Lyme Disease Spreading to New Areas, Says CDC - http://clapway.com/2015/07/18/lyme-disease-spreading-to-new-areas-says-cdc896/

The Background and What We Know about the disease

Everyone should know what Lyme disease is or at the very least have an idea of the bugs that might spread it to you.

Usually, when you get bitten by a troublesome bug, you feel like you may have a fever, but with an accompanying rash. The untreated disease can wreak havoc on your body. However there is a slight chance you run the risk of developing Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome, no one really knows what causes this but guesses go to lingering damage to your tissue and immune system may be a contributing factor.

According to data from CDC monitoring, Lyme disease has really only been abundant in the Great Lakes area and the upper New England area. But it has seen a case or small smattering in other regions in the U.S. So you’re not entirely risk free.

The Bad News about Lyme disease.

Since the topic of geography is at hand, now is a good time to mention that the CDC has released a report available online now, and later in print in August. The report that says Lyme disease is spreading. The monitoring of the disease has been observed in a nine-year time period of the number of cases across the U.S.

In those years of observations, the high concentration of cases in the New England have risen an unbelievable number of 320%. That is a radical increase and when you observe how much the percentage increases in the nine year period it’s less shocking but still baffling to see it rise.

The Great Lakes are was not as high a percentile as the New England area but it was still really high with its number of an estimation of 250% rise in incidents with Lyme Disease.

The two high concentration areas spell trouble for residents and others worldwide

Not only is the concentration rising in those hot spots in the U.S., there is some movement outside of the areas that suggest spreading due to the conditions existing at that time that may help the ticks survive in the geographical area. So, the CDC says measures must be taken to prevent a severe Lyme disease epidemic.

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Lyme Disease Spreading to New Areas, Says CDC

Mosquitoes Track You With 3 Senses, Bite Without Guilt - http://clapway.com/2015/07/17/mosquitoes-track-you-with-3-senses-bite-without-guilt784/

We all work (or have worked) hard to afford a nice day on the beach, at the park, or just a day of ambiguous leisure. We sometimes work even harder to protect ourselves from the malheurs of pests, namely the winged sort we’ve named mosquitoes. But resistance may be futile, for a mosquito can sense heat, can smell humans, and can see you, too. That’s three senses working against you. No wonder they’re so persistent.

HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE a MOSQUITOES’ MOTHERS’ SCORN

The most ravenous mosquito is the new mother, who seeks a blood meal to feed her younglings. Her favorite host is human. A wide variety of insects including mosquitoes can detect and are attracted to the smell of carbon dioxide (CO2) that we exhale. And that’s not all; mosquitoes can also use thermal sensory data to detect a suitable host of blood, and when all else fails, there’s always old-fashioned sight. But who would imagine themselves using each one of their senses in a sequence, especially when one’s own survival depends on putting them to work together?

DO PESTS INTEGRATE SENSES?

In order to discover precisely how mosquitoes balance such a barrage of senses, a recent study was performed. In the study, researchers set hungry, mated female mosquitoes free into a wind tunnel. This wind tunnel was jerry-rigged for scientists to control which sensory cues occurred.

Each experiment featured 20 mosquitoes, who were all inserted into the tunnel and filmed with 3D tracking software. When a plume of air heavy in CO2 concentration was released, the mosquitos followed it, just as the scientists predicted. A plume with normal background air did not seem to pique the mosquitoes’ interest.

TRANSPOSING HYPOTHESES FROM OTHER FINDINGS

Floris van Breugel, a postdoctoral scholar in the lab of Michael Dickinson, professor of bioengineering at the California Institute of Technology, found that animals (specifically, fruit flies), are more attracted to visual features, even when exposed to an attractive odor.

“This was a new finding for flies, and we suspected that mosquitoes would exhibit a similar behavior. That is, we predicted that when the mosquitoes were exposed to CO2, which is an indicator of a nearby host, they would also spend a lot of time hovering near high-contrast objects, such as a black object on a neutral background.”

ARE MOSQUITOES’ SENSES BIASED?

To test Dickinson’s idea, the scientists repeated the CO2 plume experiment, with a slight change in environment: they placed a dark object on the floor of the wind tunnel. The scientists discovered that even with heavy CO2 plumes, the pests were more attracted to the dark, high-contrast set piece. But, when there was no CO2, the same insects showed no interest in the darkness.

What this means is that the effect of mosquitoes’ olfactory systems is not dissimilar to our suffering. The mosquitoes smell CO2, begin their flight, and continue on well beyond the CO2 towards visual stimulation, which is more temporary, because they carry on the memory of CO2 with them. Mayhaps we should take a matador instead of bug spray for our next camping trip.

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Mosquitoes Track You With 3 Senses, Bite Without Guilt

Texas Red-Headed Centipede- the Giant Creepy Crawler From the South - http://clapway.com/2015/07/04/texas-red-headed-centipede-the-giant-creepy-crawler-from-the-south456/

IS THAT THING REAL?!

Yes, unfortunately for those of us with entomophobia, the picture of the giant centipede that has gone viral lately is real. One picture you may see is of a giant centipede with a red head and black body on a broom. This giant creepy crawler was shared on Facebook by the Texas Parks and Wildlife on July 1st.

The organization even went so far as to write a little post on the creepy crawler that’s oddly, but fittingly, dubbed the Redheaded centipede. However, as the post suggests, the centipede phobia or fear is probably nothing to get too hyped up about as the texas red-headed centipede is not deadly one.

Some iffy symptoms from bites

Despite the lack of lethality in the species, some of the bite marks left by the creepy crawler can cause some small discomfort and in rare situations, necrosis, or just nausea with dizziness and a really bad headache. But there are rare instances where the wounds develop into more serious injuries such as tissue damage, kidney failure, or heart attack. These sound really scary but it’s important to remember that have no reported deaths from the bites of this Texas Red-headed Centipede as of yet.

It goes to say you can always squish it with your shoe if you feel really threatened for whatever reason. Actually, maybe that’s a bad idea- just look at the thing.

Fun facts for you about the Texas Red-Headed Centipede

Sometimes, bites can be fatal from certain centipedes, as the venom in their bites is a deadly factor. However, when they’re not, it’s just a quite painful experience to endure, not unlike a hornet sting. Right now there are about 3,000 species that are registered and known to science but some believe that there could be an additional more. Figures say there are 8,000 more that have yet to be discovered.

All in all, the threat of the centipedes varies depending on the species of centipede you are dealing with. But when it comes to this Texas Red-Headed Centipede, there is no immediate threat, at least as far as the Texas Parks and Wildlife is concerned. However, you can still get weirded out and get the creeps just by staring at pictures of it in the safety of your own room… far, far away from Texas, hopefully.

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Texas Red-Headed Centipede- the Giant Creepy Crawler From the South

7 Bugs That Live in Your House - http://clapway.com/2015/07/01/7-bugs-that-live-in-your-house987/

Hope you like bugs! Because even when you’re inside, you live among them.

Most of them are harmless and make your life a little easier without you even knowing it, but a lot of pests that live alongside you can cause damage. Here are just a few of the little guys that should be paying you rent:

Aphid:

If you have a house plant, you have plant lice. No getting around that. But they are actually more common in your food.
Aphids are serious pests to cultivated food, and latch themselves to produce that you buy.

Make sure you clean your broccoli and lettuce thoroughly!

Furniture Beetle:

Like their name suggests, you have furniture beetles, too. They burrow into wood fixtures to lay eggs, and are designed to be the perfect baby-makers. Adults don’t eat. Their life span is spent literally just burrowing in and out of wood to lay eggs.

So, if you see little clusters of holes in your furniture, you may have a problem.

Carpet Beetle:

This guy is kinda cute, actually! Of all the bugs that live in your house, he may be the least of your problems. The carpet beetle just spends its life inside your rugs, where it doesn’t really cause problems. They just fester in there and spread around your house. They can be kept down by actually vacuuming your house. Which reminds me…

Earwig:

These little bugs that live in your house are good for the microscopic ecosystem. While they are pests, their job in the food chain is to eat up the other bugs that live in your house.

They’re nocturnal, and sleep in damp places during the day. They get their name because of the myth that they’ll crawl up into your brain at night. But even with their pinchers, they’re relatively harmless to people.

Silverfish:

This may be one of the more creepy ones that have taken up residence in your house. They can grow pretty big for Thysanuras and like to hang out in your bathtub and sinks. They prefer a moist place to hide, which is why they will hide in your shower curtain and surprise you.

They can spend a half hour with one mate fertilizing a batch of eggs.

Lucky bugs!

Firebrat:

Related to the silverfish, firebrats like hotter temperatures near furnaces and stoves. It’s more likely that they will be near your stove, because these bugs that live with you like to eat bread and potatoes. Other than their freak-factor, the worst firebrats can do is get inside your food and contaminate it.

House Centipede:

This is the last bug that lives in your house, and you don’t want to meet it in a back alley. Unlike the centipedes you see outside, these bugs have long, spider-like legs. Its diet is other bugs, which it takes down with venom, and even though bites on humans are rare, they feel like a bee sting. The interesting thing about the house centipede is that it chooses to live with you. It wants to eat the other bugs in your house.

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7 Bugs That Live in Your House