Cold Weather Not Extreme Enough To Kill Off Pesky Insects
By Robin Culverwell
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - There have been reports that all this cold weather might kill off some of the more bothersome residents of our area: insects. But one local expert says that's not the case.
The extreme cold we've experienced this winter might be unusual, but at one point and time, it wasn't so rare. As a result, insects we share the planet with have adapted to it.
Jason Weintraub is the Entomology Collections Manager at the Academy of Natural Sciences. He says the winter weather will kill some bugs, however:
"Ones that are either at the edge of their range in terms of temperature tolerance, or species that are either tropical or subtropical that were inadvertently introduced at a warm time of year."
Weintraub says the brown marmorated stink bug and the devastating emerald ash borer survive colder climates than ours and have evolved, so they'll be back come spring.