Latest Entomology Stories

Japanese scientists are involved in groundbreaking research to understand and then rebuild the brains of insects and program them for specific tasks, AFP reported.After studying insect brains for three decades, Ryohei Kanzaki, a professor at Tokyo University's Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, has become a pioneer in the field of insect-machine hybrids.Kanzaki has been studying insects' "micro-brains" in order to move closer to his original and ultimate goal of...

A U.S. study shows not all insects have rigid wings, with some insects, such as moths, having wings that flex and deform during flight. University of Washington researchers said most scientists who study the mechanics and aerodynamics of insect flight have assumed insect wings are relatively rigid as they flap. But the researchers in the new study, led by biology Professor Thomas Daniel, used high-speed digital imaging to show some insects' wings flex and deform while in flight. The evidence...

Most scientists who create models trying to understand the mechanics and aerodynamics of insect flight have assumed that insect wings are relatively rigid as they flap.New University of Washington research using high-speed digital imaging shows that, at least for some insects, wings that flex and deform, something like what happens to a heavy beach towel when you snap it to get rid of the sand, are the best for staying aloft."The evidence indicates that flexible wings are producing...

Harvard University scientists have determined some bees brace themselves against wind and turbulence by extending their hind legs while flying. Wind is a universal part of life for all flying animals, Assistant Professor Stacey Combes said. Yet we know remarkably little about how animals navigate windy conditions and unpredictable airflows, since most studies of animal flight have taken place in simplified environments, such as in still air or perfect laminar flows. Combes and Robert Dudley...

Turbulence hampers flight for various bee species, and possibly other insectsNew research shows some bees brace themselves against wind and turbulence by extending their sturdy hind legs while flying. But this approach comes at a steep cost, increasing aerodynamic drag and the power required for flight by roughly 30 percent, and cutting into the bees' flight performance.The findings are detailed in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."Wind is a universal part of life for...

A Malaysian insect, at 22 inches the longest insect in the world, is among the top 10 species found in 2008, Arizona State University says. The college's International Institute for Species Exploration said the large insect was picked by an international committee of scientists to make the annual list, along with the world's smallest snake, The Arizona Republic said Saturday. The snake, found in Barbados, is only the size of a quarter, but it is not the smallest species to make the...

A recent study has shown that earwig mothers are able to detect odors from the unhealthiest "nymphs" of their brood and accordingly adjust their behavior to ensure that the fittest young receive more attention than their siblings.Though frequent amongst many higher classes of animals, this study was the first of its kind to demonstrate such behavior in insects.For earwig parents, it seems that the name of the game is favoritism.  When the mother detects chemical signals released from her...

U.S. entomologists say they have discovered how ants know when a nestmate has died and its time to remove the body from the colony. University of California-Riverside scientists say when an ant dies its body is quickly picked up by living ants and removed, thus limiting the risk of colony infection by pathogens from the corpse. Up to now most entomologists theorized dead ants release chemicals created by decomposition, thereby signaling their death. But in the new study, scientists working...

Ant trails fascinate children and scientists alike. With so many ants traveling in both directions, meeting and contacting one another, carrying their loads and giving the impression that they have a sense of urgency and duty, they pose the following question: how do they organize themselves? A new study published in the open-access, peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE may have some answers.Pedro Leite Ribeiro and his colleagues at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, believe they have found...

Some creatures seek safety in numbers for selfish purposes, but researchers say such egocentric activity is not the case for true team players like bees and ants, BBC News reported.  Mathematical models to observe "swarm behavior," were used by scientists from Edinburgh and Oxford Universities to learn more about the activity of individual species in relation to its group. Bison and fish, they discovered, desire to be center of large groups to protect themselves from predators. Ants and...