​50 Fascinating Facts about Pests

Throughout Pestech of Greenville, Inc.’s 20 years of pest control experience, we’ve learned a lot of interesting things about the insect population in North Carolina. Here are 50 of our favorite facts about common bugs that you might also find fascinating… and maybe even a little bizarre:

1. While humans have only been around for 130,000 years, insects have been present for about 350 million years. 
2. There are about 91,000 different species of insects in the United States.
3. There are about 1.5 million different species of insects in the world.

Houseflies:
4. Houseflies eat their own vomit.
5. A female housefly can lay up to 600 eggs in her short lifetime.
6. Most flies live an average of 21 days and take on various shapes throughout their short lives. 

Beetles:
7. Beetles account for one quarter of all known species of plants and animals. There are more kinds of beetles than all plants.
8. Adult beetles have two sets of wings.
9. Most beetles only live for a year.
10. Beetles cannot see very well, so they communicate using pheromones, sounds or vibrations.
11. Ladybugs are beetles and are considered to be good luck in many cultures.
12. Fireflies and lightning bugs are also in the beetle family.

Stink Bugs:
13. Originally found in East Asia, stink bugs were not even reported in the United States until the late 1990s.
14. Stink bugs get their name from an unpleasant odor released when you crush them or when they are protecting their homes.
15. Stink bugs do not hurt humans, but they can cause a lot of damage to crops and plants.

Termites:
16. The queen of a South African termite species can lay 40,000 eggs per day.
17. The total weight of all of the termites in the world is more than the weight of all the humans in the world.
18. Termite colonies eat non-stop, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
19. Termites have wings that they shed once they have found a good place to build a nest.

Ants:
20. Ants can lift and carry more than fifty times their own weight.
21. There are more than 12,000 species of ants all over the world.
22. Ants cannot chew their food. They move their jaws sideways, like a scissor, to extract the juices from the food.
23. Ants don’t have ears. Ants "hear" by feeling vibrations in the ground through their feet.
24. The total weight of all the ants in the world is equal to that of all humans in the world.
25. Of all insects, ants have the longest lifespan. They can live up to 30 years.

Spiders:
26. The largest spider in the world is a species of tarantula found in South America where one specimen had a leg span of over 11 inches.
27. Spiders don't get caught in their own webs because they have self-oiling legs.
28. There are about 3,000 species of spiders roaming around North America.
29. Only two species of spiders in the United States can cause serious harm when accidentally disturbed - the black widow and brown recluse.
30. When hunting or trying to escape a predator, jumping spiders are able to make very agile movements and jump multiple times their body length.

Bed Bugs:
31. Bed bugs do not spread disease, but their bites can become red, itchy welts.
32. Bed bugs can feed on the blood of any warm-blooded animal, yet their most common targets are humans.
33. As their name implies, these bugs are most commonly found in beds, hotels, airplanes, and couches.

Bees:
34. Male bees have bigger eyes to help them find the Queen Bee.
35. The bees’ buzz is the sound made by their wings which beat 11,400 times per minute.
36. Honeybees have to make about ten million trips to collect enough nectar for production of one pound of honey.
37. All worker bees are female.
38. Honey bees must gather nectar from two million flowers to make one pound of honey.
39. While gathering food, a bee may fly up to 60 miles in one day.
40. There are over 20,000 different bee species, found on every continent except Antarctica.

Caterpillars:
41. Some caterpillars can camouflage themselves as bird poop.
42. A caterpillar has 4,000 muscles, while humans have 650 skeletal muscles.
43. Caterpillars have 12 eyes. On each side of its head, a caterpillar has 6 tiny eyelets.

Butterflies:
44. There are more than 17,500 recorded butterfly species around the world, 750 of which can be found in the United States.
45. It takes about one hundred Monarch Butterflies to weigh an ounce.
46. Butterflies can smell each other from miles away.
47. An adult butterfly has a very short life, living just three to four weeks.

Cockroaches:
48. A cockroach can live a week without its head. The roach only dies because without a mouth, it can’t drink water and dies of thirst.
49. More than five million children are sensitive to cockroaches.
50. Cockroaches can run up to three miles in an hour.

No matter your pest problem, Pestech of Greenville, Inc. is here to help. Our experts can assist in your various pest management needs. Give us a call at 252-353-4760 for a free estimate. Your East Coast pest management professionals are honored to serve you.

(Facts gathered for this post consist of several expert pest technician opinions. Information was also sourced from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Pest World, the National Pest Management Association, Live Science, and EcoWatch.)