Strongest Insects That Should Be Feared, Respected, Then Exterminated
For anyone who’s experienced the misfortune of a household pest infestation, it’ll feel like a terrifying, infinitely growing army of insects, taking over the home. Suddenly there’s a war on your hands and it’s important to assemble a strong army behind you to succeed against the pests.
We haven’t yet gotten around to reading the Art of War. However, Wikepedia told us that Sun Tzu believed strongly in respecting your enemy. You must acquire an appreciation for the capabilities of your opposition so you can understand them.
The strongest insects may sound a bit like an oxymoron, but it’s true. For their size, the below insects pack a serious punch, enough to send many running away in fear.
To Respect Your Enemy Is To Know Their Strength
The feats of strength presented below, will sufficiently blow your mind. And after you’ve recovered from your mind being blown, you will garner a new respect for pests before your inevitable triumph.
Strongest Insect #1: Hail The Almighty Horned Dung Beetle
The horned dung beetle, known as the Onthophagus Taurus (say that three times fast) has been scientifically proven to be the world’s strongest insect, lifting 1,141 times its body weight. Holy dung!
In layman’s terms, to match that kind of pound-for-pound prowess, a 150-pound human would need to lift six full double-decker busses. Or, in even more layman’s terms, a 150-pound human would have to lift 1,141 other 150-pound humans at once.
What can we attribute to that kind of strength? Maybe the raw anger caused by being named after bodily waste. That’s not scientifically proven, but we’ll call it an educated guess.
Needless to say, you mess with this dung beetle and you’ll get the horns.
The horned dung beetle can be found in Australia, Europe, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Transcaucasia, Asia Minor, Central Asia, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and the United States (Texas).
Strongest Insect #2: Is It A Bird? Is It A Plane? It’s A Flea!
Let’s get this out of the way. Fleas have a bad rap. They are derided as symbols of infestation, uncleanliness, and irritation. When someone is describing an impressive specimen, capable of Herculean feats of strength, fleas are not generally used for favourable comparisons or analogies.
But why not? These powerful pests have a spring-like structure in their bodies, allowing them to jump 200 times their own body length. Imagine a human, effortlessly jumping the length of five jumbo jets (where do they find these stats?).
Before casting fleas off as simple exterminator fodder, understand that these household pests maybe can’t walk all over you, but they can certainly jump right over you.
There are around 2,000 species and subspecies of fleas. Many of them have been carried around the world by the animal they feed on, such as rat fleas or mouse fleas. Fleas are actually to blame for the bubonic plague, spreading the Black Death around Europe and causing an approximate 25 million deaths between 1347 and 1351.
Strongest Insect #3: Built Beetle Tough
We know, we know: two beetles on the list seems like overkill but hear us out. The ironclad beetle (also known as a Zopherus) is really, really hard.
If we’re talking Art of War, these are the types of pests you would want to bring to war. It takes the power of an electric drill to pierce the ironclad beetle’s exoskeleton.
You can stomp on them, smash them, and do the freaking hokey pokey on them, but they’ll still be alive. Not that you’d know it, because these little buggers play dead as a survival tactic.
To be more specific, the ironclad beetle can survive a force of thirty-nine thousand times its own body weight.
But maybe they’d crack under military interrogation?
You can find these diabolical beetles throughout the southwest United States. They live under rocks and inside tree bark.
Strongest Insect #4: The Little Ant That Could
While our natural inclination is to get rid of ants, they’re notorious for their hard work, grit, and determination. So, while they aren’t necessarily near the top of the strength list, it was essential to us that they be given an honourable mention.
The leafcutter ant, native to South and Central Mexico, can carry 50 times its body weight in its jaw. Imagine your car broke down, and the only way to get it home was by chomping down on the hood and travelling 10 miles with your Mazda in your mouth.
Listen, we know that the burrito you took down last night at Burrito Boyz suggests you could give the leafcutter a run for its money, but let’s give credit where credit is due!
Such jaw strength seems impossible to fathom. However, when you need to go out of your way to impress a demanding, pushy ant queen, it’s amazing what you’d be willing to put yourself through.
This kind of strength means it’s time to give insects a little bit more respect.
Terminix Canada Is Tough Enough To Tackle Even The Strongest Insects
While the aforementioned insects are incredibly strong and powerful, they are still pests that can wreak havoc on our lives should they enter our fortresses.
They remain enemies who must be defeated when that happens. If you need to get rid of ants, fleas, or any other household pests, no matter how strong, Terminix Canada offers the best pest control services throughout the country. To find a local pest exterminator to go to war for you, click here.