Infestation Of Exterminators Hits Troy This Weekend

The Detroit Free Press can’t get enough of the exterminators’ convention headed to Troy March 8-9. They describe a “swarm of exterminators from across the country” descending on the Detroit Marriott Troy. Any time you combine exterminators with a large hotel, the jokes (or jokey news articles) write themselves. But this conference is serious business for Rose Pest Solutions, America’s longest-serving exterminators, who host the annual event.

The conference isn’t all about how to kill bugs dead. Mark (Shep) Sheperdigian, Rose’s vice president of technical services, told the Free Press he finds insects genuinely fascinating.

"With insects, there are millions of them and there can be rare ones in your backyard and they're all different," Sheperdigian said. "If ... you see them under a lens, just the design, the art of insects is breathtaking."

University of Wyoming and writer Jeffrey Lockwood, whose nonfiction and fiction both deal with the insect world, will speak at the conference. Lockwood, author of "The Infested Mind: Why Humans Fear, Loathe, and Love Insects," joins an expert panel at this truly intriguing event.

For full coverage of this story, visit the Detroit Free Press.

Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images.