by Ben Dennison
Pests - can’t live with them, can’t live without them. This old adage couldn’t be truer than with insects, as illustrated by these five examples:
Pests - can’t live with them, can’t live without them. This old adage couldn’t be truer than with insects, as illustrated by these five examples:
1. Fire Ants
Also known as the surly assholes of the
insect world, fire ants are a plague in the southern and western areas
of the United States. Notoriously aggressive and capable of a painful
sting, fire ants are also very difficult to kill. Once a mound and
colony is constructed, even commercial remedies fail to kill more than a
handful of workers ants and leave the queen entirely untouched. When
faced with the slaughter of their comrades, the remaining ants will
simply abandon their current home and move somewhere else nearby. And if
you’re thinking you can drown them, I’ve got some bad news for you.
No one wants to see fire ants go more
than farmers. Mounds often destroy equipment, and did we mention they
were aggressive… like swarm and kill children aggressive?
Why We Need Them: If farmers were
somehow able to rid their property of fire ants, they also might as well
be throwing money out an open window. That’s because fire ants are
great predators that regularly suppress other, greater pests that
destroy crops. In fact, fire ants are among the most abundant predators
of plant-feeding insects in their territory. Fire ant populations are
capable of protecting corn, soybean, cotton and peanut crops.
A tiny Terminator. |
2. Spiders
Think fast!
Ignoring the rare occasion resulting in
super powers and possible radiation poisoning, spiders are scary. Anyone
who says otherwise is lying or a possible Spider-Man clone. Despite humans being like giants when
compared to spiders, arachnophobia is incredibly common among all
cultures across the globe. Even though you can crush a spider with a
single finger, scientists believe our fear is the direct result of our
ancestor’s survival instincts from a time when spiders were more of a
threat to our species. Nowadays the most common spiders you’ll encounter
in your lifetime will be completely harmless and will probably hang out
in your basement.
Above: spiders? |
Why We Need Them: Obviously spider webs
are excellent at catching other pests. However, there are several
benefits of spiders besides the standard killing of house flies. Spider venom has many medical uses.
Currently spider venom can be used to treat arthritis. Some studies
suggest that a funnel spider’s venom could be used to prevent brain
damage after stroke, or that the venom of the Chile Rose tarantula could
prevent or lessen the effects of atrial fibrillation, the rapid
contractions of the heart that are often fatal during a heart attack. Spider venom is important because of how
it interacts with ion channels and cells in general. By blocking ion
channels, venom can potentially prevent the release of chemicals that
trigger reactions that are ultimately self-destructive to the body
itself. Each spider’s venom causes reactions to different ion channels,
allowing for the potential to make many medicines in the future.
3. Maggots
No list of pests would be complete without maggots, Mother Nature’s reminder to clean your damn room already.
Flies lay eggs or deposit maggots
directly on rotting organic material. Most of us encounter them where
ever we keep our trash, should we not store it correctly. Because
they’re immature larvae, maggots themselves cannot reproduce. However,
maggots mature into flies very quickly and lay eggs very quickly, too,
and suddenly you’re left with this:
So maggots are disgusting, multiply quickly and can show up anywhere in your home. Sounds useful, right?
Why We Need Them: In a practice dating
as far back as the Renaissance, surgeons and physicians use maggots when
treating serious wounds. Specifically, maggots are used to eat the dead
tissue surrounding a wound. Despite looking as scary as balls, this
process actually disinfects the treated wound. Medical maggots are
raised in special facilities and thoroughly disinfected before
application. Amazingly, maggots will only eat the dead tissue while
making secretions that prevent bacteria from growing. Awfully clean for
something hanging out in trash cans.
Which is more than we can say for other pests. |
4. Grasshoppers
Chances are you’ve never really thought
of grasshoppers as pests. However, in southern parts of the United
States grasshoppers are just that, often damaging crops viral to the
economy such as citrus fruit and vegetables. Annoying, right?
Bastards! |
Okay, so let’s assume that you don’t
care about the plight of the Florida orange. There’s still reason to
fear the grasshopper: grasshopper plagues. Imagine fifty to two-hundred
grasshoppers per yard eating everything. Dry summers and springs allow
for more grasshopper eggs to survive than normal while greatly affecting
the populations of their predators (such as birds), allowing
grasshoppers to become the new pest in town. Grasshopper plagues are
known to greatly impact farmers in the American west.
Why We Need Them: Grasshoppers are a
double-edged sword: while they can literally eat you out of house and
home, the waste they produce returns viral nutrients to the soil to
better help more crops grow. When they inevitably die, their corpses
provide even more nutrients.
Remember him as a hero. |
More importantly, grasshoppers have a
central nervous system very similar to our own, allowing us to study and
experiment on them for medical purposes with untested drugs.
5. Bees
Every summer, everywhere: bees.
Bees are a necessary part of human
existence because they are the most common pollinator we have. But for
most people that’s where the friendship ends. Bees are incredibly
territorial, and once they move into the neighborhood you need to creep
around your own property like you’re trying to avoid the police. The
places where bees call home are a problem, too: bees favor hollow trees
and other tight spaces to form hives, but are just as happy living
inside the walls of your house should you have any cracks permitting
them entry. And do you know how many bees are in a hive?
Once bees are in your home, that’s it:
they own the place. And if you’re one of those creepy bee keeping types,
you may very well be part of the problem. Once bees outgrow the boxes
you provide them with, they swarm to a new location.
Why We Need Them: Bees make honey, which
is both delicious and, like spider venom, a potential wonder drug. One
of the most widely studied benefits of honey is its treatment of burns.
According to at least one study, honey will reduce the average healing
time of burns more than traditional gauze and bandages. Pffft, as if you
needed another reason to cover yourself in honey.
In New Zealand, doctors can prescribe
special bandages infused with manuka honey that’s capable of treating
ulcers. The same is true for patients with a MRSA, an infection that
usually affects the skin but if left untreated can attack other parts of
the body. And while the study is still out on this one, honey may be an
effective treatment for Fournier’s gangrene, a rare type of gangrene
that afflicts men’s genitals. Not only can bees save you skin, they may
be able to save your balls as well.
Source : © http://www.weirdworm.com
No comments:
Post a Comment