Real Entomologists, @Stylopidae, @Ms_Mars, and @SciBugs answer your questions about bugs! Shoot us a question below!
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Hey, fellow entomologists!
If you are at #EntSoc26, we’re holding a reunion TweetUp.
Details:
Stories On High at the Hilton
10:30, after the student mixer
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The Non-GMO project specifies that ingredients derived from GMOs are considered GMOs.
I know you like to see dunks, but try to at least do a little reading and not get your opinions from a Bayer employee half-assedly spouting talking points that are twenty years old.
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Furthermore, he’s actually published articles on white supremecist websites. Specifically VDare.
They’re popular in ag circles because they also discuss vaccines and GMOs (their articles on these topics are fine…actually well researched).
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Either way, the document mentions potential effects on nontarget organisms as a concern.
Nontarget effects are why caffeine is no longer used as a frogicide(?) in Hawaii.
So, like, it's not approved here either. At least, there's no EPA RED that I can find.
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My second favorite insect commander in Magic: The Gathering has to be The Wise Mothman from the Fallout series.
TWM scales up insanely fast, especially when paired with Mesmeric Orb.
#MagicTheGathering
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Cobra handlers have to be mindful when milking snakes or cleaning enclosures, because the venom from these animals can really get everywhere.
Small, nonlethal exposures, can turn into whopping allergies relatively quickly.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1594…
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My main issue with the paper (as well as the meme) is that it puts these compounds into distinct categories, when the reality is that many of these compounds can pull double-duty.
Spitting cobras would be another example.
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Tetrodotoxin does not need to be injected in order to be fatal.
Pufferfish, for example, produce tetrodotoxin in their tissues...similar to blue-ringed octopusses.
If you eat improperly prepared fugu, you could die from this toxin.
Thus, it is not advisable to eat the BROctops
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Blue-ringed octopi (octopusses? @SarahMackAttack? What's the plural?) produce the very potent tetrodotoxin in their salivary glands, and bite to introduce it to predators when they're in trouble.
It's also found in patches throughout their body, in the mantle, arms, etc.
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These are all well and good on a theoretical level, but fail once you actually take into account the ecology/physiology of the chemical compounds themselves.
So let's take the blue-ring octopus, an organism they explicitly mention as being 'venomous'.
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So grammatically speaking, venoms are poisons. Like, by definition.
They're introduced via injury. This part is correct.
So far as I can tell, the meme is based off this paper which can be found via Sci-Hub.
Give it a quick read, and then come back to this thread.
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Note the use of the word 'toxin' here. A toxin generally refers to a poison produced by a biological organism, with the definition of poison being a substance which causes harm in a biological system.
I'm not really into grammatical arguments, but wanted to address it.
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First, we really need to get into the definitions here because 'what is a venom' has been the subject of considerable debate.
One definition from the lit:
Arbuckle, K. (2017). Evolutionary context of venom in animals. Evolution of venomous animals and their toxins, 24, 3-31.
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For tonight's #DeepDive, let's talk about this meme popularized by folks like Casual Geographic and Wild Green memes.
Once you dig into the biology of poisons, it begins to fall apart pretty quickly.
More importantly, it's actually dangerous to people who work with animals.
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Awesome new video from @zefrank!
youtube.com/watch?v=ANyJVMhO…
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One thing I've gotten into over the past two years is Magic: The Gathering.
I only play insect commanders, and my favorite is The Locust God.
Image credit: EDHRec
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One observation in support of this idea is the fact that spores of psilocybin producing species can survive double-digestion.
If something eats the spores, and then gets eaten by a predator, the spores can still germinate after being pooped out.
sciencedirect.com/science/ar…
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Regardless the fact that it's produced by Massospora, which needs to keep its hosts alive to complete its lifecycle, implies that the compound isn't actually used to kill animals.
Massospora hollows out its hosts, and relies on mating attempts to spread in cicada populations.
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Halloween is spooky season; a time when all of our perceptions are a bit altered.
A lot of critters produce mind-altering substances, chief among them fungi.
So why do they produce these substances?
#DeepDive
Image credit: Mushroom Observer via Wikipedia
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Here's what the males look like, with two big bois locked in combat:
flic.kr/p/2kzw7Ng
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Kleavor-part of the scyther line-strikes me as something like Gonatista, which mimics lichens in their natural habitat.
flic.kr/p/Y9BDD6
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Ribombee is definitely some sort of Bombyliid
flic.kr/p/2oXeAno
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Volcarona is definitely some sort of Saturniid.
I'm partial to a Cecropia moth for this one
flic.kr/p/tJhyZ7
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Araquinid has always struck me as a diving-bell spider (Argyroneta sp)
flic.kr/p/2msANnz
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If you're wondering about the real-world counterparts on this team:
Lokix is probably a Gryllus sp.
flic.kr/p/2nUYvEY
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WOAH. Someone made a competitive bug-type pokemon team, and actually did well with it.
Via @MoxieBoosted
youtube.com/watch?v=dIy7aWW2…
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Eh, just noticed that I used two slightly different measures above.
Here's application rate for corn; note the drastic increase since 2010, despite the widespread availability of Bt crops:
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For corn, the toxicity has gone down...but the trend should be concerning.
Source:
wyoweeds.shinyapps.io/Pestic…
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Using pounds on the ground is nonsensical, as there is a greater than 3,000x difference between the least and most toxic insecticides used in agriculture.
The weight of the insecticides used have gone down, but chronic toxicity risk has stayed the same, at least for cotton.
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We should also mention that all tetrapods (humans, lizards, frogs, etc) are technically fish, because we nestle firmly within a specific group of fishes.
However, bees are more firmly situated within the wasp family tree than tetrapods are within the fish family tree.
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If we take a closer look at that group, we see that the Apoidea is firmly nestled between the Cuckoo wasps (Chrysidoidea) and the Vespoidea, which includes hornets and ants.
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If all bees are wasps, does that mean all wasps are bees?
Not really, and the reason is really complicated.
This is a family tree of all the wasps. The group I've highlighted, the Aculeata contains the bees.
Note that the Aculeata is pretty firmly within the wasps.
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However, we see armor plating in the most primitive fossilized spiders and spider-like critters such as this Chimerarachne below.
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Here is what Liphistius looks like out of it's burrow.
Take a look at that abdomen, though...it has armor plates!
flic.kr/p/6Gn5dH
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For the species which have been studied, it appears they can overwinter as eggs, larvae, duteronymphs, and adults.
Belozerov, V. N. (2010). Seasonal adaptations in the life cycles of mites and ticks: comparative and evolutionary aspects. Trends in Acarology, 319-326.
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This is a really good question.
Everything in nature is a series of dancing bell curves, so they don't drop dead in unison at 42*. Some can survive slightly lower temperatures; some die before that point.
(This is the best bell curve GIF Twitter had)
Thing is, though...
@BugQuestions question about "red bugs" (Trombiculidae).Everything i read says "they die when it gets colder than 42 F" that cant be the magic number and they all just kick the bucket can it? It has to be more progressive than that, like multiple days of 42? Or is that literal?
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If you want to know where these guys are found, they have a range along the East coast of the US.
This map is from @BugGuidenet, courtesy of their data page.
bugguide.net/node/view/7230/…
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On the left, you can see footprints left by the beetles when they're just walking. Only a handful of bristles touch the surface.
However, when they're attacked, they press all the bristles onto the surface...which you can see on the right here.
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The species tested here, Vespula maculifrons has fairly large nests...up to 15,000 individuals. Far less than the ~100K workers honeybees can build, but still very impressive.
Regardless, evisceration happens ~50% of the time in this species. Less in V. germanica.
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Because the stinger is so hard to remove, the guts get pulled out when the animal swats them away.
This results in essentially the same phenomena you see in honeybees where the guts are pulled out when they sting.
Yellowjacket on top, honeybee on bottom.
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Honeybees aren't the only insects which eviscerate themselves after stinging.
Yellowjackets can do this as well!
Well, some of them.
See, a yellowjacket's stinger is barbed and very difficult to pull out.
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This net immobilizes the ants long enough for the millipedes-who don't move very fast-to escape.
For the most part, the ants will be able to clean themselves off after a few hours. However, about 10% of ants become so entangled that they end up dying of dehydration.
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When the millipede brushes up against an ant, the bristles catch different structures on the ant's face.
Then, by moving, the ant causes the bristles to come into contact with one another and then they form a net...like you can see below.
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This is what those bristles look like up close. They're not pointed or anything, but they are meant to lock up when thrown against something.
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This is what the females-who can sting-look like. Note the black patches on the face.
flic.kr/p/2mxiEXG
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You can see a much clearer picture of a male here. Note the completely yellow face, including the mandibles.
flic.kr/p/JxWJTd
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This is...a great explanation of why people tend to get stung more in the fall than the spring or summer months.
youtube.com/watch?v=i5ZcCHCx…
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It's a good idea, but not very effective. Only ~8% of plants are completely destroyed by the weevils, compared with ~100% by a good (albeit theoretical) herbicide treatment.
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Fun fact: Weevils have been investigated as a way to control opium poppies during narcotic operations.
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Is killing a praying mantis illegal?
In no US state are there any laws protecting praying mantids as an endangered species.
However, the Carolina mantis is the official state insect of South Carolina.
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Once inside the nest, the larvae begin to eat. They find an almost mature wasp larva and then go to town, eating as much of it as they can.
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So let's talk about my favorite moth: An innocent looking Crambid which eats wasps right in their nests.
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It just occurred to me that in one post, I said that mosquitoes were good fliers when it came to bubbles, but in another post I said they fly slowly.
So how can both of those be true?
This video does a good job of explaining the paradox.
youtube.com/watch?v=XWyoy44o…
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The virus goes on to infect the brain of the ladybug, again shown by the black arrows here.
The virus then goes on to cause changes in the brain's structure, paralyzing the insect and increasing it's aggression level
It can't move far, but also attacks anything which gets close
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The wasp has a secret weapon...a virus which lives inside her reproductive system.
While she's making eggs, the virus replicates.
When she injects her egg into the ladybug, the virus comes along with
You can see it here, in the picture below...the black arrows point to viruses
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Dinocampus wasps are pretty standard parasitoids.
The female lays an egg inside the host, develops, emerges, and then the cycle goes on.
However, there's a problem with this...other parasitoids which could kill the developing wasp.
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Right now, in your backyard, there's a zombie.
It's not something you need to worry about, though. Plenty of bugs turn their hosts into zombies.
So how does this work?
Let's explore the case of Dinocampus coccinellae...the ladybird destroyer
#DeepDive
flic.kr/p/2hs1Gy4
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This is what baby dragonflies look like.
They have these neat little masks used for capturing prey!
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Paper wasps are the easiest nests to take care of. They build open-faced umbrella shaped nests which wasp spray can easily reach.
The average homeowner who isn’t allergic to wasps are usually able to exterminate safely.
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Hornets, bald-faced or otherwise, tend to build football-shaped nests with only one entrance.
This is difficult for wasp-spray to penetrate, so it’s a good idea to consult an exterminator to take care of it.
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If you cannot see the nest, call an exterminator.
Yellowjackets love to nest in the ground and their nests can be tens of thousands strong.
This is a situation you do not want to deal with, at least not without proper PPE.
flic.kr/p/BUFx4m
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We should contrast this with the native cicada killers, which are solitary and completely harmless despite their impressive size
They’re big and scary, but will not sting unless captured…and they’re extremely difficult to catch
They look like this:
flic.kr/p/X8RQJd
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Another common invasive on the East coast is Vespa crabro, which is an invasive hornet from Europe.
They look like this:
flic.kr/p/2nuqAAp
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The most common native wasp you’re going to encounter is Polistes fuscatus, which likes to make it’s home near people.
You can identify it by the color of the abdomen and antennae:
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The most common invasive wasp you’re going to encounter is Polistes dominula, an invasive paper wasp from Europe that’s pushing out native wasps.
This is how you can identify it:
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Removing the bees is actually the best option for extermination. If they’re simply sprayed out, the honey will leak from the hive and cause more property damage.
flic.kr/p/8tLy1M
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We get asked quite a bit about whether you should exterminate wasp's nests, and whether it's safe to do so.
Let's talk about that!
#DeepDive
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The fly which was eventually decided on was Lucilia sericata, a beautiful metallic green Calliphorid.
flic.kr/p/wW4dTA
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The first modern attempt at maggot therapy was made in 1929 by William Baer
Baer was a WWI veteran who noticed that maggot-infested wounds healed better and faster than similar wounds on the battlefield
So he wanted to use them on nonhealing wounds while he was at Johns Hopkins
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Ambroise Pare noted in the 1500s that maggots infesting battlefield wounds made them heal faster, although he also tried to prevent infestation.
Sadly, his writings are all in archaic French, and poorly digitized so I was unable to translate good enough for this post. :(
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Maggot therapy is objectively gross, but also pretty awesome because it works really well.
It was cool to see it introduced in @HouseofDragon this week!
So what is it, and how does it work?
This week's #DeepDive
youtube.com/watch?v=Z95Yxm_K…
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It was so cool to see maggot therapy introduced in #HouseOfDragon this week.
Maggot therapy was actually introduced to the Western world by Ambroise Pare in the 1500s.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambroi…
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In 1882, Trouvelot returned to France and worked at the Meudon observatory, entering into a bitter rivalry with his boss, Pierre Janssen
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He also produced drawings of several planets, including Jupiter and Saturn.
sciencedirect.com/science/ar…
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In 1872, he was invited to join the faculty at Harvard where he became a part of the Astronomy department.
He produced some of the earliest known drawings of sunspots up close, using the department's 15-inch refractory telescope.
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Around 1870, Trouvelot began to look at auroras and draw them for fun.
This is his earliest print I can find online.
As an artist, he was quite talented.
publicdomainreview.org/colle…
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In 1868, several of the insects escaped and became established in the woods around his home.
Trovelot was quite upset by this, and the rest is history.
The Spongy Moth established, and became one of the most important forest pests in the US.
flic.kr/p/eVxYax
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It was at his house on 27 Myrtle street that he begun rearing native silkmoths to experiment with silk production.
He reared Polyphemus moths on tented trees, believing them to be the best option outside of silkworms to produce silk.
flic.kr/p/2nsQykp
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For this week's #DeepDive, let's talk about the life and times of Étienne Léopold Trouvelot, the dude responsible for introducing the Spongy Moth to North America.
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They are adorable...and also pretty good predators when they're in their element!
flic.kr/p/4ct9xh
Hornets are a subgrouping of two very closely related kinds of wasp.
Dolichovespula is a small group of wasps typically known as the Areal Yellowjackets, but it has one species of hornet: The bald-faced hornet. Genus has US natives.
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This is a Protocoleopteran beetle...a Tsheskardocoleid.
The literature keeps going back and forth as to whether it's actually a beetle, and for good reason.
It has a lot of features that aren't present in beetles, but ARE present in neuropterans.
It's a transitional fossil.
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A friend of @Stylopidae's sent this article from the Institute of Creation Research to him, and wanted us to address it.
All that needs to be said is that absence of evidence =/ evidence of absence esp. for molecular data.
Thing is, though...beetles have a fossil record.
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New #DeepDive coming in hot tonight, courtesy of @SarahMackAttack and @sennoma: Where the hell did beetles come from?
@Stylopidae needs to go on a run first before we start.
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Imagine explaining wasps to someone from another dimension...
youtu.be/x1aZEz8BQiU
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