and insects, germinate seeds, and allow farmers to add manure. Near-desert plots are transformed gradually into small, narrow fields in
or resist insect pests. This has allowed farmers to increase yields and spray less pesticide than they might have otherwise.
Putting the genes for this defense into wheat has created a crop that could trick the insects into thinking that they are in peril and drive them away.
Unlike Bt cotton and other existing GM organisms, such a crop would need no insect-killing chemical for protection from pests.
and also reduce the number of insects and weeds. The soil needs to be changed once every year to keep the garden in a great state...
The situation is so dire that in late June the White house gave a new task force just 180 days to devise a coping strategy to protect bees and other pollinators.
the devices aren meant t to replace natural pollinators forever. We still need to focus on efforts to save these vital creatures.
Where are you a little over a year after it was announced that the first robotic insect took flight?
Last month, Greenpeace released a short video that imagines a future in which swarms of robotic bees have been deployed to save our planet after the real insects go extinct.
nano-netting will provide a fibrous support structure that is visually non-intrusive but capable of keeping out insects, birds,
but backers of the technology say the data they collect from identifying insect problems, watering issues, assessing crop yields
as bees are social insects that communicate the location of pollen to other bees in the beehive.
After 17 years underground the so-called Brood II cicadas are about to have their time in the sun. Millions of these root-sucking insects will come out into the open
These insects cause no harm to humans or to property although occasionally a car parked under a cicada-infested tree could get covered in small droppings.
Hormones drive the cycle Cicadas (erroneously called locusts) are backed large dark insects related to aphids and leafhoppers.
The 13-and 17-year cicadas are the only ones that spend such a long period as juveniles except for insects that diapause
The giant insect forces gas through tiny breathing pores called spiracles on its thorax and abdomen.
#7 Insects You'll Be Eating in the future As the human population continues to inch closer to 8 billion people feeding all those hungry mouths will become increasingly difficult.
but to consume insects. As if to underscore that claim a group of students from Mcgill University in Montreal has won the 2013 Hult Prize for producing a protein-rich flour made from insects.
The prize gives the students $1 million in seed money to begin creating what they call Power Flour.
Earlier this year the Food and agriculture organization of the united nations (FAO) released a report titled Edible Insects: Future Prospects for Food and Feed Security.
The document details the health and environmental benefits derived from a diet supplemented by insects a diet also known as entomophagy.
and other sources here's a list of seven edible insects you may soon find on your dinner plate.
and children generally do the work of gathering the plump little insects. The caterpillars are boiled traditionally in salted water then sun-dried;
some claim that the insects are more than 70 percent protein. Researchers have noted that the gathering of Sphenarium grasshoppers is an attractive alternative to spraying pesticides in fields of alfalfa and other crops.
Dazzling Photos of Dew-Covered Insects Witchetty grub Among the aboriginal people of Australia the witchetty grub is a dietary staple.
Take advantage of the rich nutritional quality of these insects by frying sun-drying smoking or steaming termites in banana leaves.
A 2011 report from the Journal of Insect Science found that the African palm weevil is an excellent source of several nutrients such as potassium zinc iron and phosphorous as well as several amino acids and healthy
The insects are a rich source of important nutrients including protein iron potassium and phosphorus. Because stink bugs release a noxious scent they are eaten not usually raw
Mealworms The larvae of the mealworm beetle (Tenebrio molitor) is one of the only insects consumed in the Western world:
and tigers often associated with the jungles butâ rainforest-dwelling arthropodsâ (a group that includes insects arachnids and crustaceans all of
And some 72000 ladybugs have found a home within the Mall of America where mall managers have released the insects inside the fully enclosed shopping and entertainment complex.
But aphids the pesky insects that feed on plants thrive inside the Mall of America's many landscaped areas.
Though some shoppers have complained that the ladybugs might fly onto food a mall spokesperson noted that the insects tend to spend their lives on plants not human food.
The Lost Ladybug Project is an effort (partly funded by the National Science Foundation) to track the insects'population across the continent.
Insects Come to the Table Mealworms wax worms and crickets may not be obvious choices for Turkey Day
but at a special event this week bug aficionados can taste new insect-y twists on Thanksgiving staples such as pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce.
The Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium in New orleans is cooking up insect-filled Thanksgiving treats at their cafe called Bug Appã tit this Tuesday (Nov 26) and Wednesday (Nov 27.
See Images of the Buggy Treats Healthy option Insects are chock-full of protein and nutrients such as iron and magnesium and unlike beef or pork most bugs require little energy water or space to raise.
As a result many experts believe that raising insects for food will be a key environmentally friendly way to feed the 11 billion people on the planet by 2100.
Like all insects which have an exoskeleton the first bite is crunchy but the inside is soft akin to the inside of a corn kernel the overall taste is a bit like almond paste Necaise said.
Each of the dishes are usually about 25 percent insect and 75 percent traditional ingredients because higher percentages of bug parts could be a bit of a shock to an unaccustomed palate Necaise said.
Humane and sanitary The insects are purchased from commercial suppliers who raise them predominantly for the pet food industry (reptiles
To prepare the insects the best option is to put them into bags in the freezer where their metabolism slows down they go to sleep
Those who are interested in making their own buggy treats at home can take a look at the museum's brochures which list suppliers for the insects
#'Alien'Argentine Ants May have met Their Match Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) are among the most aggressive invasive insects in the United states
and learn how pollinators and plants respond to natural disturbances. If we can understand what happened in the past it can help us understand the current perturbations and loss of diversification.
A modern rodent species that had very similar ornaments on its teeth the African dormouse are seedeaters that also eat some fruit as well as worms arthropods creatures such as insects
After analyzing the structure of these grains the researchers suggested that the associated plants werepollinated by insects most likely beetles as bees did not evolve until about 100 million years later.
However about 60 percent of this pollen came from plants that are pollinated by insects such as bees suggesting they may inadvertently have hitched along in a bee product such as beeswax instead of getting intentionally added to the medicine.
although not as well understood as for insects mammals birds and even in snakes. The recent study published in the Journal of Zoology shows that for crocodiles almost a quarter of the fruits consumed were of the oefleshy kind.
whether it be human hand a crawly insect or an oozy fungus. Research teams led by Robert Last Daniel Jones
Despite their well-earned reputation as a firefighter's worst nightmare eucalyptus trees remain a favorite landscape specimen renowned for fast-growing stands of tall shade trees that according to some research help repel insects through the same fragrant eucalyptus oil that's blamed for fueling wildfires.
While animals like sharks are known to sense electrical fields nobody had ever found that an insect could do the same Scientificamerican reports.
Flowers use various means to attract bees and other pollinators. In addition to their electrical charge and alluring fragrance flowers display bright colors and research has found that bees see colors three times faster than humans.
whose nectar has just been taken by another insect. The last thing a flower wants is to attract a bee
Other scientists are excited about the possible implications this research may have for other nectar-gathering insects such as hoverflies and moths.
Assuming we can replicate the findings this is going to open up a whole new window on insect sensory systems.
and it teems with earthworms beneficial insects and microorganisms. The change is due to several key farming practices including cover cropping and no-till farming
Caffeine in nectarâ is likely to improve the bee's foraging prowess while providing the plant with a more faithful pollinator Wright added.
All of these plants contained caffeine. 10 Things You Need to Know About Coffee Plants produce caffeine as a defense mechanism a bitter-tasting brew to fend off insects.
Cells in the brains of insects are similar to neurons in the hippocampus. To see how caffeine affected these cells the researchers recorded the electrical activity of honeybee brains bathed in a caffeine-containing liquid.
Researchers also got out their magnifying glasses to uncover the Lilliputian beetle a teeny-tiny insect measuring just 0. 09 inches (2. 3 millimeters) long.
The expedition also turned up five other potentially new frog species many insects and one snake.
Several of the new insects were leggy katydids most in shades of green. One of the potentially new katydids seems to mimic a dead leaf with its curved torso and brown coloration.
<a href=http://www. livescience. com/29292-robotic-insects-controlled-flight. html target=blank>Fly-sized Robot Takes First Flight</a p><p
<a href=http://www. livescience. com/26914-why-we-are-all-above-average. html target=blank>Why We're All Above Average</a p><p></p><p>Beware of robots driven by small insects.
A group of researchers has put a silkmoth in the driver's seat of a small two-wheeled robot to study how the insect tracks down smells.</
<a href=http://www. livescience. com/26892-moth-drives-robot. html target=blank>Insect Drives Tiny Robot Toward Seductive Smells</a p><p
insects you've ever heard of it's the size of a quarter and its painful bite has been compared to being knifed is set to invade Florida this summer.</
</p><p>Though often too low or too high for human ears to detect insects
It used to be thought that the pollinating insects such as bees and wasps evolved at about the same time as the angiosperms.
New research however indicates that insect pollination was established probably well before the first flowers. While the oldest bee fossil was trapped in its amber prison only about 80 million years ago evidence has been found that bee
-or wasp-like insects built hive-like nests in what is called now the Petrified Forest.
It is thought now that competition for insect attention probably facilitated the relatively rapid success and diversification of the flowering plants.
As diverse flower forms lured insects to pollinate them insects adapted to differing ways of gathering nectar
insects and fish and people and dogs all have bilateral symmetry. It now appears that the closest relative of Bilaterians are jellyfish
The survey respondents reported a long list of challenges including cover-crop seed availability increased insect potential
As Cambridge university's Patrick Bateson points out it was rare in the past to find people taking seriously the possibility of insect pain
But according to the study scientists who examined recent research in the field animals from insects to chimpanzees may self-medicate as an innate response to parasites and perhaps for other reasons as well.
#Eating Insects Will feed Help Hungry World, UN Says NEW YORK The problem is familiar: How to feed a growing world population.
Eat insects. Now the United nations'Food and agriculture organization has weighed in favor of entomophagy the practice of eating insects.
In a 200-plus-page report issued in May the FAO provides the first comprehensive assessment of insects'current and potential uses food for humans and livestock.
It is accepted widely that by 2050 the world will host 9 billion people. To accommodate this number current food production will need to almost double reads the report titled Edible Insects:
Future Prospects for Food and Feed Security. We need to find new ways of growing food.
The FAO report as well as books published over the past 20 years featuring appealing insect recipes
Although many Westerners may react to the idea of bug-eating with disgust insects make up a part of the traditional diets of about 2 billion people the report estimates.
Beetles account for the most commonly eaten group of insects. I happen to like more the immature beetles the grubs.
Insects offer a clear environmental benefit because they can convert their own food to body mass more efficiently than traditional livestock
because unlike chickens pigs and cows insects are not warm-blooded Sorkin said. As a result they do not have to expend energy to keep themselves warm
 Among other benefits insects take up little space can be raised on waste and research indicates they emit fewer greenhouse gases than conventional livestock according to the report.
I think most people here probably don't like to eat insects because they look like insects. But if you cook the insects dry the insects
and grind them into a flour more people would consume it Sorkin said. One company Utah-based Chapul has taken this approach
and sells energy bars made of cricket flour. Â Humans aren't the only ones who could stand to eat more insects.
Research is exploring using insect protein to feed farmed fish and poultry the report says. Follow us@livescience Facebookâ & Google+.
They will now only be allowed for use on plants that aren't attractive to pollinators like bees the BBC reported.
Pollinators like bees fertilize about one-third of crops worldwide scientists estimate. In the United states the number of colonies has been reduced by about 50 percent in the last year alone according to news reports.
A species called the mountain pine beetle is one of the primary culprits leaving large swaths of forest dying of a fungus carried by the tiny insects.
Tasmanian devils eat meat from snakes birds fish and insects. Their prey can reach up to the size of small kangaroos.
The stripes may also help deter bloodsucking insects research has suggested. The height of an adult plains zebra is 44-58 inches (112 to 147centimeters) at the shoulder.
These spiders typically eat insects though they have been known to eat other spiders. There are about 40 species of hexathelidae in Australia
These spiders usually eat insects or small vertebrates like lizards or frogs. Tree dwellers While most funnel spiders live on the ground a few species on the eastern coast of Australia live in wet forest trees.
The team found the nocturnal carnivores on the western slopes of the Andes prowling the cloud forests for figs nectar and insects.
or they are resistant to a pesticide like Roundup (manufactured by Monsanto Corp.).One widely used method of incorporating insect resistance into plants is through the gene for toxin production found in the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) according to the World health organization.
GMO crops that are modified with the Bt gene have a proven resistance to insect pests thus reducing the need for wide-scale spraying of synthetic pesticides.
and bison and a fatty high-elevation insect called the army cutworm moth. Pine nuts in particular are linked to birth
Two-thirds of bat species feed on insects and other small prey. Many bats are on nighttime pest patrol.
The large colony of 30 million bats in Bracken Cave in Texas consumes about 250 tons of insects every night.
and fruits acting act as pollinators and seed dispersers especially in deserts and rain forests. Bats pollinate wild bananas the famous saguaro cactus and durian the world's most expensive fruit.
#Honeycombs'Surprising Secret Revealed The perfect hexagonal shape of honeycomb cells once thought to be an incredible feat of math-savvy insects has now been explained by simple mechanics.
The trees were infested unfortunately with roundworms and insects. President William Howard Taft acting on advice from agriculture officials ordered the trees burned and destroyed.
and avoid spreading invasive insects such as the Asian longhorn beetle. Still some select projects have sprouted up across the city in the past year that make use of the storm's wreckage.
and then pressurizing the wood in a closed container to force preservatives into all crevices protecting against degradation by burrowing insects and fungus.
The bacteria are spread from tree to tree by a tiny insect called the Asian citrus psyllid The New york times reports.
#Insect Invasion: Fruit-fly Army Infiltrating California They're here! For the past several decades a stealthy foe has been secretly infiltrating California spreading far and wide.
The study published today (Aug 6) in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B also predicts that crop damage resulting from the insect invasion as well as lost trade due to other countries'refusal to import California produce could amount to $1
If the insects were being reintroduced every time then fly sightings should be random. But instead certain types of flies kept cropping up consistently in specific hot spots. For instance the oriental fruit fly has been captured 12 separate times in Anaheim Calif. To Carey's team that indicated that several fruit-fly species were established
which implies the insects can invade new areas with no human help. If Carey's conclusions are true then current state eradication efforts won't work.
which could result in other indirect ecological consequences including a spike in insect populations that the birds would otherwise feed on.
But some of the insects'ilk may be back later this week. Officials sprayed the flying insects with pesticide early this morning (March 6) greatly reducing the number of living flying insects according to a statement from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development.
However there's a moderate risk that another small swarm could reach this region in Israel's Negev desert later this week
and northeastern Sudan despite efforts by these countries to control the insects'populations Cressman said.
Now however the insects have been sprayed and the wind has shifted now blowing out of the northeast greatly reducing the threat the insects pose.
The creatures are also less active and voracious than normal because they have traveled already quite some distance Cressman said.
The locust is the only kosher insect meaning it is acceptable to eat under Jewish law Bruins said.
Honeybee Scouts Find Food They can get up under your clothes where no other insect can go Miller said.
Because of their diet and life cycle the pungent-smelling insects were thought to be limited largely to areas where they could find the invading vine their favorite meal.
These immature insects were able to live off soybeans alone and they reached maturity and reproduced the researchers said.
but arose from a common ancestor a small insect-eating scampering animal shortly after the dinosaurs'demise said researcher Maureen O'Leary at Stony Brook University in New york. The study was so thorough that the team made up of 23
In addition to a furry tail the researchers suggest the four-legged creature likely ate insects weighed from 6 grams (about the weight of some shrews) up to 245 grams less than half a pound
the insects also readily get the salt from animal urine muddy river banks puddles sweaty clothes
and insects such as beetles from the grapes a capability that some wineries already possess in other optical approaches.
This Cambrian explosion included the evolution of arthropods (ancestors of today's insects and crustaceans) and chordates (animals with rudimentary spinal cords.
One of the richest sources of information about life in the Pleistocene epoch can be found in the La Brea Tar pits in Los Angeles where remains of everything from insects to plant life to animals were preserved including a partial skeleton of a female human and a nearly complete woolly mammoth.
and other nearby countries the Cornell Lab said in a statement Documenting a disappearing species Common foraging behaviors here on the breeding grounds are surprisingly different from the way they feed on the wintering grounds according to the Cornell lab. On the breeding grounds the birds feed on insects
While this find may not push Alice's hookah-smoking insect from its psychedelic pedestal this caterpillar is pretty snazzy as it can use nicotine to ward off hungry wolf spiders.
Video See the Smoking Caterpillars in Action It's really a story about how an insect that eats a plant co-opts the plant for its own defense said study researcher Ian Baldwin a professor at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical
Another outbreak near Mount Rainier lasted 10 years from its onset in 1994 until the insects killed all the trees
These insects eat the needles off of spruce trees This won't kill trees immediately but will if the insects return in following years NASA reported.
Landtrendr is still in development but has changed already the way the U s. Forest Service monitors ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest according to the NASA statement.
so that for example they could contain an insect outbreak before it causes too much damage. Reach Douglas Main atâ dmain@techmedianetwork. com. Follow him on Twitterâ@Douglas main. Follow Ouramazingplanet on Twitterâ@OAPLANET. We're also onâ Facebookâ andâ Google+e
#Sipping Tarantula Venom Kills Crop-Eating Insects The venom in a tarantula's fangs packs a lethal punch
Globally insect agricultural pests reduce crop yields by 10 percent to 14 percent and damage 9 percent to 20 percent of stored food crops.
but many insects are resistant to them. In the last decade researchers have been investigating bioinsecticides proteins derived from natural sources such as spider venom.
When ingested by insects the poisonous chemical called orally active insecticidal peptide-1 was as toxic as the synthetic insecticide imidacloprid the group reported today (Sept. 11) in the journal PLOS ONE.
Venoms from other insect-eating animals such as centipedes and scorpions may also contain peptides that could be used as bioinsecticides.
Or scientists could genetically engineer insect-resistant plants or microbes that produce these toxins. The breakthrough discovery that spider toxins can have oral activity has implications not only for their use as bioinsecticides
Though often too low or too high for human ears to detect insects and animals signal each other with vibrations.
And there is evidence that insects and plants hear each other's sounds. Bees buzz at just the right frequency to release pollen from tomatoes and other flowering plants.
Flying insects perform death drops when they sense a bat's sonar clicks. Earthworms flee the vibrations of oncoming moles.
Some of the beneficial vibrations also drive away pesky insects that munch on crops. We're not there yet Telewski said of the effort to prove plants communicate.
And the fizzy bubble bursts in xylem are ultrasonic about 300 kilohertz detectable only by insects and some other animals.
After sunset the spiders stand facing down from the odd-looking web waiting for insects to get caught
Edible bugs Eating insects might also fall into the not good category for many Western scientists.
As a corn entomologist one of my suggestions to corn growers who were plagued by insects was to eat them.
So Turpin concocted corn fritters laced with European corn borers for an insect-cooking demonstration. Edible Bugs to Help Fight World Hunger Turpin also enthusiastically eats raw insects.
He recalls biting down on a raw grub for a TV SHOW on eating insects the cameraman fainted
when juice squirted out. After we revived him we did a second take this time without incident Turpin said.
It really gives us an insight into how complex social-learning behaviors can arise in animals said study researcher Erika Dawson a doctoral student at Queen Mary University of London.
After the queen ant gives birth to her larvae she and the other worker ants gnaw holes in the larvae and suck out the circulatory system fluid known as haemolymph (the insect equivalent of blood).
Luckily the baby ants survive this so-called nondestructive cannibalism but it can't be very pleasant.
because there may be other causes like cracks in the wood or insects. But the majority of sounds that occur during cavitations (tiny air bubbles that pop out in the water) are due to these bubbles.
and many insects (including pests such as bark beetles in the West or gypsy moths in the East) reproduce more quickly and often.
#Tree-Killing Insects Adapting to Warmer Cities Bizarre-looking bugs known as scale insects may be tiny but they can take down an oak tree.
In the hot greenhouse the egg sacs from the warmest urban zones produced almost four times as many insects as the egg sacs from cooler urban zones.
and the fertility rates among the insects from both hot and cold zones of the city but they did not find any significant differences.
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