Entomology

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A general community to post things about insects

For more specific communities:

Isopods and Myriapods: !isopodmyriapod@mander.xyz


A community for our eight-legged friends: !arachnology@mander.xyz

founded 2 years ago
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An old photo of mine... I don't remember how I managed to spot this.

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I didn't even notice the baby on the back when I was photographing this scorpion. Absolutely adorable. Utila, Honduras.

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In Sri Lanka, the first systematic study of fireflies was carried out by British naturalists in the 18th century, but afterward, there was a loss of interest in studying these fascinating creatures.

Shedding new light on Sri Lanka's firefly fauna, researchers and at least one enthusiastic amateur continue to study them today, resulting in several discoveries.

Sri Lanka is home to 16 firefly species, while Abscondita perplexa and Asymmetricata humeralis are more common and show a countrywide distribution.

In 2010, the researchers recorded Curtos costipennis for the first time in Sri Lanka, making it the first firefly member of the genus Curtos found in Sri Lanka.

Taking the first step, Wijekoon published the book "Fireflies of Sri Lanka," which is the first-ever comprehensive book on the taxonomy and ecology of fireflies in Sri Lanka, addressing the long-felt need and research gap in firefly literature in the country.

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Gene Simmons has nothing on these gals. Possibly Eucera spurcatipes?

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Not sure which is longer, the name or the bug.

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submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by elavat0r@mander.xyz to c/entomology@mander.xyz
 
 

Not the best picture, but I spotted this little friend crawling on my pile of folded laundry in the living room. He appeared to be carrying an ant. We scooped him up with my daughter's bug catching kit (where I tried to get a picture) and let him go outside.

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They're pretty cute. :)

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Not sure of the exact species, possibly Cassida japana.

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Super cool approach to mitigating a near-future problem.

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A romantic scene (pics.letsfail.com)
submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by mostlypixels@programming.dev to c/entomology@mander.xyz
 
 

I promise not to spam this community with random pics, but I adore common blues, and was delighted when I stumbled upon this. I somehow never see them in pairs. I figured I'd share!

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Crafty little buggers.

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submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by FlyingSquid@mander.xyz to c/entomology@mander.xyz
 
 

Eating insects is one of those ideas that never quite seems to catch on. The United Nations endorsed the idea a decade ago, but, in the West at least, bugs remain mostly absent from supermarket shelves. Faced with an indifferent—or disgusted—public, scientists have been exploring other options. One is to feed the insects instead to livestock, which are not so picky.

Of course, the insects need to eat, too. To date, they have mostly been reared on leftover chicken feed. But the supply of that is limited, and if insect-reared meat is to take off, new sources will be needed. In a paper in Applied Entomology, Niels Eriksen, a biochemist at Aalborg University, suggests feeding them on the waste products of the beer industry.

It's not the best solution to feed livestock with insects, but until we can get people to stop eating livestock, this is a more sustainable solution.

That said, I've eaten insects more than once and, with one exception (giant water beetle), it was not an unpleasant experience once you get over the ick factor. Several insects I've had taste nutty, close to pecans. Ants are more cirtusy, I'm guessing due to the formic acid. It's too bad we can't get the West more interested in eating insects.

I haven't tried any arachnids yet, although a friend who tried scorpion said it was relatively tasteless.

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