Monthly Archives: January 2014

Friday Cat-erpillar Blogging: Caterpillar Crawling

Posted on January 24, 2014 by jjneal

Caterpillars move by crawling. Muscles contract the soft body; deform it; and the caterpillar pushes forward. Crawling requires attachment to a surface in order to push. Caterpillars attach with abdominal prolegs in addition to their true legs. Biophysicists have studied … Continue reading →

Posted in behavior, by jjneal, Caterpillar Blogging | Leave a comment

Insects Invade Haute Couture

Posted on January 23, 2014 by jjneal

French fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier was so impressed by a display of Blue Morpho butterflies that he incorporated them into his latest fashion show. His show included butterfly garlands, butterfly hats, butterfly veils, jackets with butterfly patterns and a … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, by jjneal, Insect Inspired | 1 Comment

Ants in Space

Posted on January 22, 2014 by jjneal

The International Space Station offers an opportunity to study the effects of microgravity on animal behavior. Space on the station is limited and ants provide an ideal social animal to study in a small space. Myrmecologist, Deborah Gordon, has an … Continue reading →

Posted in behavior, by jjneal, Environment | Leave a comment

Squash Bug Damage

Posted on January 21, 2014 by jjneal

Squash bugs, Anasa tristis, are lacerate and flush feeders. They have sucking mouthparts that can probe inside a plant and excrete enzymes that digest and liquify plant tissue. Squash bugs do most of the damage to plants when stylets enter … Continue reading →

Posted in by jjneal, Environment, Health, Pest Management | Leave a comment

Surviving the Winter

Posted on January 20, 2014 by jjneal

The squash bug, Anasa tristis, only survives on squash plants which in Indiana, are unavailable from Autumn to late Spring. Squash bugs survive this period of inhospitable weather and lack of food by diapause. To prepare to overwinter, adult squash … Continue reading →

Posted in by jjneal, Environment | Leave a comment

Insect Street Art

Posted on January 19, 2014 by jjneal

Julian Beever is a street artist who is best known for chalk drawings using a perspectival anamorphosis technique. He creates images that appear 3 dimensional from a single perspective but are necessarily distorted from other angles. Photos of some of … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, by jjneal | 1 Comment

Influenza Vaccines and Insects

Posted on January 18, 2014 by jjneal

Flu season has arrived in US. Already during the 2013-4 flu season, 45 flu-related deaths have been reported in California. Vaccination is encouraged. This year, insects cells may have been used to produce your flu shot. In a previous post, … Continue reading →

Posted in Biomaterials, by jjneal, Health | 2 Comments