Pest Management Professional, November 2017

DiD you know now Leading ants by the nose According to a study published in the Aug 8 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Vanderbilt University biological sciences professor Dr Laurence Zwiebel led a multi university team that looked at how Indian jumping ants Harpegnathos saltator use scent to organize social behavior They were building upon the results of an earlier study which found that when ants get their sense of smell taken away chaos ensues The goal is to develop a new class of repellents excitorepellents No Tinder app needed for this pair of Indian jumping ants More onLine news vanderbilt edu 2017 07 10 decodingants coat odors that Dr Zwiebel explains would be similar to being closed in an elevator with someone wearing way too much perfume If it overwhelms your sense of smell the net result is repellence The findings have implications for mosquito repellent as well snuggLing bats have better survivaL rates New imagery from temperature sensing cameras suggests bats that warm up from hibernation together throughout the winter may be better at surviving white nose syndrome a disease caused by a cold loving fungus that has ravaged insect eating bat populations in the United States and Canada The study conducted by researchers with Massey University in New Zealand and the U S Geological Survey USGS was published this summer in Methods in Ecology and Evolution This hibernating little brown bat Myotis lucifugus better crash a slumber party soon More onLine usgs gov news hot new imagery wintering bats suggestsa group behavior battling white nose syndrome Photo istock com Paulmichaelhughes Dr Jürgen liebig arizona state university Dr Paul cryan usgs Pest trends Compiled by heather gooch Editor When your mother told you to pick up your dirty socks off the floor and throw them into the hamper she was practicing bed bug prevention Who knew No wonder bed bugs love dorm rooms A ccording to a British study published late September in Scientific Reports bed bugs are attracted to dirty laundry The study led by Dr William Hentley from the University of Sheffields Department of Animal and Plant Sciences suggests leaving worn clothes exposed in sleeping areas when traveling may facilitate the dispersal of the bugs The researchers conducted experiments in two identical temperature controlled rooms in which four tote bags of clothes were placed two containing soiled clothes two with clean clothes in the presence of bed bugs In each run of the experiment one room received an increase in concentration of carbon dioxide CO to simulate human breathing The Sheffield scientists found that in the absence of a human host bed bugs were twice as likely to aggregate on bags containing soiled clothes compared to bags containing clean clothes They also found that in the room with increased concentrations of CO bed bugs were more likely to leave their refuge and initiate host seeking behavior More onLine nature com articles doi 101038 s41598 017 11850 5 Our study suggests that keeping dirty laundry in a sealed bag particularly when staying in a hotel could reduce the chances of people taking bed bugs home with them which may reduce the spread of infestations Dr Hentley said in a press release PMP 16 November 2017 Pest Management Professional mypmp net