News tagged with insect biology
Next generation of algorithms inspired by problem-solving ants
(PhysOrg.com) -- An ant colony is the last place you'd expect to find a maths whiz, but University of Sydney researchers have shown that the humble ant is capable of solving difficult mathematical problems.
Dec 10, 2010 |
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44-year-old mystery of how fleas jump resolved (w/ Video)
If you thought that we know everything about how the flea jumps, think again. In 1967, Henry Bennet-Clark discovered that fleas store the energy needed to catapult themselves into the air in an elastic pad ...
Feb 10, 2011 |
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Popular insect repellent deet affects nervous system: study
The active ingredient in many insect repellents, deet, has been found to be toxic to the central nervous system. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Biology say that more investigations are urgently needed ...
Aug 05, 2009 |
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Fly Eye Paves the Way for Manufacturing Biomimetic Surfaces
(PhysOrg.com) -- Rows of tiny raised blowfly corneas may be the key to easy manufacturing of biomimetic surfaces, surfaces that mimic the properties of biological tissues, according to a team of Penn State ...
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Jul 27, 2010 |
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Cockroaches Control Their Breathing to Save Water
(PhysOrg.com) -- Many insects have been known for decades to hold their breath when resting, but the reasons have not been well understood. A new study on cockroaches suggests the insects reduce their breathing ...
Sep 24, 2009 |
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Mom was right: Why nice guys usually get the girls
(PhysOrg.com) -- Female water striders often reject their most persistent and aggressive suitors and prefer the males who aren't so grabby, according to new research. Water striders are insects commonly seen ...
Nov 05, 2009 |
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Research team clarifies mechanics of first new cell cycle to be described in more than 20 years
An international team of researchers led by investigators in the U.S. and Germany has shed light on the inner workings of the endocycle, a common cell cycle that fuels growth in plants, animals and some human tissues and ...
Oct 30, 2011 |
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Sexless for a million years, stick bugs elude extinction
(PhysOrg.com) -- Simon Fraser University biologists say a species of stick insect found to be celibate for 1.5 million years raises questions about why these particular lineages have escaped extinction thus ...
Jul 19, 2011 |
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What is the meaning of 'one'? Evolutionary biologists argue for new meaning of 'organismality'
Rice University evolutionary biologists David Queller and Joan Strassmann argue in a new paper that high cooperation and low conflict between components, from the genetic level on up, give a living thing its "organismality," ...
Nov 09, 2009 |
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How Wolbachia bacteria controls vectors of deadly diseases
Researchers at Boston University have made discoveries that provide the foundation towards novel approaches to control insects that transmit deadly diseases such as dengue fever and malaria through their study of the Wolbachia bacter ...
Oct 20, 2011 |
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The diving bell and the water spider: How spiders breathe under water
Water spiders spend their entire lives under water, only venturing to the surface to replenish their diving bell air supply. Yet no one knew how long the spiders could remain submerged until Roger Seymour ...
Jun 09, 2011 |
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A new model for understanding biodiversity
(PhysOrg.com) -- Animals like foxes and raccoons are highly adaptable. They move around and eat everything from insects to eggs. They and other "generalist feeders" like them may also be crucial to sustaining ...
Nov 21, 2011 |
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A new role is hatched for female fruit flies
A team of New York University biologists has uncovered a previously unknown role for a set of cells within the female reproductive tract of fruit flies that affects the functioning of sperm and hence fertility. Their discovery, ...
Nov 08, 2011 |
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Rhythmic vibrations guide caste development in social wasps
(PhysOrg.com) -- Future queen or tireless toiler? A paper wasp's destiny may lie in the antennal drumbeats of its caretaker.
Jan 24, 2011 |
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Mosquitoes use several different kinds of odor sensors to track human prey
It now appears that the malaria mosquito relies on a battery of different types of odor sensors to mediate its most critical behaviors, including how to choose and locate their blood-meal hosts. In an article ...
Aug 31, 2010 |
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