I’m still hung up about this apparent miracle bed bug technique I posted yesterday. This got me thinking, there’s some weird research when it comes to insects and some of the best have won awards. The epitome of strange research is rewarded with the IgNobel Prize. Here’s a breakdown of some entomology-related, award-winning research.
We need to know how arthropods behave so we can treat them better. How better to understand a mite than to collect them from a cat’s ear and then putting them in your own ear? Veterinarian Robert Lopez did that.
Australian scientists may have discovered a way to attract and trap beetles. They found that male wood-boring beetles were attracted to empty Swan beer bottles. Apparently the bottle's unique shape looked like a “super female”. To add some extra control – ants would then attack the beetles and “torn to shreds”.
Fruit flies can be a big problem in commercial and residential kitchens. Turns out, pest control professionals don’t have to use traps anymore: wine experts can smell if there is a fruit fly in a glass of wine. Unfortunately, it’s only the female flies that emit the odor.
Everyone is scared of something. Insect researchers are afraid of spiders! So are many of our pest control clients.
Speaking of arachnids, maybe we can control scorpions by getting them constipated? One species of scorpion, when it loses its tail also loses its last abdominal segment which has the last portion of the digestive tract. Males would also move slower, meaning they couldn’t find a mate as quickly.
Pests are everywhere. Including submarines. Cockroach treatments work on submarines. Full stop!
How can you tell if a cockroach is alive or dead? Obviously, you measure the magnetic field around them. Live cockroaches have an “exponential magnetic field decay” while dead ones “gave rise to a stable in time magnetic field.” Easy, right?
Our traps for pest insects are often a specific color because we know it’s attractive. If you’ve ever been bit by a horsefly, you know that you will do whatever it takes to not be bit again. Stand next to a white horse, not a dark colored one. Horse flies were attracted to darker colors.
Speaking of pain, the Schmidt Sting Pain Index had a researcher purposely get stung by multiple species of wasps and ants to determine not just which was the worst pain, but which pain lasted the longest. One researcher took this a step further and tested honey bee stings on different parts of his body. I’ll let you discover the results.
Continuing with biting insects we come to fleas. Dog fleas were able to jump higher than cat fleas (15.5 and 13.2cm respectively).
Want fewer dust mites in your home? Move to the Mediterranean or Arctic. Tropical regions had the most.
We know many of our pests have food preferences. That way, professionals can target those for control. Turns out, dung beetles have preferences too. Again, I’ll let you investigate this for yourselves!
More on preferences – mosquitoes were found to be as attracted to Limburger as to human scents.
There you have it. Weird research that may or may not be helpful to pest control. If you want someone to research for you so you can do service faster and better, contact us.
Lagniappe – a very strange species of cave psocid (book lice) the females have developed male organs and the males evolved female organs.
Urban Pest Consulting
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