Finding a shady refuge to cool off on a hot day could be more than a lifesaver in a warming world. It might save several species that would otherwise go extinct due to global warming, according to an analysis by ecologists ...
Ecology
Jun 14, 2019
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65
Migratory hoverflies are "key" to pollination and controlling crop pests amid the decline of many other insect species, new research shows.
Ecology
Jun 13, 2019
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254
Millions of locusts have devastated at least 2,000 hectares of crops in Sardinia, Italian farmers union Coldiretti said Monday, with experts calling the invasion the worst in six decades.
Ecology
Jun 10, 2019
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4
Livestock farming is destroying our planet. It is a major cause of land and water degradation, biodiversity loss, acid rain, coral reef degeneration, deforestation—and of course, climate change. Plant-based diets, insect ...
Environment
May 30, 2019
1
38
Colonies of social insects are capable of self-organizing and accomplishing complex tasks through individual interactions. For example, to march across large gaps, ants grip the bodies of each other, forming a living bridge ...
Nanomaterials
May 17, 2019
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1926
Insects are a healthy and environmentally friendly food source. But how can people in the Western world be convinced to eat them?
Environment
May 15, 2019
0
8
Most amber inclusions are organisms that lived in the forest. It is very rare to find sea life trapped in amber. However, an international research group led by Prof. Wang Bo from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology ...
Archaeology & Fossils
May 13, 2019
0
910
Three very good dogs – named Bayar, Judd and Sasha – have sniffed out the endangered Alpine Stonefly, one of the smallest animals a dog has been trained to successfully detect in its natural habitat.
Plants & Animals
May 06, 2019
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8
What if there were no more insects? Recent media headlines all over the world have raised this question, often using apocalyptic terms. Remarkably, on 20 March 2019, the U.K. Parliament even took a few minutes off discussing ...
Ecology
May 01, 2019
0
32
University of Queensland researchers are investigating the use of maggots, locusts and other alternative proteins in a range of specialty foods.
Other
May 01, 2019
0
158
Insects (Class Insecta) are arthropods, having a hard exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax, and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet and include approximately 30 gladiator and icebug, 35 Zoraptera, 150 snakefly, 200 silverfish, 300 alderfly, 300 webspinner, 350 jumping bristletail, 550 scorpionfly, 600 Strepsiptera, 1,200 caddisfly, 1,700 stonefly, 1,800 earwig, 2,000 flea, 2,200 mantis, 2,500 mayfly, 3,000 louse, 3,000 walking stick, 4,000 cockroach, 4,000 lacewing, 4,000 termite, 5,000 dragonfly, 5,000 thrips, 5,500 booklouse, 20,000 cricket, grasshopper, and locust, 82,000 true bug, 110,000 ant, bee, sawfly, and wasp, 120,000 true fly, 170,000 butterfly and moth, and 360,000 beetle species described to date. The number of extant species is estimated at between six and ten million, with over a million species already described. Insects represent more than half of all known living organisms and potentially represent over 90% of the differing life forms on Earth. Insects may be found in nearly all environments, although only a small number of species occur in the oceans, a habitat dominated by another arthropod group, the crustaceans.
Adult modern insects range in size from a 0.139 mm (0.00547 in) fairyfly (Dicopomorpha echmepterygis) to a 56.7-centimetre (22.3 in) long stick insect (Phobaeticus chani). The heaviest documented present-day insect was 70 g (2½ oz) Giant Weta, though the Goliath beetles Goliathus goliatus, Goliathus regius and Cerambycid beetles such as Titanus giganteus hold the title for some of the largest species in general.
The largest known extinct insect is a kind of dragonfly, Meganeura.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
