Latest Insect Stories

Modeling the aerodynamic secrets of one of Nature's most efficient flyersResearchers are one step closer to creating a micro-aircraft that flies with the maneuverability and energy efficiency of an insect after decoding the aerodynamic secrets of insect flight.Dr John Young, from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia, and a team of animal flight researchers from Oxford University's Department of Zoology, used high-speed digital video cameras to film locusts in action in a wind...

Canadian scientists say they've discovered the fruit fly is capable of intricate social learning, much like humans. The McMaster University study found inexperienced female fruit flies, known as Drosophila melanogaster, can learn from their more experienced counterparts, mated fruit flies. The researchers, led by Associate Professor Reuven Dukas and graduate student Sachin Sarin, said they found that when the novices landed on decaying fruit where the mated females had laid their eggs, the...

British scientists say they've found some female insects can control the amount of sperm they store in an effort to select the best father for their young. University of Exeter researchers say their findings represent new evidence to explain how some female insects can influence the father of their offspring, even after mating with up to 10 males. The scientists, led by postdoctoral researcher Amanda Bretman, made the discovery during research involving female crickets, which often mate with...

Every dead animal gives off a distinct odor, referred to as the "stench of death", according to new research by Canadian scientists. Animal corpses ranging from insects to crustaceans all exude the same scent, which is produced by a special blend of fatty acids. The scientists explained that the smell alerts other animals to avoid those that have been overcome by disease or predators, a "˜death recognition system' that probably evolved over 400 million years ago.The team of researchers who...

Females control sperm storage to pick the best fatherScientists have found new evidence to explain how female insects can influence the father of their offspring, even after mating with up to ten males. A team from the University of Exeter has found that female crickets are able to control the amount of sperm that they store from each mate to select the best father for their young.The research team believes the females may be using their abdominal muscles to control the amount of sperm stored...

Insects could replace many lab mice used for evaluating the safety of certain drugs, researchers reported on Tuesday.Dr. Kevin Kavanagh, from the National University of Ireland, and colleagues found that insects, such as moths, and fruit flies, could safely be used to replace mice in lab testing for drug safety.Kavanagh presented his findings to the Society for General Microbiology's meeting at Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh on Tuesday.The team showed that neutrophils "“ a type of white...

Love songs aren't only for soft rock FM stations "“ they're also used by romantic bats, and researchers at Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin are believed to be the first to decode the mysterious love sounds made by the winged creatures. Their work is published in the current issue of PloS One (Public Library of Science).Researchers Kirsten Bohn and Mike Smotherman in the Department of Biology at Texas A&M, George Pollak at the University of Texas at Austin...

Water striders, the familiar semi-aquatic bugs gliding across the lake at the cottage, have a novel body form that allows them to walk on water.  This was not always the case.  Achieving the gliding ability required the evolution of a unique arrangement of the legs, with the mid-legs greatly elongated. Scientists at the University of Toronto's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology have discovered the gene behind this evolutionary change.Called the Hox gene, Ultrabithorax, is...

A U.S. researcher says climate change affects are as important to animals as they are to insects such as butterflies and beetles. Animals such as polar bears, tigers and dolphins are tremendously important, but mostly because they help define how we think about our relationship with the natural world, University of Notre Dame Assistant Professor Jessica Hellmann said. But when it comes to the functioning of ecosystems, insects are where it's at. They carry diseases, they pollinate and they...

Cicadas - better known for providing the soundtrack of our hot summer are remarkably interesting animals, they are the longest living insects "“ 17 years for some species "“ but spent 99% of this time underground to then emerge for a few weeks, reproduce and finally die. Now a study of north-African and Mediterranean cicadas by scientists in Portugal and the UK uncover yet more interesting data on the group by revealing that these species although differentiated by their mating calls (and...