Latest Insect Stories
Pensoft Publishers Four new species from the Steninae subfamily of the large family of rove beetles (Staphylinidae) have been discovered in the Ningxia Autonomous Region, China, as part of an exploration of the insect fauna of the Liupan Shan Natural Reserve, where a large number of specimens has been collected. The expedition also yielded 11 new records for the Ningxia province of previously described Steninae species. The study was published in the open access, peer reviewed journal...
[WATCH VIDEO: From Running Roaches To Robots] April Flowers for redOrbit – Your Universe Online Researchers from the University of Michigan have found that running cockroaches begin to recover from being pushed sideways even before their nervous systems kick in to tell their legs what to do. The research team hopes that these new insights on the stabilization of biological systems could one day help engineers design steadier robots. The findings, published online in Biological...
Pensoft Publishers The tropics are home to an extraordinary diversity of insect species. How great is it, exactly? We do not know, but today, researchers at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History published a study on tropical beetles that can help us progress towards an answer to this question. The paper was published in the open access, peer-reviewed journal Zookeys. Entomologists Michael Caterino and Alexey Tishechkin have named 138 new species within the genus Operclipygus (the...
Cell Press For young ants at the pupal stage of life—caught between larva and adulthood—status is all about being heard. The findings, reported online on February 7 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, add to evidence that ants can communicate abstract information through sound in addition to chemical cues. "One of the truly fascinating characteristics of social insects is their power of self-organization, which allows their societies to achieve amazing feats way beyond the...
University of Guam Everyone needs to eat. But it's a dog-eat-dog world, and with the exception of the top predators, everyone also gets eaten. To cope with this vicious reality, a tiny insect that eats plants has learned to employ the plant's hairs for physical protection from its beetle predator. The pest is called the cycad aulacaspis scale, and its invasion into numerous countries in recent years has caused immeasurable loss of biodiversity. Cycads belong to an ancient lineage of...
[Watch Video: A Robot Being Driven By A Moth] Michael Harper for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Robots have been used to handle a number of dirty chores for human beings in the past, some of which include looking for and cleaning environmental spills. Robotic engineers have also looked towards other animals and insects for inspiration when building out these autonomous machines. Tokyo researchers have now brought these two elements together in a new study published in...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online A new study, led by North Carolina State University, shows like self-absorbed teenagers, insects spend a lot of time grooming. This grooming, specifically antennal cleaning, is a common function of insects that removes both environmental pollutants and chemicals produced by the insects themselves. Grooming helps insects maintain acute olfactory senses, the study shows, which are responsible for a host of functions such as food...
The new storefront offers an expanded product assortment and enhanced site functionality. Greensboro, NC & Seattle, WA (PRWEB) January 31, 2013 The new Insect Shield Workplace Safety & Health online store makes protective clothing and gear items available to workers in at-risk locations across the globe. The Insect Shield assortment consists of work wear, professional apparel and accessories—including clothing that also offers sun protection, flame resistance and high...
FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology A team of scientists have described twenty four new species of dipterans belonging to Quichuana genus, of which only a further 24 species were known. The researchers, including two Spanish biologists, have been studying the forests of Central and Southern America for ten years and they have now published their results in the 'Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society'. A ten-year study in forests of the American continent has...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Back before technology emerged into everyone's pockets, sailors used the stars as their GPS system when navigating the seven seas. While that way of navigation is a little outdated for humans, it’s still a modern technology for dung beetles. Scientists wrote in the journal Current Biology about how dung beetles guide their way through even the darkest of nights by the soft glow of the Milky Way in the sky. Researchers say that...
Latest Insect Reference Libraries
Image Caption: I took this picture myself on 7th March, 2007. John E. Hill 04:23, 7 March 2007 (UTC) Specimen caught by Jim Symes in Laura, Queensland. It measures over 16 cm from its' head to the end of its' body and is the largest recorded specimen of this species so far. John E. Hill 11:12, 22 March 2007 (UTC). Credit: John E. Hill/Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0) The giant centipede (Ethmostigmus rubripes) can be found in Australia, Indonesia, New Guinea, China, Southeast Asia, and the...
Image Caption: Scutigeromorph centipede, probably Allothereua maculata. Credit: Chris Bloke / Wikipedia (CC BY 2.0) Allothereua maculate is a species of house centipede that can be found in Australia. Its range extends from Queensland to Western Australia, an area where it is commonly found. It prefers a habitat within moist woodland areas or urban areas. It can reach an average body length of up to one inch. Its body is dark brown in body, with darker striped marking the fifteen...
The Migratory Locust (Locusta migratoria), is the most widespread species of locust. It occurs throughout Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. It was once very common in Europe but has now become rare there. Because of the vast geographic area it occupies, which comprises many different ecological zones, numerous subspecies have been described. However, not all experts agree on the validity of some of these subspecies. Pigmentation and size of the migratory locust vary according to its...
Pentatomidae is a family of insects that includes some of the stink bugs and shield bugs. If disturbed, stink bugs will emit a pungent, bad-smelling liquid, whose rancid almond smell is due to cyanide compounds. Their antennae are 5-segmented, which gives the family its name. Their bodies are usually shield-shaped. Many stink bugs and shield bugs are considered agricultural pest insects, because they can create large populations; they suck plant juices and damage crop production, and...
A cicada is any of several insects of the order Hemiptera, suborder Homoptera, with small eyes wide apart on the head and transparent well-veined wings. Cicadas live in temperate to tropical climates. Taxonomy There are many thousands of cicada species. The largest are in the genera Pomponia and Tacua. There are some 200 species in 38 genera in Australia, about 100 in the Palaearctic and exactly one species in England, the New Forest Cicada (Melampsalta montana), which is widely...
