Tuesday, September 11, 2012

KNOW THY ENEMY: MOTHS



Moths are like the Kardashians of the insect world. They may be beautiful, but they are also seriously annoying and you don’t want them hanging around in your living room! It’s also important to remember that moths make babies, and larvae in your rice or flour could make you sick. Keep this nocturnal cousin of the butterfly in your yard and away from your food by learning more about their habits.


1. Moths hate the smell of lavender, so to keep them away from your drawers and pantry store a few breathable muslin or cotton bags of dried lavender. Bonus: Humans love the smell of lavender!
2. Moths are very skilled at mimicking larger, more threatening creatures to protect themselves. They can make themselves look like caterpillars, poisonous sneak heads or even large birds!
3. If a moth wanders into a freezer, trapping it won’t stop your pest problem! Many moth species contain a natural “anti-freeze” that warms up their body enough to be mobile in freezing weather.
4. Male moths can detect the chemicals of the females from several miles away!
5. If you have a pet bird, it’s extremely important that you act against moths. The poisons in the body of moths are sufficient enough to cause severe vomiting in a bird and even death in some cases.
6. They may not be moths yet, but caterpillars have over 4,000 separate muscles. In comparison, humans only have 792.
7. You may think your CFL bulb isn’t that exciting, but moths disagree. They’re attracted to the artificial light because they confuse the light source with the Moon, which they rely on to navigate. 

5 comments :

  1. Very interesting info, Ira! I love lavender, so maybe I should keep more in my home!

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  2. Yikes! And I always thought moths were so cute! I'm with Sheila and bringing out the lavender!

    blessings,
    karianne

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  3. I think I just spotted Kim, Khloe and Kourtney fluttering around my butterfly bush!! Gotta get the lavender out asap!
    Kelly

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  4. Hi Ira!

    lol! I love how you compared moths to the Kardashians! Genius! ;)

    ~Lisha

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  5. Ewww I didn't know that, thanks for sharing that info.

    ReplyDelete

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