Never
squash a yellowjacket wasp near the nest. A dying yellowjacket
releases an alarm pheromone that alerts its comrades. In less
than 15 seconds, yellowjackets within a 15-foot radius will
rally to the victim's aid.
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BEAUTY
IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER...
Butterfly
wings are covered with tiny over-lapping scales. The beautiful,
iridescent colors are created by reflecting light, and depend
on structure, not pigment.
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MASTER
OF DISGUISE...
Caterpillars
make juicy meals for birds, so they protect themselves by
devising various disguises. Some look like bird droppings,
others disguise themselves as twigs, and some match the colors
of leaves. The eye spots on this caterpillar fools birds into
thinking it's a small snake.
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SONG
OF A CRICKET...
The
song of the field cricket is temperature dependent; the tone
and tempo drop with the drop in temperature. Count the chirps
in 13 seconds, add 40, and you will have the approximate temperature
in degrees.
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LONG
LIVE THE QUEEN!...
Queens
of some species of termites are reported to live for 50 years,
although the average age is nearer to 15. Some wood-boring
beetles have a long larval life, emerging from timber after
30 to 40 years.
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AND
YOU SHOULD SEE THAT FAMILY PORTRAIT!...
A
female house mouse gives birth to 6 young about 19 days after
mating. She is ready to mate again in two days. She can produce
6 to 10 litters a year. Each of her young is ready to mate
in two months. Remarkably, all her children, grandchildren,
great-grandchildren, and great, great-grandchildren can have
offspring in the same year. Two mice starting to breed on
New Year's Day could theoretically have as many as 31,000
descendants by December 31.
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LONG
LIVE THE QUEEN, PART TWO...
The
queen of an African termite species can grow as large as five
inches and lay as many as 30,000 eggs a day.
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ONCE EVERY SEVENTEEN YEARS IS TOO MUCH...
The
periodical cicadas of the eastern United States spend 17 years
below ground as nymphs feeding on tree roots. Then they emerge
together above ground. They change into adults, lay eggs,
and after a few weeks die. We don't see the next generation
until 17 years later.
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JACK
THE RIPPER WAS NOTHING COMPARED TO THIS INSECT...
Mosquitoes
pass on the parasite causing malaria, which kills about two
million people a year. They are likely responsible for half
the human deaths since the stone age.
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VOTED
LEAST LIKELY TO NEED A MEGAPHONE...
The
male cicada may be the loudest insect known. By vibrating
the ribbed plates in a pair of amplifying cavities at the
base of the abdomen, the mating sound of the cicada may be
heard as far as 440 yards.
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JUST
A WARM-HEARTED FELLOW...
Bumblebees
can maintain a body temperature of 86 to 98.6 degrees even
when the air is near freezing by a heat producing chemical
process in the flight muscles.
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JUMPIN'
JACK RAT...
Rats
can jump three feet straight up, and four feet outwards, from
a standing position. They can burrow three feet straight down
into the ground; chew through building materials, glass, and
cinderblock; swim 1/2 mile in open water and against current
in sewer lines; and, climb up inside the pipes with diameters
between 1-1/2 and 4 inches. A rat's teeth are so strong, it
can bite through aluminum, lead and other metals.
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THAT'S
SOME APPETITE...
Though bats are hated and feared, they may
also be the single best controller of the insect kingdom.
Bats may eat as many as 600 mosquito-size insects in an hour.
An average size bat colony may eat 1/2 million insects in
one evening.
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