Mosquito nets

Interesting facts about Creepy Crawlies!

Cockroaches

The world's largest cockroach is 6 inches long with a 12 inch wing span. Don't worry, it lives in South
America!
There are about 5,000 species of cockroach.
Cockroaches can go without food for a month but can only live for a week without water.
Cockroaches can swim and hold their breath for 40 minutes.

Spiders

Little Miss Muffet of the nursery rhyme really existed. She was the daughter of Dr Mouffet who believed
spiders had healing powers when eaten.
Spiders have 48 knees.
There are more than 30,000 species of spiders.
Webs get dirty and torn, so lots of spiders make a new one every day. They don't waste the old one,
though--they roll it up into a ball and eat it!
All spiders spin silk, but not all make webs. Spider silk is one of the strongest natural fibres in the world.

Ants

Ants have been living on the Earth for more than 100 million years.
There are an estimated 20,000 species of ants.
Ants can lift 20 times their own body weight.
The abdomen of the ant contains two stomachs. One stomach holds the food for itself and second
stomach is for food to be shared with other ants.
Ants do not have lungs. Oxygen enters through tiny holes all over the body and Carbon Dioxide leaves
through the same holes.

Caterpillars (Processional Pine Caterpillars)

Pine Caterpillars (Latin name thaumetopoea pityocampa) are probably one of the most unpleasant
creatures you will find in Spain, certainly in areas where pine trees grow in abundance. They are found
throughout the warmer regions of Southern Europe, the Near East and North Africa. As well as causing
much damage to pine forests, they are a major danger to animals and, to a lesser degree, human beings.

Do not touch them. Warn your children that they are not like the friendly English caterpillars. The very fine
hairs on these creatures are poisonous and most dangerous. They can be seen living in silk cocoon style
nests hanging in the pine trees to which they are most harmful, stripping them of their pine needles. When
hungry, they leave their cocoon to seek another uninfested tree on which to feed. They travel nose to tail
in a line, hence the name Processional. They are most noticeable from January to mid April and are at their
most dangerous in mid/late February. The caterpillars are often seen in the evenings, walking in procession
from tree to tree.

If they drop onto you or your pet, don't brush them off with your hands because the effect is most
unpleasant, causing great irritation, rash and pain. Dogs, cats and people can suffer from shock. The hairs
of the caterpillars are still virulent even when the creatures are dead. Do not hit them with sticks because
hairs flying in the air are just as dangerous. Burn them, but be careful of floating hairs. If the caterpillars
are in the tree cocoon state, first spray the nest with hair spray (to seal down the hairs), cover the
cocoon and the affected part of the branch with a plastic bag, cut down the branch, place it on clear
ground and burn it.

If the caterpillars are on the ground marching, it is better first to spray them with lighter fuel and then set
them alight. This reduces the risk of flying hairs.
Take care to only do this where you cannot inadvertently start a forest fire because during the summer
months the undergrowth and trees are very dry.

If you live near pine trees, it is recommended that you keep Anti Histamine tablets handy as an early
treatment. In particular, avoid ingesting the hairs. Dogs are most at risk by sniffing the ground where the
caterpillars have marched.

Take particular care with your eyes. If affected the result is serious, causing pain and swelling similar to a
bad case of conjunctivitis.

Treatment: If a person or animal shows signs of shock, get them to a doctor, hospital or vet immediately.

If you have children and are considering buying property, take the above details into consideration.

Golfing. When these caterpillars march across golf courses, play ceases immediately because it is too
hazardous to try to clear them away.

Sand Flies (Leishmaniasis)

Your Pet Dog needs protection, otherwise it can be in serious danger

Dogs that regularly travel abroad may be exposed to Leishmaniasis (also known as Kala-Azar) which is
carried from dog-to-dog by a bite from a Sand Fly.

The name 'Sand Fly' is misleading as the Sand Fly's natural habitat is in wooded and garden areas.

Dogs can be bitten up to 100 times an hour during the sand fly season which begins in May and ends in
October. August is the worst month. The flies are mainly active between dusk and dawn. Early morning, 2
to 4am, is the worst period. They are not high flyers so your dog is better off in an upper room or flat at
night. Fitting a preventative collar will protect your pet from approximately 95% of sand flies bites for the
whole season. Dogs left out in the garden as security guards are particularly at risk.

It is thought that there may be very rare suspected cases of the disease being passed to humans; this is
currently being research by the World Health Authority.

Prevention: The best preventative treatment up to now is , "INTERVET" invented a year ago and based on
mosquito repellents It is impregnated into a very effective collar called "SCALIBOR"

Please note, this collar lasts for one season only and needs replacing each May. Do not let children play
with the collar, we have also found the smell somewhat unpleasant.

See your Vet about a collar before you travel to Spain. Mosquito repellents, sprays and some mosquito
nets etc help to keep them out of the house. These flies are very tiny.

Things that the owner can do to prevent are:

Keep the dog inside the house when the sun starts to set, and keep toilet breaks short before bedtime.
Don't give night walks where water runs
Use of mosquito nets to keep flies out of the house.
There have been very few cases of Leishmaniasis "Kala-Azar" in Spain. When they occur they can be fatal
if not treated.

Scorpions
Scorpions are found mainly in the dry country areas and on open foreshores. I would suggest that when
camping in these areas, you check your footwear each morning before inserting your foot. I found it paid
off many years ago when I was stationed in Africa.

The Mediterranean Scorpion (Buthus Occitanus - Escorpi�n Amarillo) is not as dangerous as the North
African type but the sting is extremely painful.
As they are quite numerous, wearing boots covering the ankles is a good idea in dry rocky areas.

The European Black Scorpion is present in the northern regions of Spain. This scorpion's sting is
unpleasant but soon wears off.

Crickets

Crickets are known for their chirp (which only male crickets can do; male wings have ridges or "teeth" that
act like a "comb and file" instrument). The left forewing has a thick rib (a modified vein) which bears 50 to
300 ridges. The chirp is generated by raising their left forewing to a 45 degree angle and rubbing it against
the upper hind edge of the right forewing, which has a thick scraper (Berenbaum 1995). This sound
producing action is called "stridulation" and the song is species-specific. Hence, crickets do not rub their
hind legs together as is commonly believed.

There are two types of cricket songs: a calling song and a courting song. The calling song attracts
females and repels other males, and is fairly loud. The courting song is used when a female cricket is near,
and is a very quiet song.

Crickets chirp at different rates depending on their species and the temperature of their environment.
Most species chirp at higher rates the higher the temperature is (approx. 60 chirps a minute at 13�C in
one common species; each species has its own rate). The relationship between temperature and the rate
of chirping is known as Dolbear's Law. In fact, according to this law, it is possible to calculate the
temperature in Fahrenheit by adding 40 to the number of chirps produced in 15 seconds by the snowy tree
cricket common in the United States.[1]

To hear the mating call of other crickets, a cricket has ears located on its knees, just below the joint of
the front legs.

Cicadas

A cicada is an insect of the order Hemiptera, suborder Auchenorrhyncha, in the superfamily Cicadoidea,
with large eyes wide apart on the head and usually transparent, well-veined wings. There are about 2,500
species of cicada around the globe, and many remain unclassified. Cicadas live in temperate to tropical
climates where they are among the most widely recognized of all insects, mainly due to their large size
and remarkable acoustic talents. Cicadas are sometimes colloquially called "locusts",[1] although they are
unrelated to true locusts, which are a kind of grasshopper. They are also known as "jar flies". Cicadas are
related to leafhoppers and spittlebugs. In parts of the southern Appalachian Mountains in the United
States they are known as "dry flies" because of the dry shell they leave behind.

Cicadas do not bite or sting, are benign to humans, and are not considered a pest. Many people around
the world regularly eat cicadas: the female is prized as it is meatier. Cicadas have been (or are still) eaten
in Ancient Greece, China, Malaysia, Burma, Latin America and the Congo. Cicadas are employed in the
traditional medicines of China[citation needed]

The name is a direct derivation of the Latin cicada. (In classical Greek it was called a tettix, and in modern
Greek tzitzikas.)

In 2004, "cicada" ranked 6th in Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year.