Latest news with #insects
The Sun
16 hours ago
- General
- The Sun
The easy cotton wool hack that keeps wasps out of your home this summer & it takes seconds to do
AS the summer months approach, more and more insects make their way into our homes. While most of them are totally harmless, there's one we'd all rather avoid - wasps. 2 Thankfully, a pest control expert has shared a simple way to keep them out for good without using harsh chemicals. And all you will need to keep them deterred from entering your home is some peppermint oil and some cotton wool. Wasps and hornets are known to have a hatred for mint - and so sprinkling mint around your property might be just the repellent you need. Clancy Bros Pest Control also suggests using peppermint oil as an alternative. To complete the hack all you need to do is put a few drops of the oil into the cotton wool, reports the Express. In addition, cleaning sensation Chantel Mila has shared her tactic of placing peppermint oil-infused cotton balls under bin liners to ward off insects while also keeping odours at bay. She also suggested vacuuming the cotton wool dabbed in oil up so the scent permeates the house to keep wasps out. Mila, who shared the advice with her 1.6 million followers, also noted that she places a mint in jars full of water near windows to block fly entry. The cleaning whizz also combats spider invasion by wiping down walls and floors with orange oil as spiders detest its smell. Chantel also revealed that doorways are a critical point of entry for insects. Tips and Tricks to Keep Your Garden Pest-Free "Dirty door tracks can be a breeding ground for bugs, so wrap a cloth around a blunt knife to clean them easily," she said. Wasps also detest the smell of cayenne pepper, according to Eliminate Solutions. To create a repellent, mix one teaspoon of pepper with one cup of water and spray it around your home to keep these pests at bay. Citronella, a citrus scent commonly found in perfumes and soaps, is renowned for its insect-repelling properties, particularly against mosquitos, but it's also effective in warding off wasps. The pest control firm suggests "burning citronella candles to infuse the outdoor area" as a deterrent. In addition, keeping homes free of exposed food and drinks is crucial to prevent these insects from venturing indoors. Timothy Wong, a director at MandM Pest Control, shared with the Martha Stewart website that wasps are attracted to carbohydrates found in fruits, sugary drinks, and sweets, which explains their presence near picnic areas, rubbish bins, and inside homes. IF you want to ensure that your home is pest free this summer, here's what you need to know. Hornets and wasps - hate the smell of peppermint oil so spraying this liberally around your patio or balcony can help to keep them at bay. Moths - acidic household white vinegar is effective for deterring moths. Soak some kitchen roll in vinegar and leave it in your wardrobe as a deterrent. Flying ants - herbs and spices, such as cinnamon, mint, chilli pepper, black pepper, cayenne pepper, cloves, or garlic act as deterrents. Mosquitoes - plants, herbs and essential oil fragrances can help deter mozzies inside and out. Try eucalyptus, lavender and lemongrass.
Forbes
18 hours ago
- Lifestyle
- Forbes
This Exhibit Shows How Our Relationship With Nature Was Redefined By A Dragonfly
Working as a merchant in 16th century Antwerp, Joris Hoefnagel saw the world through the medium of trade. He encountered luxurious objets d'art crafted with exotic wood and shell. But his eyes were drawn most of all to natural history specimens he considered to be God's own creations. Over several decades, he rendered them in watercolor on parchment or vellum. He called his collection The Four Elements, associating mammals with earth, birds with air, and fish with water. But it was the insects that received his greatest devotion. Without comment, he associated them with fire. Joris Hoefnagel. Animalia Rationalia et Insecta (Ignis), c. 1575/1580, bound volume of 78 drawings in watercolor and gouache. National Gallery of Art, Gift of Mrs. Lessing J. Rosenwald 1987.20.5 No explanation was needed. A rare opportunity to view pages from The Four Elements at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC reveals an almost alchemical process by which Hoefnagel captured the preternatural iridescence of butterflies and beetles. Rendered in Hoefnagel's meticulous hand, often using brushes with just a few bristles and sometimes animated with teeny flecks of gold, the 'little beasts' (as insects were known at the time) appear to be aflame. And yet for all the magic of the painting, Hoefnagel never surrendered to fantasy. Unlike the whimsical objets d'art he handled in trade, his images are accurate enough that exhibition co-curators at the National Museum of Natural History can confidently name the species. By contemporary standards, Hoefnagel is a study in contradictions. His scientific precision was inspired by religious devotion. His artistic creations pay homage to the Creator. Closer examination reveals tensions that are more subtle but no less profound. One of the most surprising is his choice of materials. It's not just the artifice of making critters come to life with sprinkles of gold leaf. Several of the watercolors turn out to be composite images constructed in part from bits of his specimens. With Hoefnagel's help, these little beasts represent themselves. The apparent contradiction of scientific inquiry motivated by religious faith is easily resolved when you consider that science emerged from religion, and only recently sought explanations independent of faith. There's also a long history of art serving religion. Humans have often paid homage to the miraculous by emulating it. But Hoefnagel's hybrid watercolors are not so easily contextualized (even if some of the techniques were also used by other artists of the period). Since the Renaissance, objects of wonder were categorized as naturalia or artificialia. The former included crystals and shells and animal pelts. The latter were the products of artisans, who might denature naturalia by embedding specimens in lavish settings or might transform natural materials beyond recognition. Although artificialia often emulated naturalia in whimsical ways, the artifice was the source of delight. Some of the finest artifacts were just noticeably different from their inspiration, simultaneously paying homage to the artisan and the natural specimen. In concept and in practice, Hoefnagel's hybrids are the opposite. When he outfits real dragonfly wings with a watercolor body and legs, he naturalizes artificialia and vice versa. What we admire is the composite, which we see as autonomous. Hoefnagel's hybrids were feasible because his subjects were small. Little beasts were well suited to life-size depiction, making their bodies interchangeable with their rendering (especially parts of their anatomy that were essentially two dimensional). Optical devices developed in Hoefnagel's era enhanced observation, while simultaneously augmenting the sense of awe that humans have had for these diminutive life forms since antiquity. ('We make a wonder at the monstrous and mightie shoulders of Elephants' wrote Pliny the Elder in the Naturis Historia. 'We keepe a woondring at the ravenings of tygres, and the shag manes of Lions: and yet in comparison of these Insects, there is nothing wherein Nature and her whole power is more seen, neither sheweth she her might more than in the least creatures of all.') Jan van Kessel the Elder. Insects and a Sprig of Rosemary, 1653, oil on copper. National Gallery of Art, The Richard C. Von Hess Foundation, Nell and Robert Weidenhammer Fund, Barry D. Friedman, and Friends of Dutch Art 2018.41.1 Whether or not Hoefnagel's little beasts were inspired by the Naturis Historia or other ancient sources, his artworks clearly express a Christianized version of Pliny's panegyric, and provide a timely reminder of insects' significance as modern humans decimate global populations of butterflies and bumblebees. The same can be said about other works in the National Gallery exhibition, such as the 17th century panels of Jan van Kessel. But the greater significance of The Four Elements is the challenge Hoefnagel presents to the distinction between naturalia and artificialia, a dichotomy that continues to play a role in the spurious separation of humankind from the natural world. Even if the insects didn't voluntarily participate in their creation, the hybridity of Hoefnagel's composites defies classification. The works provide a vision as salient now as ever. In earth, air, water, and especially fire, we share the materials to forge a common future.
Washington Post
a day ago
- General
- Washington Post
Rescued giant moths emerge from cocoons in Mexico's sprawling capital
MEXICO CITY — Two moths the size of a hand, their wings patterned with brown and pink around four translucent sections, mate for hours hanging from a line alongside cocoons like the ones they emerged from just hours earlier. 'When I get here and find this, I jump with delight,' said María Eugenia Díaz Batres, who has been caring for insects at the Museum of Natural History and Environmental Culture in Mexico City for nearly six decades.
Fox News
a day ago
- Climate
- Fox News
America's second-largest cicada swarm is about to emerge across the East Coast
The low hum of summer typically includes lawnmowers and sizzling burgers — and this year, it may be the sound of cicadas. This year's brood of insects may be the second-biggest ever. Two types of cicadas commonly exist in the Eastern United States: annual cicadas, which emerge every year, and periodical cicadas, which emerge every 13 or 17 years, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The insects reside primarily in trees and shrubs. Broods are a way of categorizing cicadas based on this pattern, and less of a biological trait. Because broods emerge in different areas, places that had cicadas last year may not have them this year, according to Dr. John R. Cooley, associate professor-in-residence of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Connecticut. Brood XIV is referred to as a "keystone" brood, Cooley told Fox News Digital. It is the second-largest behind Brood XIX, the "Great Southern Brood," which last emerged in 2024 in 15 states from Oklahoma to Maryland. While there is another "Great Eastern Brood" – Brood X, which emerged in 2021 – Brood XIV is larger, and could thus be considered the "Great(er) Eastern Brood." Brood XIV will emerge in states ranging from Georgia all the way up to New York, according to the University of Connecticut. "Once an emergence gets going, it lasts about a month, depending on the weather," Cooley said. "It seems like the weather this year has been quite strange — the emergence is well underway in North Carolina, but further north, because of the cold weather, it hasn't even really started yet in Pennsylvania," he added. Adult cicadas climb into trees and shrubs to mate, and then females deposit their eggs onto small twigs. The babies, called nymphs, hatch from these eggs after six weeks and fall to the ground. They then burrow into the soil and begin feeding on the roots of trees and shrubs to restart the cicada lifecycle, according to the EPA. Cicadas will not eat leaves, flowers, fruits or garden produce, so it is not necessary to take special precautions to cover or apply additional insecticides in your garden, the above source stated. For more Lifestyle articles, visit "People should keep in mind that what they are seeing is unique — there is no other place in the world where such a thing happens, and they are found only in the U.S.," Cooley pointed out. The EPA also notes that cicadas don't bite or sting, and they are not harmful to humans, pets, household gardens or crops.
CBC
2 days ago
- General
- CBC
Tent caterpillars taking over Edmonton
The 80s were notorious for the infestation of the tent caterpillar. Today, we're seeing another rise in the number of insects popping up on trees. CBC's Tristan Mottershead went to find out how bad this situation really is.
