New York City appears to be making real progress in its long-running battle with rats. That's good news. Bloomberg recently reported that rat sightings reported through NYC's 311 system fell approximately 22% during the first seven months of 2026 compared with the same period last year. The decline coincides with New York City's continuing effort
New York City's 2026 Legionnaires' disease outbreak has put cooling towers and rooftop mechanical systems back in the spotlight. It has been a serious public-health event. The outbreak began on Manhattan's Upper East Side in early July. The NYC Health Department ultimately ordered 76 buildings to clean and disinfect cooling towers after positive initial PCR
Celebrating 60 Years of Sustainable Solutions Today is Earth Day. Each spring, Nature reawakens with the return of birdsong, the unfurling of green leaves, the hum of life waking up again. On Earth Day 2025, we honor our shared environment —and recommit to protecting it . Because the planet doesn’t just need admiration. It needs
There's are some incredible articles in The New York Times, Newsweek and other media outlets about Praying Mantises and how they hunt birds (yes, birds) and larger prey than their insect cousins. Praying mantises are carnivorous insects with powerful raptorial front legs that usually depend on arthropods such as insects or spiders as their primary
The Yamato cockroach (Periplaneta japonica), a species indigenous to Japan, China and southeast Russia, is an insect that lives outdoors and survives in cool-temperate regions. When this Japanese roach was revealed to be living and thriving in an outdoor public garden in New York City in the first documented report of this cockroach species establishing
Invasive species are insects are establishing new colonies in the US and other countries. Once present, the invasive insects establish themselves, and can displace other species of insects, affect the environment, harm human health, and cause unexpected troubles for residents. USA Today wrote about how crazy ants are displacing fire ants and affecting ecosystems in some
Well known children’s book author David Shannon just published a new book about lice called “Bugs In My Hair!” David Shannon’s Book “Bugs In My Hair!” His publisher described the book as a humorous take on battling head lice. This book is guaranteed to make you laugh, and itch! From the opening picture of a
We’re overdue for a little more pest control humor after a lot of more serious topics (and a few Friday Music Videos). Here goes: A woman was having a passionate affair with an inspector from a pest-control company. One afternoon they were carrying on in the bedroom together, when her husband arrived home unexpectedly. “Quick,”
We haven’t had any Monty Python in this blog, so here goes….. Enjoy the clever but somewhat bizarre song “Eric the Half-a-Bee” from 1972′s “Monty Python’s Previous Record” album. (Given the other posts this week referencing China did you think we would include the comedy team’s later song I Like Chinese?)
We’re following up on our last blog post on insect problems in China…. Here’s another pest problem in China that has been seen in other countries: bed bugs that love public transportation. Where else has this happened? New York’s commuter trains; NYC subways (and subway benches); Detroit city buses; and Amtrak passenger cars. Bed bugs have also been
