Bugs,Insects and Spiders Thread

[Robertvincent]

Swarming Invasive Insect Found In US For 1st Time



Two Elm Seed Bugs are seen in this undated handout photo provided by the Idaho State Department of Agriculture. A federal official said Wednesday, July 18, 2012 that the invasive insect commonly found in south-central Europe has been detected in southwestern Idaho, marking the first time the elm seed bug has been spotted in the U.S.

BOISE, Idaho — An invasive insect commonly found in south-central Europe has been detected in southwestern Idaho, marking the first time the elm seed bug has been spotted in the U.S., according to federal officials.

A U.S. Agriculture Department specialist has confirmed the discovery of the pests that officials say don't pose a threat to trees, despite their name — but do tend to enter houses and buildings in huge swarms.

Swarming invasive insect found in US for 1st time - US news - NBCNews.com

[Robertvincent]

Termites explode to defend their colonies

Older workers use chemical reaction to increase toxicity of 'explosive backpacks'.



Older worker termites of Neocapritermes taracua (top right and bottom right) develop blue pouches that can explode to harm their enemies. The yellow-headed termite is a soldier.

A species of termite found in the rainforests of French Guiana takes altruism seriously: aged workers grow sacks of toxic blue liquid that they explode onto their enemies in an act of suicidal self-sacrifice to help their colonies (see video).

Termites explode to defend their colonies : Nature News & Comment

[Robertvincent]

Giant helicopter damselflies

BBC Nature - In pictures: Giant helicopter damselflies

[Robertvincent]

Matter of fact, eyeless spider does live in a cave

World's first variety of huntsman without sight is discovered in the darkness in Laos



The eyeless huntsman spider.

Huntsman spiders, like most spiders, are typically equipped with eight eyes. But researchers have discovered a new cave-dwelling species that ditched its peepers for a life in permanent darkness.

Peter Jäger, head of arachnology at the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt, reported that he found the spider in a cave in Laos, in Southeast Asia, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) away from the gigantic Xe Bang Fai river cave. Named Sinopoda scurion, it is the first eyeless species of the 1,100 known species of huntsman spider.

First eyeless huntsman spider discovered - Technology & science - Science - LiveScience - NBCNews.com

[Robertvincent]

Fukushima 'caused mutant butterflies' in Japan

Genetic mutations have been found in three generations of butterflies from near Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, scientists said on Tuesday, raising fears radiation could affect other species.



A mutated adult pale grass blue (Zizeeria maha) butterfly from Fukushima prefecture, Japan

Around 12 per cent of pale grass blue butterflies that were exposed to nuclear fallout as larvae immediately after the tsunami-sparked disaster had abnormalities, including smaller wings and damaged eyes, researchers said.

The insects were mated in a laboratory well outside the fallout zone and 18 per cent of their offspring displayed similar problems, said Joji Otaki, associate professor at Ryukyu University in Okinawa, southwestern Japan.

Fukushima 'caused mutant butterflies' in Japan - Telegraph

[Robertvincent]

New insect discovered via photo-sharing site Flickr

This is an adult green lacewing (Semachrysa jade sp. n.) discovered in the Malaysian rainforest via this image posted to the photo-sharing site Flickr.

A pretty picture of bug posted to a social media website led to the real-world discovery of a new species of green lacewing in the Malaysian rainforest.

New insect discovered via photo-sharing site Flickr - Future of Tech on NBCNews.com

[Robertvincent]

Hook-Legged Spider Found in Oregon Cave

The discovery could help explain legends about giant spiders living in caves in the region.

A group of cave explorers and scientists have made a rare discovery: an entirely new taxonomic family of spider in the caves of southern Oregon.

Only two other spider families (the taxonomic group above both genus and species) have been found since 1990, and this is the first newly discovered, native one uncovered in North America since 1890, said California Academy of Sciences researcher Charles Griswold, lead author of the study that described the species.

Hook-Legged Spider Found in Oregon Cave : Discovery News

[Robertvincent]

Stanford researchers discover the 'anternet'

A collaboration between a Stanford ant biologist and a computer scientist has revealed that the behavior of harvester ants as they forage for food mirrors the protocols that control traffic on the Internet.

On the surface, ants and the Internet don't seem to have much in common. But two Stanford researchers have discovered that a species of harvester ants determine how many foragers to send out of the nest in much the same way that Internet protocols discover how much bandwidth is available for the transfer of data. The researchers are calling it the "anternet."

Stanford researchers discover the 'anternet' | Stanford News Release

[Robertvincent]

Venezuelan Poodle Moth: Is It Real Or Photoshop?



Photo of Venezuelan Poodle Moth?

Most moths can be easily identified when you look at them, however some have dazzling features that could make even the most well-trained eye do a double take. Then there is the Venezuelan Poodle Moth — a bizarre-looking creature covered with white fluffy hair, large black eyes and funky antennae protruding from the head.


When images of the newest discovery made it online a week ago, many cried foul, accusing that the image was doctored using Photoshop or some other image editing software. But lo and behold, the image is in fact real.


Poodle Moth Has Internet Abuzz - Science News - redOrbit

[Robertvincent]

'Mystery' stick insect discovered



Conlephasma enigma: a stick insect unlike any other

A mysterious new species of stick insect has been discovered living in the Philippines by scientists.

The stick insect is wingless, lives on the ground rather than in trees, and is spectacularly coloured, having a green-blue head and orange body.

The insect also vents a foul-smelling spray to deter predators.

The stick insect is so unique that scientists have given it its own genus and do not yet know its relationship to other stick and leaf insects.

BBC Nature - 'Mystery' stick insect discovered

[Robertvincent]

Scientists create 'cyberbee' with a tracking chip to track down deadly zombie parasite

Scientists are attaching radio sensors to bees in a bid to find out how and when they get attacked by a deadly parasite.

The Apocephalus borealis parasite attaches itself to bees, and then forces them to leave their hives, head to the outside world, and 'dance' erratically in front of streetlights.

After an exhausting dance, the bees plunge to the ground dead, victims of a disease which is decimating colonies in America.

So staff at San Francisco State University are now attaching radio sensors - the size of a speck of glitter - to the insects, to monitor their movements.

Life cycle of the zombie fly: The parasite attacks the creature, in a destructive circle of life

Read more: Plight of the honeybees: Scientists hunt deadly parasite that turns insects into 'zombees' - forcing them to dance by streetlights before falling down dead | Mail Online

[Robertvincent]

Too-young caterpillars like scent of sex

Larvae respond to mate-attracting pheromones
Caterpillars way too immature for actual sex turn out to detect and take an interest in adult sex pheromones.

Caterpillars of the cotton leafworm moth (Spodoptera littoralis) don’t have working sex organs. They’re just long, black-green larvae eating as much as they can before transforming into the completely different body shape and lifestyle of an adult moth.

Yet these caterpillars can sense, and appear to like, the adult sex pheromone of their species, an international team reports September 4 in Nature Communications.

Too-young Caterpillars Like Scent Of Sex - Science News

[Robertvincent]

The Monarch butterfly found on the south coast after being swept 3,500 miles across the Atlantic by a HURRICANE

Butterfly experts have been shocked to discover an injured Monarch on waste ground at Portland, Dorset, more than 3,500 miles off course after being swept across the Atlantic by a hurricane.

Enthusiasts have flocked to Easton on Portland island, near Weymouth, to see the tiny butterfly which is missing part of its wing after the mammoth journey.

It is believed the Monarch, with a wingspan of four inches, was migrating from North America to Mexico when it was caught in strong winds from Hurricane Isaac.

Butterfly experts have been shocked to discover an injured Monarch on waste ground at Portland, Dorset, more than 3,500 miles off course after being swept across the Atlantic by a hurricane.

Read more: Butterfly found 3,500 miles away from its homeland on south coast after being swept across the Atlantic by a HURRICANE | Mail Online

[Robertvincent]

Termites and ants stockpile gold in their mounds, researchers find

Australia's smallest and most numerous mining prospectors can show us where new gold deposits are.

Insects can carry gold from underground up into their mounds. Dr Aaron Stewart and his CSIRO colleagues have shown that they also accumulate metals in their bodies. In Australia—geologically the world's oldest continent—new mineral resources are becoming increasingly difficult to find, because they tend to be overlain by layers of sand, gravel and soils.

http://phys.org/news/2012-12-termites-ants-stockpile-gold-mounds.html#jCp

[Robertvincent]

Spider discovered that builds its own decoys, makes them move

The Tambopata Research Center is located in the lowland tropical Amazon rainforest area of Peru inside the Tambopata National Park. It’s also a place where a research team believe they have discovered a new type of spider that creates larger decoy versions of itself that are made to move.

The spider was found when conservation biologist Phil Torres noticed what looked to be a dead, dried up spider in the center of a web. But as he approached it, the spider began to move, which warranted further investigation.

Spider discovered that builds its own decoys, makes them move | Geek-Cetera | Geek.com

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[Robertvincent]

Physicists find Spider-Man's webs could stop runaway train

In a paper titled 'Doing Whatever a Spider Can', three physics students from the university calculated that the strength of a real spider's webbing could actually bring a runaway train to a screeching halt.

Since the hero is supposed to use the proportional equivalent of a real spider's silk in his web-shooters, his heroics may have a scientific basis.

"It is often quoted that spider-webs are stronger than steel, so we thought it would be interesting to see whether this held true for Spider-Man's scaled up version," said Alex Stone, who authored the paper along with James Forster and Mark Bryan.

Physicists find Spider-Man's webs could stop runaway train - Your Community

[Robertvincent]

Monarch butterfly numbers drop by 'ominous' 59%



The decline in the Monarch population now marks a statistical long-term trend and can no longer be seen as a combination of yearly or seasonal events, experts say.

The number of Monarch butterflies making it to their winter refuge in Mexico dropped 59 per cent this year, falling to the lowest level since comparable record-keeping began 20 years ago, scientists reported Wednesday.

It was the third straight year of declines for the orange-and-black butterflies that migrate from the United States and Canada to spend the winter sheltering in mountaintop fir forests in central Mexico. Six of the last seven years have shown drops, and there are now only one-fifteenth as many butterflies as there were in 1997.

The decline in the Monarch population now marks a statistical long-term trend and can no longer be seen as a combination of yearly or seasonal events, the experts said.

Monarch butterfly numbers drop by 'ominous' 59% - Windsor - CBC News

[Robertvincent]

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Meet the Tarantula as Big as Your Face

It's big, it's hairy, and it's venomous.

The newest spider to give arachnophobes the willies, a tarantula named Poecilotheria rajaei has been discovered on the island nation of Sri Lanka.

With a leg span of 8 inches (20 centimeters) and enough venom to kill mice, lizards, small birds and snakes, according to Sky News, the crawler is covered in subtle markings of gray, pink and daffodil yellow.

http://www.livescience.com/28433-tar...ia-rajaei.html

[Robertvincent]

Can ants predict an earthquake before it occurs?

Scientists in Germany are suggesting that some ants appear to be able to predict an earthquake before it hits. A presentation of the finding was recently given in Vienna.

Can ants predict an earthquake? According to researchers in Germany, red wood ants change their behavior "markedly" before an earthquake hits, reports Io9. The scientists believe this change in conduct may perhaps mean these ants feel the earthquake's imminent arrival.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/articl...#ixzz2QdrI6AaA