Page 38 - Adventures through the World of Entomology

When my children were growing up, there was one thing that was difficult to teach them: to shut the
back door when they came into the house. As a result, more often than not, we had several flies making
a nuisance of themselves at dinner time. My wife would get the fly swatter and, due to practice, became
pretty good at eliminating them. But every once in a while one of those big green bottle flies would
navigate the stairway and end up in our bedroom. When we went to bed that night and turned on the
reading light on the headboard, the big green bottle fly would fly out of a dark corner and buzz around
the room. Then it would smack into the reading light, bounce off, circle the room, and smash into the
light again. At first I would get up and grab a slipper and smash that darn fly on whatever surface it
landed. Too many times it landed on the wall and my wife complained about staining the wall. Then I
got to thinking about what the fly was doing and why. I realized that, with those compound eyes, it was
attracted to light just like iron filings are attracted to a magnet. When I figured this out, the rest was
easy. I turned out the reading light, opened the door to the hall, and turned on the hall light. “Bango!”
Within a few seconds the fly was out in the hall and down to the kids’ room where it belonged.
FOR EXAMPLE — Wood boring beetles are attracted to light. Very often a homeowner will tell you
that he has a beetle infestation “in his window sill” because that is where he sees the adult beetles. The
infestation can be in the wood anywhere in the house and when the adult beetle emerges from the wood
it flies to the nearest light source. During the daytime that light source is the window. They hit the
window and fall down to the window sill where they are observed by the homeowner. In the wintertime
we burn logs in the fireplace every night. We place a stack of logs next to the fireplace so that we will
not have to go outside to get them on a cold winter night. Many times these logs have been infested with
wood boring beetles. The larvae have completed their part of the life cycle and have pupated. The adult
beetles have formed and are just waiting for a sign that spring is here so that they can bore their way out
of the wood and start their life cycle over again. The heat from the fireplace, warming up the stack of
wood next to it, is just the sign of spring for which the beetles are waiting. Out they come. They are
cumbersome fliers and when they hit the lamp shade where I am reading the newspaper, or when they
hit the television screen, it is a startling event. They are just doing what they have to do – that is, fly
toward the nearest light source.
NEW HOuSE BORER CLOSE uP OF BLuE
BOTTLE FLY EYE
COMPOuND EYE Photo by Stennett Heaton COMPOuND EYE
Photo Courtesy of UNVAR Courtesy of UNVAR
Wood boring beetles have compound eyes
and are attracted to light.
FOR EXAMPLE — Termite swarmers are attracted to light. If they happen to emerge inside the
house, they also will fly to the window. The perplexed homeowner will tell you that he has a termite
infestation “in his window sill.”
FOR EXAMPLE — Clothes moths are repelled by light. A good, self respecting clothes moth will
stay in the bureau drawer or in the closet, mate there, and begin a new life cycle all in the dark. If your
customer tells you that he has numerous moths flying around the lamp that he reads by in the evening,
they are not clothes moths! In all probability they are stored food moths such as the Indian meal moth
which is attracted to light.
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When my children were growing up, there was one thing that was difficult to teach them: to shut the
back door when they came into the house. As a result, more often than not, we had several flies making
a nuisance of themselves at dinner time. My wife would get the fly swatter and, due to practice, became
pretty good at eliminating them. But every once in a while one of those big green bottle flies would
navigate the stairway and end up in our bedroom. When we went to bed that night and turned on the
reading light on the headboard, the big green bottle fly would fly out of a dark corner and buzz around
the room. Then it would smack into the reading light, bounce off, circle the room, and smash into the
light again. At first I would get up and grab a slipper and smash that darn fly on whatever surface it
landed. Too many times it landed on the wall and my wife complained about staining the wall. Then I
got to thinking about what the fly was doing and why. I realized that, with those compound eyes, it was
attracted to light just like iron filings are attracted to a magnet. When I figured this out, the rest was
easy. I turned out the reading light, opened the door to the hall, and turned on the hall light. “Bango!”
Within a few seconds the fly was out in the hall and down to the kids’ room where it belonged.
FOR EXAMPLE — Wood boring beetles are attracted to light. Very often a homeowner will tell you
that he has a beetle infestation “in his window sill” because that is where he sees the adult beetles. The
infestation can be in the wood anywhere in the house and when the adult beetle emerges from the wood
it flies to the nearest light source. During the daytime that light source is the window. They hit the
window and fall down to the window sill where they are observed by the homeowner. In the wintertime
we burn logs in the fireplace every night. We place a stack of logs next to the fireplace so that we will
not have to go outside to get them on a cold winter night. Many times these logs have been infested with
wood boring beetles. The larvae have completed their part of the life cycle and have pupated. The adult
beetles have formed and are just waiting for a sign that spring is here so that they can bore their way out
of the wood and start their life cycle over again. The heat from the fireplace, warming up the stack of
wood next to it, is just the sign of spring for which the beetles are waiting. Out they come. They are
cumbersome fliers and when they hit the lamp shade where I am reading the newspaper, or when they
hit the television screen, it is a startling event. They are just doing what they have to do – that is, fly
toward the nearest light source.
NEW HOuSE BORER CLOSE uP OF BLuE
BOTTLE FLY EYE
COMPOuND EYE Photo by Stennett Heaton COMPOuND EYE
Photo Courtesy of UNVAR Courtesy of UNVAR
Wood boring beetles have compound eyes
and are attracted to light.
FOR EXAMPLE — Termite swarmers are attracted to light. If they happen to emerge inside the
house, they also will fly to the window. The perplexed homeowner will tell you that he has a termite
infestation “in his window sill.”
FOR EXAMPLE — Clothes moths are repelled by light. A good, self respecting clothes moth will
stay in the bureau drawer or in the closet, mate there, and begin a new life cycle all in the dark. If your
customer tells you that he has numerous moths flying around the lamp that he reads by in the evening,
they are not clothes moths! In all probability they are stored food moths such as the Indian meal moth
which is attracted to light.
28