When temperatures were in the 20's, teens, and even the single digits so many times this Winter, I felt like it would kill off some of the bugs. I've heard many people say, "At least we won't have so many mosquitoes, ticks, and flies this summer!"
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| Our Birdbath stayed frozen for days |
Well, I'm afraid that just isn't so. Ask any old-timer, and they will tell you the bugs will still be here when temperatures warm up. I didn't have to ask an old-timer, because early this morning I found a tick latched on under my clothes. And it has been cold outside this week!
My father told me of a spider he observed from his front sitting room window during the coldest period this Winter. When night time temperatures were 7 degrees and day-time warm ups crept just to the 20's, the spider remained curled up in a ball, appearing to be lifeless. But when the weather warmed up, the spider would slowly begin wiggling as if waking up from a long nap. Once he seemed satisfied that it was sufficiently warm enough to get to work, the spider would get busy rebuilding his web.
According to entomologist Xing Ping Hu, research professor with Auburn University, the reason insects are so resilient is that they have adapted strategies for surviving the cold. Hu pointed out that both of our coldest states, Alaska and Minnesota, are bothered by mosquitoes during the summer, so why would mosquitoes be affected by the freezing temperatures in Alabama and Georgia? Yellow Jackets are the only insect population that might be affected here, because they are susceptible to the cold. (See AL.com). That will probably be good news to all the runners who were stung during the Boy Scout Troop Trail Trek in West Point last Fall.
