What are some interesting facts about the pests that you can find in your home?
- House Centipedes
- Cockroaches
- Ants
- Termites
Pest control and termite control are services that you might call when you have an infestation in your house. Even if they do need to be eradicated, there are still a lot of interesting facts you can learn about the pests in your homes. For instance, they have distinct life cycles and unique survival instincts — factors that make them interesting and devastating at the same time. It’s fascinating to discover the many unique and intricate characteristics of common house pests, not only for your own curiosity but also to assist you in eradicating them effectively.
Check out these interesting facts about pests that are commonly found in your home.
House Centipedes
Spotting a house centipede can be quite a shock. Their numerous legs can catch you by surprise when they crawl up from the drain. To start off, their name is actually quite misleading. Centipedes are not strictly limited to having 100 legs. Some centipedes can have 15 to 177 pairs of legs. The legs are to be long and slender, which in turn makes them move at fast speeds. For female centipedes, the last pair of legs is more than twice the length of their body. This can help you distinguish their gender easily.
If you like to stay up late, you’re more likely to encounter a house centipede; this pest is a certified night owl. You’ll find them typically hiding in damp areas like your bathroom, basements, and closets. The night is their time to forage for food since they’re less likely to encounter danger during the night.
Centipedes are not dangerous to humans, but their bite can still hurt a lot. Their bites are laced with venom that can be deadly to other insects and some small mammals, but not to humans. It’s unlikely that you’ll be in danger if you receive an untimely bite from a centipede. However, in the occasion that you do get a bite, it’ll feel similar to a bee sting.
House centipedes also like to clean themselves after every meal. They spend a lot of time cleaning all their legs after a successful hunt. Their legs are their pride and joy, so it’s essential for them to clean it. They clean their legs by carefully dragging their mouth over each one.
Cockroaches
Mentioning cockroaches can make anyone’s spine tingle. These pests have been around for a very long time, and they can survive in harsh environments. They carry all kinds of bacteria, which can help spread disease. Keeping your house clean can help discourage these pests from moving in.
If you look at the diet of a cockroach, you can tell that they have no preference. They will eat anything that’s available. It can be fruit, glue, or even feces. But did you know that cockroaches are cannibals as well? The reasons for this sudden change in diet is due to two factors. Overpopulation and scarcity of food. If they have no choice, cannibalism is their other option for survival.
Cockroaches are also resistant to radiation. Their bodies can simply withstand larger amounts of radiation compared to humans because of their body structure and reduced cell cycle. Radiation levels with over 100,000 rads can definitely kill these cockroaches but their threshold of 10,000 rads allows them to survive radiation exposure.
Cockroaches happen to trigger allergies and even asthma. According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, saliva, feces and body parts of cockroaches can trigger asthma when released in the air. Cockroaches have a protein present in their body that is actually an allergen that can affect a lot of people. Be careful when cleaning up cockroach carcasses as you might catch an allergy or get asthma.
Ants
Ants are small but smart; witty and strong. Don’t be fooled by their size, ants use this to their advantage. What they lack in size, they make up with strength. This is all because of the muscles in their cross-sectional area. It fares better than their larger counterparts, allowing them to work more efficiently and carry more than 150 times their size.
Ants lack space to store a respiratory system in their body. In order to get adequate oxygen, they use spiracles which are located on the sides of their body. The spiracles have a network of tubes that distribute oxygen to their body. Movement is required so that the oxygen can flow properly while also eliminating carbon dioxide through the same network of tubes.
Termites
Termites are one of the most destructive pests you can find in your house. This is because their queens can lay 30,000 eggs per day and one single mound can be home to up to millions of termites at a time.
Termites only grow wings when necessary. When it’s time to swarm to create another colony, they’ll grow wings so that they can create a colony faster. Once the colony is finally established, they shed their wings and settle down.
Termites carry over 1,400 species of bacteria in their hind gut alone. The purpose of this is that they have no inherent ability to digest wood on their own. They rely on these microbes to convert the cellulose into usable nutrients.
Key Takeaway
Pests are strange but only because they’re mostly unknown. Before calling your termite control or pest control service, knowing some interesting facts will make them less of a mystery in the future.