As the calendar flips to December, the country reflects on the defining trends from the past year. Social media buzzes about the newly announced Word of the Year, Color of the Year and, of course, the all-important Pest of the Year. The title comes as part of the second annual Terminix Entomologists’ Almanac, a look back at the biggest pest trends of the last year determined by social media chatter and internet queries.
As the calendar flips to December, the country reflects on the defining trends from the past year. Social media buzzes about the newly announced Word of the Year, Color of the Year and, of course, the all-important Pest of the Year. The title comes as part of the second annual Terminix Entomologists’ Almanac, a look back at the biggest pest trends of the last year determined by social media chatter and internet queries.
For the second year running, bed bugs clinched the crown as Pest of the Year. Americans searched for bed bugs more than 6.7 million times this year, more than any other pest. It’s no wonder why Americans are so curious about these pests. Terminix has seen a steady increase in bed bug infestations since the 1990s, and they are notoriously difficult to remove without professional help.
- Bed Bug
- Opossum
- Scorpion
- Spider
- Hornet
- Mosquito
- Silverfish
- Squirrel
- Centipede
- Cockroach
18 Pest-iest States of 2018
The Entomologists’ Almanac also features the top 18 pest-iest states of 2018. Based on search data per capita, the District of Columbia came out on top, followed by North Carolina and Massachusetts. It wasn’t just the East Coast on the list, as states from across the country took to the web to learn more.
- District of Columbia
- North Carolina
- Massachusetts
- Ohio
- Washington
- New Hampshire
- Rhode Island
- Oregon
- New York
- Indiana
- Michigan
- Pennsylvania
- Virginia
- New Jersey
- Illinois
- Tennessee
- Delaware
- Kansas
Top Pests by State
Every state’s Twitterverse had its own per capita pest post trends, as well. While Hawaiians’ Twitter feeds were crawling with the most cockroaches, Florida scurried away with the title for most mouse tweets.
- Rat - District of Columbia
- Mouse - Florida
- Squirrel - Alaska
- Ant - California
- Scorpion - Nevada
- Mosquito - Texas
- Cockroach - Hawaii
- Wasp - Arizona
- Raccoon - Minnesota
- Spider - New York
Across the country, Twitter users tweeted more than 21 million times about the most viral pest of them all. From your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man to less-friendly spiders in the bathroom sink, these eight-legged arachnids won the title as the most viral pest of 2018, followed by rats and mice.
- Spider (21,500,000 Posts)
- Rat (12,000,000 Posts)
- Mouse (11,700,000 Posts)
- Squirrel (7,330,000 Posts)
- Ant (7,310,000 Posts)
- Scorpion (5,550,000 Posts)
- Mosquito (4,960,000 Posts)
- Cockroach (4,420,000 Posts)
- Wasp (3,640,000 Posts)
- Raccoon (2,760,000 Posts)
With the 2018 release of Ant-Man and the Wasp, Drake’s Scorpion album and a new Spider-Man movie, it’s no surprise these pests ranked high on the list for social chatter. Even a skyscraper-scaling raccoon helped the animal climb into the top 10.
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Terminix determined social statistics using social listening software to determine the total number of posts on Twitter that include reference to one or more of 112 pests and variations of those terms on a per capita basis.
