Tuesday's Quiz: Dung Beetles

Because it is Thanksgiving week, our quiz is centered on one of the bugs for which we might be most thankful: the dung beetle. Perhaps you had not thought to give thanks for these lowly creatures. In a Newsweek article published earlier this year, it is noted that dung beetles, although nowhere near as photogenic as Polar Bears, deserve a place in our hearts. Without them, life would be much smellier. See how you do on this quiz, then find answers in tomorrow's blog.

1. Dung beetles, known to ancient Egyptians as "scarabs," were deified in that culture because:

a. Gold-plated, they became a jewelry item for pharaohs.

b. The shape of the dung beetle was found in astrological formations.

c. Dung beetles were an important part of the Egyptian diet.

d. The way dung beetles roll dung balls reminded Egyptians of the movements of the sun.

2. Dung beetles are found on every continent except

a. Africa

b. Antarctica

c. Australia

d. Asia

3. Female dung beetles lay eggs in

a. dung

b. loose soil

c. seed pods

d. nesting mounds

4. Dung beetles are important to agriculture because

a. They aerate and fertilize the soil.

b. They recycle animal droppings.

c. They keep other insects from overpopulating.

d. all of the above

5. Dried dung beetles (qianglang) are used by Chinese herbalists for

a. curing diseases

b. making poultices

c. an invigorating tea

d. an aphrodisiac

6. Dung beetles have been literary characters in which of the following authors' works?

a. Aesop and Aristophanes

b. Kafka and Poe

c. Wodehouse and Faulkener

d. all of the above

7. Dung beetle larvae feed on

a. dung

b. other dung beetles

c. soft plant matter

d. a special food created and stored by male dung beetles

8. Dung beetles have the ability to roll balls of dung weighing

a. 10 times their weight

b. 20 times their weight

c. 50 times their weight

d. 100 times their weight

Answers appear in tomorrow's blog, along with a link to a dung beetle video.

Tuesday's Quiz: Bees

This week's quiz takes on your knowledge of bees. See how much you know about these industrious insects, then check your answers in tomorrow's blog.

1. What ancient civilization used honey as currency, then later used the image of the bee minted into coins?

a. Egyptian

b. Babylonian

c. Roman

d. Sumerian

2. A single colony of honey bees can contain how many individuals?

a. 5,00-6,000

b. 10,000-15,000

c. 20,000-80,000

d. 120,000-150,000

3. What do adult worker honeybees do their first week on the job?

a. clean the hive

b. feed the young

c. make and repair wax cells

d. guard the hive

4. An Australian bee, called a "karbi," has an unusual way of dealing with intruders. What do they do?

a. Intruders are stacked in cells where they wait to be eaten by young bees.

b. Guards cooperate to grasp the intruders' limbs and stretch them to their full extent for an hour.

c. Intruders are paralyzed and used like hockey pucks.

d. Guard bees take intruders to the nearest body of water and hold their heads under water.

5. Fifteen of our 50 states hail the European honey bee as the official state insect. Which of the following states are included in these fifteen?

a. California and Arizona

b. Nebraska and New Jersey

c. Oregon and Idaho

d. Hawaii and Alaska

6. How many bees would it take to equal the weight of one M&M's plain chocolate candy?

a. 3-4

b. 5-6

c. 7-8

d. 9-10

7. How much does a queen bee have to eat each day to produce 2,000 eggs?

a. 5 times her weight

b. 20 times her weight

c. 50 times her weight

d. 80 times her weight

8. What is the average life span of a queen bee?

a. 7-8 weeks

b. 3-4 months

c. 10-12 months

d. 2-8 years

Tuesday's Quiz: Good Bugs

Today's quiz tests your knowledge of insects that can be beneficial around the garden. Some are more familiar than others. The hope is that we'll all take a second look at some of the "good bugs" out there and give them a chance to help the ecological balance in our yards.

1. Which of these is considered a "good bug" - they kind that eats more destructive bugs?

a. Gypsy moth

b. praying mantis

c. aphids

d. mosquitos

2. Ground beetles are "good bugs" because they:

a. aerate the soil

b. pollinate flowers and fruit trees

c. eat slugs

d. help clean stagnant water

3. How many unhelpful bugs does an average ladybug eat in its lifetime?

a. 1,000

b. 3,000

c. 5,000

d. 10,000

4. Beneficial nematodes are what kind of bug?

a. microscopic parasites

b. tiny larvae that eat harmful insects

c. small flying insects that cross-pollinate

d. aquatic insects that filter water

5. Earthworms are some of nature's most efficient composters. In what kind of soil do they thrive?

a. Sandy soil

b. Heavy clay

c. Moist soil

d. Alkaline soil

6. Which of the following are plants that attract good bugs?

a. parsley and sage

b. rosemary and thyme

c. hostas and agapanthas

d. roses and gardenias

7. How do wasps help destroy destructive bugs?

a. They sting grasshoppers and locust.

b. They lay eggs on caterpillars, and the larvae then eat the caterpillars.

c. They build nests near water, then feed on mosquito larvae.

d. They emit an odor that is offensive to slugs.

Tuesday's Quiz: Spiders!

Just in time for Hallowe'en, we present Tuesday's Quiz with a focus on spiders this week. Are they the scariest bugs? Certainly one of the creepiest! Test your knowledge of arachnids today and find the answers in tomorrow's blog.

1. How many spider species have been identified worldwide?

a. 1,600

b. 16,000

c. 3,700

d. 37,000

2. Of the many spider species in San Diego County, how many deliver poisonous bites?

a. 2

b. 4

c. 6

d. 8

3. Where would you find the largest spiders in the world?

a. Africa

b. Australia

c. South America

d. Asia

4. The spider pictured above is a Wolf spider, fairly common in North America and often mistaken for the Brown Recluse spider. What distinguishes a wolf spider from a brown recluse?

a.  Brown Recluse are bigger

b. Wolf spiders are nocturnal

c. Brown Recluse have a distinctive marking behind the head

d. Wolf spiders have more eyes

5. The largest family of spiders is 

a. Jumping spiders

b. Orb-weaving spiders

c. Trapdoor spiders

d. Tarantulas

6. The best way to avoid spider bites is to

a. Wear strong perfume

b. Wear shoes outdoors

c. Keep doors closed

d. Hang garlic around your neck

7. Which of the following is false?

a. all spiders are arachnids

b. all arachnids are spiders

c. arachnids do not have antennae

d. Daddy-longlegs are not spiders

8. If you were a spider, how high could you jump, proportionately?

a. 85 feet

b. 130 feet

c. 260 feet

d. 350 feet

Tuesday's Quiz: Weird Insect News

Today's quiz features odd and interesting news items related to insects from all over the world. So have fun today and look for answers to these questions in tomorrow's blog.

1. A French arts collective recently unveiled their latest creation: a 50-foot mechanical arachnid placed strategically on the side of one of Liverpool's biggest buildings. The three-story spider is called:

a. Big Mamma

b. Spot

c. Ringo

d. La Princess

2. On September 3, a Japanese temple burned to the ground when one of the monks accidentally dropped a torch he had fashioned for the purpose of ridding the temple of:

a. cockroaches

b. hornets

c. spiders

d. rats

3. PETA gave an award to a teacher in Eagle Rock, California last spring for what classroom innovation?

a. appointing an insect monitor to prevent the squashing of bugs

b. a science experiment that led to a humane mouse trap

c. relocating a bee hive that had formed outside the classroom

d. studying the habits of ants in an effort to help them multiply

4. A New Jersey man recently blew up his apartment, destroying 80% of the home.  What was he doing?

a. spraying for roaches

b. using fire crackers to scare rodents

c. mixing homemade insecticide in his kitchen sink

d. chasing a rat

5. Customs agents in Philadelphia, alerted by noises inside an overseas package, inspected the parcel and found what inside?

a. Pet roaches from Madagascar

b. Baby mice from New Brunswick

c. Giant beetles from Taiwan

d. Honey bees from Ghana

6. A recent article gives evidence of a variety of ants native to Brazil that have been observed doing something heroic. What are they doing?

a. the ants join together to carry drowning beetles to safety

b. individual ants perform a kind of ant-CPR on the queen if she is in danger

c. several older ants sacrifice themselves by covering the entrance to their nest

d. worker ants form a chain that enables weaker ants to return to the nest

7. A fossilized dragonfly from 250 million years ago was found to have a wingspan of

a. 12 cm

b. 28 inches

c. 15 mm

d. 3 feet

Tuesday's Quiz: Flea Hoppin'

Although the  cooler weather means fewer fleas, we are still getting plenty of calls for flea control. Here is a quick quiz to test  your knowledge of these jumpy, itchy critters. The answers will appear in tomorrow's blog.

1. The official title of an expert on fleas is a

a. Fleaologist

b. Ichthologist

c. Pullicologist

d. Dermatologist

2. Female fleas can lay up to how many eggs per day?

a. 20

b. 50

c. 100

d. 150

3. Diseases spread by fleas include:

a. Plague

b. Tapeworm

c. Murine Typhus

d. all of the above

4. The most common type of flea is the

a. dog flea

b. cat flea

c. rat flea

d. sand flea

5. Fleas have been known to jump up to how many inches?

a. 5"

b. 13"

c. 18"

d. 25"

6. Flea eggs hatch in about 

a. 2 days

b. 5 days

c. 10 days

d. flea eggs don't hatch

7. The best method of flea control is

a. vacuuming

b. topical pet applications

c. chemical sprays

d. prevention

8. Pre-emergent or pupal fleas can lie dormant for how long?

a. up to 30 days

b. up to 60 days

c. up to 100 days

d. up to 150 days

Check your answers in tomorrow's blog!

Insect Trivia Quiz

For our quiz today, we have taken factoids from various sources to make up a general pest trivia quiz. Answers to the questions below will be available in tomorrow's blog. Have fun!

1. Which insect is listed as the animal (not just insect!) responsible for the most human deaths world-wide?

a. mosquito

b. flea

c. tsetse fly

d. Africanized honey bee

2. Which insect was responsible for killing 1/3 of the population of Europe in the 14th century?

a. mosquito

b. flea

c. tsetse fly

d. bedbug

3. According to City Ordinance #352 in Pacific Grove, California, it is a misdemeanor to kill or threaten which of these insects:

a. ladybug

b. butterfly

c. dragonfly

d. honey bee

4. Crickets "hear" through their

a. thorax

b. elbows

c. knees

d. all of the above

5. How long can a cockroach live without a head?

a. up to one hour

b. up to one day

c. up to one week

d. up to one year

6. How long can an adult bedbug survive without eating?

a. up to one hour

b. up to one day

c. up to one week

d. up to one year

7. Which insects are the fastest?

a. dragonflies

b. honey bees

c. cockroaches

d. common house flies

Cockroach Quiz

Today's Tuesday Quiz will test  your knowledge of one of our least welcome pests: Cockroaches. If you have been following this blog, you already know how quickly they can multiply.  Now try some cockroach questions that may help keep these common pests at bay.

1. Cockroaches and beetles may look alike, but they have different habits and attributes. Which of the following are common only to cockroaches?

a. Cockroaches make a clicking sound when disturbed.

b. Cockroaches are related to lady bugs.

c. Cockroaches have membranous wings.

d. Cockroaches feed on plants and fungi.

2. Cockroaches are nocturnal. They like to hide in narrow, warm, dark places. How small a hole can an adult German cockroach fit into?

a. 1/32 of an inch

b. 1/16 of an inch

c. 1/8 of an inch

d. 1/4 of an inch

3. Cockroaches sometimes glue their egg cases underneath furniture, in appliance motors, or under kitchen shelves or drawers. What is another name for cockroach egg cases?

a. hepa

b. oothecae

c. larvaettes

d. pronotum

4. The difference between German and Oriental cockroaches is:

a. German cockroaches prefer cooler weather and live mostly outdoors.

b. Oriental cockroaches are larger and darker in color.

c. German cockroaches can fly.

d. all of the above.

5. In controlling an infestation of cockroaches, which of these methods are most critical?

a. sanitation and exclusion

b. trapping and baiting

c. exclusion and spraying

d. spraying and baiting

6. Monitoring stations help identify where the origin of an infestation of cockroaches is located. Where is the best place to put monitoring stations?

a. in the backs of cabinets in the kitchen

b. behind refrigerator

c. all corners of rooms

d. all of the above

7. What is one of the inherent problems with effective chemical control of cockroaches?

a. not putting enough chemical in place

b. chemicals evaporate and become useless

c. cockroaches form a resistance to chemicals used frequently or improperly

d. chemicals can't sterilize cockroaches, so they continue to reproduce

8. Which of the following diseases can be spread by cockroaches?

a. Salmonella

b. Hepatitis

c. Staphylococcus

d. all of the above

Answers to today's quiz will be posted in tomorrow's blog.

Rodent Quiz

Here is a timely quiz, not just because it is the Year of the Rat, according the the Chinese calendar, but because we are at the end of summer here in San Diego. As the nights get colder, rodents look for harborage indoors. The more you know about rodent habits, the less likely you are to find them harboring with you. The answers to today's quiz will appear in tomorrow's blog.

1. Rats make up for their poor eyesight with a keen sense of

a. smell

b. touch

c. hearing

d. all of the above

2. Rodents can squeeze through small openings. How small an opening can a rat fit through?

a. 1/4 inch

b. 1/2 inch

c. 1 inch

d. 2 inches

3. About how far does the average rat travel to find food?

a. 50 feet

b. 50 yards

c. 300 feet

d. 300 yards

4. The best protection against rodent infestation is

a. baiting

b. trapping

c. exclusion

d. electric fences

5. Plague is a rodent-borne disease. How many cases of plague are reported each year in the United States?

a. 1-2

b. 10-15

c. 20-30

d. 50-100

6. Rats are naturally wary of new objects or odors. This behavior is called

a. neophobia

b. odophobia

c. zenophobia

d. exophobia

7. Placing a piece of dental floss on the treadle of a snap trap may be effective because:

a. mice practice impeccable dental hygiene.

b. mice are compulsive collectors of odd items

c. the dental floss gives off a scent which is pleasing to rodents

d. rodents are always seeking nesting materials

8. One difference in the habits of rats and mice is that

a. rats carry fleas, but mice don't

b. mice will not infest a home

c. rats love peanut butter

d. mice are more inquisitive than rats

Again, most of the answers are easily Googled. Try to answer without help. Answers appear tomorrow.

Tuesday's Quiz: Test Your Ant IQ

We here at Centurion Pest Control think the more people know about bugs, the fewer they'll have to deal with. Hence, a new weekly feature on the blog: Tuesday's Quiz. Each Tuesday we'll test your Ento-IQ, with the answers to the quiz available in Wednesday's blog. You could probably Google the answers in about 5 minutes, but where's the fun in that? Instead, use the 24 hours between questions and answers to think through the questions logically and see how you do the next day. Or maybe use the quiz as a family activity, so everyone in the household gains a little more information about the bugs that bug us. Hopefully, as you learn more about the habits of these pesky invaders, it will help keep them out of your home and back in the wild where they belong.

Since yesterday's blog was on ants, the quiz today will stretch your knowledge of the characteristics of ants. Have fun!

1. Ants are close relatives of which of these bugs:

a. fleas and ticks?

b. mosquitoes?

c. bees and wasps?

d. aphids?

2. About how many species of ants are there in California?

a. 20

b. 200

c. 50

d. 500

3. Ant baits attract ants, inviting them to feed on poisonous bait and take it back to their nest. How do the ants take the bait to their colony?

a. Small particles of bait adhere to their legs and antennae, then transfer to other ants.

b. Foraging ants carry pieces of bait, often bigger than the ants themselves, back to the nest.

c. Like an ant STD, poisonous bait is transfered during mating.

d. Ants eat the bait, then regurgitate it to feed ants back at the nest.

4. Some ants leave a trail for others to follow. What is the name of the substance they leave behind?

a. Pheromone Trail

b. Honeydew Trail

c. Lipid Trail

d. Sweat Trail

5. What are ants most likely doing when they are walking around?

a. searching for a food source

b. searching for a mate

c. searching for their colony

d. searching for wi-fi

6. The "Queen" of the ant colony is...

a. waited on by the other ants, who bring her food.

b. distinguished by a crown-like appendage on the head.

c. more like a slave or prisoner than a queen.

d. too small to be seen by the human eye.

7. The best way to tell if you have Odorous House Ants is to...

a. smell the trail they leave.

b. put out foul-smelling bait.

c. look for an exceptionally large thorax.

d. squish one to find out if it smells bad.

Find answers to the quiz in tomorrow's blog.