insect
zooillogix | September 11, 2007Some great mantis pics from InsectHobbyist:
Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii Hatchling (Spiny Flower Mantis)
Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii Adult
Pseudocreobotra Ocellata Nymph/Villain from Halo
Pseudocreobotra Ocellata
Deroplatys lobata
Species unidentified
Freak out techno mantis!
zooillogix | September 5, 2007Now Benny and I have always been suspicious of claims that violent video games spawn violent children. In fact, after zoology, few things are closer to our hearts than violent video games. However in a cruel twist of fate, it appears globalization has pitted our passions against one another.
This does look fun...
A new video game, (Mushiking) Insect King, has taken Japan by storm. In the game, which is targeted to young children, competitors fight one another with digital stag beetles. Sounds fun right? Well as with many Japanese obsessions, things have been taken a step too far. Excitement…
zooillogix | August 23, 2007Does your cubicle mate play "adult contemporary" while you writhe in agony? Well now you can strike back with the classic rock stylings of your favorite insects! Lang Elliot and Will Hershberger have recently completed a practical guide to 76 species of singing insects, including crickets, katydids and cicadas of eastern and central North America. The Songs of Insects includes an audio CD so you can finally put a name to that damn bug song that has been stuck in your head all day.
As part of what I consider a rather clever marketing ploy, Lang and Will offer an embeddable jukebox that is…
zooillogix | August 21, 2007"I'm probably the only person to ever remove a grasshopper from Richard Burton's crotch."
This past Sunday, the Washington Post brought a fascinating entomologist to our attention: Steven Kutcher, bug wrangler to the stars. Getting his start in show business quite haphazardly when he was asked to help arrange a plague of locusts for the Exorcist II (1976), Kutcher saw a niche career opportunity he couldn't turn down. Close to 200 movies, TV shows and commercials later, including the feel good hit Arachnophobia, Kutcher is a different kind of Hollywood celebrity.
As interesting as Kutcher's…
zooillogix | August 20, 2007This creature recently set the world's record for its limb speed. It stores up an immense amount of energy in its mandibles and then releases it, when it needs to escape from a predator.
Here's a quote from a guy who has experienced the trap jaw ant according to the comments section on YouTube:
"There were [two] of those ants at my house. I tried to killed them, but it was like they were teleporting to somewhere else."
zooillogix | August 20, 2007Although most humans probably do not lament the disappearance of dog-sized insects, a handful of scientists do. These scientists obviously don't watch the same movies we do. Recently, a group of researchers from Argonne National Laboratory's Advanced Photon Source along with some other researchers from less badass sounding institutions used advanced x-ray equipment to try to determine why giant insects don't roam the earth devouring amorous teenage couples today.
X-ray imaging of beetles helps confirm that tracheal system design may limit size in insects.The answer lies in their primitive…
zooillogix | May 14, 2007After careful research, it turns out the footage in this Motorola commercial is in fact real. Pretty ridiculous.
Add to: Slashdot del.icio.usredditnewsvineY! MyWeb
zooillogix | May 3, 2007After 17 years of patiently waiting underground, Brood X has begun to emerge with a vengeance, eager to populate our planet with their infernal buzzing (we actually like it). It may sound like the plot for War of the Worlds, but it is actually much more benign and very real. This spring and summer, cicadas will emerge in the billions from their underground burrows to begin a frantic and inelegant mating ritual. Who wouldn't want to cut to the chase after 17 years living in the dirt? For a few short weeks, the shrimp-sized insects create a cacophony of sound that can be heard quite clearly in…
zooillogix | April 24, 2007In an embarrassing revelation for termites everywhere, researchers from the Natural History Museum of London have determined that termites are actually a highly social form of cockroach. Although they appear more similar to ants, genetic testing confirmed the relationship and definitively determined that they were a family of cockroaches. As if this wasn't humiliating enough, entomologist Paul Eggelton suggested that the cockroach penchant for coprophagy, or eating their own feces, may have led to the evolution of termite physiology and society in the first place... not cool. Speculation…