Free Republic

Open Your Mind, and Your Mouth You might think of eating insects as something kids do on a dare. But some of these little animals are popular around the world for their nutritional value -- and they’re starting to catch on in the U.S. Not long ago, sushi and lobster didn’t seem all that appetizing to Americans, so it’s not as far-fetched as it sounds.

The British government is funding projects pushing Africans to farm and consume insects, including school-age children, in randomized trials, to assess their effects. The United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) – a subsidiary of the country’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy – is responsible for backing the projects taking place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zimbabwe. With a roughly $320,000 grant from the aid office, researchers in Zimbabwe will be experimenting with using mopane worms in porridge served to children in schools. Poor children aged seven to 11 in the towns of Gwanda and Harare...

A bizarre little insect that looks like a walking toupée and squirts venomous pus from knifelike spines is terrorizing Virginia this year, according to the state's Department of Forestry (VDoF). The venomous pus caterpillar is the larval form of the southern flannel moth (Megalopyge opercularis), and if you see one you should stay away from it. Its "hairs" are actually spines that make it among the most venomous caterpillars in the United States. A woman in New Kent County described the sensation of a "scorching hot knife passing through the outside of my calf" when she brushed against one on...

Rice University evolutionary ecologists have discovered huge quantities of one of North America's most venomous caterpillars. Texas Medical Center (TMC)—which is visited by 10 million people seeking health care each year—are routinely netted to discourage pesky birds such as grackles and pigeons. Now Rice researchers have learned the netting has an unintended consequence: Chasing away birds that eat insects has created a haven for a flourishing population of Megalopyge opercularis, commonly referred to as asps. When a human is stung by an asp, it can cause localized pain that is compared to blunt-force trauma or a bone break. Egan's team...

FULL TITLE: Sanctity of Caterpillars: Virginia Legislator Who Pushed Infanticide Law Also Filed Bill To Save Bugs ShareTweet Democrat Delegate Kathy Tran, who submitted the horrifying legislation that would have allowed babies to be murdered even after birth, also filed legislation to ensure the sanctity of life for “fall cankerworms.” Tran filed “H.B. 2495 Fall cankerworm; spraying prohibited during certain months,” a bill that would protect the lives of caterpillars and other insects during certain months, on the same day she filed “H.B. 2491 Abortion; eliminate certain requirements,” the defeated legislation that would have made it legal for a new...

VIRGINIA DEL. KATHY TRAN SUBMITTED BILL TO SAVE CATERPILLARS ON SAME DAY AS LATE-STAGE ABORTION BILL 12:53 AM 01/31/2019 | POLITICS William Davis | Contributor 9029 The Democratic Virginia delegate who has recently come under fire for sponsoring a bill in the Virginia House of Delegates that would allow the termination of a pregnancy up to 40 weeks old, is also the chief patron of a bill that would protect the lives of “fall cankerworms” during certain months. Democratic Virginia Del. Kathy Tran introduced “House Bill No. 2495 – Fall cankerworm; spraying prohibited during certain months” on Jan. 9, the...

Both butterflies and moths have four stages of life – they go from the initial egg to a caterpillar, then to a cocoon and finally to a butterfly or moth. We often think that whatever comes out of the cocoon is always more beautiful than the caterpillar that made it, but in some cases, this is not the case. In these 19 pictures, you’ll see the transformation, and decide for yourself if you prefer the caterpillar or the butterfly/moth… Click on any of the images to see the transformation!

Thousands of people have fled their homes in northern Liberia following an invasion of caterpillars - which have overtaken houses and schools, destroyed crops and contaminated water sources. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says these attacks are becoming more frequent in Liberia and the government needs to put in place an early warning system to stop the invasions from reaching such catastrophic levels. Residents of at least 25 villages and towns in the forested areas of Lofa and Gbarpolu counties have been fleeing en masse since early June to escape the trail of excrement that the caterpillars...

How pathetic is this? Pathetic enough that even TNR can only shake its head sadly at the lameness of the contrived involved outrage. Alternate headline: “Blogger shifts from beer to hard liquor to cope.” HUNT: Let me ask you this. The Democrats of course say you are waging, the GOP is waging a war on women. I know you don’t agree with that, but looking at the polls, you have a gender gap problem. Recent polls show a huge, huge margin for Democrats among women voters. How big a problem is it? How do you close it? PRIEBUS: Well, for...

Caterpillars stop train in China Tags: caterpillars, News, train, World, Oddly enough, China Jun 2, 2011 00:48 Moscow Time Caterpillars. Photo: EPA In the north of China a train ground to a halt due to hordes of caterpillars crossing the railroad tracks in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The freight train was forced to slow down first, and then stop for three hours. According to Xinhua agency, the caterpillars had covered about a kilometer of the tracks. The train was able to move only after road workers resorted to shovels and brooms to clear the rails from this unexpected impediment....

Largo, Florida -- Depending on who you talk to, those little caterpillars hanging on the edge of the long, silky threads are either pretty cool or disgusting. "I think it's kind of gross," said 6-year-old Mace Morris as he played with his brothers at Largo's Eagle Lake Park. Photos: Caterpillas invade Tampa Bay The green and yellowish caterpillars are hanging from just about everything...off the playground equipment, off the trees and even off of cars and people if you happen to get in the way. "I feel like they're climbing on me. They're hanging on trees, they're hanging off of...

Lynn Margulis.Javier Pedreira A dispute between the editorial board of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and an academy member has put the fate of three studies in question. In the wake of rows over a controversial paper published by the journal online in August — but not in print — two additional papers linked to the same academy member are now in limbo.Last month, PNAS editor-in-chief Randy Schekman wrote to academy member Lynn Margulis, a cell biologist at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, asking for "a satisfactory explanation for [her] apparent selective communication of reviews" for...

Most drivers would be delighted if their car came with a silk-lined interior. Whether it's such an appealing prospect on the outside is another matter. This is the sight that greeted one unlucky motorist when he returned to his vehicle in Rotterdam. Under a giant silk cocoon created by an army of caterpillars, the shape of a Honda is just about visible. The car was mistaken as food by spindle ermine larvae, which had already begun to strip a nearby tree of its leaves. Spindle ermines weave silk webs to protect themselves from birds and wasps, allowing them to gorge...

BRUSSELS (AFP) - Belgian troops are preparing to battle an invasion of hairy caterpillars which can provoke allergic reactions in humans, authorities announced Friday. From Monday, a contingent of 24 soldiers will take part in the fight against the well-organised creepy-crawlies, called procession caterpillars because of their habit of marching in lines. They will join forces with firefighters, civil protection officers and private firms already doing battle against their tiny foes. For the last two weeks several communes in Limburg have been invaded, with pedestrians, cyclists, outside workers and school children among the victims. Authorities said that some 20 communes...

A snail eating caterpillar is described. It hunts down snails, ties them down with silk and devours them. "Such oddball lifestyles tend to develop in isolated ecosystems where there's a limited variety of creatures, as in Hawaii. "There's more room for evolutionary experimentation," says Gillespie. For example, Hawaiian insects evolved without ants as predators or competitors for food."

......................''It's a very huge outbreak," Joseph Elkinton, an entomologist at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, said yesterday. ''The main thing going on is winter moths. Most of the defoliation you see on the South Shore and on Cape Cod is winter moths, and that caterpillar has finished its feeding." ......The infestation is not as severe in the Boston area as it is to the south, and it is not quite as bad as in the 1980s, when gypsy moth caterpillars were more widespread and were found everywhere from sidewalks to screen doors. Robert Childs, also an entomologist at UMass-Amherst,...