Bug Blog
The Hummingbird Moth
The hummingbird moth flies and moves just like a real hummingbird. Similarly, they can remain suspended in the air in front of a flower while they open up their long tongues and insert them in flowers to drink the nectar (some of the pollen that gets stuck to their upper body transfers to the flower). And again, they even emit an audible hum like hummingbirds. These little moths do actually look like a hummingbird except it has six legs, antennae and a proboscis (tubular mouthparts used for feeding and sucking). They tend to live in open woodlands, gardens and meadows, and are very good pollinators. There are two types of hummingbird moths that live in the Canada: the Snowberry Clearwing and the Hummingbird Clearwing. They are called clearwings because they have clear areas on their wings that look like panes of stained glass windows. When they hatch, the entire wing has scales on it but after the first flight attempt, the scales fall off revealing the clear patches. The theory is that the clear wings mimic the appearance of bees, wasps and hornets, so that predators will not bother them. These guys are day-flying moths, where most moths come out at night.
gogreenpestcontrol.ca Ladner Tsawwassen Delta B.C. Randy Bilesky BsF CPA
gogreenenvironmental.ca
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/hummingbird-moth-randy-bilesky/?published=t
http://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/blog-the-hummingbird-moth-1.23285703
Plerergate Honey Pot Ants
The role of honey ants is quite simple, get immense, plump and succulent. They become fuel tanks of the colony. It starts when workers bring them food and they gorge themselves, their abdomens become bloated with the liquid and they look like honey pots. This condition is called plerergate and their bloated bellies can reach the size a cherry tomato. The food is stored in the form of water, liquids and body fats. These inflatable honey pots are usually found deep in the nest, hanging upside down from nests ceilings. Once the pleregated ants are completely puffed-up, they become immovable. Now depending on the type ant, the plerergate will martyr itself and are totally eaten by its fellow ants, or they just spit open and disperse the sugary solution. In the case where the plerergate is used a gas station, the workers simply stoke its antennae and this triggers it to regurgitate its bounty. Honey ants are usually found in hot desert areas or in very dry – yet cool woodlands. They are edible, as the liquid has a very sweet taste and regarded as a charming dessert.
gogreenpestcontrol.ca Ladner Tsawwassen Delta B.C. Randy Bilesky BsF CPA
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/plerergate-honey-pot-ants-randy-bilesky/?published=t
http://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/blog-plerergate-honey-pot-ants-1.23283452
Not Your Average Pet
Many species of flower mantis are popular as pets. These mantises actually attracted more insects than the real flowers. Flower mantises are a species of praying mantis that mimic flowers, in this case, a rainforest orchid of Southeast Asia, to lure pollinating insects. Their changing colours are an example of destructive mimicry, a form of camouflage in which a predator’s colours and patterns bait prey. Their behaviour varies, but typically involves climbing a plant, and then staying still until a prey insect comes within range. This tiny bug measures between 1 to 2 inches, when they’re first born, nymphs are mostly black and look almost like ants. When threatened, the insects raise their forewings, making themselves look larger; this is called a deimatic display. And finally, Flower Mantis is cannibalistic, as usual, the males is the one that loses its head, literally.
gogreenpestcontrol.ca tsawwassen Ladner Delta B.C. Randy Bilesky
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/flower-mantis-your-average-pet-randy-bilesky/?published=t
http://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/blog-not-your-average-pet-the-flower-mantis-1.23282792
Asian Giant Hornets – The Killer
The Asian Giant Hornets is considered the deadliest of all the hornet species. Measuring a whopping 4 cm in length, the queen can be as long as 5 cm, they have a hideous “black tooth” used for burrowing and other scary things and the queen can produce as many 2,000 offspring monsters a year. They kills over 100 people each year and injure as many as 3,000 with their powerful venomous sting. The venom carries a double punch, a sting can trigger a deadly anaphylactic reaction, causing airway closure then cardiac arrest or then venom overwhelms your red blood cells, which causes kidney failure, and death. These sting beasts are as thick as a thumb, and its MMA (mixed martial arts)-like behavior makes it a merciless raider. When the giant hornet decides to head out on a honeybee scouting mission, it recruits a horde of its fellow killers and attacks a honey hive. Not surprisingly, 30 hornets are known to kill about 35,000 bees in their bee hive in just over two hours. The Asian Giant Hornets kill the bees by splitting or tearing the bees apart with their jaws. The end game is to get to the defenceless bee larvae, which are consumed and used as feed for their own nests. And, the giant hornets are attracted to human sweat, alcohol and sweet flavors and smells.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/asian-giant-hornets-killer-randy-bilesky/?published=t
Weird Week Continues- The Brazilian Treehopper
The Treehopper has been around for nearly 40 million years. This little insect is just a prodigy of weird! It looks like some sort of helicopter insect from an alien world. The treehopper is related to the cicadas and there are over 3000 species. Their most unique feature is the helmet, which comes in a variety of interesting forms and sizes. The larvae’s primary source of food comes from the underside of leaves feeding on the sap of leaves making it a sap-sucking insect. The female treehopper has two choices when laying her eggs. She can either insert it into the plant tissue or simple lay it on the surface of the plant. In some species the females guards her eggs until they hatch, while other leave them. Some of these insect eggs are protected by ants, which care for them and in return the treehopper produces a honey-dew for them. They start off as an egg, then grow into a nymph and finally enter the adult stage. The amazing antenna-like round helmet is certainly eye-catching! While they actually look like eyes, they are simply ornamental and it is speculated that it might deter predators or provide additional sensory input.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/weird-week-continues-brazilian-treehopper-randy-bilesky/?published=t
gogreenpestcontrol.ca Ladner Tsawwassen Delta Randy Bilesky
http://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/blog-weird-week-continues-the-brazilian-treehopper-1.23278705
Ants, the original Tokubetsu Kōgekitai !
The latest addition to the suicide bomber ant species has been discovered in the jungles of Borneo. This one ant wrecking crew species will attach itself to the intruder, self-detonate and cover its enemy with toxic gunk. This kamikaze tactic or self-sacrifice (trading a life for a life) is found in social insects, such as termites and honeybees, which will fight to the death to protect the nest and territory. First discovered in the early 1930s, there are over 16 individual exploding species out there and the latest addition to the exploding ants club (Camponotus saundersi) has been discovered again in Borneo. Once one of these Tokubetsu Kōgekitai (special attack unit) ants discovers a foreign ant in their territory, they will latch onto its legs with their jaws and then squeeze their abdominal muscles so hard that they blow themselves up, spewing a gummy yellow slime over the hapless trespasser. The liquid actually ruptures out of several points of the abdomen, aimed at the enemy’s faces, maximizing the power of the irritants and immobilizing the threat. The oversized bladder that contains the destructive fluid takes up half the volume of the ant’s body, stretching from the head all the way to the abdomen. The goo is made up of numerous nauseating chemicals and strong bonding agents that permanently attach the bomber to its adversary.
gogreenpestcontrol.ca Ladner tsawwassen Delta B.C. Randy Bilesky
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ants-original-tokubetsu-k%C5%8Dgekitai-randy-bilesky/?published=t
http://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/blog-exploding-ants-club-1.23277296
ANTS – With WINGS !
If it isn’t bad enough that you may have a couple ants crawling around your kitchen or streaming into your house from the garden, but the real nightmare begins when, without notice (no posted signs), there are hundreds of flying ants coating your kitchen wall. A little background information, ants are social insects which are made up of different standings: labours, armed forces, the sovereign monarch (queen) and flying ants (reproductives). These flying ants are winged reproductives that swarm out from the nest to launch new colonies. They normally appear when the moisture content in the air is rather high and are attracted to brilliantly lit spaces. Once a queen(s) has been mated they will settle down in an appropriate location and start their own colony. Now, depending on the species of ant i.e. carpenter ants, once the colony is established, the harm to a building structure can be shocking. Did you know that ants are responsible for property damage worth up to 20 million in Canada every year and most home insurance policies don’t cover this kind of damage? Although we don’t have a lot of termites here in the lower mainland, these winged insects are often confused with flying termites, as the two pests share some likenesses. Prevention is often the best treatment and knowing the difference between the two can save you a lot of headaches. Termites have a straight, heavy waist while ants have a careworn waist. Termites have straight antennae while ants’ antennae are twisted. Ants do not shed their wings while termites do. You can be fairly certain that you’ve identified termites if you’ve also found discarded wings, especially near any windows and if you do find this – give us a call at go green pest control.ca and we will formulate a integrated pest management program tailored to your situation.
gogreenpestcontrol.ca Ladner Tsawwassen Delta B.C. Randy Bilesky BsF CPA
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ants-wings-randy-bilesky/?published=t
The new Kid on the Block for Ants – Go Green
We have been anticipating the arrive of this new weapon again our local ant problems for some time. The product is called Scorpio, a dual action ant bait which is extremely appetizing feeder with spinosad, an active ingredient that is made from naturally occurring bacterium – that is toxic to ants. It is a commercial product that works extraordinary well for indoor and outdoor applications. It kills most, if not all, the ants we experience here in Delta including carpenter ants, fire ants, pharaoh ants, pavement ants, thatching ants and odorous house ants. The key to this new solution is ants are attracted by the bait, they consume it, carry it to their nest where it is fed to other worker ants, larvae and the almighty queen(s). The colony is controlled within 1 to 2 weeks. It can be used in and around family residential buildings, institutional, commercial, schools, hospitals and on decks. Now here is the kicker, it is safe around kids and pets.
An eye on the prize –Ants of course
I know, this one is a little different but… ants like a treat after a hard day’s work. Researchers found that ants like an indulgence after working hard yet they will use restraint until the job is complete. Depending on the intensity of the tasks they performed, they allow themselves different quality rewards or treats that contained a higher or lower degree of satisfying flavours. For example, ants were given two tasks, a simple effortless one and a difficult one; the rewards for doing each task where different; with the higher valued treat for the harder task. After the ants had an opportunity to try both paths with different rewards, they repeatedly would do the harder task just to receive the higher valued reward. Just like for us, hard-earned rewards simply feel better. Similar to us humans, ants tend to prefer to eat food at the end of an ascending path rather than a descending one – therefore they value a hard-earned meal.
https://gogreenpestcontrol.ca/an-eye-on-the-prize-ants-of-course/
gogreenpestcontrol.ca Ladner Tsawwassen Delta B.C. Randy Bilesky gogreenenvironmental.ca
Bunny Ebola
Rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) is a highly infectious and fatal disease that affects wild and domestic rabbits of the species Oryctolagus cuniculus. Well now it has arrived in Delta, the disease assaults the organs and blood vessels of the rabbits, causing a lack of coordination and bleeding through the nose resulting in agonizing pain and certain death. In New Zealand and Australia rabbit hemorrhagic disease is used to kill populations of feral European rabbits that have no natural predators, domestic flies are used to spread the disease. Well what could go wrong, the control measures used there have made their way here and are affecting our rabbits, described here by veterinarians as the Bunny Ebola. Although rabbits that are native to B.C. are immune, the disease is highly contagious and can remain in the environment for weeks; our immune rabbits can carry the virus and spread it to other animals, insects and us. There is a vaccine for rabbit hemorrhagic disease that isn’t actually approved for use here, it requires emergency authorization from our government to use and it is back ordered from European suppliers.
gogreenpestcontrol.ca Ladner Tsawwassen Delta B.C. Randy Bilesky gogreenenvironmental.ca
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/bunny-ebola-randy-bilesky/?published=t
