Scientists have discovered a new way ants control their farmed food source: aphids. It has long been known that certain ant species have domesticated aphids, and use the piercing-sucking insects for their honeydew (mmmm…honeydew….). It was once thought that aphids stayed in the protection of the ants because the ants were able to fight of [...]
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Things Adrienne & Dean Do, Think and WriteBrowsing Posts in Ickyology
Scientists are getting flies drunk again. Not for any nefarious purpose, mind you, but to discover the genetics behind ability to hold your liquor. They’ve discovered the gene that allows someone to drink their friends under the table, and they are manipulating it in fruit flies. This may lead better treatment for alcoholics (everything is [...]
Bt toxins kill insects by punching holes in their guts. However, many insects have become resistant to the Bt toxin, causing scientists to scramble, trying to find new pesticides to kill such pests as the bollworm (shown above). For the first time, scientists study the mechanism of action in a pesticide and use it to [...]
Christopher Conte is a Norway-born sculpture artist who has lately been dabbling in the entomological realm lately. He has several sculptures with buggy themes–an interesting collection. Portfolio
Scientists have discovered that the basis of eusociality (the tendency of sterile females to raise the young of a common queen) found in bees, wasps, and other social insects is genitically based. Lots of study has been done on Apis meliferia, or the European Honeybee, but very little has been done on wasps. This particular [...]
