the entomology thread

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

You're more of a chrysalis atm

I can't do the thing where it sheds its outer layer by letting go of the branch and catching itself again after a split-second in which it casts off the unwanted matter, which has always struck me as nature's most incredible feat of dexterity

Maybe the exoskeleton was cast off after molting?

what's weird to me is that they were paired together when whatever happened happened and stayed paired together when i found them later. i have a lot of experience w/ cicadas and cicada exoskeletons. i've just never seen anything like this.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2014/08/22/cyborg-moths-living-drones/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11058396/Giant-wasps-nest-invades-spare-bedroom.html

http://i.imgur.com/ZAL1FmV.jpg

Good god.

I once found a small wasp's nest in the lip of my car trunk and I freaked out, can't imagine how badly I'd react to this huge discovery.

http://io9.com/cross-section-of-an-active-wasp-nest-reveals-ordered-la-1634371927/+rtgonzalez

http://i.imgur.com/3E7FirD.jpg

If aero reads this thread this one's for you

that one's for all of us tbf

lead us, moth, unto endless night

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

Infinite caterpillar!

Now not only will the termite queen soon become too fat to move – ever again – she’ll also start sweating profusely, thanks to all that hard baby-making work. While she’s still capable of producing eggs, her children will keep her clean by constantly licking the sweat from her body as an army of worker termites stack egg after freshly laid egg into neat little piles for hatching. Once their queen is so old she can no longer produce eggs, the tables will turn rather sharply, Moffett told the Kitchen Sisters. Instead of licking her gently, the termite queen’s many children will eat her alive, growing strong on her nutritious juices.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/running-ponies/2014/11/05/long-live-the-morbidly-obese-termite-queen-and-her-terrifying-army-of-sweat-licking-babies/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-gLxOanrfI

I wonder about who has ever ate a termite queen and what they felt it was like xp

http://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/9609823425_93aa676480_k.jpg

More here: http://www.wired.com/2014/12/absurd-creature-of-the-week-treehopper/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2014/12/23/when-a-female-mantis-is-hungry-she-fakes-fertility-to-snack-on-duped-mates/

Same

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2015/05/13/watch-trap-jaw-ants-use-their-chops-to-backflip-out-of-danger/#.VVu03FnBzRY

Sometimes I wonder if I should've become a myrmecologist.

https://vine.co/v/eKqtW7Z6nEX

Awesome headline: http://www.wired.com/2015/06/silent-deadly-fatal-farts-immobilize-prey/

nice. arthropods are the best killers

There is a fairly deep literature on insect farting

This caterpillar:

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

I lost the name, unfortunately - it's from this awesome caterpillar search engine: http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?guide=Caterpillars

A Hyphantria cunea apparently

Ridiculous

http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20p?act=zoom&img=/home/IM/I_JP/1039/640/Hyphantria_cunea,_Fall_Webworm,I_JP103948.jpg

Whoops

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

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/02/160201-arachnids-harvestman-penis-amber-fossil-animals-science/

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

The arachnids' long track record excites scientists

http://i.imgur.com/eowXaK0.jpg

http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-thing?.out=jpg&size=l&tid=115778830

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6AB7EZflDE

http://i.imgur.com/Om2KxzD.png

http://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-autopilot-knocked-out-by-moth-2016-5

let me reiterate: fuck moths

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

http://i.imgur.com/4nP5c5K.jpg

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/the-biology-of-the-translucent-jewel-caterpillar-the-nudibranch-of-the-forest/

oh wow those are striking

http://i.imgur.com/9L5zJVU.jpg

want a slo-mo of it springing into flight

http://i.imgur.com/2ymAThf.jpg

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.