Biting and Stinging Pests Flashcards
What makes stinging social insects more dangerous and more difficult to control?
Their mutual defense of the colony. Anyone who ventures too close to a social bee or wasp colony may experience stings not just from one or a few individuals, but possibly dozens to hundreds.
Unlike most other bees and wasps, ___________ only sting once.
honey bees
__________ nests usually consist of 30,000 or more individuals.
Honey bee
Very aggressive, swarm frequently, store less honey, and more likely to attack in response to nest disturbance.
Africanized honey bees (AHBs)
Nearly identical to AHBs in appearance, but important behavioral differences.
European honey bees
Do not build nests in hollow tree trunks or other cavities.
Bumble bees
Nests are primarily in underground holes or cavaties.
Bumble bees
Solitary bees nest in
underground holes and existing cavaties in wood and other materials
Social wasps are known as
vespids
Yellowjacket wasps, hornets, and paper wasps are
social wasps
Social wasps make paper nests from
chewed-up wood, paper, or cardboard
When do social wasps establish colonies
spring
When do social wasps abandon colonies
when winter approaches
All social wasps are capable of ___________
stinging
Social wasps that build their nests below ground, although above-ground nests also occur
yellowjacket wasps
Often found near trash cans, these wasps are opportunistic and will eat whatever food is available
yellowjacket wasps
Build their nests exclusively above ground and their colonies are usually relatively small containing 300-400 workers
baldfaced hornets
Largest social wasp in North America
European hornet
Relatively small colonies usually containing fewer than 200 workers
paper wasps
What do predator wasps do to their prey?
stings and paralyzes prey, drags it back to nest then an egg is laid on the paralyzed prey, and the resulting larva develops while ingesting it
These solitary predators are large and prefer sand and sandy soil for their nesting sites
cicada killer wasps
Solitary insects that lay their eggs on, or in, other insects or their eggs, which eventually kills them
parasitoid wasps
Not structural pests and do not sting, these insects when found indoors are usually attacking cockroaches or stored product pests, especially moths
parasitoid wasps
These flies use their mandibles to cut painful holes in skin
deer flies, black flies, and biting midges
Known as pool feeders because they mop up pooling blood from the cuts of their hosts
horse flies, deer flies, and black flies
Can transmit tulameria to humans after biting infected hosts
Deer fly
Adults are capable of flying long distances which makes chemical control not very effective
Horse flies and deer flies
No-see-ums and punkies are common names for
tiny biting midges
These mosquitoes prefer to feed at night
Culex
These mosquitoes readily bite during the day or in the evening
Aedes
Most common indoor flea pests in the U.S.
cat flea
Where do fleas lay their eggs?
On hosts, but the eggs quickly fall to the floor or pet beds
Where do flea eggs hatch?
On the floor or pet beds where they fall off host
Where do fleas spend their entire adult life?
On single host, unless groomed off
Why is vacuuming beneficial with a flea infestation?
Removes flea excrement and can remove up to 30% of flea larvae and 60% of flea eggs in carpet
An unemerged adult flea can remain inactive in the cocoon for how long under adverse conditions or when hosts are absent?
4-5 months
Unemerged adult fleas will respond to what type of stimuli?
Increased warmth, CO2, or vibrations
Active flea infestation treatment?
IGRs combined with short-lived adulticides with a 7-10 day follow up with adulticide, if needed for fleas emerging from pupal stage
Blood-feeding external parasites with a preference for feeding on humans
bed bugs
Signs of a bed bug infestation?
Molted exoskeletons, fecal stains on mattresses, eggs, and live or dead bed bugs
What stages of bed bugs feed on blood?
Nymphs and adults
Bed bugs nymphs go through five instars and require what before each molt?
a boodmeal
Adult female bed bugs require what before laying eggs?
a bloodmeal
One of the most important aspects of bed bug control
monitoring
Proven especially useful for bed bug monitoring programs?
Pitfall traps
Bed bug management is most effective when using
an integrated approach (monitoring, sanitation, bed and mattress encasements, foot barriers on bed, residual insecticides having two or more modes of action, and various forms of heat treatment)
Hairs are longer and more noticeable on bed bugs or bat bugs?
Bat bugs
In addition to bat bugs, what other bugs are in the same family and may also be mistaken?
Bird bugs
These bugs may occasionally bite humans, but require their own special hosts to survive for longer periods of time and to reproduce?
Bat bugs and bird bugs
Capable of delivering painful bites, these hemipterans are beneficial predators that mainly feed on other insects?
Assassin bugs
Also classified as assassin bugs, these bugs feed exclusively on the blood of vertebrates, including humans
Conenose bugs
Nocturnal and may bite people while they sleep, these bugs may bite people on their face since it is exposed giving them the nickname
“Kissing bugs” aka Conenose bugs
Capable of transmitting a parasite in their feces which causes Chagas disease aka American trypanosomiasis
Conenose bugs
Small, wingless insects in the order Phthiraptera
lice
Head lice cannot live for more than __________ off of their human hosts
two days
Spiders can be classified in what three types of hunting behaviors?
Passive hunters, active hunters, and web builders
Tarantulas, trapdoor spiders, and crab spiders can be classified by what hunting behavior?
passive hunters: do not spin webs; instead, they sit and wait for prey to pass by
Wolf spiders, ground spiders, jumping spiders, sac spiders, and recluse spiders can be classified by what hunting behavior?
Active hunters: move about in search of prey
Orb-weavers, cellar spiders, funnel-web spiders, and widow spiders can be classified by what hunting behavior?
Web builders: use silk to build elaborate structures to entrap or entangle prey
This spider can be identified by its semicircular, paired arrangements of its six eyes
Brown recluse spider
This spider has a habit of leaving their star-shaped cast skins hanging on timbers and the backs of furniture
Brown recluse spider
Shy and not naturally agressive, these spiders frequently live in and around structures
Brown recluse spiders
Spin silk, but webbing of these spiders is minimal and used to return to after hunting and where females lay eggs
Brown recluse spiders
Venom of these spiders is Necrotic (tissue-killing)
Brown recluse spiders
Bites from these spiders can be slow-healing sores, disfiguring skin ulcers, severe pain, and occasionally life-threatening complications
Brown recluse spiders
These spiders get their name from the incorrect belief that the females always eat the males after mating
Widow spiders
How many structure infesting species of widow spiders are found in all 48 states in the continental U.S.?
Four
Egg sacs have spikes all over the surface
Brown widows (Black widow spiders have smooth egg sacs)
Males are about half the size of females in these spiders
Widow spiders
Venom of these spiders is a neurotoxin
Widow spiders
Venom of these spider bites can cause pain, muscle contractions, cramps, perspiration, increased body temperatures, nausea, and in rare cases, death
Widow spiders
Weave irregularly-shaped webs and do not clean or recycle (eat) them, as some spiders do, so extensive webbing can be built relatively quickly
Cellar spiders
Most of these spiders have eight eyes - two in the middle and three on each side
Cellar spiders
These spiders carry their eggs in their fangs
Cellar spiders
These spiders hang upside down in their webs as they wait for their prey
Cellar spiders
These spiders prefer cool, dark sites like basements, crawl spaces, garages, warehouses, and storage buildings
Cellar spiders
Sometimes mistakenly called daddy-longlegs
Cellar spiders
These spiders have eight eyes that are arranged in two rows of four
Hobo spiders
These spiders are found principally in the Pacific Northwest
Hobo spiders
Only have one body part and two eyes, these are often mistaken as daddy-longleg spiders, but are not even in the same order as spiders
Harvestmen
These spiders create funnel-like webs in holes or cracks in walls, firewood piles, stacks of bricks, and other places
Hobo spiders
These spiders do not climb, but are fast runners
Hobo spiders
Eight eyes arranged in two rows, these spiders spin their silk sacs in ceiling corners and can be seen running across ceilings at night
Sac spiders
Common backyard and field spiders
wolf spiders
These spiders have a 4-2-2 eye pattern: four small eyes on the bottom, two very large eyes in the middle, and two more on the top of their heads
wolf spiders
These spiders carry their egg sac at the tip of their abdomen using the spinnerets
wolf spiders
Once eggs hatch, these young spiderlings hitch a ride on their mother’s back for a while
wolf spiders
These spiders have eight eyes that are the same size, but different shapes
ground spiders
These spiders can be recognized by a pair of elongate spinnerets at the tip of the abdomen
ground spiders
Two large forward eyes, along with six smaller eyes, and may have better vision than all other spiders
Jumping spiders
Ticks and mites belong to the arthropod group called
Acari (subclass of Arachnida)
Do not go through metamorphosis, but do have four life stages:egg, larva, pupa, and adult
ticks
Must have a bloodmeal during each developental stage
ticks
Generally considered to be a livestock pest since most do not feed on humans
soft ticks
Hardened part of the dorsal portion of the exoskeleton of ticks
scutum
More than 90% of hard ticks must do what before reaching the adult stage?
feed on three separate hosts (three-host ticks)
Most important tick borne illness in the U.S. by causing more than 300,000 cases each year?
Lyme disease
Stage of tick development most likely to transmit Lyme disease?
Nymphs - because they must be attached to their hosts for at least 36 hours for the disease to be transmitted - adults are larger and usually noticed earlier
Most important structural tick pest because of their ability of completing their life cycle indoors in the company of their canine hosts?
Brown dog ticks
A single female brown dog tick can lay up to _______ eggs in her lifetime.
5,000
These adult ticks can live as long as 200 days without a bloodmeal?
Brown dog ticks
These mites are sometimes found in homes or other structures, but they do not bite or transmit diseases
clover mites
Considered a nuissance pest because of their often-high numbers and may leave stains on curtains, carpets, or other surfaces
clover mites
Live in mattresses and upholstered furniture, these mites fecal particles and shed exoskeletons fragments become mixed with floating house dust
house dust mites
These mites occasionally bite humans
Bird mites, rodent mites, tropical rat mites, house mouse mites, tropical fowl mites, and northern fowl mites
Most mites cannot live more than ________ without sustenance from their hosts
a week or two
Mites that live outdoors in grass, soil, and weedy areas
chigger mites
This mite larvae can bite people, however, they do not burrow into the skin as many people believe
chigger mite larvae
Females burrow through, and feed on, human skin
scabies mites
Infestations occur on the wrists, hands, elbows, buttocks, backs of knees, ankles, toes, breats and male genitals
scabies mites
Head regions of a scorpion which bears the pedipalps
prosoma
Abdominal region of scorpion and bears the legs
mesosoma
Region of a scorpion which includes the tail and the stinger
metasoma
Only scorpion in the U.S. that is a serious concern for human health
Arizona bark scorpion
Social bees and wasps (5)
Yellow jackets
Paper wasps
Hornets
Honey bees
Bumble bees
Where are pollen baskets located on pollinating bees and wasps?
Hind legs
Only females are capable of ___________
Stinging
Ovipositors are modified to sting - only females have ovipositors
Hymenopteran queens lay fertilized eggs that become ____________ and the unfertilized eggs become ___________
Females; males
Drones, a.k.a.
Male hymenopteran
Drones are non-functional other than
During mating season — they die after mating
All offspring produced are __________ until the colony matures (yellow jackets, paper wasps, & hornets)
Females
Are both ground and aerial nesters
Yellow jackets
Umbrella-like nest construction
Paper wasps
Less aggressive than other social hymenopteran
Paper wasps & bumble bees
Reddish head, thorax, and wings. Abdomen has bright yellow and wings are amber colored
Hornets
Defend nest aggressively and capable of inflicting very painful sting
Hornets
When yellow jacket hive is threatened what happens
Workers release alarm pheromones to attract more workers to sting threat
Stings are fatal for this social hymenopteran
Honey bee
Barbed stinger remains embedded in victim and continues to pulse venom
Provoked by noise levels and large mobile objects
Africanized honey bee (killer bee)
Will pursue threats for hundreds of miles
Africanized honey bee (killer bee)
European honey bee or Africanized honey bee have shorter wings?
AHB
Hairy abdomen =
Shiny abdomen =
Bumble bee; carpenter bee
Threatened hives will produce a loud buzzing sound as a deterrent
Bumble bee
Chemical treatments for bees/wasps are made
To the nest, not foraging sites
For ground bee/wasp nests, __________ are often used to treat the nest and entry points inside
Insecticidal dusts
For aerial bee/wasp nests, they should be treated when?
At night to contact workers that may forage during daylight
Bee/wasps nests ___________ after colony elimination
Should be removed to prevent reinfestation
Dusts work best when applied to an area of __________ around nest entrance
6 inches
Structural nests if not cleaned properly or sealed can create a future problem of
Dermestid beetles, spider beetles, and/or psocids
Honey bees keep the center of their nest at about 95*F which will
Warm the wall enough that it can often be detected with one’s hand
