Honey Bee CO-OP

http://www.chicagohoneycoop.com/

Blattodea In High Fashion, 5 Years Ago

Do you all remember this fashion trend about 5 years ago? Perhaps it didn't run in your social circles, but attractive ladies would wear these bejeweled giant roaches on chains- The Roach Brooch. I don't think this is done all that much anymore though.

http://articles.latimes.com/2006/apr/15/business/fi-roachbrooch15
-Nick

wasps abducting ants

An interesting article/video of wasps abducting ants.

Max

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/04/110406-aliens-wasps-ants-drop-food-new-zealand-animals-science/

?Mullerian Mimicry?

While I was Looking over Some youtube videos, This interesting looking caterpillar.

I can't be sure but, My hypothesis about this particular look is the Lepidopteran caterpillar Mullerian attempt to look like a bat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eyh9v6qhlu4&feature=related

I could very well be wrong!

insects, parasites, and Radiolab...

Hey guys,

So here's a podcast I found in the Radiolab archives that has some cool insect related info. It's pretty long (an hour long) but super entertaining. The whole thing isn't about insects, the topic is parasites in general, but here are some bookmarks...

http://www.radiolab.org/2009/sep/07/

Around 4:50 they talk about caterpillars and cockroaches infected with parasitic wasps

Around 13:00 they talk about parasitic nematodes who infect ants to spread their seed

There are also a bunch of other weird little topics covered like how the hookworm is responasble for the invention of the outhouse.

Anyway, enjoy!

-Marisa

p.s. Check out ANY of the episodes on this site. They are all awesome.

Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Help Against Malaria?

Here's an interesting article about some genetic manipulation going on to try and create a malaria resistant mosquito, which may then be able to spread this genetic advantage on to future generations... Playing Mother Nature, even if the results seem promising, one has to wonder what else may happen here... (I couldn't find a blogger link, so I've pasted a link to the BBC story here. Robb

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10654599

Strange People Interact With Giant Insects!

Probably my favorite comic-artist is Mark Beyer, an early 90s nightmare-maestro. "Amy and Jordan"- tales of urban paranoia, loneliness, and general desolation- and crawling with insects! Here's a few gems. Click 'em to make 'em big!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------posted by Nicholas Jackson

Tom Eisner - A giant among the tiny ~

 A giant in the field of Insect Studies Tom Eisner died this past week.

His breakthrough work on sensory perception and communication in arthropods was unmatched.

Check out the slide show of some images about his work here from the NY Times.


AY

Natures secret power

Here's a movie I've watched several times in awe. Favorite is how ants keep pets

http://www.hulu.com/watch/200303/ants---natures-secret-power

-Sergio

An audience with a Queen

 

A queen of  Camponotus pennsylvanicus in the bathroom early April.

Sorry gal, you may be royalty, but I'm moving you outside...


AY

Yummy

Gordon Ramsey - Maggot

Cheese - F Word

Enjoy

-Ariel

Cicadas

I found this little fella outside of my back porch when I first moved in to my apartment this summer. It was clinging onto a wooden rail. Fascinated by its exoskeleton, I kept it. I had hoped to encounter more, but have not seen any thus far.
I guess I'll have to wait another seventeen years to see a live emergence of cicadas!
-michelle

I really enjoy these installations by Jennifer Angus. She has some interesting stuff. Although I'm pretty sure she "grows" her own insects.

Here's her website

Ariel

Springtime! (in North Carolina...)

 

In North Carolina pollination season has already started! 

A picture of a bee enjoying honeysuckle at the Raulston Arboretum that I visited this past weekend....

Myrmecos.net!

Entomologist Alex Wild takes photos only someone who has studied them well could take.

Detailed, breath-taking - check them out!

http://myrmecos.net/

Bug House

Winner of a 2010 competition to design a hotel for insects. It was made to sustain multiple species in an urban setting, specifically London.

Bill

Micromachina (I heart beetle art)

Check out some of this lovely and hilarious human/beetle art by Scott Bain.  It plays so well off of the issues of physical scale as well as mechanical biomimicry we've been talking about the last couple of weeks!

AY

Worm inside your face

I thought of this video during our talk about flies laying their eggs in living flesh. I am not certain what these worms are specifically, but still fascinating and disturbing.

Max

Bedbug problem? ~ Wasp Hounds to the rescue

Usually the Business Day section of the New York Times doesn't have any insect-related topics included - I guess they are finally becoming a little more enlightened?

This article discusses an idea called the "Wasp Hound." Though technically rudimentray, it relies on the very sophisticated ability for wasps to not only detect minute chemical traces, but also signal they detect it through associative learning techniques that they (much like a dog) can be trained to perform!

In this case, these entomologists have trained them to seek out that modern resurgent scourge - bedbugs!  (Which this blog has followed with some interest)

And hey, they are looking for investors!  A very interesting read - check it out~

AY

Pollen, pollen everywhere ~

 

A wonderful article in this month's National Geographic called "Gold Dusters" about pollinators, a big topic for us in these weeks.  Of course they discuss insects a lot (as the wonderful images by Mark Moffett attests to).  

Do check these photos and the accompanying essay!

 

AY