Chirp, chirp! We’ve got crickets on the brain for today’s trivia post. Find out how cricket savvy you are by reading below.

Crickets have the capabilities to identify temperature. True or False?

True. Want to know the temperature yet don’t have access to technology? In a pinch, you could listen to nearby crickets to assess the current temperature. Studies have shown that Fahrenheit temperature can be determined by the rate of cricket chirps. The chirps become faster as the temperature rises, and slower as it falls. In 1897, a professor by the name of A.E. Dolbear created an equation to display this.

T = 50 + [(N-40)/4]

T = temperature

N = number of chirps/minute

Crickets are known to be bad luck. True or False?

False. In fact, crickets are known to foretell good luck! Those who hear crickets “sing” are considered very blessed. In many countries, a cricket may be treated like a guest when it enters a home. Certain cultures provide the cricket with food, water and its own place to call home. While the typical lifespan of a cricket is one year, some believe giving the cricket a home will increase its lifespan. Consequently, the longer the cricket lives, the more perceived luck its owner will have!

Today we’re learning a fascinating truth and debunking a surprising myth about ants. Read below to find out more about ants!

Ants can lift up to 50 times their own body weight. True or False?

True. We know what you’re thinking — there is no way! But yes, this is absolutely true. Strangely enough, the smaller the insect, the stronger it is. This goes back to a great deal of physics. We won’t dive into those technicalities, but remember ants are much stronger than you perceive. The average woman weighs about 140 lbs. She would need to lift 7,000 lbs. to reach 50 times her own weight. That’s comparable to lifting a large SUV!

Queen ants can live up to 15 years. True or False?

False. Double that! Queen ants actually can live up to 30 years — pretty cool, huh? However, worker ants are not as lucky. They have a life expectancy of 45-60 days. While queen ants sleep an average of nine hours a day, worker ants sleep only half of this time. They get by on short power naps, roughly 250 each day and lasting just over one minute, to ensure that enough ants are awake at any given time to protect the colony. Queen ants, on the other hand, fall asleep 90 times a day for more than six minutes at a time. This division of rest helps explain why the queen ants live significantly longer. 

From an early age, we’re exposed to many myths and hard-to-believe truths about insects. How spider savvy are you? Read below and find out!

We swallow eight spiders in our sleep each year. True or False?

False. This long-standing myth has been around for years. However, no need to sleep in fear. While not impossible, several factors make the likeliness of this happening slim. First, your mouth would need to be open very wide for a spider to enter, and luckily, few of us sleep as if we’re at the dentist! Most people are likely to wake up if they feel something crawling across their face, and particularly, their lips. Lastly, if a spider were to get this far and land at the back of your throat, the act of swallowing is still required to make this myth true. And those odds are pretty low. This being said, we all can rest easy.

Most spider species live at most for two years though there are some species (tarantulas for instance) that can live more than 20 years. True or False?

True. Are you wishing you were a tarantula if you had to be a spider? Us too! That’s right though, the average spider is lucky to live to their second birthday. Tarantulas are a different story. These hairy creatures are among the largest spiders — they are able to kill lizards, mice and even birds. It usually takes a tarantula anywhere from two to 10 years (longer than the average spiders’ lifetime) to reach adulthood. In addition, females are known to live longer, usually 30 to 40 years. The oldest tarantula on record lived 49 years!

Written by: Robin L. Tabuchi, Research Entomologist, University of California, Berkeley.

Valentine’s Day has come and gone.  Although love is still in the air, a much-needed breakup is on the horizon. I’m talking about breaking up with bad “pest” habits. Follow these tips to kick a sour relationship with everyday pests to the curb.

Kiss pantry pests goodbye.  Ah, the distant memory of the holidays. A time to visit with loved ones, relax and feast on many holiday goodies. If you hosted any sort of holiday party at your house, you likely have accumulated cookies, candies, nuts and other food items. Now is the time to take inventory and clean out your pantry. Make sure food items are properly sealed and stored, inspect for pests, and dispose of expired or infested items. Even unopened food packages can be invaded by unwanted rodents, ants, beetles or moths.

Get up close and personal with gutters. Clogged gutters can cause rainwater to overflow in unwanted places. This water can saturate structural wood and create the perfect habitat for termites — not to mention a whole handful of non-pest related problems, such as mildew, mold and dry rot.

Love doesn’t stink; garbage does. Give garbage and recycle bins a good washing especially before the temperatures rise. Buildup from spilled foods and drinks smells really tasty to pests like rodents, ants, flies and wasps.

Let spiders feel the love. While they aren’t beautiful butterflies or cute ladybugs, there’s no need to fear all spiders. Many, in fact, are good company around the house and certainly in the yard because they prey on other arthropod pests. Spiders skillfully construct webs to basically act as sticky traps for unwanted pests, such as mosquitoes and aphids.  Even spiders that don’t construct webs (like jumping spiders) are great hunters that keep pest populations in check.  Become familiar with the common spiders in your area and learn how to recognize the dangerous few (black widows and recluse spiders).

A cross orb weaver spider’s web

Written by: Robin L. Tabuchi, Research Entomologist, University of California, Berkeley.

Considering it’s February, I’m guessing many of you have already forgotten your New Year’s resolutions. Whether you vowed to hit the gym, learn to cook like Gordon Ramsey or finally clean your rain gutters, let’s make a few easy pest prevention resolutions that won’t break your back or your budget.

Search the perimeter of your house.  What are you looking for? Anything out of the ordinary, but pay specific attention to the things listed below. If you have kids, invite them to join you. Tell them you are going on a scavenger hunt and ask them to help you find:

• Holes. Are there any potential rodent entry points? Rats can enter a structure through a ½ inch hole and mice can enter through a ¼ inch hole. They also are very good climbers and can gain access to a structure through pipes, along wires and from climbing trees or vines. Look for holes in the roof, around windows, doors and crawl space vents.
• Mud tubes. Mud tubes are the pathways subterranean termites use to travel from their nest in the soil to food sources (cellulose material, “aka” wood) in your house. They are constructed of soil and held together with termite saliva. Pay specific attention to areas of higher moisture, such as rain gutter downspouts and walls adjacent to bathrooms.
• Trees. Make sure trees adjacent to your house are not touching the structure. This creates an easy entry point for many pests, including rodents and ants.

Store firewood wisely. Even through it’s convenient to pile firewood alongside your house, it isn’t wise. You don’t want foraging termites to set up shop in your firewood and then move their operation next door to a more spacious site; your house. Move firewood away from the structure and stack it on top of concrete blocks. This limits the amount of soil-to-wood contact, and you can more easily see mud tubes, if they appear.

Harvest fruit trees. If you have fruit trees, especially citrus or pomegranates, harvest the fruit from the trees when ripe and try not to let it fall and sit on the ground. Fallen fruit attracts rodents and ants.

Check your buds. Search buds on flowering plants for aphids and scale insects. If you find them, treat them before the buds break to ensure the flowers and emerging leaves stay alive and healthy.

Following these resolutions will help you prevent common and potentially costly household pest infestations. What do you do if a pest still finds its way in? You can try tackling the problem yourself or contact a local pest control company. Lastly, visit UC Davis’s IPM online page for pest identification, biology and management information.

Robin L. Tabuchi is a research entomologist at the University of California, Berkeley. Currently, she manages a research lab on finding ways to prevent and control many household and structural pests, including bed bugs, subterranean and drywood termites and argentine ants.

Valentine’s Day is typically devoted to showing affection to our loved ones with flowers, chocolates, and kisses. But this year, be sure to share some love with your beloved home and lawn, too! Just like a healthy relationship requires nurturing and dedication, a healthy landscape requires just the right amount of attention and care, even in the cooler months.

The practice of maintaining a healthy landscape offers many benefits to you as well. Plants serve as objects of beauty and enjoyment while also providing many environmental benefits such as food and shelter for wildlife. Well-maintained landscapes can even boost your home’s value. Taking care of plants also provides a sense of accomplishment and pride. Use these winter care tips below to show your landscape some love this Valentine’s Day.

1)      Take your lawn and flowers to dinner. All plants need nutrients to grow and be healthy. The most important plant foods are nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. They are found bundled appropriately for your lawn or plants in commercially-available fertilizers.  Be sure to read the label and apply the products at the right rate and time.

2)     Make a date to prune. Depending on what type of plants you grow, it’s important to prune at the correct time. For example, some experts recommend that roses be pruned in the late winter. However, certain shrubs and trees should be left alone until temperatures rise. Read more about the right time to prune from a previous Debug the Myths blog post here.

3)     Think warm thoughts. Winter is an excellent time to learn more about your growing zone and start planning for spring planting. Identify potential pest pressures associated with various plants and zones before you plant your seeds or nursery plants.

From cookies and pies to family members and long-lost friends, we all enjoy what the holidays can bring. Unfortunately, holidays and the cold weather can also bring unwanted house guests into your home: PESTS!

Andrea Vogt with Target Specialty Products and a Debug the Myths spokeswoman, recently appeared on Sacramento & Company to talk about things homeowners should be doing in and around their home this holiday season to protect themselves, their families, and their property from pests.

Pests are looking for warmth and food sources as soon as the temperature goes down. Homeowners should follow the INSPECT acronym to identify, solve, and prevent pest problems.

Andrea focused on certain pests that cause a lot of problems during the holiday season. Check to see if you’re having any of the problems below:

• Cockroaches – They can spread salmonella in our food and are an asthma irritant for kids.
• Rodents and silverfish – Hiding in your attic or crawl space with all of your Christmas decorations.
• Weeds – Fertilizing in the fall is the key to having healthy grass in the spring and decreasing weed pressures.

If you want to view Andrea’s full interview with Sacramento & Company, click here.

Today is Friday, the last day of National Inspect and Protect Week, and you are going to discover the importance of treating your pest problems.

As part of the I.N.S.P.E.C.T. process, it is important to realize that this is a comprehensive method that works best when all the steps are accurately followed. Treating your pest problems without first investigating or studying will only allow for continued and reoccurring problems. So dedicate time and effort to applying each step for the most beneficial results in safeguarding your home from adverse health effects and costly structure damage these little critters can cause.

There are multiple pest management options available, many of which can be combined for the most effective results which is also known as Integrated Pest Management or IPM.  If you choose to apply a pesticide to rid your problems, make sure you have properly identified the pest and use only the appropriate pesticides and amounts for treatment. Reading and following the label on pesticides is not only the law, but also allows you to make sure it is suited for the problem you wish to treat and is not harmful to your family and home. Familiarizing yourself with the problems at hand and available treatment procedures will make sure you’ve found the best product for your situation. If you ever have questions or cannot make the application yourself, contact pest or lawn care professionals for support.

Learn more about purchasing a pest control product here, and watch Janet’s video for inside pointers on treating your home. Remember to INvestigate, Study and Prepare, Eliminate, Clean and Treat for taking strategic approaches in identifying, controlling and preventing against unwarranted invaders.

Thanks for learning how to inspect and protect your home this week. For any information you may have missed or for additional tips, you can always visit Debug the Myths to help you solve those unwanted pest problems.

Today, we are going to explore how to keep your house clean to ensure your home is consistently pest-free. Even the cleanest homes might occasionally encounter pest problems, but simple, frequent cleaning can greatly reduce the chances of pest invasions.

Insects and other critters will happily make themselves at home wherever there is food and water. Here are a few easy housekeeping tasks from Molly Maid for maintaining your home.

For keeping a tidy kitchen:

• Clean daily around your refrigerator, stove, and dishwasher to remove any leftover food crumbs.
• Wipe down all kitchen counters after every meal. Leftover food particles might be enough to attract these little critters for an unintended feast.

• Before disposing of food containers and beverage cans, rinse them out.
• Store pantry food in air tight containers.
• Eat only in the kitchen and clean up after every meal. Limiting where you eat reduces the areas exposed to food residue, providing less risk for uninvited visitors.

In other areas inside your house, it is important to:

• Get rid of the clutter—stacks of papers, piles of clothing, and unneeded boxes. Pests love to hide and a cluttered home becomes a pest’s paradise.
• Pull beds away from the wall to lessen breeding grounds for bugs. Bugs like to nest in cool, dark spaces and exposing them will make these areas less desirable for local insects.
• Dust and wipe down baseboards regularly to avoid attraction to the mess.
• Properly clean all clothes before storing them in the back of your closet for winter.

When venturing outside, remember to:

• Trim trees, bushes and other foliage that might be providing a highway into your home.
• Remove any piles of leaves or debris that might be housing unwanted annoyances.

Following these suggestions may help you avoid the exterminator altogether. There is no need to give pests reasons to come searching for food and shelter in your home. You can watch Janet’s video here for more ways to keep your home clean and pest-free.

Don’t forget to send us any questions you may have and visit Debug the Myths to review any of the steps you have missed earlier in the week.

You have investigated your home and have studied and prepared for applying appropriate solutions to the problems you encountered. Now it is time for you to ensure a safe and healthy home by eliminating entry ways for any pest problems you may have.

Pests like mice, spiders, and ants seek places that fill their basic survival needs of food, water, and shelter. These three conditions are what prompt these creepy crawlers to invade your home and establish it as their own place to live and breed. Often, you can cut off their life support by eliminating one of these three key elements.  Doing so requires physical action.

In the elimination step, you actually take action to reduce or prevent pest invasions by enacting a variety of preventative methods you considered appropriate for your home environment during the previous steps in the I.N.S.P.E.C.T. process.

To effectively pest-proof your home, you are going to have to start by fixing problem areas both inside and outside of your home. The key is to tackle any problems before they become too overwhelming. Employing a good preventative strategy beforehand will save you time and money in the long run.

• Eliminate water. Remove standing water outside from bird baths, lined gutters, wheelbarrows, and inside from sinks and showers. Fix any leaky pipes both inside and out that may provide a source of water these annoyances. A lack of water will make it harder for bugs to reproduce.

• Eliminate food. Keeping a clean kitchen can go a long way in making your home less attractive to pests. Sweeping for crumbs that may have fallen and keeping food tightly sealed in containers will make it harder for these bugs to find food.

• Eliminate shelter. This action is probably the best line of defense against pests entering your home environment. In the investigate step, we learned that pests can wiggle their way into your homes through openings as small as one quarter of an inch. A simple solution is to seal up these tiny cracks and crevices with caulk from your local hardware store.

Inside your home, caulking around all doors, windows and window seals where tiny bugs can easily penetrate can prove invaluable, especially in older homes that have settled and might have more points of entry for pests.  Check under sinks for the space around where the pipes enter and make sure to seal this area too.

Now take a walk along the exterior of your home—where most pests come from. It is extremely important to seal all windows and doors with gaps that could serve as access points. Chances are, if air and light can pass through, so can pests. So even if you think the crack may be too small, seal it anyway.

Trim trees and bushes near homes so they do not provide direct routes for pests into your home. A good rule of thumb is to leave 18 inches from the plant to the foundation. Consider mowing and weeding often to reduce creating a safe haven for pesky creatures.

Most preventative methods require a little extra time but using these solution suggestions and others found at www.debugthemyths.com will be a lot less expensive than hiring a professional exterminator. Be sure to also check out Janet Hurley’s video for more tricks on eliminating pest entry.