RoboBee
Harvard researchers recently got a $10 million grant to create a colony of flying robotic bees, or RoboBees to among other things, spur innovation in ultra-low-power computing and electronic “smart” sensors; and refine coordination algorithms to manage multiple, independent machines.
 

A new giant orb spider has been discovered in South Africa.
A new giant spider – which has huge five-inch females and tiny males – has been discovered by scientists.  The female of the new species of golden orb weaver spider has a body one and a half inches long with a leg span of [...]

As part of a project to understand how the brain learns, biologists have written memories into the cells of a fruitfly’s brain, making it think it had a terrible experience.
 

Fruit flies.
When Professor Joel Levine’s team genetically tweaked fruit flies so that they didn’t produce certain pheromones, they triggered a sexual tsunami in their University of Toronto Mississauga laboratory. In fact, they produced bugs so irresistible that normal male fruit flies attempted to mate with pheromone-free males and even females from a different species-generally a [...]

Adult female Bagheera kiplingi eats Beltian body harvested from ant-acacia.
There are approximately 40,000 species of spiders in the world, all of which have been thought to be strict predators that feed on insects or other animals. Now, scientists have found that a small Central American jumping spider has a uniquely different diet: the species Bagheera [...]

Male common fruit fly (Drosophila Melanogaster). A common household nuisance, the fruit fly, is capable of intricate social learning much like that used by humans.

A common household nuisance, the fruit fly, is capable of intricate social learning much like that used by humans, according to new research from McMaster University.

Filoha Meadows in central Colorado
A refuge for the Ute Indians and a transit corridor for the marble quarried for the Washington Monument, Filoha Meadows in central Colorado has been used as farmland, an arthritic retreat center, and a movie set. Developers eyed it to build 15,000 square-foot homes, while others envisioned the entire area under [...]

Scientists have worked out a new way to defend computers from cyber attackers – by studying ants.  Watching how they behaved when a colony was under threat, gave programmers inspiration for a new weapon against infections known as worms and viruses.
 

Cyborg beetles are plain creepy
DARPA shows off its remote-controlled cyborg beetles

Fly caught inside a Venus fly trap.
Like the man-eating plant in Little Shop of Horrors, carnivorous plants rely on animal prey for sustenance. Fortunately for humans, carnivorous plants found in nature are not dependent on a diet of human blood but rather are satisfied with the occasional fly or other insect. The existence of carnivorous [...]

Super honey to helf fight off superbugs
Honey lovers, you have a whole new reason to feel dedicated to the sweet sticky stuff. We know that honey has been used as an antibacterial for cuts and scrapes for ages. The high sugar content strips much-needed water from bacteria. But a certain type of honey may be [...]

A common European earthworm burrowing into soil.
The large group of segmented worms known as annelids, which includes earthworms, leeches and bristle worms, evolved millions of years ago and can be found in every corner of the world. Although annelids are one of the most abundant animal groups on the planet, scientists have struggled to understand [...]

Green gecko. New research shows that the tails of geckos and other lizards exhibit not only rhythmic but also complex movements, including flips, jumps and lunges, after the tails are shed.

Geckos and other lizards have long been known for their incredible ability to shed their tails as a decoy for predators, but little is known [...]

A cotton bollworm moth flies off the hand of a technician in a laboratory
Moths, caterpillars and fruit flies could soon take the place of millions of mice used every year by scientists testing drugs, researchers said Tuesday.  Biologists have discovered that certain key cells in mammals and insects react in the same way when attacked [...]

Pestival
It’s called ” Pestival A Festival of Insects in Art” and as crazy as it sounds–it works! It’s an examination, in the nicest possible way, of how insects shape our world and how humans shape the world of insects. There is art, music, food, activities, lectures and lots more. (Pics)
 

Honey bee
The electromagnetic waves emitted by mobile phone towers and cellphones can pose a threat to honey bees, a study published in India has concluded.
 

A new study shows that heat can produce a potentially toxic substance in high-fructose corn syrup that may kill honeybees.
Researchers have established the conditions that foster formation of potentially dangerous levels of a toxic substance in the high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) that is often fed to honey bees. Their study, which appears in the current [...]

unknown species of crustacean, belonging to the remipede genus Speleonectes.
During a cave diving expedition to explore the Tunnel de la Atlantida, the world’s longest submarine lava tube on Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, a team of scientists and cave divers have discovered a previously unknown species of crustacean, belonging to the remipede genus Speleonectes.

1. Deep Fried Chocolate Covered Twinkie On A Stick
 
It’s a commonly known fact that food is just better when it’s on a stick. It is simply sticky business! So we’ve gone ahead and made a Top 10 list of the best & worst stick foods from around the world.  Perhaps you have seen or even tried some [...]

The top ten or bottom ten mistakes in evolution
1.)  Sea mammal blowhole. Any animal that spends appreciable time in the ocean should be able to extract oxygen from water via gills. Enlarging the lungs and moving a nostril to the back of the head is a poor work-around.

Two bumblebees. Declining bumblebee populations are at greater risk of inbreeding, which can trigger a downward spiral of further decline.
Declining bumblebee populations are at greater risk of inbreeding, which can trigger a downward spiral of further decline. Researchers have provided the first proof that inbreeding reduces colony fitness under natural conditions by increasing the [...]

Potamopyrgus antipodarum is a snail that lives in the muds of New Zealand’s lakes, rivers and estuaries
The coevolutionary struggle between a New Zealand snail and its worm parasite makes sex advantageous for the snail, whose females favor asexual reproduction in the absence of parasites, say Indiana University Bloomington and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology biologists [...]

This is Tyrrhenoleuctra antoninoi
After 10 years of biochemical and molecular analysis of the Tyrrhenoleuctra plecoptera that live in the Western Mediterranean, Spanish and Italian scientists have now demonstrated that one of the insect populations of this group is a distinct and, therefore, new species.
 

Modified insects could soon be joining rescue workers in the search for survivors
IF YOU’RE trapped under rubble after an earthquake, wondering if you’ll see daylight again, the last thing you need is an insect buzzing around your face. But that insect could save your life, if a scheme funded by the Pentagon comes off.
 

 
Scientists have discovered a mega-colony of this invasive insect species that stretches across the globe
Argentine ants from three huge colonies in Europe, America and Japan are actually part of one global super-colony, scientists have revealed.