Pest Control Podcast - The Arthropodcast Show

Pest Control Shouldn't Be This Funny

#8 Mosquitoes, Genetics, and a Big A$$ Spider

May 3, 2015 by Steve Jackson
Play

bigspider-e1430614895249-300x300On episode 8 of the Arthropodcast, I review a movie and talk about a recent mosquito experiment by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.  If you have question, comments, suggestion, or would like to be featured on the Arthropodcast, send me a message on Arthropodalley.com or shoot me a tweet on Twitter – @stevejacksonus.

Transcript:

Hello and welcome to your pest info on the go, Arthropodcast episode 8. I am your over-caffeinated, slightly dehydrated host Steve Jackson.

April was a good month for me. The business did well, this podcast grew in number of listeners and downloads.

I don’t know about where you’re from, but it’s been a fairly mild Spring. I live in Georgia, and usually the beginning of May we’re dealing with 90 degree temperatures. This 70 degree stuff is very welcome as far as I’m concerned.

But to kick off this episode, I wanted to play a clip for you. Tell me if you can relate to this:

(Clip from Big A$$ Spider)

And from there it goes to a hospital scene.

It you didn’t recognize the clip I played for you, it’s from a “B” movie called “Big Ass Spider”. You can probably guess by the title, it’s about mutant arachnid that grows into a humongous monster Spider that threatens to take over a city and quite possibly the world.

You heard the main character in that audio clip. He’s an exterminator that chases this spider throughout the movie until a final showdown at the end.

All things considered, it wasn’t too bad of a movie, looked pretty well produced especially considering it’s budget. You could argue the plot was predictable, but the same could be said for 95% of all films.

Is it family friendly? I don’t know, it’s PG-13 but on the tamer end, the language isn’t nearly as bad as Transformers for example. But spiders do bring out different emotions in different people. It’s a judgement call. But if you find yourself with some time to kill, it’s currently streaming on Netflix.

Let’s talk about something informative. I want to thank Brian Reynolds of Reynolds Pest Management for bringing this to my attention.

Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine published a study in the Public Library of Science, this past week. They found evidence that the reason mosquitoes are attracted to some people more than others is a genetic component.

There was an earlier experiment that suggested mosquitoes are attracted by body odor, so they wanted to drill down to see if there was more to the story.

So the researchers got 37 sets of twins. 18 pairs of identical twins (who would share the same genes), and 19 sets of “fraternal” female twins (twins that share only 50 percent of their genes).

So they made these Y-shaped tubes, and one one side, you had a set of twins – each with one hand stuck in the tube. And on the other end, they released some hungry Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Those are the nasty ones that known to carry diseases.

So the mosquitoes would travel from their side of the tube until they came into a fork in the road and they’d have to decide which way to go. And whichever way they chose, the researchers would keep a tally.

What they found was with the identical twins, the split was about 50/50. The mosquitoes were attracted equally. There was no real preference.

But with the fraternal twins, mosquitoes showed a marked preference for one over the other. So that seems to indicate the difference in genes impacts the level of attractiveness.

I always assumed it had something to do with lotions, perfumes, soaps, deodorant, diet perhaps. This study suggests otherwise.

Thanks for listening, If you have question, comments, suggestion, or would like to be featured on the Arthropodcast, send me a message on Arthropodalley.com or shoot me a tweet on Twitter, that’s @stevejacksonus.

Take care y’all!

If you like this post, please share it along:

This Month’s Posts

Ep #165

Ep #165

Bryan and Scott talk about the crazy snake issue that Scott ran into.  It’s a fun story about the anaconda that almost killed Scott.  He is totally scared of snakes.  Listen and enjoy his pain!

EP #164

EP #164

Bryan and Scott talk about how awesome Jerry Schappert is and how his vision for Pest Cemetery Group is changing the world of pest control. Scott tries to be hip with words like yeet and legit. Check out this amazing episode you will not be disappointed. 

EP #163

EP #163

Bryan tells us about a pump issue he has been having. Morgan Traylor from Target Speciality Products saves the day. Scott shares a story about miscommunications with customers. The guys talk about service issues with bait stations…the good, bad, and ugly.

EP #162

EP #162

Scott talks about the crazy week he had with the ladies in his office. Bryan talks about the not so fun service call in the house that was 475 degrees. He lost money and spent 2 hours there. The guys talk about is it right to bash your competition. 

Previous Post


#7 Urban Coyotes and What Smokers and Bees Have In Common

Next Post


#9 The Change of Plans That Worked Out Well

Related Posts

  • The Science of People – Vanessa Van Edwards
  • Paul Giannamore – Mergers and Acquisitions
  • #108 Mosquito Control Revisited and Unintended Consequences of Irma
  • #109 Brown Widows vs Black Widows

Business Essentials

Paul Giannamore – Mergers and Acquisitions

The Door to Door Millionaire – Lenny Gray

Hire and Retain Good People – Brad Bartlett

The Science of People – Vanessa Van Edwards

Inbound Marketing with Andrew Larson

Pest Control Marketing with Hal Coleman

#73 Tips from Daniel S Gordon, CPA

Recent Posts

EP #166

EP#161

EP #160

EP #159

EP #158

EP #157

EP #156

EP #155

Latest Tweets

RT @Coalmarch Need a dose of #mondaymotivation? On the latest episode of @arthropodcasts, Donnie Shelton talks teambuilding, why technician-owners often fail, and why he's all about systems. --> bit.ly/2EYNEST pic.twitter.com/lhuG…

About 2 years ago from Arthropodcast Show's Twitter via Twitter for iPhone

@stevejacksonus @JodyBugsMeUNL I see why they call it traumatic

About 2 years ago from Arthropodcast Show's Twitter via Twitter for iPhone

#WebsterWednesday and #SEO arthropodcast.com/ww…

About 2 years ago from Arthropodcast Show's Twitter via Twitter for iPhone

RT @LMDiepenbrock @DrImmySmith YESSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! @JodyBugsMeUNL +@JLarson_UNL on @arthropodcasts = hilarity.. don't try to operate gym equipment while listening.. I may be speaking from personal experience ;)

About 2 years ago from Arthropodcast Show's Twitter via Twitter for iPhone

RT @Coalmarch Did you miss hearing Maria at GIE? You're in luck! Check her out on episode WW22 of the @arthropodcasts ! ow.ly/Y9R630g662p pic.twitter.com/gyt0…

About 2 years ago from Arthropodcast Show's Twitter via Twitter for iPhone

Follow @arthropodcasts

Facebook

View on Facebook

Unable to display Facebook posts.
Show error

Error: Error validating application. Application has been deleted.
Type: OAuthException
Code: 190
Please refer to our Error Message Reference.

Recent Posts

  • EP #166
  • Ep #165
  • EP #164
  • EP #163
  • EP #162
  • EP#161
  • EP #160
  • EP #159

Copyright © 2019 · Playcast Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in