"Traveling Salesman"

Once again StumbleUpon has lead me to an interesting article on insects.

This particular one is discussing some of the problem solving skills associated with hymenoptera–specifically Bumblebees.

The test was set up to determine if the bees could "find the shortest route between cities" (here as faux-flowers). Two researchers, Laura Chittka and Mathieu Lihoreau assessed how the bees would respond to the flowers: seeing "whether the bees would go after the flowers in the order in which they were discovered, or if they would figure out the shortest route among all the flowers even as new ones were added"

Ultimately they found that however the simulated field was manipulated, the Bumblebees consistently determined and followed the shortest path.


The article itself is not that long, it's definitely worth checking out.

-DiAnna P.

Insect Origami

Silverfish

Pillbug

Longhorn Beetle

Longhorn Beetle

Leaf Insect

Kabutomushi Beetle

Earwig

-Jay

Two New Bee Species Found

"Two New Bee Species Are Mysterious Pieces in the Panama Puzzle"

"ScienceDaily (Oct. 18, 2011) — Smithsonian scientists have discovered two new, closely related bee species: one from Coiba Island in Panama and another from northern Colombia. Both descended from of a group of stingless bees that originated in the Amazon and moved into Central America, the ancestors of Mayan honeybees. The presence of one of these new species on Coiba and Rancheria Islands, and its absence from the nearby mainland, is a mystery that will ultimately shed light on Panama's history and abundant biodiversity..."

Cited: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (2011, October 18). Two new bee species are mysterious pieces in the Panama puzzle. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 25, 2011, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2011/10/111018155223.htm

Click here for the link to read the fill story: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111018155223.htm

This relates to our current topic about insect migration from mainland to island. And also sheds light on a debate about the age of the connection between North and South America due to the discovery that 17 million years ago the bees had already been established in Central America.

-EI

snapshots from Montrose Beach

As I am sure you all know, this weekend for our collecting trip we went to Montrose Beach. The weather was beautiful and the insects were visible. Here are a few pictures I took along the way.



They had cut some down some of the taller grass near the docks, so we ended up spending most of our time in the Bird Sanctuary.


There were many grasshoppers. This guy found his way into my net while I was just making my way through some of the taller grass.

A couple of students [myself included] also caught some praying mantis.




Like Isabella, I have decided to keep my little guy as a pet until he passes a month or so from now. He is living in a retired terrarium with plenty of small branches, leaves and of course food (crickets). So far he hasn't been too active– he mostly hangs from the top of the screen.


DiAnna P.

Animal Sex Issue #2, Bugs and Slugs

Hello All,

Recently I have been working on a self published Zine called Animal Sex Issue #2, Bugs and Slugs. This zine is a sequel to a book I did last year, Animal Sex; You Might Not Want to Know, which highlighted the strangest animal mating habits I could find. The second issue, Bugs and Slugs, highlights some of the mating habits of slugs, snails, insects, and some non-insect Arthropods. The book is not finished yet, but I thought it would be nice to post a sneak peak on this blog. The Following Images are pages as they will appear in the zine.

Thank you for checking out these sneak peak pages! I hope you learned something new and disturbing. This book should be finished and available at Quimby’s and Chicago Comics, along with the first issue of Animal Sex, by early October.

Isabella Rotman

A little bit of a stretch, but...

In light of our shared difficulty finding a variety of bugs to cook up for our possible bug pot luck, here are two websites which breakdown some of the insects we consume everyday in unsuspecting products.

http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ent425/text18/food.html

http://www.takepart.com/news/2011/02/22/that-figures-the-insects-you-unknowingly-eat

Maybe someone should just bring in a a bottle of ketchup?

-Marisa

Mike Libby creates these lovely hand crafted steam punk insects, i thought you all might enjoy;

His Insect Lab can be found here

INSECT ART by German Artist DAIM

http://www.daimgallery.com/

by Michael