GGA Blog

A new ninety nine million year old beetle has been found encased in amber. The beetle probably lived among certain insects that demonstrated eusocial behaviors, such as insects and termites, which indicates that insects developed the ability to behave in a eusocial manner very early on during insect evolution. The evolution of eusocial behavior in insects occurred at a much faster pace

Public health officials from Texas have officially announced the first case

A certain arthropod known as tardigrade has been around for hundreds of millions of years. It seems that this creature has evolved into an organism that possesses a single head as its sole feature, not including its many tiny legs. For years researchers have been trying to identify which family of arthropod the tardigrade is most closely related. This has been a difficult task since the creature seems to be missing its entire midsection.

Robert Hollingsworth, a research entomologist with the US Department of Agriculture, discovered a new species of slug in Hawaii. After a bit of research it was determined that this type of slug is a more dangerous carrier

National parks can be fun for about five to ten minutes, or until you have walked the entirety of the parks border. However, the animal life at Congaree National Park is a little bit different from what you would expect from a zoo. For decades more and more ocean life washed up to the shore, and many coastal spiders were pushed farther inland.

Have you ever been afraid of something while sleeping in your bed at night? Maybe ghosts, or burglars or that scary movie you knew you should not have watched? Typically our sometimes scary nighttime imaginings can get the best of us, for Matt Kallmeyer his nighttime fears happen to be real, and if he is not careful about where he sleeps, he could wind up dead. Of course the menace that has been badgering Matt is the brown recluse spider, or several of them. In response to Matt repeatedly encountering brown recluse spiders in his home, he has become become resourceful. Matt has been, and still is, living in a tent inside of his home. Matt believes that by keeping the tents entrance zipped up nearly all of the time he can avoid seeing the brown recluse inside of his safe zone, or his tent to be more precise. However, according to one expert, Matt's insect control method will prove unsuccessful.

There are plenty of strange and exotic looking bugs in the world, and the orchid mantis is no exception. This bug has evolved to look exactly like a flower, which is a great for hiding from predators, or for ambushing prey. After decades of unsatisfied curiosity, scientists now seem to know why the orchid mantis in particular evolved to look like a flower. Researchers believe that the orchid mantis evolved to resemble a flower

If you have a fear of Scorpions then you should be grateful that giant scorpions are now extinct. Scorpions that reach lengths of five feet used to roam the riverbanks

Two undergraduate researchers have recently discovered the New Zealand mud snail in the state of Michigan. Initially, state experts believed that the snail population was small, and located in only one region in the state of Michigan. However, the snail has been found in multiple rivers, so the snails are more prevalent than the officials had initially thought. But what is so bad about these snails? The mud snail is a tiny snail that is often mistaken for a spot of mud. The snail often hooks itself onto fishing gear or other sorts of outdoor equipment and then proceeds to hitch a ride to new environments. Since mud snails hitchhike on people's outdoor objects, you can understand how quickly and easily these snails can take over large areas of land. Residents of Michigan, and surrounding territories, are worried that the invasive mud snail will repeat the horrors