The Insect World: November 2014

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Springtails As Parasite on Human Skin??

http://www.headlice.org/news/2005/august/tiny_bugs_wreak_havoc.htm

Apparently springtails infest human hair and skin! There was some debate about this in the scientific community, but other research proves it to be a thing that happens.

-Tessa Elbettar

Friday, November 21, 2014

Steampunk Insect Brooches and Sculpture!

I was just surfing around "Etsy" and found this cute steampunk insect brooches and sculpture. The creator uses antique clock and watch parts, lamps, and other machinery parts to make these brooches and sculpture. Most of them costs about $20. Anyone interested can find these in the following link!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/spankyspanglerdesign?ref=shopsection_shophome_leftnav

YJK

- Fly, Diptera

- Fly, Diptera (?)

- Wasp, Hymenoptera

- Dragonfly, Odonata

- Grasshopper, Orthoptera

(Bonus) Spider!

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Why Eating Bugs Is The Future

I stumbled upon this video while watching some Buzzfeed videos, i thought it was very interesting how the people taste testing all of the bugs actually liked the taste and were able to get past the idea of it being a bug. Is Entomophogy the future?
Victoria Nelson

Why Eating Bugs Is The Future

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Wooly Aphid "Fairy Fly"

This beautiful insect has a skirt-like appearance on its abdomen, made up of waxy filaments, that serve different functions.

FAIRIEEEES!!!!

Click here.

- Liz Chipman

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Lady the Mantis

This was lady! When I captured her, she was pregnant. I wanted her to let her have her babies, so I got a container for her, some plants and crickets. This was her in her container, with her eggs, and then just walking around on the floor.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Researchers Find Gene that Makes Mosquitoes Prefer Humans over Animals

I thought this was a very ground breaking discovery in mosquitoes. It's a genetic adaptation that benefits the mosquito but negatively impacts humans. Will this new form of mosquito cause yellow fever to escalate excessively? Will the other form of mosquito that only bites forest animals also begin to exclusively chose human blood? Are insects becoming smarter faster than human technology is advancing? -Victoria Nelson http://entomologytoday.org/2014/11/13/researchers-find-gene-that-makes-mosquitoes-prefer-humans-over-animals/

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

"The Astonishing Weaponry of Dung Beetles"-New York Times Article ( Highlights and key points) By Claire Wetterer

Last week I was able to read an article on the New York Times Website called "The Astonishing Weaponry of Dung Beetles", written by Douglas Emlen. In the opening paragraph of the story it describes travelers in Tanzania having a close encounter with upwards of 50,000 Dung beetles. The source of the attraction for the beetles was a large pile of elephant excrement. The scientists were swarmed by these beetles, this is the part of the piece that caught my attention, such a large volume of insects swarming. As the article goes on we can clarify that the sheer amount of beetles converging on the excrement is not what the title is lending itself to, but how these beetles defend themselves :

" It is their weaponry. Scores of dung-beetle species on the Serengeti have no horns at all. But as many as five different horns jut from the bodies of other species, and many of these protrusions are proportionally huge; in Onthophagus raffrayi, for example, the male has a horn that arcs all the way over its head, extending more than twice the length of its body."(Emlen)

The article continues to explain that the fundamental reason for this weaponry all comes down to this

" extreme weaponry has the same root cause: violent dueling, in which the lesser-armed combatant loses out. But investment in weapons suited only to a single task — matched contests with similarly armed rivals — leaves the bearer vulnerable to attack from new enemies" (Emlen)

This weaponry is necessary because for a male dung beetles battle is a simple way of life, it encounters many unavoidable fights trying to complete it's necessary acts, mating, feeding and surviving. The male beetle has many fights which control how he must go about his existence and according to Emlen, these horns make up "thirty percent" of the insects weight. The life of a dung beetle in Tanzania and other places is constantly under siege. ironically the males with the largest horns do not always win in the gene pool. It is the ones with the weapons that do not make it to the next generation

" Over time, this end run around the logic of the arms race can completely upend it, pushing the armed animals out of the gene pool. Overburdened and outmatched, animals with weapons eventually die off."(Emlen)".

At the conclusion of the article, Emlen makes a connection between this lifestyle and human arms races.
"The Astonishing Weaponry of Dung Beetles" written by Douglas Emlen

Above: an interesting illustration featured in the article by Paul Sahre

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/magazine/the-astonishing-weaponry-of-dung-beetles.html - Claire Wetterer

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

jizai okimono

Jizai Okimono seems to me like the perfect art form for expressing the movement and delicate intricacy that is the jointed legs and external skeleton of hexapods.
Traditionally these sculptures are crated from metal and feature sculpture perfectly mimicking the appearance and movement of animals, such as the attached photos. However, one of the most impressive examples I have found is of this isopod (a lobster) carved from wood:

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2014/06/artist-ryousuke-ohtake-carves-incredibly-realistic-lobster-from-boxwood/

Image Link:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sushifactory/sets/72157609672293007/

More Examples of Jizai Okimono:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sushifactory/collections/72157609707407762/

-R

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Unusual Reversal of Sex Organs in Insects is Discovered in Brazil

(posted by Livia Margon)

Female Insect with Penis Found in Brazilian Cave

I know the Last link I posted was of the same topic but... Despite the unusual language of this article which I think is somewhat used for shock value, it helped me clarify the issue of how sex is determined in insects. I think the case of this insect is a good example of the confusion regarding this issue, but the article addresses it very directly and helps clarify how it is resolved in the scientific comunity.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Fungus Gnat Larvae "Snake"

Fungus gnat larvae practice a bizarre and disturbing formation when searching for food. Talk about teamwork! By forming a single mass, the larvae certainly draw a lot more attention from predators than they would if they ventured out individually; however, it is possible that their unity could successfully SIMULATE snake-like behaviors, thereby deterring predators. I wonder if this is evidence of the "Invisible hand theory" mentioned in the reading! (These are my own thoughts and observations. I could not find much research on this phenomenon online.)
~ Olivia C.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Ants carrying a worm

I don't know if anyone have seen this but.. this is a video of ants carrying a worm back to their home. I've seen many video clips of ants carrying stuffs, but this is the first time I see those ants actually lining up in rows and pulling their food (I guess?). I wonder how they're linked to each other. Are they biting one another? or using their antennae to hold each other? I don't know...

-YJK

Monday, November 3, 2014

Before and After

Before and After
This is a lovely display of caterpillars and their metamorphosis into butterflies and moths...now if I could only collect an Acraga Coa specimen for my collection everything would be spectacular! -KM