Category Archives:
Pests in the Headlines

Does what it says on the tin. When there is a funny / interesting / controversial pest control story in the news, it’ll get mentioned here.

Cicada Summer: A Love Story

Sean for jcehrlich.com | May 14, 2013
News outlets here in the United States have been buzzing in recent weeks in preparation of the emergence of periodical cicadas in the eastern states this spring and summer. The Brood II Magicicada will be out in force in states like New York, Virginia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. After spending most of their lives underground, feeding on [...]

King of the Crickets: the Menacing Parktown Prawn

Nicole for rentokil.co.za | May 7, 2013
As eminently depicted in District 9, and much to the fear of local residents, Johannesburg is home to the loathsome and most terrifying insect of them all – the Parktown Prawn. As if the idea of a super-sized fighter cricket is not enough, I know of a grown man who, trembling under the watch of [...]

A Sticky Situation – the Stick Tight Flea

Nicole for rentokil.co.za | May 3, 2013
Ever heard of the ‘Stick Tight Flea’? These tenacious little fellows were discovered at a local butchery in Cape Town, sticking quite tightly (as their name suggests) to several pork meat carcasses.  At first it was suspected that there was a flea infestation of some kind, but after ruling out pet cats and checking the [...]

Jay-Z of the Sky

Kethaki for rentokil.com.au | April 25, 2013
12,000ft in the air, the world looked miniscule. Mountains were made to look like ant hills, entire fields momentarily shrunken to a checkerboard of green. This is what an eagle or Jay-Z must feel like all the time, either way I was ruler of the world for 45 whole seconds. It’s easy to understand where birds get their god complex from. The reason they think it’s alright to waltz into a restaurant, stare at you while you’re eating your lunch in the park, why they think they can get closer to you than that one persistent sleaze at every party. It’s because they think, they own you. You know the ones. Pigeons. And they’re not wrong. They know that we know that they’re disease-ridden and they embrace this power. This isn’t just me being dramatic either. At the risk of sounding like the ad for movie piracy – you wouldn’t pet a rat. Why would you pet a pigeon? Pigeons are the rats of the sky.

Florida’s Mega Mosquito Population Expected to Explode

Sean for jcehrlich.com | April 24, 2013
One of the largest mosquitoes in the United States, Psorophora ciliata, is expected to experience a major population boom this spring and summer in Florida.