Pests have developed technological capabilities to live in our homes and businesses and survive your best methods to eradicate them. These little interlopers have physical and behavioral adaptations that would seem positively supernatural if we did not know the science of how they work. Professional Food Service explains these common household pests are often much stronger than they seem, with qualities ranging from powerful strength to exceptional survival instincts.
And although they are not the most welcomed of houseguests and pose health risks, these “superpowers” can help property owners better combat infestations. Due to the highly adaptive nature of these creatures, sometimes professional Exterminator Services are needed because regular do-it-yourself (DIY) pest removals simply do not work due to their special abilities. Understanding these impressive pest abilities can provide insight into why some infestations are more difficult to manage than others.
Do Pests Have Superpowers?
Yes, many common pests have what could even be considered “superpowers” in comparison to human capacities. These are certainly not supernatural, but they do provide pests with various evolutionary advantages when it comes to survival. Cockroaches survive radiation levels that will kill humans and can live for weeks without their heads.
The two are then reminded they are not that strong, as ants can lift things that are 50 times their body weight – similar to a human holding up a truck. If fleas could jump as high relative to a human’s size, we would be able to expand our bodies 300 feet into the air. These remarkable abilities have evolved over millions of years, enabling pests to respond to evolving conditions and threats. Knowing these abilities is part of understanding why some pests are so difficult to control despite our technological superiority.
Pests And Their Superpowers
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Flea Jumping Abilities
Arguably, fleas jump farther than any other animal relative to body size. They can leap 7 inches in a vertical jump and 13 inches horizontally. This is roughly akin to a human jumping into a 30-story building. Their jump helps them to propel their body, similar to a coiled spring, charging and conserving energy in a protein called resilin before erupting it at once.
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Termite Engineering Skills
Termites are the master architects of nature. They construct edifices that, if scaled down to human size, would tower above the Burj Khalifa. Their mounds include complex ventilation systems that regulate temperature and humidity within them, regardless of the outside world.
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Spider Silk Production
Spiders create silk that is pound for pound stronger than steel yet extraordinarily elastic. Some types of spider silk may stretch 40% of their length before breaking. In specialized glands, silk is generated as a liquid and solidifies upon contact with air. Outside of web building, spiders employ silk for safety lines, for egg sacs, and even as parachutes for “ballooning” — a dispersal method that can take them miles on air currents.
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Bed Bug Stealth Technology
Bed bugs have become experts at hiding in plain sight. Their bodies are perfectly adapted to finding small cracks and crevices, which are difficult to detect. They go dormant and can survive an entire year without feeding, giving them a long time to wait for hosts to return. Bed bugs also inject an anesthetic as they bite, which is why most people never even notice the attack.
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Mosquito Sensory Powers
Mosquitoes can smell carbon dioxide from human breath from as far away as 50 feet. Other bugs have amazing vision. Their compound eyes can sense motion to a degree rivaling humans, which is why it’s so hard to swat them. We do know that female mosquitoes can sense lactic acid in human sweat through the receptors they carry, which they use to hone targets for their next meal.
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Ant Strength and Organization
Ants are strong: they can carry objects up to 50 times their own body weight. This is equivalent to a human lifting a car, according to research published in the Journal of Biomechanics. Their organizational skills are also remarkable — whole colonies work as a superorganism with specialized roles and complex messaging systems based on chemical pheromones.
