the entomology thread

^^ http://membracid.wordpress.com/2013/06/13/the-mad-hatterpillar/

link at the end is awesome too http://www.flickr.com/photos/itchydogimages/8607611517/

Caterpillar infantry rising up against army ants!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8091/8419407107_dc640e81a3.jpg
Harris' Three-spot - Harrisimemna trisignata by Colin Hutton Photography, on Flickr

Woah, what is that? More caterpillar wearing molted exoskeleton action?

yeah, it's from the bug girl blog

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY-6G3zYYtk

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/running-ponies/files/2013/09/frog-legged-leaf-beetle-sagra.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/CAIdNMh.gif

Fucking terrifying

I hate moths because their bodies are so big and squishy and soft-looking

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/12/the-secret-underwater-world-of-dragons/?viewall=true

http://i.imgur.com/8H7DVKA.gif

Libellules!

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/12/this-is-not-a-penis/

http://i.minus.com/ibnnQShrghFJtW.gif

Again, I hate moths

I don't hate moths but WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHT. x_X

For the moth-hater:

http://i.imgur.com/hYUoUPn.gif

(^Moth caterpillar.)

I want to give that spider one million dollars. Nice work dude

Yeah, before you do that:

http://i.imgur.com/FPMys6d.gif

did it murder the caterpillar and then tenderly stroke its face?

Spider doesn't like smokers.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2014/01/new-species-of-peacock-spider-dances-for-you-and-sex/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOAfXUshpVY

http://i.imgur.com/VUTQOty.jpg

that walking stick bug in the first post of this thread is elegant and beautiful

OMG does that caterpillar also come with CHRISTMAS LIGHTS?!?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgrbT_R_mxQ

http://i.imgur.com/RKeyrvd.gif

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2014/03/parasitic-junk-trunk/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyaPfR-Mj98

Entomology-related:

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/files/2014/04/Pain-map.jpg

Punchline here.

Trilobite Beetle:

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/running-ponies/files/2014/03/trilobite-beetle-ponies.jpg

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/running-ponies/2014/03/31/trilobite-beetles-are-happy-being-on-land-alive-in-the-present-day/

Tsetse flies are a bit strange: They give birth to offspring similarly to mammals. A single tsetse larva grows inside its mother’s uterus and nurses on a milk gland until it’s ready to be birthed. When that magical day arrives, the mother pushes out a single wriggling larva that’s almost as large as she is.

GROSS.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2014/04/25/decoded-tsetse-fly-genome-could-save-lives/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJhTrPDUoxs

me irl

Baller status.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLTPGhBG2V0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLTPGhBG2V0

http://i.imgur.com/DveTfSe.jpg

Terrifying.

Awesome.

man that is one tiny egg

Not too long ago I killed what I think was a spider in my bathtub. I think it was attracted to the black seaweed soap, but I did not use a tennis racket. Spiders are less objectionable than some other insects, maybe because of Charlotte's Web.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puQTJHb0eg0&feature=youtu.be

Mostly for the headline: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/the-beetles-white-album

Mordy, fire away

i heard some crazy buzzing out my window this morning and looked down to see a bird fighting w/ some kind of large oval buzzing thing. when i got outside 15 minutes later i saw that the large oval buzzing thing (which was now no longer buzzing or moving) was what looked like two connected cicadas. it looked like the actual cicadas not the shells (tho it could be the shells still are really green + shit when they're fresh)? wtf am i dealing w/ here? were two cicadas fucking and the bird got involved and killed them in their consummation bed? they were gone much later in the day, but a wind could've blown them off.

unrelated, a cicada skeleton photo i snapped at my brother's apartment building yesterday

http://i58.tinypic.com/2j5dwrr.jpg

jeez, I'm stumped. not too hot on US entomology from description - I'd be much more use if you had a photo

cicadas vary greatly in colour & their 'shell' is simply the exoskeleton, which is v much an inseparable part of them, so I'd not rule it out

but would two cicadas shed their shells at the same time while in embrace?

no

an insect without a shell is basically just innards spilling everywhere

oh if you mean the wing-casings then maaaaybe they were ripped off by the bird

have you seen the "food chain" ep of adventure time? it's very good.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1zmcuj_adventure-time-food-chain-season-06-episode-06-full-episode-free-hq_animals

when I'm not in a hotel on srsly retrograde internet I'll check that out :)

but yeah, not living up to my username here, sorry

http://oddity-txt.tumblr.com/post/149239939651/oddity-txt-oddity-txt-oddity-txt

https://i.imgur.com/ix6Fhnc.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nr8SYrJ53g

It is not fully known what the adults feed on, but it could be flowers. These beetles have a unique life cycle. The female will lay her eggs near the base of various flowers. When the eggs hatch the newly born larvae must climb up the stalks to the blooming flowers. Then the young larvae will cluster together and form a shape that very much resembles a female solitary ground bee. To make the ruse even more complete they even emit a pheromone that very much smells like the female bee....in fact it is so good that male bees are often fooled and come to "mate" with the cluster of larvae. By the time he realizes his mistake the little larvae have climbed on board. The male bee will carry his stowaways along with him as he locates a "real female" to mate with. During mating the larvae transfer to the female who will then carry them to her underground nest. The little interlopers will remain behind in the burrow and feed on the bees offspring and the honey stores she provided to feed them. The beetle larvae will remain in the burrow to pupate and later will emerge as the wingless prodigy of their parents. Mother Nature offers no limitations on deceit.

Giant mesquite bug nymphs. pic.twitter.com/LYy8ihmmxU

— Strange Animals (@Strange_Animals) January 15, 2018

Any recommendations for a good popsci book on ants? I'm guessing something by EO Wilson?

https://gizmodo.com/i-do-not-like-this-new-wasp-species-whose-giant-stinger-1827395696

Still reading this https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/sep/18/a-giant-crawling-brain-the-jaw-dropping-world-of-termites but here's an interesting nugget:

Christine Nalepa, Theo Evans and Michael Lenz have written that termite parents bite off the ends of their antennae, which may make them better at raising their young. Antennae give termites lots of sensory information, and biting off the segments toward the ends could reduce that stimulation, making it easier to live in a tiny burrow with a few million children.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aha_ha
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eubetia_bigaulae (Pronounced you betcha by golly)