RI, MA EHS Pest Control Blog

"If people are hoping that the bed bug infestation will be killed off by cold winter conditions, they are in for a bad surprise," says Leonard Douglen, the Executive Director of the New Jersey Pest Management Association.

"Bed bugs live indoors with their human hosts," says Douglen, "and the same warmth that keeps our homes and apartments comfortable in winter provides the same condition for them. Moreover, a bed bug, after taking a single blood meal, can live for up to a year without another one."

"Termites, too," says Douglen, "enjoy the same conditions when they set up a colony in a home or other structure. This explains why in the springtime they emerge in the thousands to fly off and create new colonies. Most homes in New Jersey have been hosts to termite colonies for three years or more before they discover an infestation.

Outdoor colonies simply head below the frost line where their large numbers and stored food keep them comfortable until spring arrives."

Honey bees use the same strategy says Douglen. "They cluster together as the temperatures get colder and use their collective body heat to stay warm and protect their brood."

"Ants also burrow deep below the frost line in the same way. If a home or other structure has a colony of Carpenter ants, the same conditions exist as for the termites and, of course, they have a constant source of food. Cockroaches, like ants, are provided with plenty of warmth and food by their human hosts."

"Insects," says Douglen, "have had millions of years to develop ways to over-winter. Some like the Monarch butterflies flies thousands of miles to Mexico to wait for warmer weather to arrive in the northern climes."

Douglen explained that insects that are susceptible to freezing avoid it by generating their own antifreeze components. "The same ingredient in automobile antifreeze, ethylene glycol, is the most common chemical found in insects that use this mechanism to survive."

"This survival mechanism is called diapause," says Douglen. Since insects are essentially little bags of water; the smaller the amount of water they contain, the greater their ability to cool without freezing. Those that generate their own antifreeze will be around in the spring."

The smaller the bug, like ants, insect eggs, or tiny spider mites, can survive easier than larger ones. Larger bugs like grasshoppers can fall victim to colder weather. Yellow jacket queens and other wasp species will over-winter in the eaves under roofs of homes so they can emerge in the spring to create an entire new colony.

"Different insect species have different survival strategies," says Douglen. "The praying mantis survives as eggs while Wooley bear caterpillars will curl up in leaf litter for the winter. When spring arrives, the caterpillars spin their cocoons. Whether as eggs or via hibernation, insect species have been surviving harsh winter conditions for millions of years."

Douglen recommends that homeowners in particular have regular inspections of their property to ensure "that the various areas in and around a home do not become places where a variety of insects, some of whom can inflict thousands of dollars of damage, can be identified and protected against infestations." Homes, Douglen adds, are also invaded by rodent species such as mice who seek warm places to overwinter.

Source: New Jersey Pest Management Association

Pest Control, MA ,  Pest Control, RI

By David Abel and L. Finch
Globe Staff | Globe Correspondent / September 8, 2010

It got so bad the lingering wasps, which had already stung the nearly unconscious woman more than 500 times, began attacking her rescuers.

The 53-year-old Attleboro woman had either fallen or stepped on a nest, local fire officials said, and when rescuers found her lying on the grass Saturday evening next to her Division Street home, she was covered in a type of wasp called yellow jacket. The firefighters used a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher, which sprayed cold, compressed gas, to stun the insects so they could help the woman, Fire Chief Scott Lachance said.

Afterward, several yellow jackets remained in her clothing and stung three firefighters in the ambulance, he said. A few stragglers made it to the hospital, but did not sting anyone there, Lachance added.

Though summer is winding down, this is the most likely time of year to be stung by wasps and similar predatory insects, entomologists say.

In the past few months, millions of larvae throughout the region have matured, most reaching adulthood during the past few weeks. There are now more adult wasps than at anytime of the year, and they are all competing for sustenance, making them more likely to prowl garbage bins, picnic tables, or anywhere people leave food, entomologists say.

“This is the time of year that they’re scavenging for food stocks to keep their queens alive for the coming year,’’ said Lee Corte-Real, director of the division of crop and pest services at the state Department of Agricultural Resources. “They’re foraging desperately as the weather gets cooler, and sometimes people get in their way.’’

Yesterday, a group of yellow jackets attacked several students and their teacher in Dover, N.H., as they took part in an outdoor science activity, school and local fire officials said.

One of the sixth-graders from Dover Middle School had stepped on a wasps nest, agitating the yellow jackets and sending the students running, Dover Assistant Fire Chief Richard Driscoll said.

The insects chased the students, stinging 11 of them and their teacher, several as many as 20 times, Driscoll said. Firefighters treated three of the students, while the rest of the class darted back to the school, warding off the insects along the way.

“It wasn’t mass hysteria,’’ Driscoll said. “You have to give the kids credit.’’

Eric C. Mussen, a specialist on bees and other insects at the University Of California at Davis, said part of the problem is that many of the traditional prey of wasps — spiders, caterpillars, and other insects — are dying at this time of year, so the yellow jackets are scavenging for food left by people.