Cockroaches are generally rather large insects.

Cockroaches are generally rather large insects. Most species are about the size of a thumbnail, but several species are bigger. The world's heaviest cockroach is the Australian giant burrowing cockroach, which can reach 9 cm (3.5 in) in length and weigh more than 30 g (1.1 oz). Comparable in size is the Central American giant cockroach Blaberus giganteus, which grows to a similar length but is not as heavy. Cockroaches have broad, flattened bodies and a relatively small heads. They are generalized insects, with few special adaptations, and may be among the most primitive living neopteran insects. The mouthparts are on the underside of the head and include generalised chewing mandibles. They have large compound eyes, two ocelli, and long, flexible, antennae. The first pair of wings (the tegmina) are tough and protective, lying as a shield on top of the membranous hind wings. All four wings have branching longitudinal veins, and multiple cross-veins. The legs are sturdy, with large coxae and five claws each. The abdomen has ten segments and several cerci.[15] FOR MORE INFORMATION HOW TO PROTECT YOUR HOUSE FROM " THE SILENT KILLER " OUR TEAM CAN SOLVE YOUR " DANGEROUS " PROBLEM!

Cockroach

Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattaria or Blattodea, of which about 30 species out of 4,500 total are associated with human habitats. About four species are well known as pests.[1][2] Among the best-known pest species are the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana, which is about 30 mm (1.2 in) long, the German cockroach, Blattella germanica, about 15 mm (0.59 in) long, the Asian cockroach, Blattella asahinai, also about 15 mm (0.59 in) in length, and the Oriental cockroach, Blatta orientalis, about 25 mm (0.98 in). Tropical cockroaches are often much bigger, and extinct cockroach relatives and 'roachoids' such as the Carboniferous Archimylacris and the Permian Apthoroblattina were not as large as the biggest modern species. The name "cockroach" comes from the Spanish word for cockroach, cucaracha, transformed by English folk etymology into "cock" and "roach". The scientific name derives from the Latinized Greek name for the insect (Doric Greek: βλάττα, blátta; Ionic and Attic Greek: βλάττη, blátte').

Pest Free Zone

Mosquito control manages the population of mosquitoes to reduce their damage to human health, economies, and enjoyment. Mosquito control is a vital public-health practice throughout the world and especially in the tropics because mosquitoes spread many diseases, such as malaria. Mosquito-control operations are targeted against three different problems: Nuisance mosquitoes bother people around homes or in parks and recreational areas; Economically important mosquitoes reduce real estate values, adversely affect tourism and related business interests, or negatively impact livestock or poultry production; Public health is the focus when mosquitoes are vectors, or transmitters, of infectious disease. Adulticiding Control of adult mosquitoes is the most familiar aspect of mosquito control to most of the public. It is accomplished by ground-based applications or via aerial application of residual chemical insecticides. Generally modern mosquito-control programs in developed countries use low-volume applications of insecticides, although some programs may still use thermal fogging. FOR MORE INFORMATION HOW TO PROTECT YOUR HOUSE FROM " THE SILENT KILLER.

Silent Killer! " Beware "

The mosquitoes are a family of small, midge-like flies: the Culicidae. Although a few species are harmless or even useful to humanity, most are a nuisance because they consume blood from living vertebrates, including humans. The females of many species of mosquitoes are blood eating pests. In feeding on blood, some of them transmit extremely harmful human and livestock diseases, such as malaria. Some authorities argue accordingly that mosquitoes are the most dangerous animals on Earth.[2] Mosquitoes are members of a family of nematocerid flies: the Culicidae (from the Latin culex, genitive culicis meaning "midge" or "gnat").[3] The word mosquito (formed by mosca and diminutive ito) is from the Spanish for "little fly".[4] Superficially, mosquitoes resemble crane flies (family Tipulidae) and chironomid flies (family Chironomidae); as a result, casual observers seldom realise the important differences between the members of the respective families. In particular, the females of many species of mosquitoes are blood eating pests and dangerous vectors of diseases, whereas members of the similar-looking Chironomidae and Tipulidae are not. Many species of mosquitoes are not blood eaters, and many of those that do create a "high to low pressure" in the blood to obtain it do not transmit disease. Also, in the bloodsucking species, only the females suck blood. Furthermore, even among mosquitoes that do carry important diseases, neither all species of mosquitoes, nor or all strains of a given species transmit the same kinds of diseases, nor do they all transmit the diseases under the same circumstances; their habits differ. For example, some species attack people in houses, and others prefer to attack people walking in forests. Accordingly, in managing public health, knowing which species, even which strains, of mosquitoes with which one is dealing is important. Over 3,500 species of mosquitoes have already been described from various parts of the world.[5][6] Some mosquitoes that bite humans routinely act as vectors for a number of infectious diseases affecting millions of people per year.[7][8] Others that do not routinely bite humans, but are the vectors for animal diseases, may become disastrous agents for zoonosis of new diseases when their habitat is disturbed, for instance by sudden deforestation.[9][10] Several scientists have suggested complete eradication of mosquitoes would not have serious ecological consequences.[11][12] FOR MORE INFORMATION HOW TO PROTECT YOUR HOUSE FROM " THE SILENT KILLER "

Bat " Capture 600 Mosquitoes an Hour "

What can they do? A single brown bat is very beneficial in that it can easily capture 600 mosquitoes an hour while a colony of 500 bats can easily eat a million insects nightly. When bats invade dwelling structures, however, they become a nuisance. Their presence, ectoparasites, and the odour from their fecal matter and urine, are all of concern. Rabies is a potentially fatal viral disease in humans and other mammals that is transmitted by bites or scratches and through contact with saliva or bodily tissues. Although attacks by rabid bats are rare, anyone bitten or scratched by a bat or any other wild animal should seek medical attention immediately. Cats and dogs stand the greatest chance of becoming infected by picking up a diseased animal as they use their mouths to do so. The best way to protect a pet from rabies is by regular vaccination. Anyone who spends considerable time in attics, caves, or possible bat roost sites may consider getting immunized against rabies. Children should be taught not to handle any wild animal floundering on the ground or a pet behaving strangely. Bat exposure is considered to be very high risk as bat bites are very small and not easily seen. People exposed to a bat can get rabies even though no bat bite is noticed. If a bat is found in a room where someone was sleeping or where a young child may have been alone even for a few moments, it is advisable to take the precaution of seeking medical attention. The bat should also be captured for testing. If you have been bitten by an animal and think you may have been exposed to rabies, you should immediately wash and flush the wound with soap and water. Seek attention from a health care professional as soon as possible to assess your risk and treatment options.Dead bats found on the ground should be shovelled into a container and transported to public health authorities for autopsy.Histoplasmosis is a fungal disease in humans that may be contracted through the inhalation of dusty bat manure. Most infections have no symptoms or appear as a mild respiratory illness. Bats are not the only source of this pathogen. It can be found in soil and bird droppings and is carried by the wind. A respirator and other protective clothing should be worn when working in bat roost sites. FOR MORE INFORMATION HOW TO PROTECT YOUR HOUSE FROM " Bat Droppings Disease.

Bat " Who are You "

Bats – What Are They Bats are flying creatures of the night, not much bigger than a house mouse. Bats can live up to 10 years. The wingspan of the two most common Canadian species, the little brown bat and the big brown bat, ranges from 20 to 35 cm (8 to 14 inches) although some can be larger. Bats will mate in fall or winter and the pups are usually weaned in July or August. Sometimes in favourable winter weather conditions, such as high humidity and temperatures above freezing, bats will roost in buildings throughout the winter. Bats emit a high-frequency sound inaudible to humans. These sounds bounce off objects in their paths enabling them to avoid obstacles and detect flying insects. Sometimes bats can be seen around outdoor lights which have attracted insects. To save energy, bats have the ability to enter a dormant state which makes them appear to be sick, asleep or dead. They may also bare their teeth and squeak loudly, leading many people to believe they are vicious. In reality, the bat is only trying to ward off a possible attack from one of their predators which include hawks, falcons, owls, cats, snakes, and humans. Bats are usually detected by their droppings or noise-making. Their musty smelling droppings can be mistaken for that of mice or birds. Bat droppings can look like crushed fine, shiny undigested insect parts, while mouse droppings are firm and do not disintegrate readily. No white colour appears in bat feces as it does in bird feces. In order to determine whether bats are roosting in a structure, inspect the exterior before dark when bats leave their roosts, or when they return from their night escapade at dawn. An hour's observation should be sufficient to identify possible entry and exit ways. Because bats are nocturnal creatures, they will not leave their roosting sites if they are faced with bright light. Therefore, while inspecting the outside of a structure maintain a dim light by applying several layers of red cellophane over the head of a flashlight, secured with a rubber band.

Termite Social Organization

Social organization at maturity, a primary queen has a great capacity to lay eggs. In species, the queen adds an extra set of ovaries with each resulting in a greatly distended abdomen and increased fecundity often reported to reach a production of more than 2,000 eggs a day. The distended abdomen increases the queen's body length to several times more than before mating and reduces her ability to move freely, though attendant workers provide assistance. The queen is widely believed to be a primary source of pheromones useful in colony integration, and these are thought to be spread through shared feeding (trophallaxis). The king grows only slightly larger after initial mating and continues to mate with the queen for life (a termite queen can live for 45 years). This is very different from ant colonies, in which a queen mates once with the male(s) and stores the gametes for life, as the male ants die shortly after mating. The winged (or "alate") caste, also referred to as the reproductive caste, are generally the only termites with well-developed eyes, although workers of some harvesting species do have well-developed compound eyes, and, in other species, soldiers with eyes occasionally appear. Termites on the path to becoming alates going through incomplete metamorphosis form a subcaste in certain species of termites, functioning as workers "pseudergates" and also as potential supplementary reproductives. Supplementaries have the ability to replace a dead primary reproductive and, at least in some species, several are recruited once a primary queen is lost. In areas with a distinct dry season, the alates leave the nest in large swarms after the first soaking rain of the rainy season. In other regions, flights may occur throughout the year, or more commonly, in the spring and autumn. Termites are relatively poor fliers and are readily blown downwind in wind speeds of less than 2 km/h, shedding their wings soon after landing at an acceptable site, where they mate and attempt to form a nest in damp timber or earth.

Termite " Mound "

Mou

nds (also known as "termitaria"[6]) occur when an aboveground nest grows beyond its initially concealing surface. They are commonly called “ant hills” in Africa and Australia, despite the technical incorrectness of that name. In tropical savannas the mounds may be very large, with an extreme of 9 metres (30 ft) high in the case of large conical mounds constructed by some Macrotermes species in well-wooded areas in Africa.[7] Two to three metres, however, would be typical for the largest mounds in most savannas. The shape ranges from somewhat amorphous domes or cones usually covered in grass and/or woody shrubs, to sculptured hard earth mounds, or a mixture of the two. Despite the irregular mound shapes, the different species in an area can usually be identified by simply looking at the mounds. The sculptured mounds sometimes have elaborate and distinctive forms, such as those of the compass termite (Amitermes meridionalis & A. laurensis) which build tall wedge-shaped mounds with the long axis oriented approximately north–south which gives them their alternative name of compass termites. This orientation has been experimentally shown to assistthermoregulation. The thin end of the nest faces towards the sun at its peak intensity hence taking up the least possible heat, this allows these termites to stay above ground where other species are forced to move into deeper below ground areas. This allows the compass termites to live in poorly drained areas where other species would be caught between a choice of baking or drowning[8] The column of hot air rising in the aboveground mounds helps drive air circulation currents inside the subterranean network. The structure of these mounds can be quite complex. The temperature control is essential for those species that cultivate fungal gardens and even for those that don't, much effort and energy is spent maintaining the brood within a narrow temperature range, often only plus or minus 1 degree Celsius over a day. In some parts of the African savanna, a high density of aboveground mounds dominates the landscape. For instance, in some parts of the Busanga Plainarea of Zambia, small mounds of about 1 m diameter with a density of about 100 per hectare can be seen on grassland between larger tree- and bush-covered mounds about 25 m in diameter with a density around 1 per hectare, and both show up well on high-resolution satellite images taken in the wet season.[9]

Termite Nest

Termite workers build and maintain nests which house the colony. These are elaborate structures made using a combination of soil, mud, chewed wood/cellulose, saliva, and feces. A nest has many functions such as providing a protected living space and water conservation (through controlled condensation). There are nursery chambers deep within the nest where eggs and first instar larvae are tended. Some species maintain fungal gardens that are fed on collected plant matter, providing a nutritious mycelium on which the colony then feeds (see "Diet," above). Nests are punctuated by a maze of tunnel-like galleries that provide air conditioning and control the CO2/O2 balance, as well as allow the termites to move through the nest. Nests are commonly built underground, in large pieces of timber, inside fallen trees or atop living trees. Some species build nests aboveground, and they can develop into mounds. Homeowners need to be careful of tree stumps that have not been dug up. These are prime candidates for termite nests and being close to homes, termites usually end up destroying the siding and sometimes even wooden beams.

Termite Diet " Feeding Behaviour "

Termites are generally grouped according to their feeding behaviour. Thus, the commonly used general groupings are subterranean, soil-feeding, drywood, dampwood, and grass-eating. Of these, subterraneans and drywoods are primarily responsible for damage to human-made structures. All termites eat cellulose in its various forms as plant fibre. Cellulose is a rich energy source (as demonstrated by the amount of energy released when wood is burned), but remains difficult to digest. Termites rely primarily upon symbiotic protozoa (metamonads) such as Trichonympha, and other microbes in their gut to digest the cellulose for them and absorb the end products for their own use. Gut protozoa, such as Trichonympha, in turn rely on symbiotic bacteriaembedded on their surfaces to produce some of the necessary digestive enzymes. This relationship is one of the finest examples of mutualism among animals. Most so-called higher termites, especially in the Family Termitidae, can produce their own cellulase enzymes. However, they still retain a rich gut fauna and primarily rely upon the bacteria. Owing to closely related bacterial species, it is strongly presumed that the termites' gut flora are descended from the gut flora of the ancestral wood-eating cockroaches, like those of the genus Cryptocercus. Some species of termite practice fungiculture. They maintain a “garden” of specialized fungi of genus Termitomyces, which are nourished by the excrement of the insects. When the fungi are eaten, their spores pass undamaged through the intestines of the termites to complete the cycle by germinating in the fresh faecal pellets.[4][5] They are also well known for eating smaller insects in a last resort environment.

Termite Soldier

The soldier caste has anatomical and behavioural specializations, providing strength and armour which are primarily useful against ant attack. The proportion of soldiers within a colony varies both within and among species. Many soldiers have jaws so enlarged that they cannot feed themselves, but instead, like juveniles, are fed by workers. The pantropical subfamily Nasutitermitinae have soldiers with the ability to exude noxious liquids through a horn-like nozzle (nasus). Simple holes in the forehead called "fontanelles" and which exude defensive secretions are a feature of the family Rhinotermitidae. Many species are readily identified using the characteristics of the soldiers' heads, mandibles, or nasus. Among the drywood termites, a soldier's globular ("phragmotic") head can be used to block their narrow tunnels. Termite soldiers are usually blind, but in some families, particularly among the dampwood termites, soldiers developing from the reproductive line may have at least partly functional eyes. The specialization of the soldier caste is principally a defence against predation by ants. The wide range of jaw types and phragmotic heads provides methods that effectively block narrow termite tunnels against ant entry. A tunnel-blocking soldier can rebuff attacks from many ants. Usually more soldiers stand by behind the initial soldier so once the first one falls another soldier will take the place. In cases where the intrusion is coming from a breach that is larger than the soldier's head, defense requires special formations where soldiers form a phalanx-like formation around the breach and bite at intruders or exude toxins from the nasus or fontanelle. This formation involves self-sacrifice because once the workers have repaired the breach during fighting, no return is provided, thus leading to the death of all defenders. Another form of self-sacrifice is performed by Southeast Asian tar baby termites (Globitermes sulphureus). The soldiers of this species commit suicide byautothysis—rupturing a large gland just beneath the surface of their cuticle. The thick yellow fluid in the gland becomes very sticky on contact with the air, entangling ants or other insects who are trying to invade the nest.[2][3] Termites undergo incomplete metamorphosis. Freshly hatched young appear as tiny termites that grow without significant morphological changes (other than wings and soldier specializations). Some species of termite have dimorphic soldiers (up to three times the size of smaller soldiers). Though their value is unknown, speculation is that they may function as an elite class that defends only the inner tunnels of the mound. Evidence for this is that, even when provoked, these large soldiers do not defend themselves but retreat deeper into the mound. On the other hand, dimorphic soldiers are common in some Australian species of Schedorhinotermes that neither build mounds nor appear to maintain complex nest structures. Some termite taxa are without soldiers; perhaps the best known of these are in the Apicotermitinae.

Termite " Worker "

Worker Termite

undertake the labors of foraging, food storage, brood and nest maintenance, and some defense duties in certain species. Workers are the main caste in the colony for the digestion of cellulose in food and are the most likely to be found in infested wood. This is achieved in one of two ways. In all termite families, except the Termitidae, flagellate protists in the gut assist in cellulose digestion. However, in the Termitidae, which account for approximately 60% of all termite species, the flagellates have been lost and this digestive role is taken up, in part, by a consortium of prokaryotic organisms. This simple story, which has been in entomology textbooks for decades, is complicated by the finding that all studied termites can produce their own cellulase enzymes, and therefore might digest wood in the absence of their symbiotic microbes, although new evidence suggests these gut microbes make use of termite-produced cellulase enzymes.[1] Our knowledge of the relationships between the microbial and termite parts of their digestion is still rudimentary. What is true in all termite species, however, is the workers feed the other members of the colony with substances derived from the digestion of plant material, either from the mouth or anus. This process of feeding of one colony member by another is known as trophallaxis, and is one of the keys to the success of the group. It frees the parents from feeding all but the first generation of offspring, allowing for the group to grow much larger and ensuring the necessary gut symbionts are transferred from one generation to another. Some termite species do not have a true worker caste, instead relying on nymphs that perform the same work without differentiating as a separate caste.

Termite " Expert "

Termite’s… are a group of eusocial insects that, until recently, were classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera(see taxonomy below), but are now accepted as the epifamily Termitoidae, of the cockroach order Blattodea. While termites are commonly known, especially in Australia, as "white ants", they are only distantly related to the ants. Like ants, some bees, and wasps—which are all placed in the separate order Hymenoptera—termites divide labor among castes, produce overlapping generations and take care of young collectively. Termites mostly feed on dead plant material, generally in the form of wood, leaf litter, soil, or animal dung, and about 10% of the estimated 4,000 species (about 2,600 taxonomically known) are economically significant as pests that can cause serious structural damage to buildings, crops or plantation forests. Termites are major detritivores, particularly in the subtropical andtropical regions, and their recycling of wood and other plant matter is of considerable ecological importance. As eusocial insects, termites live in colonies that, at maturity, number from several hundred to several million individuals. Colonies use decentralised, self-organised systems of activity guided by swarm intelligence which exploit food sources and environments unavailable to any single insect acting alone. A typical colony contains nymphs (semimature young), workers, soldiers, and reproductive individuals of both sexes, sometimes containing several egg-laying queens.