Monthly Archives: December 2011

Living With Insect Allergies

Posted on December 31, 2011 by jjneal

Of the over 4000 described species of cockroach, less than a dozen cockroach species are pests. The most difficult cockroach pests to control are the German cockroach and brown banded cockroach. These cockroaches rapidly reproduce and can build large populations … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Health, Pest Management, Policy | 4 Comments

Friday Cat-erpillar Blogging: Get a Grip

Posted on December 30, 2011 by jjneal

Caterpillars are excellent and sure (pseudo)footed climbers. Caterpillars have special extensions of the abdomen for gripping plants called prolegs. At the tip of the proleg are rows of small hooks called crochets. The crochets will tightly grip a surface. A … Continue reading →

Posted in Biomaterials, Caterpillar Blogging | 2 Comments

DNA Detection for Inspection

Posted on December 29, 2011 by jjneal

DNA barcoding can be used to unambiguously identify an insect species and provide evidence that the insect in question is present in a specific location. As the bar code library expands, the potential uses of this new technology expands. Creative … Continue reading →

Posted in Biomaterials, News, Pest Management | Leave a comment

The Art of Breeding Insects

Posted on December 28, 2011 by jjneal

Fruit flies have been bred in captivity for over a century. Thomas Hunt Morgan found the Drosophila, white eye mutant in 1910 (wild type fruit flies have red eyes) and settled on the Fruit Fly, Drosophila melanogaster, as model organism … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Environment | Leave a comment

Insects In Wonderland

Posted on December 27, 2011 by jjneal

Interested in Insect Photography? An admirer of nature photography? Nadav Bagim (aka Amishboy) has a new series, “Wonderland” of photos shot on his kitchen table using a simple artificial lighting scheme and household items as props. In addition to excellent … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Insect Enterprise Stuggles in the Darkness

Posted on December 26, 2011 by jjneal

In many parts of the world, diets are low in protein which is expensive to produce and purchase. One way to boost protein in the diet is to eat insects that have a high protein content. A large edible insect … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Food | 1 Comment

The Insect’s Christmas

Posted on December 25, 2011 by jjneal

Entomologists are often accused of failure to grow up. As adults, Entomologists maintain the same childhood fascination for insects. Entomologists like to share their fascination with others. In 1910, Władysław Starewicz was Director of the Museum of Natural History in … Continue reading →

Posted in Art | 3 Comments