Amazing Insects

[Racoon]

Insects are amazing. :shrug: Are they evolution in the fast lane? :eek2:

What do you think? Do you know of any neat insects?

 

Dung Beetles :secret: How cool is rolling a big ball of poo? :hihi:

 

The dung beetles include several subfamilies of the large family Scarabaeidae, the scarab beetles. There are thousands of species of dung beetles, occurring worldwide wherever dung is found. Adults range from 2 to over 50 mm in length. Most species are dark colored, but a few have bright patterns or even metallic colors. Many species have distinctive horns or other processes.

 

Some species of dung beetle prefer certain habitats (e.g. grassland or forest) or certain soil types (e.g. sand or clay). Some species feed on dung of only one species of animal, while others are less choosy. Most eat dung, but some scavenge carcasses or feed in decaying vegetation or fungi. Both adults and larvae feed on the food source. Some species shape a brood ball which they roll away to bury, while others simply dig burrows under or near the food and pack it into them.

 

[Mercedes Benzene]

I'm a big fan of the praying mantis.

It's probably one of the coolest looking insects.

Also, it is one of the only insects that is able to turn its head.

 

Furthermore, some species' femals can reproduce through parthenogenesis.

For those of you are not very biology oriented, parthenogenesis is reproduction without the aid of a male. The offspring are all female (due to the lack of a Y chromosome).

Anyway, praying mantid = AMAZING INSECT.

[Ganoderma]

beetles and mantids are pretty amazing, but i think ants and roaches have to be one of the top. although i hate the things i really find fire ants and leafcutter ants to be truely amazing. the fire ants here arn't as bad as other places, but i still see some farms go under now and then. and any ant that can go through concrete is pretty amazing.

 

another amazing insect: http://user.it.uu.se/~svens/larverna/normal.html

 

and the fire flies are pretty amazing as well!

[LJP07]

Well, one of the more interesting insects around is the ANT.

 

Even though these tiny criters only live approximately for 50 days, there still in abundance when it comes to working together to achieve there common goals. One man has said before that " If a man could run as fast for his size as an ant can, he could run as fast as a racecourse ".

 

Ants can even lift between 18-22 times their own body weight, also an ant has 1/4million brain cells, considering that the human brain has 10,000 million, it would take a colony of 40,000 ants has collectively the same size brain as a human.

 

Other interesting facts :

 

1. They use their antennae for smell as well as touch.

2. Adult ants cannot swallow whole foods, they extract juices from prey.

3. Ant has two eyes, made up of many smaller eyes, which are called compound eyes.

4. The abdomen contains 2 stomachs, one for itself, and feeding others.

5. Ants have four distinct growing stages egg, larva, pupa, adult.

6. Some worker ants working for the Queen Ant are given a special job of cleaning up rubbish and putting it in a bin.

7. Each colony of ants has it's own smell, distinguishes itself from others.

8. Some birds put ants in their feathers, so they can spray Formic Acid which gets rid of parasites.

9. At night, when cold, the worker ants move the larvae into the colony for warmth. Also, bring them out to get warm in the daytime.

10. If a worker ant has found a good food source, it leaves a trail which other ants recognise as theirs.

 

:rose:

 

Another fact just found recently is where ants can store fat to use in cases of famine that they might find themselves in.

 

http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060727_ants_fat.html

[LJP07]

Would Parthenogenesis be sort of like Asexual Reproduction in Bacteria, is it the same type of reproduction although Parthogenesis produces only females.

 

Would it be humanly possible for Humans to reproduce by Parthenogenesis?

 

As regards insects, an Amazing Insect would be the household fly, it's amazing how they manage to avoid the newspaper when trying to kill them!

[Jim Colyer]

Remember a movie called The Hellstrom Chronicle 1971?

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067197/

[Ganoderma]

and we cant forget our cockroach friends. americans and germans are built like tanks, just dont die.

 

assassin bugs are pretty neat as well.

[Mercedes Benzene]

assassin bugs are pretty neat as well.

 

They may be awesome, but I hear that they're bitches if they bite.

[LJP07]

http://www.ivyhall.district96.k12.il.us/4TH/KKHP/1INSECTS/assassin.html

 

Link for information, and images of Assasin Bugs for those who never heard of them like me.

[Ganoderma]

Some are like the twin spots for example. They make good pets if one is responsible enough. Very interesting to watch eat.

 

bugs i always loved to keep were the phasmids. Leaf insects are so strange!

 

The Mcleays Prickly Stick Insect (spelling?) is pretty cool. They are parthenogenic but also have males. if males mate then babies can be male and female. i was told by a curator at a zoo (not sure how accurate this is) that sex is temperature dependant when egg is incubating...even from unfertilized females.....???? eggs take a good year to hatch for me without mating, but mated apparently takes half that.

 

a cool photo website (among many others)

http://www.thaibugs.com

[LJP07]

I was analysing for the past few days Spiders, and they ability to clean their home.There actually quite smart, firstly, I threw a blade of grass into the web, he goes over and untangles the web by sticking the different sides connected to the blade to each of his legs, then throws the blade out of his home, all so he can catch his meals, I think that's a very smart and athletic thing for the Spider to do, and I will post up some facts about spiders now, although it should be noted that Spiders aren't insects, insects have 3 body parts and 6 legs, but there small and common, so why not include them:

 

Anatomy of a spider:

http://www.xs4all.nl/~ednieuw/Spiders/Info/spiderinfo.htm

 

General Facts:

http://www.tooter4kids.com/Spiders/facts.htm

 

More info:

http://www.heartheissues.com/partners/factsaboutspiders.html

[Racoon]

I got stung by one yesterday :cup:

 

Bee's

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee

Most bees are fuzzy and carry an electrostatic charge, thus aiding in the adherence of pollen. Bees periodically stop foraging and groom themselves to pack the pollen into the scopa, which is on the legs in most bees, and on the ventral abdomen on others, and modified into specialized pollen baskets on the legs of honeybees and their relatives. Many bees are opportunistic foragers, and will gather pollen from a variety of plants, but many others are oligolectic, gathering pollen from only one or a few types of plant. A small number of plants produce nutritious floral oils, rather than pollen, which are gathered and used by oligolectic bees

 

Bumblebees

 

Bumblebees (Bombus terrestris, B. pratorum, et al.) are eusocial in a manner quite similar to the eusocial Vespidae such as hornets, as the queen initiates a nest on her own (unlike queens of honeybees and stingless bees, which start nests via swarms, in the company of a substantial worker force). Bumblebee colonies typically have from 50 to 200 individual bees at peak population, which occurs in mid to late summer. Nest architecture is simple, limited by the size of the nest cavity (pre-existing), and colonies are rarely perennial. Interestingly, bumblebee queens sometimes seek winter safety in honeybee hives, where they are sometimes found dead in the spring by beekeeper

[LJP07]

Is there really much difference between Wasps sting and Bumblebees, do they all sting the one you have mentioned, what is the sting composed of?

[Racoon]

Is there really much difference between Wasps sting and Bumblebees, do they all sting the one you have mentioned, what is the sting composed of?

 

Good question Prolu...:cup:

 

speaking of Wasps :)

 

Cicada Killer Wasp

 

http://www.cirrusimage.com/hymenoptera_cicada_killer.htm

 

 

The "stinger" is diagnostic of the male gender - females have retractable stingers. The males cannot sting or deliver venom.

 

Adult female wasps nest in the ground. They capture cicadas, paralyze them with venom, and provision their burrows with the still-living insects. They lay eggs which hatch after several days - the resulting larvae devour their meal, then spin a coccoon and overwinter. In spring, the larva leaves the cocoon to pupate, then hatches into an adult. Adults leave the burrow to mate and begin the cycle again. Adult male wasps die soon after mating, and females die soon after their eggs are exhausted.

[Racoon]

Can anyone ID this insect??

 

:shrug:

 

[infamous]

My favorite; The praying mantis

[Ganoderma]

What is its location Racoon?