Bugdom

Have you ever wondered what life would be like as bug? One minute Mr. Cucaracha is sitting there, peacefully enjoying the food you so graciously left for him from last night’s dinner. And then the next minute he is forced to read the short Calvin and Hobbes comic on the back of the funnies section in the Saturday paper. How did you know he would want to read that? Maybe he is just as concerned with the status of North Korea as you are and would have preferred the front of the newspaper not the back.

            Pest Control Technology magazine (PCT) published an interesting article in the March 2013 edition entitled, “Mr. Personality” in which the author alluded to the fact that behavioral patterns people see in insects may very well be linked to that insect’s personality. Several professors of Entymology, the study of insects, agreed that insects can behave in manners similar to humans and can even be considered “gregarious” or “bold,” and can even be trained similar to dogs.  Coby Schal, an entomologist at North Carolina State University said some insects (tarantula), can even be trained in a similar manner as dogs, a common household pet.

            So, let’s take this a step further and look at the more social insect, the ant.  

            Movies such as A Bee Movie or A Bug’s Life take an adolescent approach and mindset to a social insect’s habit and provide entertainment designed to appeal to children. So let’s take a “grown-up’s” approach. What is exactly does life include if one lived in an ant colony for instance? Within a colony of ants there is usually one queen (sometimes more) and thousands of workers and even some scouts (swarming ants). I suppose we can call the worker ants, the “blue collar ants,” and the swarmers (flying ants that seek out new places to colonize) are more of your “white collar,” perhaps a lawyer or even a doctor. This makes you wonder what makes the queen so special, huh? I envision queen ants to be much like their human counterpart Elizabeth II, refined, sophisticated, and OLD! But honestly, do ants have retirement plans, 401k’s? I mean, how do you plan for a life that most likely will last for 60 to 90 days? I suppose most work for two months or so and then retire for the rest of their lives. I sure would like a job like that!

            I envision there is a pecking order within the worker ants. Hazing must be a constant battle for those ants that are just a few days old and already thrown out into the real world by his/her illustrious queen mother. Well, whatever the case may be, the truth is that ants despite their class in their own society or length of life they live can be a nuisance to humans. From invading through window sills to making a home in a junction box, ants prove to be a worthy adversary for homeowners and control of the different species comes in many different fashions. So while they may only live for 60 days or so, rest assured that their Elizabeth II is hard at work producing thousands more and you may just want to do a little research and learn how to control these little guys.