Weather Bugs

Different weather attracts different bugs and insects. Usually, I do garden pest control before the rainy season comes because most pests attack during this time. One of the most familiar insects in the garden is the grasshopper. Although it is considered harmless, an increase in its population will destroy our plants. So, for those who are also anxious about these jumping insects, here are valuable hints.

Grasshoppers are easily affected by change in temperature. According to the entomologists, grasshoppers lay eggs at fall. Come the humid spring, the eggs will hatch. The young hoppers have the capability to adapt to an increase in temperature. Meanwhile, they tarry until winter. By the way, the cold season does not gravely affect the grasshoppers. The rainy season is crucial time for hoppers because although they are not active in searching for food, the fungi that they carry are easily spread through rain waters.

Just like any other bugs, grasshoppers are affected by extreme temperatures. They have a high mortality rate during early warm spring when eggs are poorly hatched. On the other hand, their population increase during cool weathers, especially in spring or when it rains during summer when the eggs are able to survive because there is a dry and humid weather.

It was raining hard last Wednesday, and to my surprise I have been bitten by a mosquito while nearly falling asleep. Suddenly, I remembered the dreaded malaria outbreak in India, and I feared that the same mosquito that bit me might be also a carrier of the disease. After rereading the news article, I clearly saw the relationship between the rainy season and mosquitoes.

A while ago, I just happen to browse the Internet for some information with regards to wet weather and mosquito. Actually the prevalence of mosquitoes are high during cold and damp weather. Only, unless we are pestered by these insects do we notice them. But, the life cycle of mosquitoes follows that whenever summer ends, it's the right time for them to brood. That means, they start hunting for breeding areas as the rainy season approaches.

Since virus and bacteria grow rapidly in damp areas, I think it is our responsibility to monitor the possible breeding areas of mosquitoes in our own homes. Remember that insects multiply faster than any other organisms and the virus that they possess is immune to cold weather. Which is why, it is advisable that we keep our surroundings clean and dry as much as possible.

I have a pond in my backyard. Unfortunately, I also have leeches in them. There used to be coi fish in the pond, but one day when there came leeches swarming my garden, I began taking the fish away. You see, leeches abound during cold weather when water is not scarce. Well, they can survive in dry weather by burying themselves underground, but when the moist or damp weather comes in, they make an appearance.

Anyway, back to my story. At first I intended to kill those leeches. Of course, leeches suck blood and I do not want my pets to be attacked by them. Secondly, I find them not so harmful, unless they will have something to cling on to suck blood, so I decided not to rid of them entirely. But, what I can not take is their destroying and eating of my plants. I woke up one morning finding holes among the leaves of the perennial chrysanthemum plants. Instinctively, I looked for the leeches and, wearing gloves, I took them away from the stems.

The leech pests began swarming my garden one humid day. As a matter of fact, that day I have seen only a few of them. They clung on plants, later to damp area, then finally on the pond. I just pray they do not multiply as fast as ants. By the way, I did some experimentation. I put salt in one leech, and it died after a moment.

Winter sends chill to my spine especially when I think that snails and millipedes will once again attack my yard garden. I am not a horticulturist, but based on experience, I was able to device safety precautions for these harmful bugs. I call them pests, and why not? I take care of the plants all year round when suddenly comes winter, and they will ruin the whole of it.

While all the other animals hibernate on winter times, these pests are feasting with the garden plants. I have already mentioned snails and millipedes. Along side with them are slugs, centipedes, hoppers, and flies. They may seem small and look harmless, but wait until they attack the garden and you will be boiling with anger.

For my fellow gardeners, here are some ways to prevent if not to eliminate these winter bugs. Firstly, snails should not find hiding area in the plants. I also learned that the less weed in the garden, the less snails are there. Meanwhile, I make sure to clean my garden of rotting materials because these serve as food for millipedes. The hoppers, on the other hand, fill the twigs with their eggs. I try my best to rid them, though doing so consumes much time. Finally, the most common bug, and the most irritating, is the fly of the soldier type. Though they help in the natural composting process, they multiply easily and cause various harmful diseases.

Ticks attack during hot weather. Bugs like these are classified as parasites and are known to suck blood from their victims. The biggest threat they pose to human kind is that the disease they cause could be transmitted from the infected animals to humans. The disease is called Lyme and is very contagious.

I live in a place near an arable land, and whenever the hot season comes, I always stay away from trees, since ticks sometimes just fall from the trees on their targets. Also, since there are many stray dogs in our neighborhood, they are capable of carrying the disease. I once saw a child infected with the disease. The symptoms are horrible. Lyme causes the victim headache, muscular pains, and even swollen glands. As soon as the bacteria have infiltrated the whole body system, fever, numbness, and vision impairment follows.

I advise that should one want to go into the woodlands or parks with green fields, he or she must wear socks, shoes, and light-colored clothes. As for girls with long hair like me, I suggest that it is better to tie the hair so ticks will have hard time penetrating the strands to cling on the scalp. There is no room for panic; I say prevention is better than cure.

The change in environment can bring in lots of heat or moisture. The weather change can also bring out certain crawlers that would not be a familiar sight on a normal routine. This is especially evident in the countryside farms and houses with gardens.

During the seasons of wet climate, weather bugs like aphids and borers become pests to farmers, garden lovers, and plant cultivators. Why? Well, they are the ones that can ruin the fruits and vegetables planted in your backyard. Aphids, for instance, can make your once green and healthy-looking cucumbers and zucchinis into limp veggies. A borer, on the other hand, could enter the vine or stem of a plant and cause rusts or fungi; the borer would be able to destruct your precious plantations whether in cold or hot weather.

To avoid these problems, it is best to take precaution by spending money on pest sprays and soil fertilizers. If you are not too busy on weekends or weekdays, perhaps you can also take the time to regularly remove rotten vines. This would help diminish the infection and destruction brought about by aphids and borer.

The earth is not only getting smaller and smaller as each day progresses, it becomes warmer, too. According to some scientists, airborne bugs, also known as, small microbes might be in total control of our weather. They trigger clouds formations which lead to changes in the weather condition of the earth. This attempt from these microbes is one way of securing their survival. Their various activities might result to the changes on the earth's temperature.

These professional experts in London believe that clouds formation largely depend on these airborne bugs. Such ability to maneuver the environment would not only allow these small microbes to survive but to be able to disperse and reproduce as well. The more they become, the more they will control the weather.

The team has a plan to test an ecosystem that sustains itself in the clouds. This test will further aid these experts to study and analyze the different movements of microbes or pathogens such as foot-and-mouth. However, these microbes also help us defend ourselves from the effects of harmful sunlight radiation or the UV rays. So, whether they control the weather or not, at least they give us some degree of protection from the sun.

Although some scientists dismiss the fact that the extreme weather changes we are experiencing are brought about by global warming, it remains to be a question whether it is true. For one, weather changes in the last decades have shown that the earth is transforming into a dry place--hotter summers, shorter winters, glacier melting and all sorts of weather disturbances caused by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

This isn't even weather news. We've all been informed of this since third grade. However, because of the escalating incidences, doesn't it deserve our attention? Global warming is a global affair. If people experience some kind of nasty weather conditions, it may just be apt to know more about our earth's changing climate further before things get too late.

Some farmers pray for rain. Surprisingly, others ask just exactly the opposite. For, the same downpour of blessings also means imminent dangers to crops such as vegetables. The rain is what nourishes plants, yet it is also the same element that attracts destructive plant diseases.

Two of the most common bugs during the wet weather are aphids and borers. These attackers of plant stems and buds can leave a harvest with a lesser quantity of crops. However, they can be eliminated by spraying chemicals or by removing dead leaves or stems in order to lessen their growth or spread.

The outbreak trend of certain epidemics such as salmonella and diarrhea can be directly correlated with the changing weather patterns. As the weather and climate change, the number of reported cases of outbreaks of specific diseases also coincides with the changes in weather. This is because certain pathogens are most likely to be transported or spread during specific weather conditions. Air humidity and temperature affect the growth of certain microbes which may grow more rapidly. For instance, salmonella cases are more commonly reported during summer where the temperature is relatively warm. On the other hand, mosquitoes may spread hemorrhagic fevers and malaria during rainy days in certain areas. Weather changes indeed posess health threats.