Interesting facts about pests

• Insects represent three-fifths of all living species- plants and animals combined.
• Spider silk is used as the cross hairs and sighting marks in a variety of engineering and lab instruments, as well for the sights in spotting scopes of rifles.
• Spiders and snakes are the two most feared creatures on earth.
• Forensic entomologists use maggots (fly eggs) collected on bodies to help determine time of death.
• Carpenter ants derive their name from their habit of chewing galleries into wood and leaving sawdust piles around the entrance to the nest.
• Cockroaches have been with us for 350 million years and have survived floods, famine, fire, trips to outer space and even nuclear tests.
• Seven to eight percent of the general population is allergic to cockroaches.
• Fleas have the distinction of killing more people than all the wars man has ever fought. The “Black Death” plague killed 1/4 of Europe’s population in the 14th century, caused by germs transmitted from rodents to humans by fleas.
• A dozen cockroaches can live off the paste on the back of a postage stamp.
• The pest control industry services 12 million U.S. households every year.
• Termites cause about R800 million in damage each year in this country, more than all fires, storms and other natural disasters combined.
• A female mouse is in heat approximately every 4 to 5 days.
• In just 6 months, 1 pair of mice can eat up to 4 pounds of food and deposit as many as 18,000 droppings.
• It is estimated that there is at least 1 rat per person in this country.
• German cockroaches are most commonly introduced into buildings through paper products, grocery bags, cardboard boxes, drink cartons, and second hand appliances.
• Worker ants can live up to 7 years, while the queen ant can live as long as 15 years.
• The total weight of all termites in the world is greater than all the humans in the world.