While we at Spidexx Pest Control understand the frustration that comes with having insects and bugs in your home, there are some crazy and fascinating bugs out there in the world. We treat your home or business for your typical insects like spiders, ants, wasps, etc., but there are insects that we don’t handle that are either protected, outside of our location, or very rare.
Here are 15 crazy bug facts that you might not have already known:
Julia butterflies, from the western Amazon, drink turtle tears.
These butterflies feed on flower nectar, and more interestingly turtle tears. Yes, you read that right…turtle tears. They ride on the backs of turtles and irritate their eyes which produce the tears. This act is called lachryphagy.
Ants down under are not to be messed with!
The bulldog ant is the most dangerous ant on the planet and there have been multiple fatalities associated with this species. They are also called Jumper Ants, due to being known to jump towards intruders on their colony – up to seven times the length of their body. They are very aggressive and territorial.
House flies regurgitate their food and then eat it again.
They do this because they don’t have teeth, so when they throw up they're mixing the food with enzymes, helping break down the food for digestion the second time around.
Bugs make up 90% of life on Earth.
There are around 9 million species of insects that exist. That’s a lot of bugs!
Beetles are the most common species of insects.
There are around 380,000 species of beetles and they make up around 40% of all insect life on Earth.
There is only one species of insect living in Antarctica.
The Antarctic Midge is the only known insect species living in Antarctica. Its life span is only about a week.
Termites eat more when listening to rock music.
Okay, we weren’t able to confirm 100% on this one. But it appears that vibrational frequencies affect termites eating habits, and that frequencies similar to rock music (just under 3000 kHz) increase those habits. This was made popular by Snapple, and found under one of their caps around 2002.
Heads aren’t that important…if you’re a cockroach.
Cockroaches can live up to 9 days without a head!
What’s in your bed?
A single used mattress can contain up to 10 million dust mites, which feed off dead skin cells. It’s important to change those mattresses at least every 10 years.
Mites are also the oldest insects believed to still be alive.
While technically classified as arthropods, which are slightly different than insects, mites' beginnings can be traced back to 500+ million years ago.
What do ants, humans, and crows have in common?
They are the only 3 species that fight battle in formations.
Sadly, there’s another common similarity between ants and humans – slavery.
Certain species, called Slave Ants, capture ants from other colonies to increase their worker force.
Fruit flies are out of this world!
Fruit flies were the first species of insects to be sent into outer space.
The largest species of insects existed 290 to 250 million years ago.
The ancient dragonfly, called the Griffinfly, had a wingspan up to 2 ½ feet.
Male horseflies can fly up to 90 mph.
A professor at the University of Florida shot a pellet out of an air gun and the horse fly was able to catch it around 90 mph.
Share Your Bug Facts With Us
We hope you learned something new about the crazy world of insects. Please share any unique bug facts you might know with us in the comments below, and look out for part 2 coming next month! If you’re seeing bugs around your home, give us a call at (844) 922-7732.
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