Interesting Pest Facts

5 Oct. 2018

While pests are often seen as a nuisance, they do have some interesting qualities - some of which you may not be aware of. Here are some of our favourite pest facts:

Cockroaches

Did you know that a cockroach lives for seven days without a head? Due to their open circulatory system, & the fact that they breathe through little holes in each of their body segments, they are not dependent on the mouth or head to breathe. The roach only dies because without a mouth, it can't drink water and dies of thirst.
Cockroaches are nocturnal, therefore spend daytime hours hiding in crevices and cracks – around water and food sources such as sinks and cookers.
This pest will run up to three miles within an hour, and doesn't do bad under water either! A cockroach can hold its breath for up to 40 minutes and what’s more, it can live under water for half an hour.

Spiders

There are 35,000 species of spiders, 27 species are known to have caused human fatalities.
Some male spiders pluck their cobwebs like a guitar to attract female spiders.
Spider silk is one of the strongest natural materials on earth.

Termites

Termites cause more than $2 billion in damage each year. They damage more properties than fire, flood and storms combined.
The weight of all the termites in the world outweigh the weight of all humans 10 to 1!
Termite queens will lay up to 30,000 eggs a day, and live many years.

Ants

Ants only rest for 16 minutes a day, only 8 of which would be classed as 'sleep' - no wonder they manage to get so much work done!
If a queen dies, the entire colony will die because there will be no new workers.
There was once an ant colony that spanned over 6000 Km or 3750 miles in length.

Among all living insects, ants enjoy the longest life – they can live to around 30 years of age.

Fleas

Fleas can jump 130 times their height
A flea must pass four life stages: egg, larva, pupa and biting adult.
They feed on blood and a female flea can lay up to 2,000 eggs in her lifetime.
Typically, a flea can live for around 100 days.

Rats

Rats take care of injured and sick rats in their group.
Without companionship rats tend to become lonely and depressed.
Rats have excellent memories. Once they learn a navigation route, they won’t forget it.
A rat can go longer than a camel without having a drink of water.

Bedbugs

Bed bugs are great at hiding. They mostly hide in crevices and cracks during daytime hours. Night time is for feeding. As the darness sets in, bed bugs come out to feed on the host’s blood. They only do that when the host is asleep.

If you have an intresting fact about a pest that you would like to share please message us through our Contact Us page!