GGA Blog

Because lighting matters Why is it that sometimes you will see insects collecting around an artificial light source yet other bugs and creepy crawlers stay away? Bugs can mistake a lightbulb for sunlight, which to them equates food causing them to swarm the light looking for dinner. However, other bugs like bees for instance, steer far from these light sources. Are they smarter than your typical moth who will beat its head against a lightbulb a million times, still not realize it's not the sun? There are different species of moths, nocturnal moths for instance will not participate in the behaviors of swarming a light source, whereas the lower moth species are highly attracted to the same source of light. We've all heard, "like a moth to a flame". The moth sees the light and assumes food must be near. According this species there can't be light where food isn't involved. Bees however, are daytime bugs. It is rare to see a bee flying during the night, even if the distraction of a high powered artificial light source. Bees are just too smart for their own good and stay "home" at night. Grasshoppers also will swarm near an artificial light source. While they are very intelligent insects, the light gets them every time. For more information on moths, grasshoppers and bees lighting preferences, click here Why is it that sometimes you will see insects collecting around an artificial light source yet other bugs and creepy crawlers stay away? Bugs can mistake a lightbulb for sunlight, which to them equates food causing them to swarm the light looking for dinner. However, other bugs like bees for instance, steer far from these light sources. Are they smarter than your typical moth who will beat its head against a lightbulb a million times, still not realize it's not the sun? There are different species of moths, nocturnal moths for instance will not participate in the behaviors of swarming a light source, whereas the lower moth species are highly attracted to the same source of light. We've all heard, "like a moth to a flame". The moth sees the light and assumes food must be near. According this species there can't be light where food isn't involved. Bees however, are daytime bugs. It is rare to see a bee flying during the night, even if the distraction of a high powered artificial light source. Bees are just too smart for their own good and stay "home" at night. Grasshoppers also will swarm near an artificial light source. While they are very intelligent insects, the light gets them every time. For more information on moths, grasshoppers and bees lighting preferences, click here

Building a future on bugs Centipede Vodka? No thanks, right? No bugs needed! Or is there really a market for just that? Insects are the newest delicacy. Roasting ants, saut�ed mopane and even tarantula infused alcohol seem to be all the rave. Insect farms are now booming across North America, even spanning to a few new markets in Europe as well. One farm, Next Millennium Farm, is recommending its own cricket flour which was featured on the popular TV show "Shark Tank". Revenue from the farm has exceeded $100,000 a month in 2015. While livestock farms cost nearly $300 Billion per year, insect farms cost a mere fraction of the money to run effectively, not to mention the ecological benefits and lower environmental foot print of an insect farm. Farms like Next Millennium Farm, are working to chance public opinion on the "ew gross" factor of eating bugs like crickets. The protein value in these insects specifically is extremely high. Who knew, eating bugs could be good for you! These farms could really be the future of farming once research institutions come up with not only the best practices but also then put regulations into place to insure the safety and approval of the FDA. For more information on insect farming and cricket farming, click here

What makes wasps be such jerks? Who knew that just like humans, bad behavior of wasps turns out to be family related? Wasps are very village family oriented, doing their work on a daily basis for the good of the group instead of the good of just one. Every year hornets and yellow jackets will remake their home and colonies. With the spring time comes a newly crowned queen who builds the colony from the ground up, teaching her offspring how to help. Sometimes these colonies can house up to 1000 worker wasps. The offspring of the queen, or larvae, appear and get very angry during the summer because they are growing through the toddlerhood and adolescence phase of their lives and are hungry. These young soon to be full grown wasps need protein to continue to grow. They obtain this necessary protein from family deliveries of small insects. Yellow jackets are scavengers who search for these insects to feed their sibling spawn. By the middle of the summer, humans tend to be on the lookout for these nests and colonies, yellow jacket have a tendency to create them in the walls of our homes creating a major problem. Throughout the season of summer into fall, the worker hornets and wasps grow to be very tired of delivering food to their larvae and queen. Because of all of that work, and the annoyance of humans trying to destroy their homes, but the end of the season they are rightfully grumpy and tend to sting. To read more on Yellow Jacket Wasps and bald face hornets, click here

A patch to stop mosquitos? I'll take 10! In a recent study, scientists have located a facility that is actually creating a patch to be worn by humans that will disorientate mosquitoes, making us virtually invisible and unwanted to their confused senses. The study walked a user through every home remedy and chemical you can think of to see which actually works in the world of repelling mosquitos. The user first put his untreated and unprotected arm into a test box filled with mosquitos, and yes; 35 bites in less than a minute. The next test was different forms of protection from bands and clothing to DEET spray. While each worked minimally, none of them worked effectively 100% of the time. Until the user was introduced to the Kite facility, and the Kite compound. It essentially is a patch to put on your clothing, which should be released to market in 2016. When the user was wearing this patch covered in the proprietary blend of exactly what (we don't know). The user was completely unaffected or bothered by the mosquitos. The new compound is said to work by confusing mosquitos. They target humans based on our breathing and exhaling specifically. This compound emits an odor that hinders a mosquito's ability to locate humans up close. I will be the first in line to purchase this patch if in fact it is found to continue its effective results. It will change backyard BBQ's one swat at a time. No more citronella, or awful chemical spray smells? I'm in! More information on the research in process for repelling mosquitoes can be found here

Glowworms Turn Caves Into Natural Starscapes

Gliding Spiders Make an Appearance

The Hollywood Spider horror films have led to many nightmares in the past, but nothing on the big screen could prepare anyone for truly seeing spider webs consuming entire groups of trees like they recently did in Rowlett, Texas. Down a single road filled with trees, entire webs covering the leaves and branches of these trees can be seen, so large that it looks like only one horse-sized spider could have made it. But in reality it might be something even more frightening. These giant webs are actually made from a community of spiders

Battling Mosquitos with the Diseases they give us

Texas Infestation of Aphids