"I'm Worried About America's Nuts"

A clever and super creepy double entendre PSA about invasive insects and the need to be careful about out firewood habits in terms of invasive insects and tree diseases from the folks at dontmovefirewood.org

Just how far can we liken the spread a tree pests to that of human STDs?  You be the judge....

AY

24 new Mummy-Making Wasps in Ecuador

"Some Ecuadorian tribes were famous for making mummified shrunken heads from the remains of their conquered foes. Field work in the cloud forests of Ecuador by Professor Scott Shaw, University of Wyoming, Laramie, and colleagues, has resulted in the discovery of 24 new species of Aleiodes wasps that mummify caterpillars. The research by Eduardo Shimbori, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Brazil, and Scott Shaw, was recently published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

Among the 24 new insect species described by Shimbori and Shaw, several were named after famous people including the comedians and television hosts Jimmy Fallon, John Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Ellen DeGeneres, as well as the Ecuadorian artist Eduardo Kingman, American poet Robert Frost, and Colombian singer and musician, Shakira."

Read more at http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1113143199/new-species-of-mummy-making-wasps-in-ecuador-051014/#AK5VGF0LBShfcwp4.99


I found this interesting because of the rate at which people can discover and classify new insects!

Allana Williams

Ants' protection in a Flood

"In a Flood, Ants Really Come Together", they can link their bodies together to create buoyant rafts to protect the queen and her brood. It's amazing to see how flexible they are when they bond together! "Worker ants are dispersed throughout the raft and form a dome atop the base and around the queen. This position allows them to recover quickly once the colony emerges from the flood so they can aid the queen and the brood."
Check out the video: http://nyti.ms/1cOGI7l




News article: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/25/science/in-a-flood-ants-really-come-together.html

---Kelly Feng

Artificial Pollination?

Robotic Bees

-Amy

FLY LARVAE FOR DINNER

Icelandic designer Búi Bjarmar Aðalsteinsson has built a prototype of a "Fly Factory", a self-contained insect farm that could be installed in a greenhouse or commercial kitchen.  When its on the market it could potentially make it even more possible for people to substitute meat with insects and reap the environmental benefits.  Check out the article - THIS INSECT FARM GROWS LARVAE FOR YOUR DINNER.   ~Emma Sims

Bee Collaboration

 Gallery Website
Richard Orjis
Tiffany Singh

Aganetha Dyck

Found some artists who like to work in collaboration with some bees that I thought were wonderful. The first piece, "We Are But Dust & Shadow" was about the pleasure of making which I found to be quite interesting. 

-Ryan B

Reason for Honey Bee Population Decrease

I stumbled upon this petition claiming that the decrease in the population of honey bees is due to a a pesticide called "neonics" that is sold by Home Deopot and Lowe's.

News article:http://www.cnbc.com/id/101415329
Petition:http://action.sumofus.org/a/home-depot-lowes-bees-neonicotinoids/8/3/?sub=fb

-Ryan B.

Cockroach Hall of Fame

Cockroach Hall of Fame , Plano, TX @ The Pest Shop
by Michael Cockroach Dundee Bohdan

Ross Peroach and more...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14451175@N03/1967960800/

 

 -Liana

Seeds and Ants United

Co-evolution! Many plants, such as violets, wild ginger, trillium, bloodroot, trout lilly (all out and about on my last walk in the forest preserve), use ants to disperse and bury their seeds by producing nutrient rich appendages on their seeds specifically for their consumption! ^o^ Awesome.

https://www.facebook.com/InDefenseOfPlants
http://ecology.science.unideb.hu/ConsEcolGroup/Pdf/Lengyel%20et%20al%202010%20(MyrmecochoryReview).pdf

-Liana