A U.N. Conference held in 2008 in Thailand was the scene of an insect eating research Summit. As far as I can tell none of the superpower presidents or any high ranking diplomats were in attendance, but 36 scientists from 15 countries were and they had some interesting things to say about eating bugs like grasshoppers, crickets, grubs and ants. What may seem like an odd food source to us in our homeland, may actually be a delicacy in another part of the world. In fact, Dutch, Australian and American scientists noted that increasingly more restaurants in their respective countries are popping up with insects on the menu. The research is aimed at showing that eating bugs is not just for emergencies or famine, it might very well be the breakfast of champions at your favorite bistro!

So what countries have what bugs on the menu? In the US, the cochineal, an insect native to South America, is used in red dye for things like red lipstick and red candy. In Japan, hachi-no-ko (boiled wasp larvae) is a popular delicacy you can find all over Japan; like chicken nuggets at every fast food restaurant, on almost every corner in America. In Thailand, fried crickets are a common sight in bars (just like pretzels or peanuts in the US), and in Brazil, queen ants like the icas ant are wildly popular because of it’s mint like flavor.

I remember being a kid perusing the buffet line at a restaurant, or the offerings on a menu, trying to decide what to eat, or, what not to eat, based on what it looked like or what I was told the food was. It was a veritable mine field of chance-by-choice. Ewwww, peas. Fast forward a few years, okay decades, and I eat most of the stuff I wouldn’t dream of touching as a child. That raises an interesting question. What if all this bug eating was the same thing? How will we know what we like if we don’t try it first? I’ve had chocolate covered grasshopper and no, it didn’t taste like chicken. It tasted like chocolate and peanuts. Not bad. That being said, if you have an ant infestation, or cluster flies buzzing about, don’t run to the cupboard for the chocolate sauce, call a professional.

Would You Like Flies With That? is a post from: deBugged - The Rentokil Blog

You confidently declare, “I am the master of my domain.” And then it happens. What you thought was one ant is now hundreds if not thousands. The mouse you caught must’ve been part of larger party as mouse droppings continue to show up; sometimes in new areas. It’s decision time. “Do I go toe to toe with the unknown? Is there more I can do, or am I in over my head?”

Let’s break this down by option and see what the differences and some of the similarities are.

Do It Yourself Pest Control

• Will require a significant investment of your time, effort and expense to resolve your pest issue. Specialized treatments like for termites, carpenter ants, moderate to severe rodent infestations and wasps carry inherent risks and challenges not easily accomplished by a novice.
• You’re using chemicals. Reading the label is a good start, but you must also take into consideration where you’re applying, how much and whether or not appropriate safeguards have been put in place to protect yourself, your family and your pets. Remember, safety first.
• Know your target pest, a bit of it’s biology and how best to treat for control. If you miss this crucial step, your pest problem could worsen. The internet, while overloaded with information, is still your best bet for sourcing helpful information.
• Consider your tolerance for pests. If it’s high, you’re likely a good DIY candidate (depending on the pest). If it’s low and you live in a pest prone area, you may need reinforcements.

Professional Pest Control

• Will require an investment of your time and expense. You are however hiring a professional trained and hopefully licensed and insured as a pesticide applicator, and most importantly trained in the safe use of chemicals.
• Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a method of first identifying the pest, gathering information about the infestation and then using mechanical means, environmental means and lastly, using chemicals that are highly effective but minimally invasive. These integrated methods all combine to reduce the use of chemicals and still provide a high degree of control.
• Trained in chemical usage (should hold a State approved applicators license) insect biology and control methods. You wouldn’t hire an electrician to do your landscaping, right?
• A professional can look at your home or business and help devise a plan for keeping your environment pest free. There is reactive pest control, ie., something happens and you call for help, and there is proactive pest control: regular pest inspections and treatments, like a Year Round Protection Plan, to keep mother nature from invading your interior spaces.

According to the National Pest Control Association, Americans spend over $3 billion dollars a year on professional pest control services alone. Over $400 million on do-it-yourself applications and equipment and an additional $520 million to keep our cats and dogs free of fleas and ticks. There is no denying that no one (I didn’t take a survey so this is an assumption, not barring the odd YouTube video that likely contradicts said assumption) wants to share their home or workspace with pests.

So the question remains, do-it-yourself, or call the folks at Ehrlich? I would love to hear your thoughts.

DIY vs. Hiring a Professional is a post from: deBugged - The Rentokil Blog

Q. So what sparked your interest of insects Matt?
A. It was a progression from studying. I studied biology in University and specialised in animal biology. I then progressed on to a post grad in Entomology as insects were what really captivated my interest and I felt I had a good understanding of them.

Q. Here in the UK, we don’t hear of many termite cases. Where and under what conditions are they most prevalent?
A. Geographically speaking termites are generally found in tropical and temperate zones. However, outside these zones where there is a suitable supply of timber, and the humidity is correct for them to reproduce, termites can be found, e.g. USA where buildings tend to have timber frames so termite control is critical.

Q. Are termites able to travel long distances?
A. There is currently an on-going case on the English coast down at Devon. Termites were brought in on shipments of wine crates, and as a result set up a population. They are only likely to be transported if the wood they have infested is moved.

Q. Technically speaking then, if my neighbour has termites, is there a chance that I will get termites?
A. If your home is built of the correct wood, and the temperature / rainfall / humidity was suitable for them, then yes your home would be susceptible to a termite infestation. But here in the UK these conditions are highly unlikely to be found! You’re more likely to be at risk when you live in a tropical region such as Brazil.

Q. What is the worst case scenario if a home is infested with termites?
A. It’s not pleasant I can tell you . Any suitable, readily available wood will be consumed. It’s not uncommon to see houses that have been stripped bare by termites. They can completely destroy a home in 2-3 years!

Q. So we’ve established that termites are definitely not a welcome visitor in your home! Do you think that treatment of termites will always be reactive? Or is it possible to stop termites through preventative measures?
A. It’s totally possible to ‘design out’ termites from new buildings as long as their presence is taken into account at the planning and design stages. Whether the client or the architects involved are happy to make the compromises required to reduce the risk of attack is an entirely different matter. Once a house has been built in a termite zone, good access to the areas where termites might make their entry (sub-floors, sub-basements ground/wall junctions) should be encouraged. Removing fallen or dead trees from the site and routinely checking high risk areas should also significantly reduce the risk of attack.

Q. Finally, as we are currently reviewing where all future pest control products are created, where do you think the future of pest control lies?
A. We are already seeing a move away from conventional pesticides and insecticides. We can already see the application of dry heat and controlled atmosphere technology to control infestations. I believe that there will also be a move towards the use of organisms to control organisms. For example, there are already trials using a kind of wasp to control mosquitoes, which could bring about a reduction in malaria. The future for pest control will most definitely be moving towards preparation and prevention rather than reactive treatment

This is the first of many (or at least Alicia and Danusia hope it is the first of many!) interviews of colleagues throughout my various placements across Rentokil Initial. This way you can find out a little bit more about the different activities the Divisions are involved in across our multi-faceted business.

Our Resident Entomologist Talks Termites With A Newbie is a post from: deBugged - The Rentokil Blog

As a starting point- it’s very specific, isn’t it? Not just any music- Rock Music. Bach won’t get termites biting, they require Bachman Turner Overdrive; termites won’t chomp to Chopin, but Nickelback gets them nibbling?! What separates rock music from other genres?

It transpires that the composition of various genres of music can be categorised by the frequencies generated by the principal instruments used to generate it. For example; pop music when you look at it as a entire genre, tends to use electronic synthesizers generating sound within one frequency band, whilst acoustic guitars generate sound in a different band. Rock bands, by and large, are comprised of a vocalist, a drummer, a bass guitarist and at least one lead electric guitarist. The sound frequencies generated by the individual instruments characterise the genre and make it distinct in spectrum from other genres. Researchers have gone into detail here citing the frequency of 2.5KHz outputs for bass and electric guitars, which are distinctive of the rock genre. Sound engineering website Har-Bal.com specifies:

“600Hz – 3kHz: these frequencies also give presence but of a generally harder nature. High output in this region is fairly common in rock music as it gives it a hard edge that suites the genre.”

So, what is it that termites like about those frequencies? The answer lies with the research of an Australian group led by Theodore A Evan at CSIRO who has been looking at the responses of termites to vibration frequencies for some time. His group’s paper from 2004  states:

“termites had a clear preference for the 160-mm block when the 20-mm block was excited by the 2.8-kHz signal”

Further research by the same group in 2007 showed that the species of drywood termite tested used vibration to evaluate the size of piece of wood and that they showed a positive attraction to wood where other termites were feeding. This makes sense as in that it is likely to be a good food source and the termites need not expend further energy to find another one. Wooden blocks vibrated in the range also generated by electric guitars was more attractive to termites than blocks vibrated at other frequencies. Wow- science isn’t dull after all!

Whilst there seems to be a scientific basis for vibrations made by rock music instruments and termite feeding preferences, this team’s work is not the origin for the fact. A web search for variations of the phrase showed that it was being referenced long before 2004 and seems to have proliferated in the early 2000s as a Snapple “Real Fact”:

#33 Termites eat through wood two times faster when listening to rock music!

Snapple started putting facts like these on caps in 2002, according to a Washington Post staff writer. Now, whilst not all Snapple Real facts are entirely true, they must have been harvested from somewhere rather than made up. This odd-ball soft drink has certainly done a lot to popularise termites’ musical preferences- but where did it come from? It certainly pre-dates the Snapple cap, as it turns up on web searches from 2000 in a poster’s sig file.

I started to wonder if the fact had been culled from a book of weird facts, or something similar, so that was the next port of call. A chance clip from a publication called The Avent Gardener that happens to have been captured in Google’s book search gave the vital clue to solve the mystery: Dr Trenchard Bowelson.

Dr Bowelson was an extension entomologist supervising a Masters’ degree student by the name of Jeanne N. Collier who, it seems, had a penchant for rock and roll. Read the fantastic article for yourself from the September 18th 1968 edition of the Miami News, via an Associated News wire from San Francisco.

All of which leaves me wondering: do Spooky Tooth have any idea what they started…?

Termites Like Rock Music is a post from: deBugged - The Rentokil Blog

Here are a few crazy ones I have come across recently, which may raise a few eyebrows:

Termites eat through wood two times faster when listening to rock music – all I can say is I wish I could have been there at that experiment, sounds much more fun than the science projects I had in college! I doubt this is scientifically proven, but apparently termites are very sensitive to and really enjoy vibrations and rock music does have bucket loads of that!

Termites never sleep – This is true apparently and means they are working 24/7 eating through the wood in your property. So, it would be wise to get a free termite inspection asap!

Termites are responsible for global warming – this is true too. A by-product of a termite’s digestion is methane, a greenhouse gas. And all this time we blamed our poor cows – I am very sorry!

Termites taste like Brazil nuts – It seems in some countries, like Africa, humans also eat termites – roasted, dried and even fried. It is a cheap source of protein. Not sure you can say this is a fact, as everyone has different tastes, but thank goodness, they did not say it tastes like chicken, which is what everything supposedly tastes of! (Danusia wrote a post about entomophagy, the practice of eating insects)

Anteaters prefer termites to ants – well, it is true that they feed on both termites and ants but I have not come across any scientific research talking about their true preference.

Would be interested to hear any other crazy facts or fiction about termites!

Do Termites Like Rock Music? is a post from: deBugged - The Rentokil Blog

So what is it about your real estate that they really like, and how can you prevent termites from snacking on your property?  Here are three things a termite really likes in order to thrive plus some actions you can do to keep them away.

1. Water, and lots of it!

Termites are an insect that has no exoskeleton, or outside body armor, so it needs moisture on its body to live.  They live in moist ground and build soil tunnels, which are protective barriers to keep themselves from drying out and dying.

There is no way to make the ground around your property bone dry, but providing for proper water drainage away from buildings is the key to preventing constant moisture collection and the termite’s reservoir.

2. Soil – their Home, Sweet, Home.

This is where they live and breed in a colony.  They lie dormant below the frozen ground above during the Winter. When the soil warms, they multiply and some of the colony “swarm,” or fly, in search of a food source or to begin a new colony at another location.  They start building new soil tunnels, which is their highway access to your property.

Essentially, we build our homes right on top of their homes!  Proper sloping of the ground (downward grading) away from a foundation, moisture barriers and vigilance are our preventive measures here.  Think of it as keeping the distance between their home and restaurant as far away and inaccessible as possible.

3. Wood – messy and a la carte.

According to Keith Simmons, a Technical Services Manager for Rentokil N.A., the Subterranean termite only consumes and digests wood, which is different from carpenter ants, which carves out wood and creates galleries in which to live. These ground-dwelling insects are fond of soft, moisture-laden wood, which can be old landscape ties, a rotting tree stump, or buried wood.

Mr. Simmons’ advice to property owners is to have zero wood-to-soil contact on your structure.  New mulching material (stone is best) around a building is good, but if it too high, the moisture in the soil will begin to damage wood contact points.  In addition to the moisture problem, the termite can easily get into your home undetected if their food is right in their dining room.

There are many types of termites in the world, but some can create a big problem for both the home and business owner.  Knowing what attracts them and how to prevent their access will save you time and money in the long run.

If they are already in the building or home you own, you will want to schedule a termite inspection and understand all the possible termite control service options to eradicate them.

3 Things a Termite Likes About Your Property is a post from: deBugged - The Rentokil Blog

In the Northeast U.S. we are starting to come out of the cold winter days, not soon enough after this past season of snow, wind and ice. The temps are warming here and that means termites will soon become more active.  As a homeowner, it is important to be as proactive as possible when it comes to termites. There are various things you can do things to help prevent termites:

• Stack firewood at the far end of the garden
• Make sure that leaves and garden waste aren’t stored next to the house
• Ensure regular maintenance of taps and pipes
• Provide good ventilation in crawl spaces

There are also ways you determine the signs of termite activity in or around your home – mud tubes, flying  “swarmers” around your window, etc. Termite swarmers can easily be confused with flying ants, at least to the untrained eye – and therefore quickly dismiss swarmer activity as mere flying ants coming out due to the nicer weather.

Get rid of Termites

If you notice any signs or activity you should take immediate action and have a trained professional inspect your home.  If it is confirmed that there is activity in your home, there are a variety of termite treatment options available to choose from.

The key in all of this is to be as proactive as possible in preventing termites. However, if your home is being invaded, act quickly to get a comprehensive free termite inspection, and select a termite control treatment option that is best for you….unless that is, you would prefer toothpicks and nails.

Subterranean, Dampwood, Drywood, Formosan….. is a post from: deBugged - The Rentokil Blog

Purchasing a home? Homeowners and purchasers alike should take care to ensure that before buying a home it is prudent to get it thoroughly inspected for termites and follow up with regular inspections. If there are concerns or the pre-purchase pest report indicates that the house is in a high risk area or has signs of termite damage then a more invasive inspection inside the walls may be neccessary.

In last night’s Today Tonight Show on the 7 News, Dean and Sharon Yarnton thought they’d done everything right. “We had no idea at all,” said Sharon Yarnton, who purchased the house in Sydney’s west in 2008 with her husband Dean. The Yarntons now face a repair bill over $100,000.

You can prevent this type of horror story from happening and it’s not always the pest inspection company that’s at fault. Termites are a significant problem in Sydney and they can enter a building undetected. The type of building construction can impact not only on its susceptibility to subterranean termites but its susceptibility to concealed entry, this is particularly true for timber-framed structures that have been built on a concrete floor construction, such as brick veneer and weatherboard homes. Even if the roof cavity and the subfloor are accessible at the time of the inspection, many timbers can’t be reached and or are concealed by carpets, furniture insulation, sarking and ducting.

The most common type of inspection for subterranean termites is a visual examination of timbers and other building components for termite activity such as deflection, bowing or damage. In some cases, it is necessary to carry out a more invasive inspection by removing sections of a building. Other devices can also be employed to carry out an inspection such as thermal imaging equipment. These are highly sensitive cameras that can detect differences in temperature. When used by competent and experienced termite specialists, this equipment can often pinpoint areas of termite activity behind would otherwise be invisible without removal of the wall.

Keep in mind pre-purchase visual inspections and reports only reflect the condition of the property at the time of the inspection and are limited to those areas and sections of the property fully accessible and visible to the inspector on the day of the inspection. Termites can gain entry into a property in a relatively short period of time, and can cause significant damage to both structural and non-structural timbers. Termites can be difficult to detect and an inspection is not a guarantee that termites and/or damage do not exist in any inaccessible or partly inaccessible areas or sections of the property.

To avoid any horrors ensure that you use a competent professional company that has professional indemnity insurance. Remember stopping termites before they can become established in your home is the best way to protect yourself. Even if you have no sign of termites, it’s a good idea to have a protective barrier in place.

Termite Trouble “Horror Story” is a post from: deBugged - The Rentokil Blog

Arañas

Pro: Se acabó esperar al ascensor, si fuera una araña podrí subir yo misma por la pared

Contra: Creo que tendría graves problemas para coordinar mis ocho patas, así que al final acabaría dando vueltas en círculo y no llegaría a ninguna parte.

Chinches

Pro: Cada día me iría a la cama con alguien distinto, y si me gusta puedo incluso repetir.

Contra: Esa persona sería 100 veces más grande que yo.

Cucarachas

Pro: Sobreviviría a un ataque nuclear y además puedo vivir algún tiempo sin mi cabeza.

Contra: Es muy improbable que haya un ataque nuclear. Aparte de eso me chocaría con todo porque andaría mirando hacia arriba temiendo ser pisada en cualquier momento.

Hormigas

Pro: Me podría pasar todo el día comiendo la comida que el resto de hormigas llevan al nido.

Contra: Las hormigas están siempre andando por ahí en fila, así que básicamente el culo de otra hormiga es lo único que vería en todo el día.

Moscas

Pro: Podría volar

Contra: Me pasaría todo el día chocándome con cristales intentando salir fuera, además se me llenarían las manos de ronchas de tanto frotarlas.

Mosquitos

Pro: Podría volar

Contra: El zumbido que yo mismo provocaría acabaría desquiciándome y me suicidaría.

Termitas

Pro: Podría introducirme en las casas ajenas para observar qué hacen

Contra: La celulosa me dejaría la boca seca así que siempre tendría sed.

Como veis todas las plagas tienen sus ventajas e inconvenientes, así que todavía no me he decidido, ¿algún consejo?

This is Carnival! [English Translation]

I have to confess, I love fancy dress, especially the original ones, and so now that Carnival is coming, I’m already thinking about my fancy dress. This year I want a very original fancy dress, so I thought that if I dress in one of the pests that Rentokil deal with, no one will copy me. I haven’t decided the pests yet, because after thinking about it carefully, I started having some doubts: what would happen if, like in that Simpsons episode in which Bart becomes half-Bart-half-fly and the fly half-fly-half-Bart, I ended up being an insect as well? So I decided to make a pros and cons list, and here is the result:

Spiders

Pros: I won’t have to wait for the lift any more, if it doesn’t come, I will just climb the wall

Cons: I would have serious problems to coordinate my eight legs, so I would just walk in circles all day, going nowhere.

Bedbugs

Pros: Every day I would sleep with different people, and if I like that person, I can even repeat!

Cons: That person will be about 6.5 million times my size

Cockroaches

Pros: I would survive a nuclear attack, and also I can live without my head for weeks.

Cons: A nuclear attack is very unlikely. Apart from that, I would spend the whole day crashing into everything because I would always walk looking upwards for fear of being stepped on

Ants

Pros: I could spend the whole day eating the food that the rest of the ants bring home.

Cons: Ants always walk in a line, so other ants’ asses are all I‘d see all day.

Flies

Pros: I could fly

Cons: My head would be covered in bumps because I would spend the whole day crashing into windows, in addition, my hands would get hurt if I spent the whole day rubbing them.

Mosquitoes

Pros: I could fly

Cons: My own buzzing would drive me crazy and eventually I would kill myself

Termitas

Pros: I could go into people’s houses to see what they do.

Cons: All that cellulose would make me thirsty all day.

As you see it’s very difficult to choose, so I haven’t decided yet. Any advice?

¡Esto es Carnaval! is a post from: deBugged - The Rentokil Blog

No, no spelling mistake here. I did mean to say termite skateboards. Turns out, this is a very worthy organization helping kids to channel all their youthful energy into sports, in this case skateboarding, providing them with positive experiences. Perhaps they will be the next Tony Hawk (impressed with my skateboarder knowledge?)

Just as a flavour, see Top 5 most popular search terms in google.com below, listed by average US monthly searches:

1. Termites = 40,500

2. Termite = 12,100

3. Termites pictures = 12,100

4. Termite control = 5,400

5. Termidor = 4,400

My research also highlighted other termite related terms, which sparked my curiosity:

Orange oil termite treatment – This sounded like a rather simple treatment. It seems that the active ingredient, d-limonene, found in orange oil (extracted from orange rinds) helps to destroy termites as it damages their exoskeleton. However, as is always the case with any pest problem, the effectiveness of this treatment is based upon the type of termite infestation, and it would still have to be applied by a professional exterminator.

Termite tenting – I didn’t know what to make of this search term – I couldn’t get the idea of camping holidays out of my head. So, how could camping relate to termites? Well, it seems this is just another term for termite fumigation carried out on entire properties. Suddenly I get the idea of the term. This fumigation process requires homeowners to move out during the treatment, and is apparently most effective against Dry wood termites.

Termite bait – I found this search term a little strange. Surely your house is the biggest bait possible? Well, it seems termite baiting is another common termite control method. The baits generally consist of paper, cardboard or other food, combined with a slow-acting substance, which is lethal to termites. The trick in the bait of course, is that it still has to be tasty to termites, otherwise they won’t fall for it. But seriously, if termites find wood palatable, then getting the bait ingredients right, can’t be too difficult?!

Termites pictures – People are searching in their thousands for pictures of termites. Perhaps watching CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has inspired people to do some of their own investigation into their termite problems. This is a good thing though, as it pays to know your enemy.

Searching for Termites & Termite Control is a post from: deBugged - The Rentokil Blog