Archive for July 2016
A Caterpillar That Uses The Skulls Of Its Enemies As A Shield
There are some pretty hardcore animals in this world, but I have never heard of an animal that wears bones on its body. Except, of course, for the Uraba Lugens, a type of caterpillar that, at some point, discovered that wearing the bones of dead insects would work as an effective method of self-defense. This…
Read MoreThe Male Horsefly Can Catch Pellets Shot From Guns
A man by the name of Jerry Butler, an entomologist, somehow managed to get a male Horsefly to fly after a pellet shot from a pellet gun. Amazingly the Horsefly was able to catch up to the pellet after it was shot from a gun. The pellet was traveling at 145 kilometers per hour, which…
Read MoreInsects With Super Long Lives
Most insects do not live past a year, and there are plenty that do not make it past a couple of weeks. However, there are some insects that can live for decades. For example, the queens that belong to certain insect colonies can live for up to sixty years. The Cicada insect can live for…
Read MoreHorses No Longer Have to Contend with Flying Pests with the Weatherbeeta Supa Fly Insect Shield
If you are at all familiar with riding and tending horses, then you know that flies absolutely love to torture these poor animals, buzzing around their heads, biting their sensitive noses and eyes, and swarming so heavily around their faces that I sometimes wonder how they can see through all those bodies. Anytime I’ve seen…
Read MoreCockroaches Use GPS
Well not exactly like the electronic GPS that we are all aware of, but cockroaches do have a sophisticated internal mechanism that allows them to navigate your home. Researchers placed cockroaches inside of a maze similar to the classic experiments that used rats to navigate mazes. Once the roaches moved through the maze the researchers…
Read MoreThe Miraculous Eyesight Of The Jumping Spider
A Jumping Spider is not your typical spider. For one thing they are not in need of web-building to catch their prey. In fact, the majority of spiders that do rely on web-spinning to catch prey only rely on the web because web-spinning spiders lack the necessary visual acuity to spontaneously pounce onto their prey…
Read MoreWater Fleas Grow Personalized Armor
Water fleas have the unique ability to grow defensive armor such as helmets and spines when they detect predators. What’s even more cool is that they can tailor make their armor to fit the manner of predator they detect. No one suit is alike. Water fleas can detect certain chemical cues left in the water…
Read MoreThis Centipede Will Take You By Surprise
The Giant Redheaded Centipede looks just like its name would you lead you to think. They are found in Australia (of course) as well as parts of the southwestern United States. I am sure you have seen centipedes before, but this particular centipede can reach lengths measuring twenty centimeters in length, and can have as…
Read MoreThe Swiss Army Versus Bed Bugs
You don’t hear about the Swiss Army too often. I’ll be honest. I wasn’t entirely sure the Swiss even had an army. It turns out that they do, though, and they’re currently fighting the battle to end all battles. While the Swiss tend to stay neutral in most wars, this is one in which they…
Read MoreInsect Ears
Human ears are pretty amazing instruments, but, apparently, compared to insect ears ours are large, crude, and could use a few upgrades. Professor Daniel Robert of the University of Bristol believes that by studying insect ears we could create much smaller and more powerful microphones and hearing aides. Insects have eardrums just like humans, but…
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