I touched upon the 2008 Hurricane Season in a previous entry, and at that time, all was quiet in the Atlantic Ocean. I did not address Tropical Storms specifically (the precursor to Hurricanes) and I believe most people (myself included) don’t ever expect Tropical Storms to cause that many problems.

Since that time, Tropical Storm Fay tested the patience of every resident of Florida by making landfall a record four times and dumping copious amount of rain throughout the state despite never becoming a hurricane!

In addition, with Tropical Storm Gustav just one week later threatening to become a hurricane by this weekend, I thought it was important to remind you of these helpful pest control tips when preparing a hurricane plan:

• Address low-lying areas on your property that need to be drained to properly prevent long term accumulation of standing water.

(Residents in Melbourne received 22 inches of rain in one recent 24 hour period – there are reports of standing water still wreaking havoc even one week later.)

• Seal any openings or repair damage in the roof, walls, or windows of your home to keep out insects.

(Without these seals, your home will soon become part of A Bug’s Life, Part Two.)

• Overturn plant pots, bird feeders and other containers that could create mosquito breeding grounds.

(The less likely you are to need a can of OFF! If you follow this easy step.)

• Secure any trash containers so discarded foodstuff are not scattered by the winds and become magnets for rats and other pests.

(No one wants to experience things that go scurrying in the night.

• Trim overgrown grass or shrub areas before a hurricane to prevent those areas from becoming pest refuges during and after a storm.

(In addition to protecting from pets, this can help keep tree limbs and shrubs from blowing away during a storm.)

Therefore, being aware that Tropical Storms can cause problems too is very important to any pest control prevention plan. Following the above easy steps will help assist that plan.

By the way, with college football season kicking off this weekend, I have one team I’m picking, hands-down – I love the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets over Jacksonville State Thursday August 28.

After all, I am “The Bug Guy” – who else would I root for?

Barry The Bug Guy

Another day, another dodged bullet! Tropical Storm Fay brought badly needed rain and some occasionally strong winds to South Florida today. I guess Fay knew that I am scheduled to discuss a Hurricane Pest Prevention Plan this Friday, August 22 between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. Eastern on WFTX-Fox 4 Cape Coral/Fort Myers. Their website is www.fox4now.com.

Later this weekend, I will be discussing mosquitoes, West Nile Virus and prevention tips on Sunday, August 24 during the 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. morning news on WPBF-ABC 25 West Palm Beach. Their website is www.wpbf.com.

Doing some reading this week, I read an article about a common insect that most people are lucky enough to see but usually not quick enough to see up close.

The dragonfly is one of those rare insects that doesn’t bite or sting humans, nor do they cause problems for crops. Instead, they look for water where they can enjoy helping to control the mosquito population.

Did you know they’ve been around almost as long as Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno? Older than dinosaurs, the dragonflies come in over 6,000 species – in all shapes and sizes.

Female dragonflies lay eggs in or near water, often on floating or emergent plants. When laying eggs, some species will submerge themselves completely in order to lay their eggs on a good surface. It’s a little known fact that most of a dragonfly’s life is spent in a different form, beneath the water’s surface, using internal gills to breathe, and using extendable jaws to catch other invertebrates or even vertebrates such as tadpoles, fish, etc.

As for their unusual name, there is an interesting theory about its origin according to researchers at Texas A&M University, which can be found in a book written by Eden Emanuel Sarot in 1958 entitled Folklore of the Dragonfly: A Linguistic Approach. He theorized that the name dragonfly actually came about because of an ancient Romanian Folktale. In the folktale, the Devil turned a beautiful horse ridden by St. George (of St. George and the dragon fame) into a giant, flying insect. The Romanian names the people supposedly refed to this giant insect (when translated into English) mean ‘St. George’s Horse’ or, more commonly, ‘Devil’s Horse.’ According to Sarot, the peasantry of that time actually viewed the Devil’s Horse as a giant fly and that they may have started referring to it as the ‘Devil’s Fly’ (instead of Devil’s Horse). He stated that the Romanian word for Devil was “drac,” but that drac was also the Romanian word for dragon. He thought that eventually the Romanian name for the Devil’s Fly was erroneously translated to the English Dragon Fly and this eventually evolved into the “dragonfly!”

So keep an eye out and try to capture one on camera – I assure you, it’s easier said and done to snap a shot of a dragonfly! Do you have any great dragonfly images? Are you a fan of Bruce Lee’s Enter The Dragon?

Barry The Bug Guy

Last week, I spoke about how insects have amazing abilities, much like our U.S. Olympians.  But I neglected to search for whether there was a “gold bug” in existence, which would have certainly been worth some attention.

One particular athlete has gotten the world’s attention this week – Michael Phelps.  As of this writing, Phelps is five for five in gold medals and has won 11 golds in his career, making him the most decorated Olympic athlete EVER.  In addition, he still has three events left, and should he win those, he would be the first person to ever win eight gold medals at one Olympics!

To celebrate this super-human achievement, I did some research this week to see if a gold bug in fact exists.  Sure enough, it does – but only in literature:

THE GOLD-BUG.

As it turns out, legendary poet and short story rider Edgar Allen Poe actually composed a story entitled ‘The Gold Bug’, which was originally published in 1843.

The story is about a man named William Legrand who apparently goes mad after he finds and is then bitten by an insect that was thought to be made of pure gold.  After being bitten, he encourages his close friend to go with him and search for a lost treasure buried by a legendary pirate named Captain Kidd.  Although his friend has doubts, they do in fact find the treasure, which was worth nearly 14 million dollars, and Legrand explains he had all of these visions after he first found the gold bug.

Michael Phelps! Michael Phelps!  This American is swimming mad! He has been bitten by the gold bug.  The riches he finds when he returns from the Olympics will be his own treasure.

Now if I can just uncover a Silver Bug and a Bronze Bug, we’ll be on to something.  With a nod to Mr. Poe, Quote the Bug Guy, Always more!

Barry The Bug Guy

As the games of the Beijing Summer Olympics begin tomorrow, our American athletes will be attempting amazing feats that they hope will bring them many medals on the victory stand.  This got me to thinking – insects may make pests of themselves, but it’s hard to deny they have amazing abilities that would dwarf some of our human record holders.

Insects have tremendous adaptability. Those abilities allow them to survive in difficult settings and can make controlling insect pests a challenge at times.

For example, fleas are known for their jumping ability, which helps them elude predators and find new places to feed.  Inch-for-inch, they would far out-jump even the best human long and high jumpers. A flea’s 13-inch long jump, when translated to human terms, would be 450 feet. For a human to jump the equivalent of a flea’s 7-inch high jump, he or she would have to jump up 250 feet.

The current world record for humans is a 29.5 foot long jump set by Mike Powell of the United States in 1991 and Javier Sotomayor of Cuba currently holds the record high jump at 8.08 feet, which means Trevell Quinley and Jesse Williams will be hard pressed to match those feats, let alone the insect translations!

The world’s best power lifters can find inspiration in one of the world’s smaller creatures: the ant. Ants can drag food that is 25 times heavier than their own weight.  That’s the equivalent of a 100-pound human carrying around one of our VW bug Mouse cars.

Although the Bug Guy is quite loud, Cicadas are the world champions of noise making. The African cicada produces a calling song with a mean sound level of 106.7 decibels. Two species of North American cicadas produce an alarm call with a mean sound level of 105.9 dB. Both decibel levels are near that made by snow blowers or jet planes.

We wish all of our Olympic athletes the best of luck in Beijing and hope to be able to stage a bug Olympics someday soon!

Do you have any Olympic memories?  Have you ever experienced a world famous cockroach?  Ever been to a flea circus?

Barry The Bug Guy