GGA Blog

A Termite Infested School May Be Putting The Safety Of Its Students In Jeopardy Although parents are not around to supervise their children during school, most parents assume that their children are safe while attending school. This is not an unreasonable assumption since schools are filled with responsible adults who are tasked with maintaining the well being of students. However, one particular schoolhouse in Phoenix, Arizona has received widespread attention due to the school's dangerous termite infestation. This termite infestation is extensive

An Insect Thought To Be Extinct Has Recently Been Rediscovered Back in 2003 an insect that nobody had ever seen before was discovered on an island. The island is named Ball's Pyramid, and it is located three hundred and seventy five miles off of the Australian coast. The strange looking insect was classified as a stick insect after it was found by scientists who were climbing a tall mountain located on the island. At the time, researchers believed that the stick insect could have been related to the Lord Howe Island stick insect. However, the Lord Howe Island stick insect was considered extinct. The new insect closely resembled the Lord Howe Island stick insect, but researchers were not sure if what they had found was, in fact, the same insect. Luckily, before the Lord Howe Island stick insect became extinct in 1918, researchers had managed to catch and preserve some specimens over a century ago. Unfortunately, these old specimens were too decayed for proper DNA analysis. However, technology has recently advanced to the point where the DNA of the decayed stick insects can be analyzed. It turns out that the insect discovered on Ball's Pyramid in 2003 is the very same species

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Americans have been falling victim to termite infestations ever since the colonial era. Nobody wants to see their property succumb to termite damage, so it is important to have your home regularly inspected by pest control professionals. Termites will continue to cost homeowners large sums of money in damage. Much of this damage could be prevented, but most homeowners fail to have their homes and surrounding property inspected for termites as often as experts recommend. The existence of termites has been reluctantly accepted as an unfortunate fact of life for American homeowners. Most homeowners believe that there is only a small chance that their homes will become infested with termites, so many homeowners feel safe skimping on termite inspections. Of course, any pest control professional will tell you that failing to have your home properly inspected for termites at the recommended frequency is a bad idea. Not to mention those homeowners who have experienced termite infestations. These homeowners most certainly regret not having their homes inspected regularly. Of course, termite damage in America varies greatly by region. If you live in colder climates, for example, the recommended number of annual home termite inspections will not be as high as they are in warmer climates that are more hospitable to termites. So which regions of America see the greatest amount of termite damage? Do you live in a high-risk region? People who reside in the southeastern region of the US are at the highest risk

Researchers Have Found A Unique Method Of Mosquito Control Mosquitoes are well known for their ability to spread a variety of life-threatening diseases. One has only to watch the news or surf the internet in order to find vast amounts of information relating to past, present and/or future mosquito control issues. Many experts believe that the recent Zika outbreaks are only the beginning of a more substantial threat

The US Is Home To More Invasive Termites Than You Think Invasive insects cause a variety of different problems that affect just about everybody. For example, invasive insects can be damaging to small decorative gardens, which must be annoying for avid gardeners. And, invasive insects can damage or destroy large-scale crops. This makes invasive insects a significant threat to the continuing stability of the world economy. However, the loss of crops is not the only concern, as wood-eating invasive termites cause staggering amounts of economic damage each year. The southeast United States is particularly affected by termite-induced property damage, as many port cities along the Gulf Coast harbor ships that sometimes carry exotic termites from other countries. But large shipping vessels are not always to blame for the transport of invasive termites to America. Although it may be hard to believe, exotic termites have reached foreign environments by infesting yachts, and other boats that are made of, or contain, wood. A recent study has confirmed that six different invasive termite species arrived in Florida

Learn the complicated history of termite control and fake anti-termite remedies that swarmed the nation in the 1930's.

I've heard of mothers that eat their own children, as well as ones that let their children eat them, but I've never come across an aunt that is also willing to be consumed by her sibling's kids. The African velvet spider is one of the few social spider species, living in large communal nests that consist of hundreds of spiders. Their main task is taking care of the baby spiders, so that their lineage can continue to live on. Mother spiders will look after their babies with the assistance of other, closely related virgin female spiders, kind of like the aunts of their kids. The difference between these aunts and the kind of aunt us humans are familiar with is that, like the mother, they are willing to let the children eat them if food is scarce, along with doing all the other child-rearing tasks. The world of insects is rife with insects that eat other insects that are supposed to have a close relationship with them, such as mates and parents. This is something that us humans find pretty alarming, but this is taking sacrifice to a whole new level. Velvet spiders are almost ant-like in their social behavior, working together for the good of the nest doing tasks like hunting together, defending the nest, as well as sharing parenting responsibilities. But these spiders go way further than any other insect or arachnid species I've heard of when it comes to what they are willing to do for their children. All the females share in the parenting duties. This includes the unmated females helping to tend the children of the other mother spiders. It's kind of like how an aunt might help take care of her nieces and nephews, except in a much more intense manner. These spiders only live for one year, and in that one year only forty percent of the females reproduce, so it makes sense that the others are expected to pitch in. This includes tending egg sacs, feeding the kids through regurgitation, and even matriphagy

Thousands Of Cars Were Recalled Because Spiders Had Infiltrated The Gas Tanks I have always dreamed of having my very own Porsche 550 Spyder. And that is "spyder" with a "Y", not an "I". You have probably heard of spiders and other insects infesting the interiors of cars. Spiders are often found within the engines of cars and trucks. In fact, we wrote a blog on this very issue a while back. But it is hard to imagine forty two thousand cars having to be recalled over some yellow sac spiders