1. The animal (not just the insect, the animal!) responsible for the most human deaths world-wide is (a) the mosquito. Some of the diseases mosquitos can transmit include malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, and locally West Nile virus (a type of encephalitis). To read more about mosquitos, West Nile virus, and how to avoid mosquito bites, see our previous blogs here. To watch an entertaining video clip from Dirty Jobs on mosquito control, click here.
2. The insect responsible for killing 1/3 the population of Europe in the 14th century was (b) the flea. Fleas - mostly traveling via rats - transmitted Bubonic plague, otherwise known as Black Death, killing millions of people in Europe. Thanks to antibiotics, plague can be treated today, but it has not disappeared from the planet. The World Health Organization still lists 1,000 - 3,000 cases of plague every year. Another good reason to control wild rodents and fleas in urban areas.
3. We are not sure why Pacific Grove, California has a city ordinance making it a misdemeanor to kill or threaten (b) butterflies, but we think it sounds like a lovely place to live. Ladybugs are more useful in the yard, and honey bees are endangered in some areas - but please don't kill the butterflies!
4. Crickets actually have a pair of "ears" on their (c) knees. In fact, another acceptable answer would be (b) elbows - as the "tympanum" or ear is a tightly stretched membrane which acts as a sound receptor on the cricket's front legs. Ears on knees (or elbows if you prefer) enable the female cricket to "hear" the chirping sound made by male crickets rubbing their forewings together to attract a mate. Chirp sounds are different for various cricket species, allowing them to find the right mate.
5. An adult cockroach can live up to (c) one week without a head. In fact, cockroaches might be able to survive headless even longer, but they need a mouth to drink water. Keep this in mind if you have to deal with a cockroach infestation: they need water!
6. An adult bedbug can live up to (d) one year without food. But the food they want is you! This makes them one of the insect world's best survivors. For more about bedbugs, click here.
7. The Michael Phelps of the bug world is (a) the dragonfly. Clocked at speeds from 50-60 miles per hour, they are the fastest of insects. This means that although it may be legal to threaten or kill a dragonfly in Pacific Grove, you would have to catch one first!
1 comment:
I can help with #3.
Pacific Grove, CA is where Monarch butterflies come to spend the winter. Like the swallows to San Juan Capistrano, the butterflies migrate en masse to Pacific Grove every year. The trees here are thick with Monarchs from October until Valentine's Day. Thus, it's againt the law to bother them while they're here.
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