What is Entomology?

Two weeks ago we were blessed with the chance to interview a local entomologist to hear her story. She kindly requested that her name not be given, yet she was so willing as to take time out of her busy schedule to help us understand exactly what it is that she does, as well as educate us on the growing fly problem.

What is an entomologist you ask? Well first of all, you must know what entomology is. Entomology is the scientific study of insects. For example, the study of their body, numerous body parts and features, as well as where they live and how they play a role in the ecosystem. So entomologists, would be scientists that study these insects. The particular entomologist that we had the opportunity to interview works to run a local pest control company in the community. She grew up in the state of Florida and was raised by a family that had a long running history in the insect business. In fact, her father started one of the first pest control companies in the Southeast. He owned the company for over 37 years before selling it. She developed an interest in bugs at a young age through her exposure to her father’s work. He had a massive bug collection, and she found herself spending hours gazing in amazement over all the different species of bugs that he caught. Growing up before the use of internet, it was difficult to readily find resources for school projects. Often times instead of visiting the local library, she would pick up one of her fathers books on insects and use it for her class reports. It wasn’t long before she began helping her father on “bug runs” and fumigations. A few years later, she decided to go to school to be an entomologist, like her father. This was the point where she really grew into her passion and formed her own studies. The school required her to put together a collection of 125 different species of bugs; however, her collection measured well over 500 different species. She had found her love for bugs. After graduating from school, she moved to the Wiregrass area where she has been working in pest control for over 15 years.

She went on to tell some of her more memorable experiences with bugs. She said that often times her team is called by elderly people who lack the ability to clean and pick up after themselves, which can promote unexpected visitors. One of the most bazaar stories that she shared was of an elderly man who called the company that she worked with to request help with a flea infestation. When the pest control team arrived to help the man, it was apparent that he had extremely bad vision and was living by himself. The flea infestation was bad, but identifying the cause of the infestation was fairly easy. The team discovered that there was a hole in the floor of the house. After further investigation, it was determined that a opossum had been living freely inside the house without the elderly man knowing. According to our friend, the opossum had been living under the house and was able to come in and out of the house freely, feeding on any food that was available. The opossum was covered with fleas, and every time the opossum crawled in through the hole he would bring heaps of fleas into the house. This posed a problem for the elderly man because he was unable to see the fleas, much less do anything about them. The control team was able to determine the cause of the problem as well as eradicate the rest of the fleas.

She went on to tell us that the most important part of dealing with an insect infestation is to identify the source of the problem before trying to treat it. There is always a source that is the cause of insect infestations. Insects can come in through cracked doors, holes, or improperly sealed windows. Insects are normally found where sanitary standards are not met, such as open trash cans, open food, dirty floors/tables, waste, and sitting water. Eliminating these issues is always priority when handling pests because if you only treat the issue without fixing the source of the problem, it is just a matter of time before the problem comes back.

We would like to thank the entomologist that helped us so much in preparing for fly week, as well as the many other friends of Jeffers that have helped us in preperation for for fly week. We never could have done it without you!