AZ Pest:: Arizona Pest & Termite Control

Here are some fun facts:

1. Dragonflies can fly 36 miles (58k) an hour.

2. A click beetle plays dead by lying on its back, then snaps a hinge, [licks his body up in the air, and scuttles away to live another day.

3. Some caterpillars store poisonous chemicals in their brightly-colored bodies that make birds sick.

4. Glowworms have a blue light that shines from their abdomens in attracts smaller insects for food.

5. Queen bees lay over 1,000 eggs a day; queen termites lay over 30,000 eggs a day.

Siafu ants, also known as Driver Ants are one of the most dangerous ants in the world.

Colonies of driver ants can number up to 22 million. Almost daily, swarms embark on raids for food which can be brought back to the nest. Although totally blind, driver ants have no problems getting around. They rely on touch, smell and chemical signals from the abdomen of the leading ants. The swarms can travel at up to 20 meters per hour, stripping all animal life in their path. They are also known to raid the nests of other social insects, although never those of other driver ants. They do not rely on stings to attack; rather they use their large and powerful mandibles to create puncture wounds and tear off sections. Driver ants have a larger impact on their habitat than any other creature and they have to move location at regular intervals to find new feeding grounds. During their nomadic existence they form temporary nests called ‘bivouacs’ made from the living members of the colony, in which they house the developing grubs. Whenever the ants swarm or migrate, they form large highways of workers, bordered by the soldiers, which hang over the action, their mandibles waving, to protect the colony as it moves.

Asian longhorn, other bugs causing million$ in damage

By Jessica Fargen

As state officials prepare to mark one year of battling the tree-killing Asian longhorned beetle in Worcester, another invasive bug that has wiped out millions of trees in other states is on the horizon.

Since the longhorned beetle, believed to have been imported in packaging from Asia, was discovered in Worcester on July 31, 2008, more than 22,000 trees in the central Massachusetts city have been destoyed or removed, at a cost of nearly $25 million and growing.

Now, there is the worry that the emerald ash borer, another vexing vermin that has destroyed millions of trees in 12 states, is encroaching on Massachusetts. It was found in New York this summer. The bug could devastate ash trees in forests, city parks and along streets if not detected, said Charlie Burnham, program supervisor for forest health at the state Department of Conservation and Recreation.

“We don’t believe it’s here yet,” said Burnham, who manages the placement of 10 ash borer traps across the state. “It would have a significant impact on forest and shade trees if it should get here.”

Burnham spent Thursday morning checking sticky, 2-foot-tall traps strung high up in five trees in eastern Massachusetts towns, including Walpole and Medfield.

“The more eyes we have looking for these invasives, the better our chances of finding them and getting a control or eradication program in place,” he said, noting that emerald ash borers leave a tiny, D-shaped hole in tree trunks.

Worcester City Manager Michael V. O’Brien said he now worries about “another wave of potential tree losses” if the emerald ash borer infests the state.

Although Asian longhorned beetles were first discovered a year ago in Worcester, it’s believed they have been in the central Massachusetts city since 1998.

“It takes down what has through time helped define the character of our community – our urban forest – devastating neighborhoods that were tree-lined streets, back yards cooled by shade that are now barren,” O’Brien said.

Private and government money has gone to a tree-planting program, but years of work are ahead, he said. USDA surveyors planned to inspect Worcester trees. Suzanne Bond, spokeswoman for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is coordinating the Worcester eradication effort, said it’s very likely the Asian longhorned beetle has spread elsewhere in the state.

“We are asking people, no matter where they live, to be cognizant” of it, she said, adding that the black-and-white beetles leave behind a small, round hole in tree trunks.

Jennifer Forman Orth, plant pest survey coordinator for the state Department of Agricultural Resources, hopes that the declaration of August as Asian Longhorned Beetle Awareness Month in Massachusetts will help keep the bug at bay.

“The most important thing now is that we keep it from spreading outside of the Worcester area,” she said. “The public needs to be vigilant about reporting any potential sightings of the beetle.”

If you believe you have spotted an Asian longhorned beetle, contact the Asian longhorned beetle program at 1-866-702-9938.

By Cameron Walker
for National Geographic News

With more than 37,000 described species, spiders—from the tiny armored spider to the Goliath birdeater tarantula—cruise the Earth on eight legs. Get a glimpse of the spiders’ world with the juicy bites below:

•       The ancient Greek poet Ovid spun the tale of a young woman named Arachne, who boasted that she could weave as well as the goddess Athena. After a weaving contest between mortal and goddess, Athena began beating Arachne, who tried to hang herself in fright. Athena turned the arrogant weaver into a spider, and Arachne and her descendants have since then been weavers that hang from threads—or so the story goes.

•       “Arachnid” isn’t just a highfalutin word for spider. Spiders are arachnids, but not all arachnids are spiders. Arachnids are members of a class of animals that includes spiders, scorpions, mites, and ticks. What they all have in common—and what distinguishes them from insects—are four pairs of legs and no antennae.

•       The spider world has its own Goliath—the Goliath birdeater tarantula (Theraphosa leblondi). Found in the coastal rain forests of northeastern South America, this spider can be as big as a dinner plate and has been known to snatch birds from their nests. The spider world’s David? The smallest spider is a mygalomorph spider from Borneo. Its body is the size of a pinhead.

•       A spider might give Superman, the Man of Steel, a run for his money. Some silk made by orb weaver spiders rivals the tensile strength of steel. It’s been suggested that the silk would be more effective than Kevlar in bulletproof vests. One problem: corralling a group of territorial spiders to produce the tough stuff. In addition, each spider produces so little silk that it wouldn’t be practical to become a spider farmer.

•       Almost all spiders carry venom, but its purpose is to stun or kill their insect prey, not to attack humans. Of the known spider species, only about 25 are thought to have venom that has an effect on humans. The two bestknown venomous spiders in the U.S.— the black widow and the brown recluse—have not been proven to have caused any deaths in more than two decades.

·         The brown recluse spider, Loxosceles reclusa, often gets a particularly bad rap. While its natural range is in the south-central United States, people all over the country blame bites on this species.

•       Spiders produce seven kinds of silk, ranging from the sticky stuff to trap and wrap their prey to superstrong threads for support. Spiders also use their silk as parachutes and to shelter themselves and their young. The various types of silk are produced by different specialized silk glands and nozzles called spinnerets. No one spider is able to produce the full range of silk.

•       Spiders have evolved numerous ways to catch their prey, which is mostly insects but can also be frogs, fish, lizards, snakes, and birds. Some spiders are masters of disguise, blending into their background so that they look like parts of a flower or a leaf. Others hide under “trapdoors,” jumping out of their hiding places to snatch a passing meal. Still others can leap many times their body length, covering great distances to grab their prey.

•       Bolas spiders “fish” for moths by dangling a sticky strand of silk impregnated with a substance that is similar to the pheromone that moths use to attract mates. Some spiders can walk on the surface of water. Others live underwater.

•       Spiders eat spiders. Females sometimes eat their mates, even while they are mating. Some spiders specialize in hunting down other species of spider and have evolved ways to grab them, even when their victims are in the center of their strongholds—their webs.

•       Spiders are hunted as much as they are hunters. Birds, lizards, snakes, scorpions, and other spiders all prey on spiders. Some insects also hunt down spiders, including the mantis and a wasp that specializes in catching and paralyzing spiders. The wasp buries the spider alive, so that its young can feed on fresh food when they hatch.

•       Most spiders have eight eyes. Some have no eyes and others have as many as 12 eyes. Most can detect only between light and dark, while others have well-developed vision. Experiments have demonstrated that some spiders can recognize and respond to specific shapes on television monitors. However they’re equipped to see, all spiders have highly evolved systems to detect prey and danger.

•       Some cultures have found ways to use a spider’s trap to get their own meals. In the South Pacific native people have made fishing nets from a spider’s silk. People encourage nephila spiders to build webs between two bamboo stakes, which are then used for angling.

•       A spider eats about 2,000 insects a year, so spiders are good to have around the home. The reward for the trouble? All too often, a smack with a newspaper. Spiders are usually killed by people because the arachnids seem scary, not because they’re dangerous.

•       If you are bitten by a spider, the California Poison Control Center recommends keeping the wound clean and treating the symptoms that follow. If the bite becomes infected or does not heal, see a physician.

•       Some cultures chomp down on spiders as a delicacy and have been doing so for hundreds of years. In the South Pacific people have eaten the same spiders they use to weave fishing nets—with some diners saying the cooked spiders taste nutty and sticky like peanut butter. In spots in Southeast Asia, street vendors sell fried spiders to passersby.

•       According to urban legend, the daddy longlegs—those gangly creatures that seem to hang from corners around the house—are poisonous, but have mouths too small to bite humans. The name “daddy longlegs” is used in several countries to refer to a few different species—including harvestmen, which aren’t actually spiders and have no venom—and spiders in the family Pholcidae, which are not known to have venom that affects humans.

Q: What is a dragonfly’s favorite insect to eat?
A: All of the dragonflies I asked were going too fast to hear me. Either that or they were too busy to stop. But I often see them eating mosquitoes, midges, flies, gnats, and other small flying insects.

Q: Why do horseflies bite us?
A:They bite you because they want to eat your blood. Horseflies have a kind of feeding that I like to call “slash and sponge!” First they slash a cut in your skin, then they sponge up the blood and eat it. There are lots of insects that eat blood — mosquitoes, blackflies, and even some moths do it.

Q: Why do lightning bugs flash?
A: They are trying to attract a mate. Flashing is their way of advertising that they are available. Different species of fireflies have different codes that they use. Sometimes, predator fireflies flash the code of another species, and when that species shows up, they eat it!

Q: Why do stink bugs stink if they die?
A: They even stink while they’re alive, if you disturb them! This is a way of defending themselves. Who wants to eat something that stinks? I sure don’t. So if something wants to eat the stink bug, the stink bug just turns up the smell, and hopefully the predator changes its mind!

Before an extermination service company can effectively treat an infestation, the insect, rodent or pest at blame must be definitively identified.

Let’s answer a few questions in order to make the service request easier for you.

o Have you identified the pest causing the nuisance?

o Have you inspected the infested area as best as possible?

o Can you estimate or determine how extensive the problem is?

o Is the infested area moisture ridden, is the affected area currently wet?

o Have you noticed cracks in your exterior foundation? Is sealant wearing away?

o Has the affected area been exposed to sanitation leaks? Is it an unclean area?

o Answering these questions will greatly assist the pest control service(s) you choose to
inquire information and pricing from. Providing as much information as possible also allows for generating an accurately priced quote for ridding your home, office, building or property from unwanted moles, mice, rats, cockroaches, termites, ants, bees, reptiles, spiders, scorpions, bats and… you get the idea.

4:00AM Wednesday Jul 01, 2009 by NZ Herald.

Auckland university researchers have written software which enables a computer to recognise rat footprints from those of other wildlife, and tell the difference between species of rats.

“By identifying rat species we can understand patterns of invasion on predator-free islands, or detect new species entering New Zealand,” biologist James Russell said.

The software can be used to read cards left on either side of an inkpad that pests walk over in tunnels placed in vulnerable sites such as predator-free islands or cargo crates.

Footprint cards are a cheap method of identifying animals, particularly ones present in low numbers, or difficult for human observers to find.

The Department of Conservation uses footprint cards but analyses them manually, and it is difficult for even experts to differentiate between species with similar-looking footprints.

Automating the footprint identification speeds up the tracking of invasive animals, and technique can be easily adapted to monitor other animals.
By developing an automated method to identify species, and extending it to any animal that leaves tracks – including reptiles and insects – researchers can help track species living in an area, said Dr Russell, who now teaches at the University of California’s Berkeley campus.

Tracking tunnels will be used on Auckland’s Rangitoto and Motutapu islands, where eradication programmes have started against all introduced animals.

- NZPA

Folks if you haven’t seen how a Diamonadback Rattle Snake prooves himself worthy of a mate, check this out. Remember to call Arizona Pest Control for rattle snake control and removal!

So a friend of mine Garry G, (ggb@q.com) e-mailed me some pictures and told me he caught the Gila Monster in his backyard over on the east side. He got some great shots of fhese are spectacular desert dwellers. I found this amazing video on them, they have some very big lizards in this video and great information.

Business

When animal meets airplane

It can be deadly; AZ airports look at cutting danger

By Enric Volante

Arizona Daily Star

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 06.21.2009

Propelled by January’s crash of an Airbus A320 airliner into New York’s Hudson River, Arizona’s commercial airports are taking a new look at how to reduce the hazard to aircraft of birds and other animals.

Consultants say they are likely to recommend that Tucson and Phoenix Sky Harbor international airports take additional steps to keep wildlife away.

In Tucson that could involve gradually paving more of the remaining pockets of desert land at airports. Another measure being discussed is training security workers to recognize not only where human intruders might slip through fencing, but coyotes and javelina as well.

The Federal Aviation Administration is requiring the environmental studies nationwide at commercial airports that experience bird strikes or have the potential to attract hazardous wildlife.

The risk is higher in states with more flocks of big migratory birds, such as Canada geese, but even in Arizona experts say wildlife is a significant hazard.

“One mourning dove can take out an engine on an F-16,” said David Bergman, state director of wildlife services for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “For us here in the desert, a mourning dove is considered quite hazardous when you’re dealing with a single-engine aircraft.”

Over the past decade, FAA data on more than 1,350 wildlife strikes in Arizona, including 229 at Tucson International, show occasional close calls and injuries, and expensive damage. That’s only a glimpse: Reporting is not mandatory, and the FAA estimates 80 percent of wildlife collisions go unreported.

Last October at dusk, a military aircraft zoomed over the desert at 400 knots and collided with a black vulture. The aircraft, which was not identified in the FAA data, landed later at Tucson International, where mechanics found a damaged engine. The cost of repair: $52,028.

The cost was greater in June 2003 when an Air Force pilot flying near Gila Bend saw a turkey vulture disappear under the nose of his F-16 fighter. He heard a grinding noise and the engine lost thrust, says an Air Force accident report. Flame, sparks and smoke trailed from the plane as it struggled upward another 500 feet. Then the engine quit, the pilot bailed and the $20 million warplane plummeted to the ground.

A turkey vulture was again the unlucky bird when one hit the windshield of an F-16 as the fighter approached Tucson International in March 2006. Damage, if any, was less than $20,000.

As part of their ongoing wildlife programs, airport workers can clear vulture roosts and pick up animal carcasses to avoid attracting the big scavengers.

But vultures are sometimes drawn to airports by nothing more than the hot air rising from concrete and pavement. They like to soar into thermals and play.

“It’s hard to really plan for vultures. You never know where they’re going to show,” said Steve Fairaizl, a wildlife biologist with Airport Wildlife Consultants.

The Tucson Airport Authority traps and relocates birds, mainly doves and pigeons, as part of its wildlife management program. When flocks congregate at runways, workers harass them with pyrotechnics noise, essentially firing firecrackers from a flare gun, Fairaizl said.

The air guard, which shares runways with commercial airliners at Tucson, analyzes historical bird activity and scans the landing and takeoff areas with special radar designed to detect birds and guide avoidance tactics.

“If we know there are birds in an area, the higher you fly the less chance you have of encountering birds,” said Lt. Col. Doug Slocum, chief of safety for the guard’s 162nd Fighter Wing at Tucson International Airport.

Last year the fighter wing recorded five bird strikes, down from a high of 21 in 2006, Slocum said. Most years there has been some minor damage, meaning it cost the military less than $20,000 to fix.

The last reported damage to a commercial airliner at Tucson was in August 2002.

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 hit a dove on the climb out of Tucson, FAA data show. The pilot heard the impact, then noticed a vibration in one engine. The jet diverted to Phoenix and made a safe emergency landing. Inside the engine mechanics found six dented fan blades.

Two years earlier another commercial jetliner was climbing out of Tucson at dusk when something went wrong. The plane returned to the airport with the left engine shut down. Inside the engine mechanics found feathers and replaced three pairs of fan blades.

Aviation experts say they can’t just place mesh screens over the intakes of large jet engines. Ice could form and airflow could be reduced. Hit by a bird at high speed, a piece of screen could break off and cause more damage than the bird. Harden the overall engine to take hits from really big birds and weight becomes a problem. So airports take other safety measures.

In New York, officials recently said they plan to trap and kill up to 2,000 geese this year.

On Jan. 15, US Airways flight 1549 collided with Canada geese just minutes out of New York’s La Guardia International Airport. The bird strikes disabled both engines and the plane splashed down in the frigid Hudson River. The 155 passengers and crew survived.

That crash led the FAA to call for commercial airports to conduct new wildlife assessments, said Fairaizl of Airport Wildlife Consultants.

The firm is doing the studies for Tucson for about $65,000 and for Phoenix Sky Harbor for $85,000. Wildlife control is a significant cost of airport business, with many spending $100,000 a year and up. Denver, a major airport in an area rich with wildlife, spends about $300,000, he said.

So far the only larger birds seen in the ongoing assessment at Tucson have been ravens that appear in winter months.

“We aren’t really finding anything that’s causing a major hazard at the airport,” Fairaizl said. “So what’s going to come out of all this is an update of the current wildlife-management plan.”

Much of the airport is asphalt parking lots, noisy runways and concrete buildings. But Airport Wash snakes across the property, high with brush in some places. Southeast of Los Reales and Country Club roads lies a mesquite bosque. To the east the woods fade into shrubland cut with deep arroyos that stretch toward the city’s Los Reales Landfill, a source of food for birds.

Other potential wildlife attractants within a few miles of the airport are old sand and gravel pits and a few wetlands that attract ducks in the winter.

The strategy is to minimize food, shelter and water. Although the Tucson Airport Authority has had what Fairaizl called a good wildlife program for many years, consultants are likely to recommend that the authority pave over more desert during future construction projects, getting rid of mesquite trees and grasses, Fairaizl said.

In other areas, the airport may need to install additional plastic bird spikes to discourage perching. And although the airport patrols its fences daily, he said, those security workers may need to be trained about wildlife.

Coyotes and javelina have been known to slip in under the fences. In October 2007 a business pilot was making his takeoff run at night when his landing gear smacked a javelina. A big jetliner once hit a coyote. Neither plane was damaged. At Kingman the UHF antenna on a charter jet once struck a pronghorn, seriously damaging the fuselage and frame of the airplane.

The FAA data shows helicopters are among the most vulnerable aircraft.

Shortly before midnight in September 2005, a police pilot was flying an MD 520 helicopter 400 feet above Phoenix, the FAA data says. The helicopter hit and killed an American coot, shattering the left side of the windscreen and injuring the pilot, who made a precautionary landing at the Phoenix Coliseum. The damage estimate was $30,000. Since 1998, 18 other American coots have been reported dead near Sky Harbor runways.

In September 2007, a tour helicopter was sightseeing near Meadview in Northern Arizona when the pilot saw a large bird pass slightly below his plane. Suddenly another bird — a golden eagle with a wingspan of nearly 8 feet — appeared almost directly ahead and shattered the windshield.

“I was struck in the face, neck and arm by debris and/or parts of the bird,” the pilot reported. He landed safely, but he and two passengers had minor injuries.

Although bird strikes by aircraft are rare, federal regulators warn they are a worsening threat for the nation. Air travel has grown, more new planes have two engines instead of three or four and planes are quieter, making them harder for a bird to detect.

Contact reporter Enric Volante at 573-4129 or at evolante@azstarnet.com.