Paterson’s Vibrant Past and Fabulous Food

Ferocious Females, Food Fiends, and Decapitating Foes

Like other places in the Garden States, this city is a bit of a pest utopia, as lush landscape and varied infrastructure invite critters and creatures of all kinds.

Female black widows are large and shiny, with a prototypical red hourglass. There are many theories about why they have an hourglass marking: it could be to warn predators (i.e., birds) that they’re poisonous, for species recognition, or because they’re Days of Our Lives fans. Male black widows are much tinier and unlikely to bite people; while they do occasionally become dinner after a romantic night in the web, this isn’t a hard-and-fast circle-of-life rule. Many males live to fight another day.

Pharaoh ants serve multiple queens rather than pledging allegiance to just one. This can make it tricky to take care of infestations on your own, as the colony splits into new colonies when it senses danger. This species of ants is especially small and tiny enough to fit through a crack thinner than the width of a credit card. They’re actually highly attracted to hospitals because of their preference for warm, climate-controlled environments and discarded cafeteria food.

Hornets are the largest type of wasp and are known for their horrific hunting ways; they can kill prey in mid-air, often decapitating honeybees and houseflies (they’ll even kill butterflies, although they’re not their go-to meal). While hornets don’t hunt people, they do sting us; they can do so multiple times, as they have smooth stingers that stay in place even amid a stinging spree.

Springtails are arthropods rather than insects; they have many distant relatives, including spiders, ants, and shrimp. Their name is derived from the forked appendage located under their abdomens (called a furcula). This spring-like body part catapults them into the air, helping them get around since they cannot fly. Strong survivors, they’re abundant all over the globe, even in Antarctica. 

Rats are context-dependent critters; in labs, they play vital roles in medical research.
In cages, they make fun and intelligent pets, and in Paterson homes, they chew through cables, cords, and walls, while leaving feces and urine on surfaces. Their strong athleticism and fear of new things make them difficult to catch with traps, and their prolific reproduction (and lack of sex education) can easily turn a few rats into a rodent roundup.