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A week or so ago, during a Q and A session at a meeting, I was asked by one nature enthusiast why large black bees were bombarding him in his back yard. Without fail, about this time each spring humans who venture too near a child’s wooden play set, wooden benches or railings, mailbox posts, decks, or houses with cedar siding are divebombed by territorial male bees. The bees have nothing against humans. They are simply jealously guarding potential wooden nest sites from interlopers. Interlopers include other male carpenter bees or almost any other creature that comes into range, including humans.  

Wooden structures like this play set bear telltale damage as woodpeckers search for carpenter bees inside the wood. Male carpenter bees zoom around nearby sensing that nubile female bees will soon emerge from these galleries. They divebomb other competing males and nosy humans, aggressively defending their mating territory. When females emerge, they will quickly be mated by diligent guy bees patrolling nearby. Once inseminated, females build new galleries in wooden structures creating nesting sites for their young.

Why do they do this? Here’s the deal. Female carpenter bees build galleries in wooden structures to serve as nurseries for their young. Male carpenter bees go to great lengths to convince potential mates of their worthiness by selecting and defending prime nesting sites. When other male carpenter bees approach defended territories, remarkable aerial battles ensue. Swooping, grappling, and biting often result in both combatants tumbling to earth before one withdraws from the fray. I watched one victorious male guard a nesting site and soon a lovely and somewhat coquettish lady carpenter bee arrived. She rested on the wooden bench guarded by her suitor and a short but energetic romantic interlude ensued. As far as I could tell, the male flew off somewhere, perhaps for more battles or romantic conquests, but the female bee had different matters to attend. After mating, the she bee begins the task of excavating a hole in the wooden structure to be used as a nursery for her brood. Her powerful mandibles create a slightly oval to almost perfectly round hole as she penetrates the wood to the depth of about a half inch. She then makes a right angle turn and continues tunneling parallel to the grain of the wood excavating a series of brood-cells in a linear tunnel. In a piece of wood removed from one of the benches, I observed several tunnels more than a foot in length, some of which branched into secondary galleries. Each tunnel contained as many as thirteen individual brood-cells.

To construct each multichambered gallery represents more than a month’s worth of chewing and one has to admire the determination of these industrious gals in excavating a home for their young. After the chambers are built, they are meticulously cleaned and filled with bee bread, a nutritious mixture of pollen, nectar, and secretions from glands on the female’s body. Bee bread serves as the food for the young carpenter bees. Starting at the end farthest from the entrance the female deposits an egg in each brood-cell. Each egg hatches into a legless larva that eats bee bread and develops during the course of spring and summer. In brood-cells furthest from the entrance, older larvae complete development first, pupate, and then after emerging from the pupal case in late summer these new adults push their way past brothers and sisters to escape the gallery and search for nectar and pollen. As summer wanes and autumn waxes, newly minted bees forage during the day and return to their galleries to spend the night. With the end of blossoms in the fall, carpenter bees return to their snug tunnels to chill out until the following spring, protected from the ravages of winter.

In locations where carpenters are present, watching humans duck and cover is almost as entertaining as watching aerial battles among male bees. Male bees lack stingers and although the gals are equipped to sting, I have never been stung by one nor have I heard of anyone who was harmed by these fascinating creatures. Carpenter bees do cause some damage to wooden structures. And once woodpeckers find a structure housing carpenter bees, they get busy and can do some remarkable destruction as they peck holes in the wood searching for carpenter bee babies for dinner. Nonetheless, these entertaining native bees provide important services by pollinating our trees, shrubs, and crops.

At past events such as Maryland Day at the University of Maryland at College Park, which will be held on Saturday, April 26 this year, a thousand or more people visit our Insect Petting Zoo. At the zoo our resident carpenter bees receive much interest and attention. In years past, several children and a few courageous adults held male bees and were fascinating by the buzzing sounds and vibrations generated by flight muscles that power their wings. In discussing the antics and activities of carpenter bees, I was heartened to learn that most folks take a “live and let live” approach to dealing with the carpenters. As one lady put it, “This is their world too, you know.” I do know, and well said.

Acknowledgements:

Special thanks to Frank Bruno and the folks at the Howard Conservancy who served as the inspiration for this episode. “Bionomics of large carpenter bees of the genus Xylocopa” by Gerling, Velthuis, and Hefetz” was used as a reference for this Bug of the Week.

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In the past month, we explored the questions of how to know where periodical cicadas of Brood XIV might be seen, how to protect your trees from cicada damage and whether or not we should be worried about being bitten or stung by cicadas.  Recently, one of the most frequently asked questions about periodical cicadas is, “when will cicadas appear?” Bug of the Week has been tracking the life history of periodical cicadas for almost two decades, so let’s look at some historical data and see what it reveals.

The “when” question will often be answered with, “when soil temperatures reach 64 degrees Fahrenheit.” This answer comes from brilliant work performed almost 60 years ago by J. E. Heath who discovered that cicadas emerged when “soil temperature at 20-cm depth in seven locations averaged 17.89 C … regardless of date.” This answer holds fairly well even to this day. However, it is not always possible to know just when the magical 64 degrees at 8 inches below ground hits. We explored this in a slightly different way by observing the emergence of straggling Brood X cicadas in the DMV in 2020. In 2020, several locations reported sightings of impressive numbers of Brood X cicadas that appeared one year early. These cicadas are known as “stragglers”. Stragglers are periodical cicadas that emerge years prior to or after the major portion of their brood mates. Often, 17-year cicada stragglers emerge four years prior to the emergence date of rest of the brood. In 2017, Maryland Brood X stragglers appeared on May 14 in Columbia and Gaithersburg. In addition to emerging four years early, sometimes stragglers emerge one year early and this is exactly what happened in 2020. Using data collected in 2020 from the brilliant Cicada Safari App, the very first cicada out of the ground in the DMV was seen on April 19, just south of Towson, Maryland. This one was an extreme outlier. Cicada emergence really picked up in the DMV on May 14, and by May 24, 25% of emerging cicadas were out of the ground. By May 28, 50% of cicadas had emerged, and just few days later, on May 31, 75% of all cicadas had emerged in DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia. So, if 2025 is anything like 2020, or previous years for that matter, cicadas will be regularly seen as a trickle in some parts of their range in late April or early May with a tsunami hitting in the last two weeks of May and early June as these teenagers are up and out for the Cicadapalooza. Here in the DMV in 2020, the last cicada to emerge was reported in mid-June. Due to a normal life span of two to four weeks, don’t be surprised to see adult cicadas alive and well into the waning weeks of June, but, sadly, in most locations by the 4th of July, their moment in the sun will be all but finished and nothing but a fading memory.

 

 

Unfortunately for most of us in the DMV, cicadas are likely to visit only Botetourt, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, and Wise counties in western Virginia this year, with no hope of seeing them in DC and little hope of a visit in western Maryland. But for other states ranging from Georgia to Massachusetts Brood XIV is expected. Of course, the emergence in Georgia will begin weeks ahead of the emergence in Cape Cod. Back in the days of Brood X in 2021, Georgia reported adults in late April but in northern parts of Brood X’s range in northern Illinois, the adult show didn’t get underway until late May according to iNaturalist.     

For seventeen years, nymphs of Brood XIV cicadas have been developing underground. While digging a hole in my yard years ago, I discovered a quartet of periodical cicadas about 14 inches underground. Notice their white eyes and uniformly tan bodies. Here we see a periodical cicada not quite ready to emerge resting at the top of its exit gallery beneath a cinder block. Just behind its red eyes, the dorsal surface of the cicada is uniformly tan. On the evening of its emergence, notice how the dorsal exoskeleton of the fully developed cicada nymph bears two distinct black patches just behind its eyes. I think these are really good clues to help figure out when cicadas are about to emerge in your area.

On a more local level, how can we tell when the big jailbreak is close at hand? The images and video accompanying this episode provide some clues. For weeks prior to emergence, we witnessed almost-ready-to-go periodical cicadas peeking out from their galleries. In these images, notice that just behind the cicada’s brilliant vermillion eyes, the dorsal surface of the cicada’s exoskeleton is uniformly tan in color. On the evening or day of emergence, notice how the exoskeleton of the cicada bears two jet-black patches just behind its eyes. In more than a dozen emergences of periodical cicadas attended by the Bug Guy, this seems to be the clue that cicada emergence is very close at hand or underway. When you see these dark patches, the big show is about to begin. Get ready to enjoy!

Acknowledgements

Three cool articles, “Combining data from citizen scientists and weather stations to define emergence of periodical cicadas, Magicicada Davis spp. (Hemiptera: Cicadidae)” by M. J. Raupp, C. Sargent, N. Harding, and G. Kritsky, “The ecology, behavior, and evolution of periodical cicadas” by K. S. Williams and C. Simon, and “Thermal synchronization of emergence in periodical ‘17-year’ cicadas (Hemiptera, Cicadidae, Magicicada)” by J. E. Heath formed the foundation for this episode.

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In recent episodes we learned where Brood XIV cicadas would and would not be seen this spring. We also discovered what signs to look for in your yard as a presage to their grand appearance. This week let’s tackle a few questions that popped up in a recent conversation with the Weather Channel. Two of the most frequently asked questions regarding cicadas is “do they bite and do they sting?” Well, through my six decades of watching, catching, studying, eating, and photographing cicadas, my answer has been no, don’t worry about being bitten or stung by cicadas. However, following two messages from folks who listened to a television interview this week, I am scratching my head just a little bit about what cicadas can and cannot do with regard to biting and stinging. One viewer recounted an episode almost two decades ago when a cicada landed on their shoulder and pierced the skin leaving behind a zig-zag shaped mark. A second viewer shared an encounter with a cicada that attempted to probe her finger with its beak while she was holding the cicada during a “show and tell” demonstration with some children.

See the black proboscis or beak of the cicada between its front legs? Watch as it pushes its beak into the tree to find the vascular element called xylem which will be its source of liquid food for the next several weeks.

So, let’s dive into these questions about biting and stinging cicadas and see what might be afoot. We all learned in grammar school that one commonality of animals is that they are heterotrophs, that is, they cannot produce their own food but instead must eat other things for their sustenance. And when we think about animals eating, we think about biting, right? Biting usually involves something like what we humans do, jaws with mandibles removing chunks of food. Many insects like grasshoppers, beetles, wasps, and caterpillars have jaws that remove hunks of flesh or foliage as they feed. However, in many clans of insects, these jaw-like mouthparts have morphed dramatically through time into more soda-straw-like mouthparts, called piercing or sucking mouthparts, with the descriptive name of beak or proboscis. The beak has internal channels; one is used to remove liquid food from plants or animals which they feed upon, and another channel is used to inject saliva into the food item. Insects with sucking mouthparts include disagreeable rascals like bed bugs, mosquitoes, stink bugs, and lanternflies. Cicadas also have sucking mouthparts used to imbibe xylem fluid from plants on which they feed. So, do cicadas bite? Technically, you cannot bite with sucking mouthparts but you can suck and yes, cicadas do suck. Obviously, the next question is “do they suck on humans or pets?” The answer as far as I am aware is no. I have never heard of any human or animal losing blood to a sucking periodical cicada. These are obligatory plant feeders. The person mildly assaulted by a cicada shared that it did not break her skin. Also, she disclosed that the cicada had been confined for a long time and maybe it was tired of being held by a human. Who knows?

Well, what about stinging? Let’s dive into that. Stinging insects like bees, ants, and hornets, do so with an appendage at the tip of their abdomen called an ovipositor. Queens of these social insects use their ovipositor to lay eggs that hatch into workers. Workers are tasked with the onerous job of defending the colony. The ovipositors of defensive workers are connected to glands that produce venom, powerful chemical cocktails designed to bring intense pain to Winne the Pooh or other interlopers intent on raiding the colony for honey or brood. The ovipositor of most other insects is an appendage used to deposit eggs in a place where offspring can develop and thrive. As is the case with cicadas, ovipositors of these insects lack venom. Periodical cicadas use their ovipositor to cut slits into the tissues of plants, primarily trees and shrubs, where eggs of the next generation of cicadas develop before nymphs hatch and drop to the earth. As you might surmise, these ovipositors are stout and sharp enough to pierce the bark of a branch. Perhaps the person assaulted by a cicada was the unwitting victim of a misguided female cicada who mistook a human shoulder for a place to deposit eggs. Animal behavior is rife with mysteries and evolutionary mistakes, some for the better and some for the worse. If this assault was an attempt to lay eggs in a human rather than a plant, you can bet these foolish egg-laying genes will not last long in the reign of cicadas. 

Female cicadas use saber-like ovipositors to cut slits in the bark of small branches. These slits are called egg-nests. Watch as the female cicada moves her ovipositor in and out of an egg-nest where she deposits 20 to 30 eggs. She creates dozens of egg-nests which line small branches throughout the canopy of trees she visits. In some cases, weakened branches break and leaves die, creating so-called “flags” hanging throughout the crowns of cicada laden trees. Young saplings and recently transplanted trees growing rapidly in the open are often heavily damaged by cicadas. 

My take is that the chances of being probed by the beak of a cicada or assaulted by a crazed, egg-laying female are very small. However, for the millions of homeowners that might be visited by periodical cicadas there is one potentially significant problem. This “dark side” of periodical cicadas manifests itself if you have small saplings or have recently installed young trees in your landscape. Egg-laying cicadas will slice branches to insert their eggs into egg-nests. This causes the tips of many branches to wither and sometimes die. Dying and dead terminals droop, resulting in a type of tree injury called flagging. Some injured terminals break and fall to the ground. Branches that do not break may eventually heal, but the wound-site may form a gnarly irregular swelling on the branch. Which plants are most likely to be affected? The bad news here is that periodical cicadas are broad generalists. Miller and Crowley (1998) studied 140 genera of trees at the Morton Arboretum and found more than half sustained injury caused by ovipositing females. Among the most severely affected were ones common to landscapes in the DMV, including Acer (maple), Amelanchier (shadbush), Carpinus (hornbeam), Castanea (chestnut), Cercidphyllum (katsura), Cercis (redbud), Chionanthus (fringe tree), Fagus (beech), Quercus (oak), Myrica (bayberry), Ostrya (hophornbeam), Prunus (cherry) and Weigela (weigela). Another study by Brown and Zuefle (2009) of 42 woody plant species added several new genera to the list and found all but 10 species were used by cicadas to lay eggs. Small rapidly growing trees with longer, more open branching habits found in young saplings were more heavily used for egg-laying. Trees at the edges of forests with rapidly growing branches exposed to sunlight often sustain more cicada injury. While ovipositional injury poses a threat to newly planted trees, for older and well-established trees flagging and limb breakage may occur in the short term, however, studies indicate that the long-term threat to tree vitality is minimal (Miller and Croft 1998).

How can you mitigate damage caused by ovipositing Brood XIV cicadas on young trees in your yard? Unfortunately, sometimes our knee-jerk reaction is to grab a can of insecticide and start squirting when we see a bug. In the case of periodical cicadas, studies have shown that the most effective deterrent to egg-laying cicadas is to wrap your saplings in netting that prevents females from laying their eggs. Ahern et al. (2005) found that linden saplings protected by netting with openings of 1 cm (0.4 inches) prevented cicadas from laying eggs whereas saplings treated with systemic insecticides or those left untreated received several hundred egg-nests along their branches.

In future episodes we will explore when Brood XIV cicadas might appear and learn more about these strange and remarkable insects.

To learn how to properly protect your tree with netting from egg-laying cicadas, please watch this clever video.

Acknowledgements

Great references for this episode include “Does the periodical cicada, Magicicada septendecim, prefer to oviposit on native or exotic plant species?” by W. P. Brown and M. E. Zueffle, “Effects of oviposition by periodical cicadas on tree growth” by K. Clay, A. L. Shelton and C. Winkle, “Periodical Cicada (Magicicada cassini) Oviposition Damage: Visually Impressive yet Dynamically Irrelevant” by W. M. Cook and R. D. Holt, “Effects of periodical cicada ovipositional injury on woody plants” by F. Miller and W. Crowley, “The ecology, behavior and evolution of periodical cicadas” by K. S. Williams and C. Simon, and  “Comparison of Exclusion and Imidacloprid for Reduction of Oviposition Damage to Young Trees by Periodical Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae)” by R. Ahern, S. Frank, and M. Raupp. Thanks to two anonymous viewers who shared their stories with me and to my friends at the Weather Channel for allowing me to share cicada stories with others.  

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Last week we broke some news that here in the DMV some will see Brood XIV cicadas this year (Virginia), others will not (DC), and some might (Maryland). If you are fortunate enough to live in one of the twelve states where Brood XIV are known to occur, how will you know if cicadas are about to grace your yard? As many of you know, periodical cicadas are quite patchy in their distribution. In my neighborhood in Columbia, Maryland, folks along my street had tons of Brood X cicadas back in 2021, but just a few streets away, nary a cicada was to be seen. Several factors feature into local distributions of periodical cicadas. Changes in land use are primary factors. Periodical cicadas depend on woody plants as key places to conduct their boisterous choruses, mating rituals and locations to deposit eggs that usher in the next generation. Although soil-dwelling nymphs can feed on roots of herbaceous plants, xylem fluids from tree roots support fantastic densities of cicada nymphs as they grow underground for seventeen years. If you live in a neighborhood where development has denuded trees and removed soil in the last seventeen years, your chances of Brood XIV emerging in your yard are slim. Likewise, if your house sprouted up in what formerly was a field of hay or corn, your chances of welcoming periodical cicadas are, well, not so hot. Habitat fragmentation and urbanization with attendant impervious surfaces and soil compaction are two factors thought to disfavor populations of periodical cicadas. In several locations in the eastern United States, populations have dwindled or been extirpated over the last two centuries.

As periodical cicadas complete their juvenile development, here are some clues to help you know if you will see cicadas this spring or not. First, if your landscape supported cicadas back in 2008, odds are excellent that you will see them again this year. If you have moved into a home sometime after 2008 and you live in one of the states where Brood XIV historically appears, simply ask one of your long-standing neighbors if they saw cicadas seventeen years ago. If you live in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, or West Virginia, you can see which counties in your state reported Brood XIV back in 2008 by visiting the Cicada Mania website. There are also several clues you can see in the landscape around your home over the next month or so that signal the presence of cicadas. First, let’s talk about a glorious feast that is underway for small wild and domestic mammals as periodical cicadas prepare an exit strategy from their subterranean crypts. Four years ago, as a presage to the massive emergence of Brood X, a curious homeowner sent fascinating images of impressive excavations of turf beneath a fine old tree. The perpetrator of this crime was a pesky raccoon intent on digging for its dinner. The lawn was, well, just collateral damage on the way to a fine meal. While the identity of the subterranean morsel was never confirmed, this type of behavior is characteristic of many small mammals that will find cicada nymphs and adults irresistible this spring and go to great lengths to find them.

Also, during the early days of spring in 2021, the year of Brood X, while emptying some coffee grinds in the compost at 6:30 AM, I surprised a very handsome red fox in the process of excavating a thirty-foot-long patch of earth beneath my stately Burford holly. A couple quick turns of the shovel revealed several Magicicada nymphs about six inches below the surface of the earth. Casual site visits to my neighbors’ gardens and further inspection of my landscape revealed several locations where fox and friends had been busy in Columbia, Maryland enjoying cicada snacks. Both foxes and raccoons have excellent night vision, a must for their nocturnal forays, and an extremely keen sense of smell that allows them to detect prey beneath layers of fallen leaves and soil. These wild small mammals are not the only ones whose special creature powers include super olfaction. A dog’s sense of smell is estimated to be more than 10,000 times more acute than a human’s. And yes, if it hasn’t started already, soon inquiries will arrive posing the question: “Why is the dog digging up my yard?” Chances are good that Fido knows a good snack when he smells one. Please, just don’t let him eat too many.

How might you know if cicadas will emerge in your yard? Here are some clues. Small mammals like squirrels, foxes, racoons and skunks are on the hunt for cicadas, turning over the soil in lawns and beneath trees. In moist soils cicada nymphs sometimes build mud turrets over their exit holes and in other places vast numbers of round dime-sized holes will appear. Under stepping stones and flagstone walkways, numerous cicadas may be found in their galleries. Amazing expanded forelegs shaped by millions of years of evolution enable cicadas to move earth and shape their escape tunnels.

Soon it will be time for a suburban safari to your backyard to spot additional signs of the arrival of periodical cicadas. Look for holes in the soil about the size of a dime within the dripline beneath trees that have been in the ground for seventeen years or more. Historically, oaks, maples, crabapples, and hollies seem to be the big winners in my landscape. In addition to holes, periodical cicadas often build domed caps or tubular extensions known as turrets over their escape tunnels. This may be more common in wetter soils. If your landscape includes stepping stones or flagstone pathways over soil, lift a few and you may discover lateral tunnels as cicadas encounter the impenetrable barrier and attempt to make their way to the edge of the barricade to reach the world above ground.

No holes under trees? Don’t panic, new holes may show up over the next several weeks. During past emergences of periodical cicadas, a common question has been, “how do cicadas moved about underground and how did they construct their exit galleries? The answer lies in the clever adaptations of their forelegs. Their forelegs bear greatly expanded femurs and tibias which act like the blade of a shovel to move soil. Millions of years of evolution for a life in two worlds, one underground and one above the earth, have perfected the tools necessary for cicadas to succeed in both. In upcoming episodes, we will learn more about these remarkable insects.       

Acknowledgements

Bug of the Week thanks L. Kenigsberg for providing the nice image of lawn pillaged by a raccoon that served as the inspiration for this episode. Kristin Jayd and Paula Shrewsbury also provided images and assisted with videography.

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During the past two months, Bug of the Week’s peregrinations took us to the tropical rainforests of Belize to visit stingless bees, sassy assassin bugs, red rump tarantulas, headlamp beetles, incredibly fast whip spiders, fungus-loving leafcutter ants, and rapacious army ants. This week we hop-scotch fifteen hundred miles north to the DMV to check on the progress of Brood XIV (14) periodical cicadas. Last week journalists proclaimed the upcoming arrival of millions (or is it billions?) of cicadas set to emerge in a dozen eastern states. The appearance of periodical cicadas in the DMV this year looks like a definite yes, no, and maybe. According to the Cicada Mania website, a source of all things cicada, Virginia is a definite yes. Brood XIV is a brood of all three species of 17 – year cicadas, Magicicada septendecim, Magicicada cassini and Magicicada septendecula, that was last seen in 2008 in Botetourt, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, and Wise counties. Unfortunately, the District of Columbia appears to be a definite no. While historical maps by Charles Marlatt and Roy Troutman appear to show Brood XIV in D.C., more recent compilations indicate that this is not the case.

Seventeen years ago, back in 2008, eggs of periodical cicadas hatched. After stretching their legs a bit, tiny nymphs dropped form tree branches down to the earth below. They entered the soil sometimes using the very holes from which their parents emerged but few weeks earlier. After sucking sap from plant roots for a few years, they grew to the size of a jelly bean. But just three years ago, they were almost an inch in length. In locations where they will emerge you can visit Brood XIV cicadas by carefully turning the soil with a shovel. After your visit, please return them to the soil and gently cover them with earth so they will emerge with the rest of their brood mates later in spring.

The maybe part comes with Maryland. Until very recently Maryland was listed in some sources as a state that would host Brood XIV cicadas in Washington and Allegheny Counties. There are several historical accounts of Brood XIV cicadas emerging in these counties dating back to the 1900s and 1940s. In 2008 along the Potomac River near Hancock, Maryland a localized ensemble of periodical cicadas was observed. Whether these were Brood XIV cicadas or not remains a mystery. Cicada researchers suggest that these may be stragglers from Brood X, time travelers that emerged four years behind the massive emergence of their brood-mates in 2021. This Bug Guy hopes that periodical cicadas are hanging on in Washington and Allegheny Counties. He plans to spend a lot of time wandering the C & O canal this spring and summer to catch a glimpse of Brood XIV or maybe the stragglers of Brood X. 

So, if you are concerned that periodical cicadas may not show this spring, put your fears to rest. In addition to Virginia, periodical cicadas will appear in parts of Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and West Virginia. For the rest of us mostly east of the Mississippi, well, we will have to wait for another time.

We will explore much more about these remarkable creatures in upcoming episodes.

Acknowledgements

Bug of the Week thanks Gaye Williams for providing the inspiration for this episode. Many thanks to Gene Kritsky and John Cooley for sharing their data, thoughts, and information about these marvelous creatures. Special thanks to Dan and the Cicada Mania website for providing one stop shopping for cicada information. Thanks also to Dr. Shrewsbury for some nice camera work.  

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Aging homes, climate, and urban expansion all play vital roles in the rise of rodent infestations in homes. Mice and rats can squeeze through tiny openings to enter human spaces and cause any number of problems, including potential structural damage and the spread of dangerous germs.

Why Rodents Are a Growing Problem in Massachusetts

Data from the Woburn Daily Times shows that nearly 16% of Massachusetts’ households must deal with rodent issues. Compare that number to the national average of 11.6%, and it becomes clear that the Bay State is facing a substantial rodent infestation problem.

Boston routinely makes it onto the list of top 10 U.S. cities with rodent problems, but it’s not the only hotspot in the state. In December 2024, rodent issues shut down a movie theater in Methuen, and schools also had to implement rodent prevention plans due to high levels of mouse activity. The town of Swampscott was forced to enact rodent infestation strategies to deal with elevated rodent activity. Additional areas with high levels of rodent activity include Worcester, Essex, and Suffolk counties, all of which rank among the top 10 rodent hotspots in the U.S.

Why Massachusetts Homes Are Vulnerable to Rodent Infestations 

According to various reports, Massachusetts is the 15th most rodent infested state in the U.S. The average age of the homes is one of the factors that can contribute to this issue, and Massachusetts housing is among the oldest in the country. Although historic homes offer stunning architecture and charm, they can also bring an increased risk of pest infestations and require stricter residential pest control strategies. Dated construction techniques and aging building materials can lead to a higher number of entry points, making it easier for critters to slip inside.

Urban and Suburban Rodent Infestation Hotspots

Cities worldwide are experiencing increasing rodent populations. Dense human populations, warmer temperatures, and increased availability of food are among the chief factors driving high rodent populations in cities like Boston, Worcester, Cambridge, Lowell, and others. Likewise, growing suburban populations are also experiencing higher numbers of infestations. Easy access to fields and wooded areas increases the risk of mice and rats entering human spaces. 

Seasonal Risks: When Rodents Are Most Active 

The Northeastern U.S. is more prone to rodent activity than areas in the south, largely because the colder climate sends rodents scurrying indoors in search of shelter. Many Massachusetts homeowners report increased activity during fall and winter, when rodents seek warmth inside sheds, garages, attics, basements, and other areas of the home.

Mice vs. Rats — What’s Invading Your Home? 

Identifying the rodents infesting your home is the key to effectively eliminating them. Explore some of the most common species in the state and get tips on how to differentiate them.

The Most Common Rodents in Massachusetts 

Typical Massachusetts rodent infestations are caused by the following species of mice and rats: 

• House Mice: These mice, also commonly called brown mice or domestic house mice, nest in sheltered spots, including wall voids and attics. 
• Deer Mice: These tiny critters tend to infest areas like pantries and kitchen cabinets, typically nesting close to food sources. 
• White-Footed Mice: These rodents love nesting in hollow areas, including in attics, wall voids, and basements. 
• Norway Rats: These rats, also sometimes called sewer rats, typically stick to lower-level areas, including basements, crawl spaces, garbage dumps, and spaces under buildings. 

How to Tell the Difference 

It can be challenging to differentiate between mice and rats. Understanding where they tend to nest is a good starting point. Knowing more about the characteristics of each species can also help you figure out the species in question.

• House Mice: Three to four inches long with hairless tails and gray or brown fur 
• Deer Mice: Five to eight inches long with deer-like coloring, including white fur on their undersides and darker fur on their backs 
• White-Footed Mice: Five to eight inches long with reddish-brown fur, white bellies, bi-colored tails, large ears, and white feet 
• Norway Rats: Gray-brown fur and up to 18 inches in length, including their hairless tails 

Signs of a Rodent Infestation in Your Massachusetts Home 

Hint — the sooner you know you have rodents, the easier it will be to control the infestation. So, how can you spot a potential infestation?

Early Warning Signs of a Rodent Infestation 

Rodents are typically nocturnal, so you might not see live rats or mice scurrying about during the day. However, you might come across telltale signs of rodents, such as the following: 

• Droppings, dark-colored pellets found near food items, in cupboards and drawers, and floors 
• Scratching sounds in ceilings, walls, and other areas 
• Gnaw marks on wires, food packaging, or structural elements 
• Nesting materials like shredded paper and insulation are strewn about 
• Greasy-looking runways where rodents frequently travel 
• Stale, musty odors

The Risks of Ignoring a Rodent Infestation 

Ignoring the signs of an infestation, or missing them altogether, can have serious consequences. First, rodents pose a health risk and can contaminate foods and surfaces with dozens of potential pathogens. Contact with urine, saliva, and droppings can expose you and your family to illness-causing germs. Additionally, rodents are known to continually chew on everything, including wooden beams, walls, and wires. Beyond property damage, they are also rapid breeders, with mice having as many as six babies every three weeks.

How to Avoid a Rodent Infestation in Your Massachusetts Home 

Taking a proactive approach can help keep your home safe from these clever and messy pests. Homeowners can make a real difference by following important preventative measures and calling for professional help at the first sign of an infestation.

DIY Rodent Infestation Prevention Tips

• Seal openings, including small holes and gaps around utility lines and pipes 
• Eliminate access to food with strict sanitation and rodent-proof food storage 
• Promptly fix plumbing leaks to remove water sources 
• Eliminate clutter, which can encourage rodents by giving them ample places to hide and nest 
• Clean up outdoor spaces and keep lawns mowed, trees and shrubs trimmed, and bird feeders far from the house

Why Professional Rodent Infestation Control Is the Best Solution 

For long-term residential rodent control, it’s critical to partner with professionals. Pest control pros have the education and training to identify the rodents infesting the home and deal with them accordingly. With help from the right professionals, you can achieve short-term success with efficient rodent removal and lasting control with preventive tips. For example, exclusion measures like Cat-Guard offer a permanent, chemical-free barrier to keep rodents and other pests out of protected areas.

Catseye Pest Control: Your Massachusetts Rodent Infestation Experts 

Catseye has more than four decades of experience serving homeowners throughout Massachusetts, including those living in Boston, Worcester, Swampscott, Cambridge, and Lowell. The Catseye approach focuses on prevention and year-round protection, offering a reduced need for chemical control and greater overall peace of mind.

Schedule Your Rodent Inspection Today

If you suspect you have a rodent infestation, don’t delay. Contact our pest control company for a free inspection to kickstart the removal process. Our licensed professionals will check out your entire home, inside and out, and figure out why and how rodents are getting in to help you form a plan to get rid of them for good.

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An Intro to Pest Control vs Exterminator 

You might hear the terms “pest control” and “exterminator” used interchangeably, but they are not actually the same thing. Although the two can overlap in some ways, each one primarily offers distinctly different services and approaches.

To make an informed decision for your home or business, it’s important to understand the differences between the two options. This will help you know exactly what to expect from the service you choose whether you’re seeking residential pest control or hiring an exterminator. 

What Is an Exterminator? 

Some of the earliest exterminators were the Ancient Sumerians. Way back in 2500 B.C., they used sulfur to eliminate insects. Today, exterminators still play a role in getting rid of unwanted pests.

What Does an Exterminator Do? 

As their title implies, exterminators kill pests. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the official definition describes a professional who works to kill unwanted animals or insects. 

Common Pest Extermination Methods 

Using pesticides is frequently exterminators’ go-to solution. Provided the chemicals achieve the desired result, there may be little regard for tailoring the treatment to the pest. Likewise, the materials may be stronger and applied in a broader area than strictly necessary. 

When exterminators provide their services, which often include bombing, spraying, and fumigation, humans and pets typically must leave for a number of hours to avoid exposure to various toxic chemicals. 

What Is Pest Control? 

Until the latter part of the 20th century, all pest control services were lumped into the category of “exterminators.” However, pest control ultimately evolved from exterminators to take a more comprehensive approach that focuses on preventing pests, not just killing them. The idea of pest prevention dates to 300 B.C., when the Chinese first recognized that timing their crop planting could help reduce pest infestations. 

What Does Pest Control Do? 

Pest control professionals seek to understand the how and why of pest infestations, getting to the root of the issue to achieve long-term results. They also embrace technology and eco-friendly solutions, working to protect the environment. Although pest control still involves pesticides, companies use formulas targeted for specific pests as well as options that are less toxic to people and pets. Furthermore, they employ various additional methods to eliminate pests and prevent them from returning. 

Common Pest Control Methods 

Pest control professionals typically embrace Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices, which aim to control pests using the least toxic methods possible with a heavy focus on prevention. Other methods include educating homeowners and businesses on preventative strategies like sanitation and proper food storage. Pest control services also use nonchemical methods like heat or extreme cold, biological control such as beneficial pests, and chemical control when necessary.

Key Differences Between Pest Control and Exterminator 

Exterminators typically offer one-off services, rarely with a guarantee, while pest control companies partner with homeowners and businesses, usually providing service guarantees. Some of the biggest differences between the two include variations in focus, approaches, and control methods. For example, exterminators offer a reactive, one-size-fits-all approach to pest control with a focus on killing the pests present, usually with harsh chemicals. In contrast, pest control professionals offer a customized, proactive approach designed for long-term success using chemical control as one of many options.

Key Focus

Exterminators focus on immediate removal of the insects or animals infesting the property. In contrast, pest control companies strive to eliminate infestations while also providing sustainable, long-term pest management. 

Approach

Exterminators take a reactive approach — you have a problem at-hand, and they will remedy it. Pest control professionals seek proactive strategies to stop infestations before they ever begin, using robust prevention methods. 

Use of Chemicals 

Because pest control companies take a holistic, long-term approach, they also tend to offer more environmentally friendly options. They target each treatment to the insect or animal and opt for the most effective, yet least toxic option available when using pesticides. An exterminator’s goal is to eliminate pests, and that approach often relies on chemicals only — many of which are harsh.

Long-Term Effectiveness

Exterminators offer a short-term solution to the problem but often don’t get to the root of why it happened. Pest control companies, on the other hand, partner with their clients and guide them to achieve long-term prevention and lasting results. 

Common Misconceptions about Pest Control and Exterminators

Exterminators and Pest Control Companies Are the Same 

Although they both deal with pests, the two types of companies are not interchangeable. Extermination kills the existing infestation. Pest control eliminates it and provides long-term preventative strategies for achieving lasting control.

Pest Control Doesn’t Use Any Chemicals 

Although pest control companies try to use other control strategies, including prevention, exclusion, and innovative techniques like applying steam, they also use chemical control. When using pesticides, pest control focuses on carefully choosing chemicals that will do the least harm possible to people, pets, and the environment.

Extermination Offers Complete Control Forever 

Extermination offers fast results and total elimination of pests that are present during treatment. In contrast, pest control tries to address the underlying issues causing infestations and attracting pests to achieve lasting success. 

Pest Control vs. Exterminator: Which Is Right for You? 

Now that you know the differences between pest control and extermination, let’s dive into how to choose the right service for your circumstances.

When to Call an Exterminator

If you have a severe infestation, emergency pest problem, or an instance where you need immediate pest elimination, it might be wise to call an exterminator. At that point, the goal is to eliminate the problem and regain instant control.

When to Call Pest Control

However, if you want to eliminate pest problems before they begin and develop a long-term prevention strategy, a pest control company is the optimal option. Pest control is an excellent option for eco-conscious homeowners and businesses interested in sustainable pest control solutions.

Homeowners vs. Business Considerations

Residential and commercial pest control solutions serve the differing needs of homeowners and businesses. Each has unique requirements, with many businesses subject to local, state, and federal regulations that govern their approach to pest management.

Choosing the Right Pest Control Provider 

When choosing who to work with, there is a lot to consider. Although immediate results may sometimes be necessary, you should also consider implementing an ongoing pest control strategy. 

Why Long-Term Pest Control Is the Best Solution 

Long-term control relies on a proactive approach, which involves taking precautions before an infestation begins. While reactive pest control waits until pests are present, proactive strategies reduce the risk to prevent infestations and stop pests before they can cause problems.

What to Look for in a Pest Control Company 

Think of pest control companies as long-term partners in your battle against pests. You want customer service-oriented professionals you can trust. Consider the following qualities: 

• Licensure and certifications 
• Commitment to employee training 
• IPM approach and eco-friendly control options 
• Long-term approach with a focus on prevention 
• Service guarantees with clear stipulations 
• Positive testimonials and client experience

How Catseye Pest Control Can Help

Catseye Pest Control has decades of expertise and a team of licensed, highly trained professionals that understand the high stakes for your home or business. Whether you are protecting the health of your family and the sanctity of your home or adhering to regulations and safeguarding employees, Catseye is here to help.

We are committed to providing exceptional service and long-term, proactive pest control with a focus on IPM and prevention. Our pest control solutions provide immediate and lasting relief for the ultimate peace of mind. Contact our team to schedule a free pest control inspection to begin a lasting partnership that delivers results you can count on.

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Yeah, I know, a corny little play on words from George of the Jungle, that funny old 1960s animated series by Jay Ward and Bill Scott which was later made into a full-length motion picture starring Brendon Fraser in 1997.  Well, this week let’s return to the jungles of Belize where we recently visited stingless bees, sassy assassin bugs, red rump tarantulas, headlamp beetles, and incredibly fast whip spiders. Deep in the rainforest and sometimes encroaching on humans live a pair of remarkable ants with truly amazing jaws.

A short hike into the Maya Mountains brought us into contact with a large colony of leafcutter ants.  Leafcutters have been termed a superorganism of the tropical rainforest, creatures with social structure and specialized roles that, as individuals, cooperate and contribute to the success and survival of their colony. It has been said that on planet earth only two creatures cultivate crops: humans and leafcutter ants. Night and day, members of the worker caste search for nutritious leaves on trees, vines, and shrubs. When scouts find a suitable food source, they direct other workers to the bounty by releasing trail-marking chemicals called pheromones. The amazing jaws of major workers clip small sections of leaves and flowers and carry them to the ground, where they join a rambunctious procession of nest mates. In this parade, intermediate sized workers busily transport leaf sections while smaller workers sometimes hitchhike on leaves and help defend their sisters from marauding predators and parasitic flies. Nearby, large imposing soldiers defend their sisters and the colony with powerful jaws. As leafcutters remove foliage from a tree, the parade of ants may extend for distances of more than 200 yards as workers carry leafy cargo back to a subterranean nest.

A leafcutter nest is a marvelous structure that may contain several million ants and occupy 600 square meters of forest floor. Sophisticated ventilation systems cool the bustling nest and allow carbon dioxide to escape while drawing in oxygen. Once inside the nest, leaves are delivered to other workers that take the leaf sections and clip them into ever smaller fragments. These fragments are carefully inserted into a garden of living fungus maintained by the ants. Leaves serve as a substrate for fungi, which is harvested as the source of food for the entire ant colony. The fungus garden is meticulously tended by workers. Destructive alien fungi are detected and removed. Secretions produced by the queen and workers facilitate the growth of the cultivated fungus. Fungal strands produce specialized structures called gongylidia. Gongylidia are fed to the developing larvae and distributed throughout the colony to feed workers and the queen. To support their enormous colonies, leafcutters remove vast amounts of vegetation each day. It is estimated that large colonies may remove more than 500 dry weight pounds of vegetation annually.

With a work force like this, it’s little wonder that some rainforest trees disappear overnight as leafcutter ants take foliage back to their amazing subterranean fungus gardens.

Another superorganism of the rainforest is the fierce army ant, arguably the most rapacious insect predator in the jungle. On a mountainside in the Cockscomb range of the Maya Mountains, we encountered a streaming column of army ants. This bustling brigade was only a small portion of a pillaging horde hunting food in one small corner of the forest. Single colonies of army ants contain hundreds of thousands to more than a million workers capable of capturing and eating thousands of assorted arthropods each day. The column consisted of large and small workers busily transporting food to a temporary food cache or colony site called a bivouac. In lesser numbers within and alongside the column were imposing soldiers. These grotesque giants sported huge, sickle-shaped jaws used to defend workers and colony from attack. At the raiding end of the ant column, a chaotic melee of murder and mayhem ensued as swarms of stinging and biting workers captured other arthropods, primarily insects and spiders. Other unfortunate small animals that fail to escape the approaching horde may also succumb. After subduing victims, workers dismember their prey and transport them in large and small pieces back to a food cache or bivouac to feed developing larval ants, their attendants, and the hungry queen.

The bivouac is usually in a protected location beneath a log or between the buttress roots of a large tree. It is formed by thousands of ants linked leg to leg in a protective living cover for the queen and young. However, army ants may set up bivouacs in man-made structures. I have witnessed this event firsthand on a study abroad where army ants raided a research station and established a bivouac in an outhouse. This provided quite a surprise when a sleepy student undertook a nighttime visit to the privy. The life of army ant colonies is characterized by two distinct phases. When the colony is in the nomadic phase, workers hunt by day and bring food back to the colony, but they stop carrying food to the bivouac as night approaches. Bivouacs are relocated periodically when excited workers transport food and ant larvae away from an old bivouac to a new one along one of the outward leading trails. As the old bivouac disintegrates, the queen and her entourage follow a chemical trail through the forest and establish a new bivouac at a different location. The regular relocation of the bivouac in the nomadic phase enables legions of workers to pillage untapped areas of the forest for food each day. Several times a year, the colony enters a stationary phase. During this phase, the colony hunkers down in one location for several weeks. Larvae begin to pupate and the queen lays as many as 30,000 eggs each day. During the stationary phase, raids continue but are less frequent and intense. Army ants change locations of their jungle raids regularly. Foraging in different areas ensures that new victims will be found, and also allows future prey to repopulate recently searched areas. Over the span of a few weeks, thousands of eggs hatch and hungry young larvae place enormous demands for food on the colony. By now, ants produced during the previous stationary phase have completed development and matured into new workers. With thousands of new workers to forage and the demand for food high, the colony resumes its nomadic phase and it’s time for many small insects and other animals to run for their lives or die.

In the Belizean rainforest enormous leafcutter ants use their sharp jaws to slice sections of leaves to fuel their fungus gardens back at the colony. On the rainforest floor raiding columns of fierce army ants capture small insects to feed their young. Large soldiers with sickle-shaped jaws help to dismember prey like this hapless grasshopper. Can the jaws on a leafcutter close a wound? Nope, but they surely can open one. Can the sickle-like jaws of the army ant be used to close a wound as told in folklore? Probably so. These are but two of the fascinating jaws of the jungle.

Circling back to “jaws of the jungle” brings us to my attempt to reconcile a scene from Mel Gibson’s 2006 film Apocalypto. The scene in question features a Mayan mother who sutures her child’s leg wound using ants. The YouTube clip for this scene is entitled “Apocalypto – Using army ants as sutures”, and the video pretty clearly shows leafcutter ant soldiers being applied to the child’s leg. With both leafcutters and army ants on hand in the tropical rainforest, how could I resist the chance to see which one could really close a wound? First, I applied a large leafcutter ant to my thumb. It’s sharp jaws neatly sliced my skin, opening a slightly bloody but memorable wound. On another occasion, I repeated the experiment this time with a large army ant soldier. It’s long, powerful sickle-shaped jaws pierced my finger, clamped together, and neatly compressed my skin. These jaws of the jungle left no doubt of their ability to close a wound. So, the take home for me is this: Jaws of the leafcutter ant open a wound. Jaws of the army ant close a wound. The yin and yang of jaws of the jungle.

Acknowledgements

We thank Drs. Dan Gruner and Paula Shrewsbury, the hearty crew of BSCI 339M: Tropical Biology and Mayan Culture, and our fearless guides for providing the inspiration for this episode. The wonderful book “The Ants” by Bert Hölldobler and Edward O. Wilson, “The Insect Societies” by Edward O. Wilson, and the interesting article “Army Ants: A Collective Intelligence” by Nigel Franks, were used as references for this episode.

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Last week on a nighttime adventure in the rainforest, we a met the very cool headlight beetle illuminating its journey through the rainforest. But this was not the only encounter with a spooky denizen of the dark. Resting on the trunk of a tree was a really mysterious arachnid called the whip spider, a.k.a. tailless whip scorpion. While not really a scorpion or a spider, this bizarre creature is a member of an arachnid clan known as Amblypygi. Whereas spiders and true scorpions amble about on four pairs of legs, whip spiders use just three pairs for nocturnal strolls. The fourth pair of legs, found at the front of the creature, is extraordinarily long and thin and loaded with sensory structures to detect odors and objects including mates, offspring, and prey. These so called “whips” can be three to six times the length of the body and give the whip spider its common name. Whips can move in an almost  complete circle around the creature and are very useful for detecting objects ahead, behind, above, and to the sides in a world of darkness.

A walk in the tropical rainforest at night is an awesome adventure filled with encounters with fearsome creatures. Resting on the trunk of a tree we discovered a whip spider just waiting for some hapless victim to stroll by. Super long front legs detect prey and wicked spines on the pedipalps guarantee there is no escape. A slight movement by the camera guy caused the whip spider to jet out of sight. Even slowed by 85%, the whip spider vanished almost too quickly to see.

Just in front of the whip-like legs is a pair of terrifying hinged appendages known as pedipalps. This “sit and wait” predator uses its pedipalps to capture prey in much the same fashion as a praying mantis uses its spiny forelegs to grab its victims. As a tasty morsel enters range, a rapid strike of the pedipalps ensnares the prey in comb-like spines. Usual meals include crickets, cockroaches, spiders and moths, but small lizards and even fish are known to be eaten by these clever predators. Once captured, the victim is pulverized by two grinding jaws called chelicerae. Digestive enzymes added to the pulpy mass enable the whip spider to ingest the liquefied meal.

As frightening as whip spiders appear, they are truly harmless to humans. In fact, some species have several admirable and somewhat endearing behaviors. One such behavior is a fine sense of direction. While wandering about the rainforest at night it is easy to get lost. On more than one occasion, hapless adventurers have disappeared into a ravine while searching for a trail in dense tropical vegetation. Not so the whip spider! Research has shown that some whip spiders can find their way home after being moved more than 30 feet away from their refuge, all of this without Google Maps.

For any mothers who might be reading this episode, think about the calories you burned lugging youngsters about when they wanted to be picked-up. Whip spiders lay from 10 to 90 eggs at a time. Mother whip spiders typically carry their young on their backs for several weeks after offspring hatch from eggs. In captivity, females of the Floridian whip spider, Phrynus marginemaculatus, continue to interact with their offspring for several months after the babes have departed from their mother’s back. Mothers were observed to move between small clusters of young ones. Females and offspring frequently engaged in gentle mutual stroking with their whip-like legs. How often these fascinating behaviors happen in the wild remains to be seen. The message conveyed by the mutual stroking is known only to the whip spider and her young, but on a dark night in the rainforest a gentle touch from mom could be a comforting signal, even to a whip scorpion.      

Watch as the whip spider senses the approaching danger of a giant finger and rockets out of harm’s way. At one tenth of normal speed, see how the whip-leg of the arachnid reaches back to examine the intruder’s finger before turning on the speed to escape.

 References    

Bug of the Week gives special thanks to Drs. Dan Gruner and Paula Shrewsbury, the hearty crew of BSCI 339M: Tropical Biology and Maya Culture, and the fearless guides at the Toucan Ridge Ecology and Education Center and  Cockscomb Wildlife Sanctuary who were the inspiration for this episode. Kenneth J. Chapin and Eileen A. Hebets’ treatise, “The behavioral ecology of amblypygids”, and the wonderful article “Social behavior in Amblypygids, and a reassessment of arachnid social patterns” by Linda Rayor and Lisa Anne Taylor, were used as references for this episode.

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Over the past several weeks we’ve escaped the freezing weather of the DMV and traveled to the steamy rainforests of Belize to visit busy stingless bees, fierce assassin bugs, and oversized, friendly tarantulas roaming the landscapes of the Mayans. But what could be more fun than a nighttime visit to the untamed rainforest at the Toucan Ridge Ecology and Education Center with the hope of glimpsing an ocelot or maybe even a jaguar? While looking for cats along a treelined trail, we noticed ethereal lights gliding through the dense canopy of the rainforest. These were not the more or less stationary flashes of our local fireflies engaged in the mating game. Oh no, these bioluminescent creatures had lights full on and were clearly going somewhere in a hurry. When asked about the identity of these spectral fliers, our guide declared them to be headlight beetles.  What? I’ve seen lots of beetles and other bugs stuck to headlights of cars, but headlight beetles, really?

Strange creatures can be seen on a nighttime adventure through the tropical rainforest of Belize. As we walked along a trail looking for jaguars, we were confronted by a pair of tiny headlights coming at us on the forest floor. The headlights belong to click beetle known as the headlight beetle or fire beetle. Bioluminescent organs on its thorax produce an ethereal greenish light thought to be the most brilliant in the insect world. Headlight beetles are kin to fireflies like the ones we met in previous videos. A remarkable chemical reaction in specialized cells called photocytes produces light with virtually no heat. How cool is that?

Our search for large cats continued and although we never spotted a jaguar or an ocelot, Lady Luck smiled on us when a tiny pair of greenish headlights appeared on the trail and were headed our way.  Head lamps and cell phone lights revealed a startling click beetle bearing a pair of phosphorescent “headlights” on the trailing edge of its prothorax, the first thoracic segment just behind the head. Bioluminescence of headlight beetles originates from a chemical reaction also found in its cousin the firefly, a.k.a. lightning bug, we met in previous episodes. The miracle of their eerie greenish-yellow light comes from a remarkable chemical reaction in cells lining specialized light organs found in the beetle’s thorax and abdomen. Cells called photocytes contain a chemical, luciferin, a compound that can absorb and store energy from UV light. Luciferin breaks down in the presence of oxygen with the help of an enzyme called luciferase. The breakdown product, dioxetane, is unstable and decomposes into carbon dioxide and ketones. This decomposition releases energy that is emitted as a burst of light. How cool is that! Unlike incandescent light bulbs in our homes, this process is so efficient that almost no heat accompanies the light. Flashes of lightning bugs and headlight beetles are termed cold light. The larvae of the headlight beetle, like glow-worms, the larvae of its firefly cousins here in the DMV,  also produce light.  

The eerie light we witnessed gliding through the rainforest canopy was actually light emitted from the light organ on the abdomen of the headlight beetle. These organs are exposed when the beetle opens its wings and takes flight. One species of fire beetle, Pyrophorus noctilucus, is locally known as the Cucujo. Its bioluminescent light is purported to be the brightest of its kind in the world. Historical accounts claim that indigenous people in the tropics would tie Cucujos to their big toes to help light their path on nocturnal journeys. Another story has it that “a dozen of these beetles placed in a perforated gourd sufficed as a reading lamp.” Now that’s one enlightening tale.

Acknowledgements

We thank Drs. Dan Gruner and Paula Shrewsbury, the hearty crew of BSCI 339M: Tropical Biology and Maya Culture, and our fearless guides Mark and Wilson at T.R.E.E.S. for providing the inspiration for this episode. Fascinating articles including “A new orange emitting luciferase from the Southern-Amazon Pyrophorus angustus (Coleoptera: Elateridae) click-beetle: structure and bioluminescence color relationship, evolutional and ecological considerations” by Danilo T Amaral, Gabriela Oliveira, Jaqueline R Silva, and Vadim R Viviani, “Latin American Insects and Entomology” by Charles L. Hogue, and “Bioluminescent beasties” by Kit Chapman were consulted to prepare this episode.  

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