Fossilized Spider, 50 Million Years Old, Clear As Life

No, it isn't an insect, but who is counting legs anyway?

Actually, the folks who just found this fossil are - and a whole lot more. Found in some French amber, this fossil spider could be seen with the eye, but details through the golden blurry sap were more than a little hard to make out. Now through the use of some fancy 3D X-ray technologies, they were able to virtually dissect it, letting all its details shine through!

The article:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071029083230.htm

Malaria Protection (circa 1943)

funny animation that i watched as a kid.

initiation ceremony

monte

Ladybird beetles to the rescue!

Along the lines of our nice tour of the Art Institute gardens by Tom Wolf and our getting schooled on the control of potential pest insects, I saw this piece in the Red Eye - who at that paper is so into the bugs? It is a pleasant surprise....

Click on the image of the article on the left to see the readably larger version.

-andy

Dragonfly or Insect Spy? Scientists at Work on Robobugs

A mechanical fly with a wingspan of less than an inch and that weighs less than a gram, being developed by the Harvard Microrobotics Lab.
(sorry, you're gonna have to copy and paste the link)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/08/AR2007100801434.html?nav=hcmodule
-Erin

MANTIS MOMMY

my mantis layed her eggs!!

she is half the size and has twice the energy. the egg sac is about an inch and a half/two inches big and looks like the foamy yellow stuff you use to seal doorways.

if anyone has any pointers on how to dislodge the egg sac, they would be welcome.

gracen

But were they "hemipterans?"

All sorts of things have been used in the illegal drug trade. Add another to the list!
An interesting tidbit from this week's "Red Eye" - purveyor of fine world news.

I suggest that maybe they should have tried hollowed out cocoons?

-AY

Insects Disrupt Yankees-Indians Baseball Game

funny story:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-yankees-indiansbugs&prov=ap&type=lgns




-Erin

Yeah, I Meant to Get Stung (VIDEO)

Sorry... I'm having issues with uploading the video.

Here's the URL:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=p245IE6_qf8

-Jenny

Yeah, I Meant to Get Stung.

I had mentioned briefly in class about “Bee Sting Therapy” being used to treat arthritis, as well as a few other ailments… so, here is that National Geographic Podcast about it. I recommend subscribing highly. It not only contains a slew of podcasts on insects (as you may have noticed from Erin’s post), but some excellent zoological, anthropological, ritual, and food-related videos!

WOOT!

Here’s a link to National Geographic's podcast page on YouTube... However, I simply download them from iTunes, under National Geographic video shorts.

http://youtube.com/user/NationalGeographic

-Jenny

Insect Candy, Maggot Medicine and Hornets From Hell

I kind of went youtube crazy...

Insect Candy:


Maggot Medicine: (viewer discretion advised!)


Hornets From Hell:


-Erin