Insects – Pest Digest

November 15, 2018October 13, 2021

BEST WAYS TO GET RID OF MOSQUITOS

Mosquitoes are insect flies that suck on blood of men. These creatures have been around for millions of years already. I know, right? Talk about adaptability issues. Although what’s more alarming is how this span of time has allowed these insects to carry various types of diseases. Ever since, people in the world has been in the fight against mosquito brought sicknesses such as Malaria, Japanese Encephalitis, West Nile Virus, Filaria, chikungunya, Dengue and a lot more. Mosquitoes produce in great number for each time a female mosquito lays its eggs, and it doesn’t take long for their full life cycle to take place. They can also easily reproduce in any place where stagnant water is present. May it be in an artificially created setting or in a natural environment, these pests really don’t have much preference as to where they choose to reproduce. While it can be alarming how mosquitoes can’t be something to get rid off easily, there are still ways to eliminate them.

Here we have listed the three best ways to get rid of mosquitoes.

Bug Sprays

You can use a lot of natural ingredients to create an anti-bug spray. All you have to do is chop one small onion and use one garlic clove. Combine it together with four cups of water, one tablespoon of a liquid dish washing soap and four teaspoons of cayenne pepper. Mix and then spray around places where people would usually reside in your houses. All you need to do is have this mixture stored in a container with a tight lid and then keep it in a cool place. In some instances you can also use apple cider vinegar, witch hazel and drops of any essential oil combinations. Measurements should be a cup of apple cider vinegar, a quarter cup of witch hazel and 20 drops of any essential oils you may choose to use such as; rosemary, tea tree, eucalyptus, citronella or lemon grass. This works better if you shake the spray bottle once in a while as you use the spray.

Egg Cartons

Yes, you heard that right. If your mosquito problem tends to get more extreme in the night, then this might just be the best solution you can do to get rid of mosquitoes near you. For this, you only need egg cartons or coffee trays (usually the ones you get when you buy more several coffees from shops). All you need to do is light these on fire and let the fire grow bigger and then dispose of it in a fire safe location; soil would do. Then after, you just have to let the burning smell of these cardboard keep the mosquitoes away.

Call in for Best Pest Control Services!

Get in touch with our local branches near you! Go-Forth Pest Control services are here to best serve you pest control solutions up to the most basic infestations to the most complicated and ickiest of them. We have various type of services that are distinctly tailored to resolve different types of levels of fest infestations you might have. So what are you waiting for? Call now!

October 26, 2018October 26, 2018

Tips and Treatments for Flies

Let’s begin by saying what we’re all probably thinking. Flies…are disgusting, repulsive, and just plain yuck. We don’t want them in our homes or near our food for good reason. While flies have an only liquid diet, it doesn’t stop them from feeding on the solid food that us humans eat. Flies use a substance that they produce and then spit on the solid food they want to eat in order to liquify it – ew?! Once the food has been made liquid, that’s when they consume it. Pretty disgusting, right? These species will eat almost anything, from feces to that delicious chicken made for dinner. This is one of the reasons why they are known to be disease carriers of different harmful germs and bacteria such as E. Coli and Salmonella. Not only can they land on feces and proceed to feed on your food, but they are also known to defecate frequently. It is because of their liquid diet that they do defecate every time that they land on something, whether it be to eat or to lay eggs. Though a lifespan of a house fly is only around 30 days, it still doesn’t mean that they should be taken lightly, and you’re probably thinking the same after reading this. In fact, if you are still reading this…hang tight! We have some solutions for the flies in your presence.

Keep Your Surroundings Clean

In order to keep the flies out, you have to keep your home and your kitchen as clean as much as possible. You should throw out food right away if you’re finished with it and make sure that you clean up all liquid spills and food crumbs every time you are done eating. If you have time, it would better if to sweep and mop your floors at least every 2 days, in order to avoid leaving any sticky substances, smells, or residues. If you have food in your house that rots quickly (such as fruits and vegetables), you might want to keep them off of your kitchen counters and in your fridge instead. As soon as you see the start of spoilage, you should throw the food out immediately.

Have Covered Trash Bins

Since spoiled food is what seems to attract flies more than anything, trash bins and bags strike as even more welcoming for them. You should see to it that every trash bin in your house has a secure lid, in order to stop the smell of the trash from seeping out. You probably want to take this precaution anyway, because no one wants their house to stink. You should especially concentrate on doing this for areas in which you see that food is regularly disposed. Disinfecting trash bins regularly will also work in order to keep the flies away.

Call Go-Forth Pest Control Services

While there’s only so much you can do as far as home preventive measures go to keep flies away, Go-Forth Pest Control provides you the professional help that you need to never have to encounter another fly in your home again. Since 1959, our company has been handling different types of infestations, and we can assure you that we will provide you the best pest control solutions with the variety of services we offer for pest elimination. Call or click today for your free quote!

March 29, 2017

Papa Roach EATS a Roach!

This article is provided by: Go-Forth Pest Control

You’re probably reading the title like

But eating bugs is looking like a new trend that will become a major source of protein as populations increase in the next 20 to 50 years. It turns out bugs are really good for you!

Papa Roach took on a challenge to try bugs raw, and to try them in dishes. They were given two dishes where one had bugs while the other did not, and asked to guess which one did have the bugs. Check it out!

Bugs already make for major food sources in several eastern countries, and with time it’s very likely we will see them here in the United States. In certain places we have, like this ice cream truck with bugs for ice cream toppings, or using cricket flour for baking!

If you’re still not into it, just think back to when you watched Lion King and how delicious the grubs looked (seriously, how did Timon and Pumbaa make eating bugs look so tasty??)

March 3, 2017March 6, 2017

SOCCER BEES?

This article is provided by: Go-Forth Pest Control

YES BEES! Scientists recently conducted a study on bee’s “cognitive flexibility” and “observed complex behavior”. Basically they wanted to see how well they could critically think and understand, as well as observe how they behaved in response. So they came up with a soccer experiment!

Here you can see exactly how they do this with a basic reward system. This type of experiment has been performed among several mammals to evaluate the same things: critical thinking and behavior. In this case they provide a pseudo bee to show other bees how to obtain the reward. You can see that the bees watch, experience, and learn from that bee and are capable of figuring out the reward system.

On top of this, they are able to teach other bees what they learn! This isn’t too surprising if you consider their waggle dance, a form of communication honey bees have to tell them where a new source of food is in relation to the sun. The excitement over this is really about being able to teach an unknown method to a bee, and watching those bees teach it to other bees, AND THEN seeing bees innovate better ways to obtain the reward.

Bees have been facing a rough time for a while now, so every bit of good news is exciting for these guys. If you’re interested in helping bees, the EPA has plenty of information on how the public can help. Check it out and help a bee today!

January 20, 2017January 25, 2017

The Inauguration of Donaldtrumpi

This article is provided by: Raleigh Pest Control

No, the title isn’t misspelled. There was a recent discovery of a moth which has been named the Neopalpa donaldtrumpi. Vazrick Nazari, a biologist and researcher from Ottawa, Canada, is the one who discovered this moth which seems to share Donald Trump’s signature hairstyle. The real reason why he named the moth after Donald Trump can be read from the article he wrote:

The new species is named in honor of Donald J. Trump, to be installed as the 45^th President of the United States on January 20, 2017. The reason for this choice of name is to bring wider public attention to the need to continue protecting fragile habitats in the US that still contain many undescribed species. The specific epithet is selected because of the resemblance of the scales on the frons (head) of the moth to Mr. Trump’s hairstyle.

Wall Street Journal compiled this about the moth:

This isn’t the first time Donald Trump has honored a new species with his name. Not too long ago a species of caterpillar was discovered, and can be observed as Donald’s hair in motion:

There is now a bug that wears the same hair as Donald Trump, and a bug that simply is Donald Trump’s hair. Though Trump isn’t the first president to honor a newly discovered species. Barack Obama was the inspiration for a lichen fungus discovered in 2007. The fungus was officially published and named in 2009 as Caloplaca obamae, due to Obama’s “…support of science and scientific education.” Before that, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld were also honored with the discovery of several different Agathidium beetles. The names of those beetles are A. bushi, A. cheneyi and A. rumsfeldi. This type of beetle is known for it’s mold-diet, but was strictly named after these politicians as homage.

Know of any other bugs or species named in honor of presidents and famous people? Leave a comment about what you think!

December 30, 2016February 8, 2017

Top 5 INTENSE BUGS

This article is provided by: Go-Forth Pest and Lawn of Winston-Salem

There are so many types of bugs out there that we literally haven’t discovered them all. Every year we discover more and more bugs, and the amount of time it would take to find them all is immeasurable. While we may not be able to discover every bug hidden away on the planet, there are several we have found that you don’t EVER want to meet! They’re small, and some even look harmless, but encountering any of our intense top 5 bugs could mean serious damage.

#5 Giant Weta

Weta are the only peaceful bugs to make this list, but that doesn’t make them any less terrifying to find one. The only ones that even have big enough mandibles to be scary are the Tree Weta. Even those and other sub species of Weta are only interested in herbivore diet choices, especially carrots!

#4 Huntsman Spider

These spiders are completely different from what we consider the average spider to be like, as they don’t weave webs, and their bites lack toxic venom (though their bites can still REALLY hurt.) These guys are called Huntsman spiders for the fact that they actively hunt their prey, using their long legs to grab and hold what they find to bite it to death. The one above is on the smaller side of their average sizes, but you can find much MUCH bigger ones no problem. They’re only native in Australia at this time though, so you can easily avoid encounters by just not going to Australia.

#3 Asian Giant Hornet

This hornet in Japan is called the Japanese Giant Hornet or Yak-Killer hornet, and has several different sub species depending on where you’re visiting in Asia. Their stings have caused hundreds of injuries and deaths, leaving people hospitalized after encountering swarms. The hornet is the largest on the planet, and prefer habitats at the bottom of mountains or in forests of eastern Asian tropical climates. They’re known for hunting other bees and their hives for food, and at times resorting to cannibalism if nothing else can be found.

#2 Africanized Bee

Or also known as the Killer Bee, these bees have the kind of origin story that can only lead to disaster. Scientists in Europe decided to try cross breeding bees, and the result were the Killer Bees. They were meant to help increase honey production, but the scientists accidentally had a few escape from testing facilities. They’re extremely aggressive, and it does not take much to provoke a colony attack from them. An angered swarm has the potential to outright kill a person, and can follow you up to a quarter-mile to do so.

#1 Bullet Ant

Listen, the bullet ant is no joke with its sting. More recently, YouTube Star Coyote from Brace Wilderness subjected himself to a single sting and was in burning pain for 48 hours, despite it should only take 24. Other YouTube celebrities have visited this tribe to take on the same challenge, and most have completely crumbled under the first few seconds. Though in the wilderness, away from their nest foraging for food, bullet ants can be quite docile when encountered. These guys rank at #1 out of all bugs, as enduring one of their stings can be the worst sting you may ever encounter.

December 16, 2016February 15, 2017

Top Bug Themed MONSTERS!

This article is provided by: Lake Norman Pest Control

We’ve covered the top video games featuring bugs, but that isn’t to say those games had the bugs! Wanna know our take on the best Monster Bugs media has to offer? Here is our top 5 Monster Bug list:

#5 Monster Hunter‘s Seltas Queen and Warrior

If you’re not familiar with the Monster Hunter series, it’s a CAPCOM game that made its debut on the PS2 in 2004. It has since made its way from Sony to Nintendo, with recent games being featured on the 3DS and one on the Wii U. The Seltas Queen and her Warrior were introduced in Monster Hunter 4 on the 3DS as the first major bug enemies you could encounter for a quest, and are considered to be based on beetles. The two work side by side, or at least until the Queen is hurting badly. Then she just grabs her handy warrior and uses him to increase her health by outright eating him. Though if you’re hoping this makes the battle easier fighting one target, don’t get too hopeful. She calls for another one each time there’s a lack of a warrior by her side.

#4 Sandworms

The credit of first known Sandworm goes to Frank Herbert, author of Dune which was written in 1965. Sandworms are those creatures that turn your average harmless worm into a terrifying behemoth that can theoretically swallow cities if they’re big enough. You’ve seen them everywhere, but I think America’s most famous instance is in the movie Tremors. You may also know of the sandworm from Beetlejuice or Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

#3 Every Giant Spider Ever

The only thing scarier than spiders is public speaking, until you consider possibility of giant spiders. These 8-legged giants are a video game enemy classic, as you’ll find them at some point as an enemy encounter (World of Warcraft, Gauntlet, Dark Souls, Monster Hunter, and Doom to name a few). The giant spiders have also made their way into several books and movies, earning it’s own spot as antagonist in films like the General Spider in Arachnophobia and Shelob in Lord of the Rings. Since there are so many giant spiders you can find in media, we just had to attribute our #3 spot to all of them.

#2 The entire Starship Troopers Struggle

If you haven’t seen this movie, I highly recommend it; however, it’s in no way for the light of heart or young children (I’m not kidding, this movie is rated R for graphic gore, intense and frightening scenes, mild profanity, and more). Starship Troopers features alien as the main antagonist, and several times throughout they refer to them as “bugs” and “insects.” Earth is being invaded by these alien bugs, and it has only been a downhill battle. You follow the space marines as they travel to the bug alien home planet and attempt to eradicate the pests once and for all. Also young Neil Patrick Harris is in it, and that’s always a plus.

#1 Mothra

The one and only Kaijū, Mothra makes our number one spot in our Monster Bug list. Mothra is an iconic Kaijū from Toho, the same company that brought us Godizilla. Toho is known for doing basically every well-acclaimed giant monster film in Japan. Mothra first appears in it’s own film in 1961 where it appears as the Infant Island’s deity that protects them from atomic testing. Mothra is always accompanied by two “fairies” which are always two women from the Infant island who are no taller than 12 inches. They have the ability to call Mothra with their song, which can be seen in Mothra’s own Mothra vs. Godzilla feature.

December 5, 2016February 22, 2017

Insects: Political Scandal

This has been a hard year for America, choosing to make itself great again or deciding if it was already great to begin with. Sparks have ignited and tensions have been on edge more than ever before. In these abnormally stressed times, we ask ourselves the basic questions: who, what, when, where, why, and how. Well you may not suspect it, but it seems that our government may have been tainted in ways no one could of foreseen until now. Ladies, gentlemen, viewers, I present to you my findings:

Above we see Barack Obama innocently delivering speeches when suddenly he befalls victim to these flies. There are other documented instances of bugs harassing our President, but none have stood out more than in the two images above. Perhaps this isn’t enough to convince you of the 3rd party influence of these flies, so I urge you to continue below.

Yes, even Hillary Clinton has been visited by these fly conspirators. This was perhaps the most recent instance in which all of America reacted to. Twitter, Facebook, and all social media accounts busted out in uproar over the incident of a fly landing on a Presidential candidates face. If you think it’s only coincidence, again, you only need to continue reading.

While he was a presidential candidate during the time of this photo, it’s clear that the flies had no bias towards the political parties. The incident of Trump being visited by a fly agent was not entirely ignored, as CNN presented on it. It’s worth noting that CNN also presents other instances of fly scandals with several political figures. After much researching, finding these moments proved impossible, only further proving the fly agenda attempting to cover their trail.

So what is the goal of these pests? What are they possibly trying to accomplish with their attempted sabotage to both our political parties? Will anyone stand up to these pests? No one to this day has been able to answer that question, and we can only hope that the flies take their actions no further than embarrassing photo bombs and interruptions.

November 19, 2016February 22, 2017

#5 SIM ANT

This game is originally a 1991 top down simulation game where you manage a colony of ants in a backyard. The game is old enough that its first appearance was as a DOS game, but it was popular enough that it was given releases on later machines, such as the Super NES, Mac OS, and later versions of Windows. It gets position number 5 as a timeless classic that many remember being able to play on school computers, but is overall repetitive and capable of playing itself after a certain amount of time.

#4 Mister Mosquito

If you have ever wanted to experience the life of a mosquito trying to survive in a household, that’s exactly what Mister Mosquito does. It ranks number 4 on our list simply because it’s one of the few games that is simulation and action based as a bug. It was released June of 2001 on the PlayStation 2, and it’s ratings are overall mediocre. The controls are difficult to manage, but if you’re into a first person flight experience, isn’t hard to grasp with practice.

#3 MARIO PAINT’S GNAT ATTACK

If this were its own game, it could arguably be higher on this top 5 list. Gnat Attack, or also known as Coffee Break, is a mini game you can find in the Mario Paint game by clicking an icon featuring a coffee mug. It’s concept and controls are very basic, move the cursor over the fly and press to swat it. You’ll see various bugs, with the final boss of each level being some intense robot bug. This game was so well-received as a mini game that it was re-released as a mini game for Mario Maker on the Wii U. It’s important to note the above video is a speed run, and the game itself can easily last 20 minutes or longer to fully beat.

#2 WORMs ARMAGEDDON

Worms Armageddon is a full multiplayer game featuring worms as the player characters. It’s a strategy game among friends or online players where you are trying to be the last worm standing. You’re given a team of worms placed on a map and take turns shooting rockets that cause terrain damage and attack the other player worms. It ranks #2 as a solid funny and enjoyable game to play with friends, and also you’re a worm just because. To get to the review part of the featured YouTube video, skip to 25 seconds in.

#1 EARTH DEFENSE FORCE

If you’re aware of the movie Starship Troopers, that’s the easiest way to describe this game. You chose a character class to play and essentially fight giant insects that are attacking planet earth. It has traditionally been a PlayStation 2 game, but a recent version called Earth Defense Force 4.1 was released for PC and is available on the online Steam Store. The most recent version gives you 3 class options, and has you facing off against giant ants, wasps, spiders, and eventually giant monsters as you progress through the levels. This ranks number one as it’s just the best action packed game with multiplayer abilities that features buggy aliens as a main enemy.

Agree or disagree with this ranking? Tell us how you’d rank your favorite bug games in the comments!

November 4, 2016February 24, 2017

Unlikely Rescues

This article is provided by: Go-Forth Pest and Lawn

Everyone loves a rescue story with a happy ending, especially when it features pure and innocent creatures like dogs and cats. When we hear tales of animals overcoming tragedy, it’s hopeful and reaffirming that the earth we live on is a good one. While there are many rescue stories that may go untold, here are some which feature the less than expected to receive a helping hand. For all of these rescues, click on the picture to learn the whole story.

Camels are known to be resilient to the elements, as they can survive days in a desert without sustenance. They eat and drink in excessive amounts to store it as fat in their hump, and even have the ability to regulate their body temperature according to environmental conditions. This is why Sydney’s story is unusual, but also a common result of bad care takers. Sydney was born in a Petting Zoo and not given the proper care needed as a baby camel. The above picture is Sydney at his new home with new care takers that have helped him go from 118 lbs to 1400 lbs in 3 years.

You may have seen the video above, what with 3 million views and all. This video of a man helping remove a can from a skunk’s head went viral last month, but is still worth noting as an unlikely rescue. I don’t know how many people would try to do the same as this guy, especially with the risk of being sprayed.

These bees were found huddled to a fire hydrant without a queen in Toronto, Canada. Thanks to the efforts of Facebook, the man who found these bees was able to successfully gather them into a cardboard box and transport them to a Beekeeper. The keeper has since reported that they are happy and doing well in their new home!

This isn’t the story of just one opossum, but a shelter that saves an average of 100-200 of them a year. The website, WildCare, features a video of releasing a family of rescued opossums back into the wild. For the most part we think of these guys as regular home intruders or vermin, but opossums are a natural predator to several unwanted pests, such as cockroaches, beetles, even rats or deceased animals.

Perhaps the most unexpected rescue of them all is Charlotte, a gigantic huntsman spider found where you’d expect to find giant spiders: Australia. While spiders don’t both me in particular, there’s no way I’d have the ability to do what this woman from Barnyard Betty’s Rescue did. She rescued Charlotte from another person which revealed intent to kill the spider outright, but Betty wasn’t about to have any of it. Charlotte was released on the rescue grounds, and even as wonderful as this story is, I’m still glad to know Charlotte is over in Australia and not in my backyard.

Category: Insects