There are always many questions people have about the pests that roam around the dark corners of your house. But often, it’s difficult to find the answers. At University Termite and Pest Control we do our best to provide the insight and information you need to understand the realistic challenges that may be facing your pest control and elimination needs. In this section of our site, we’ve gathered a range of topics and questions people have asked about pests. We’ve also provided some facts, interesting figures, amazing details and little known truths about the critters and creatures that live in and around your home.
Get the answers you seek with our fun, yet in-depth Did you know, Trivia section. See our Trivia and Insect knowledge below. More will show up all the time so be sure to come back for more!
How many different kinds of insects are there?
There are over a million species of insects. There are over 90,000 spp. of insects in North America. Insects outnumber all other animals at a rate of 4 to 1.
How many lenses are in a dragonfly’s eyes?
Dragonflies have as many as 30,000 lenses in each eye.
What is the largest butterfly?
The largest butterfly is the Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing from New Guinea (an endangered species), with a wingspan of 11 inches.
The largest moth is the Owlet moth of tropical America, with a wingspan of 18 inches.
What is the smallest butterfly?
The smallest butterfly is the blue butterfly from Africa, which has only a 1/2 inch wingspan.
What is the smallest insect?
The smallest insects are fairyflies, which are insects that parasitize or lay their eggs inside other insects’ eggs (including pest insects!). Fairyflies are only 1/5 of a millimeter long.
How fast can insects fly?
The male deer bot fly is reputed to develop flying speeds of several hundred miles per hour, but this is probably an exaggeration. A tabanid fly, related to horse flies, has been clocked at 90 miles per hour. Hawk moths have been timed at 33.5 miles per hour. A dragonfly of the species Anax parthenope has been clocked at almost 18 miles per hour. Honeybees fly at about 7 miles per hour, and have to beat their wings 190 times per second to do it.
How fast can insects flap their wings? Insects with the fastest wing beat frequency are the no-see-ums, or very tiny midges, which beat their hairy wings 1,046 times per second. Male mosquitoes beat their wings 450 to 600 times per second. Cabbageworm butterflies beat their wings nine times per second.
Which insects are the fastest runners?
The fastest runners are cockroaches, which can move almost a foot per second. However this only translates to a little over 1 mph.
Did you know…
A cockroach can live for up to a week without a head.
A typical bed usually houses over 6 billion dust mites.
Amazon ants (red ants found in the western U.S.) steal the larvae of other ants to keep as slaves. The slave ants build homes for and feed the Amazon ants, who cannot do anything but fight. They depend completely on their slaves for survival.
An adult bedbug can survive up to one year without feeding.
An infestation of head lice is called pediculosis.
Ants are social insects and live in colonies which may have as many as 500,000 individuals.
Ants don’t sleep.
Aphids are born pregnant without the benefit of sex. Aphids can give birth 10 days after being born themselves.
Australian termites have been known to build mounds twenty feet high and at least 100 feet wide.
Dragonflies are one of the fastest insects, flying 50 to 60 mph.
Each year, insects eat 1/3 of the Earth’s food crop.
In its entire lifetime, the average worker bee produces 1/12th teaspoon of honey.
Mosquitoes dislike citronella because it irritates their feet.
Mosquitoes prefer children to adults, and blondes to brunettes.
Where can I get information on importing and/or exporting insects?
There are a variety of resources on the Internet about importing and exporting insects into and out of the United States and other countries. They include:
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, International Affairs Division offers a portal to all the permit types issues by the USFS.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species provides permit information for all participating nations.
Also, the University of California-Davis Bohart Museum of Entomology offers information on how to legally collect and export insect specimens from Australia, Brazil, Germany, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, and Venezuela.
Where can I get information on rearing and caring for insects?
There are books and web sites devoted to keeping insects and arachnids. On the Web, check out Insecthobbyist.com and Petbugs.com. You may also want to search the Internet for insect “care sheets.”
What is delusory parasitosis and where can I get information about it?
Delusional parasitosis is a mistaken belief that someone is being infested by parasites such as mites, lice, and other organisms
Sources: University of kentucky (uky.edu), http://www.corsinet.com, Entomological Society of America (http://www.entsoc.org)
