{"id":1368,"date":"2014-11-04T12:40:28","date_gmt":"2014-11-04T12:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ipmpestcontrol.co.uk\/?p=1368"},"modified":"2017-04-11T16:29:16","modified_gmt":"2017-04-11T16:29:16","slug":"get-running-shoes-ready","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ipmpestcontrol.co.uk\/?p=1368","title":{"rendered":"Get Your Running Shoes Ready"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who would win in a race between an American cockroach and an Australian tiger beetle?<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the most disconcerting abilities of any insect (for those who shiver at the thought of their presence!), is their ability to move so quickly.<\/p>\n

For any arachnophobics out there, they understand that it only takes a blink of the eye for the spider that has transfixed their gaze to seemingly disappear into thin air and many other insects seem to have the ability to do likewise.<\/p>\n

Which is the Fastest Insect??<\/h2>\n

The cheetah is famously the fastest land animal on the planet, running at up to 120 kilometres an hour (75 miles per hour). Its extreme speed means it achieves a kill on around half of its hunts.<\/p>\n

That’s impressive, but you surely knew it already, because cheetahs are so over-exposed. The British comedian Noel Fielding once\u00a0complained in a song<\/a>\u00a0that the big “showoff animals”\u00a0tend to get all the attention<\/a>, and the cheetah’s sprinting skills are a pretty clear case. So Fielding would no doubt approve of Thomas Merritt,\u00a0who in 1999 set out to identify the fastest running insect<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To read the full story relating to Mr Merritt\u2019s findings, please check out the BBC article below.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/earth\/story\/20141021-the-fastest-insect-in-the-world<\/a><\/p>\n

Amazing Footage<\/h2>\n

The video below shows some of the world\u2019s fastest insects in a slowed down format (possibly not for the squeamish!)<\/p>\n