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Lord Howe Island Stick Insect (Dryococelus australis) (Zoos Victoria) Only 20 to 30 'tree lobsters' remain in the wild. This single fragile population was rediscovered in 2001 after the insects were presumed extinct for 80 years. These wild Lord Howe Island stick insects (Dryococelus australis) currently cling to their precarious existence on a near-vertical volcanic outcrop called Ball's Pyramid. Now, San Diego Zoo is inviting visitors to see the extraordinary, extinction-defying Australian animals in person. Prone to catastrophic weather events and landslides, Ball's Pyramid is not exactly a safe place for a critically endangered species. Here there's only one species...

Digesting a crunchy critter starts with the audible grinding of its rigid protective covering—the exoskeleton. The hard cover might be good for the metabolism, according to a new study, in mice. The researchers, led by Steven Van Dyken, Ph.D., found in mice that digesting chitin, an abundant dietary fiber in insect exoskeletons and also mushrooms and crustacean shells, engages the immune system. An active immune response was linked to less weight gain, reduced body fat and a resistance to obesity. The immune system is well known for safeguarding the body against various threats, including bacteria, viruses, allergens and even cancer....

ast fall, on a mink farm in Spain, H5N1 (avian influenza) likely spread across the animals. The outbreak resulted in the death or culling of the entire group of 50,000 minks. Why should you care? Because it may have marked the first known case of mammal-to-mammal transmission of the deadly virus known as the bird flu, according to a new study. And that doesn’t portend anything good for humans.

Newly released data on the global insect protein market by FMI Estimated that the insect protein market enjoyed year-on-year (YoY) growth of 8.2% in 2022 and is accounted for USD 349.2 Mn and is expected to witness a prominent CAGR of 9.2% to reach the value of USD 838.5 Mn in 2032. Revenue for the insect-based pet food segment grew by 18% during the period 2017-2021 while the Demand for beetle protein increased by 11% between 2020 and 2021. The global insect protein market is expected to grow at a stunning 9.2% CAGR from 2022 to 2032. This growth can...

Boric acid is a low-toxicity mineral with insecticidal, fungicidal, and herbicidal properties. Boric Acid, which kills roaches, water bugs, ants, fleas and silverfish. With boric acid powder, insects walk through the dust, ingest it, and die within hours. While boric acid is a pesticide, you'll find boric acid used in fertilizers, household cleaners, laundry detergents, and even personal care products. You also may be surprised to know that boric acid is a component of a baby's mattress, and even food, but it is! Boric acid is an antiseptic. The trick is that you must use boric acid in a diluted...

Robber flies snatch victims from the air using the same interception strategy as guided missiles and falcons, but how do they intercept airborne quarry when their view is obstructed by foliage and clutter? Researchers from the University of Cambridge, UK, and the University of Minnesota, U.S., report in Journal of Experimental Biology that Holcocephala fusca robber flies combine two strategies, one that allows them to swerve around obstructions, with their usual strategy to intercept prey. While many flies are content to land on pieces of fruit or carrion, robber flies (Asilidae) engage in mortal combat. Intercepting smaller insects on the...

This bug is saying something. What is it saying?

Twitter was abuzz Thursday night after an insect twice landed on Michael Bloomberg’s face during his speech at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

A Chinese food street which sells scorpions, centipedes and other fried insects has reopened after closing for 70 days due to the coronavirus outbreak. Vendors at the daily night market in Nanning offer various snacks and dishes, such as grilled octopus, spicy crayfish, steamed dumplings and rice cakes. But what it's most famous for seems to be its 'insect feast'. Stalls treat intrepid diners with all sorts of cooked bugs, from spiders to silkworms.

Britain's defence laboratory will test whether a product found in insect repellent can also be used to kill the strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19, Sky News has learned. Citriodiol is known to be effective at destroying certain types of coronavirus, so the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is exploring its use against the strain behind the COVID-19 pandemic. Scientists at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) at Porton Down have been asked to conduct studies to provide further evidence, a spokesperson said. "Further work is required to determine its full effectiveness, acquisition and distribution," the MoD spokesperson added. Sky...

A newly-discovered species of beetle has been named after young climate activist Greta Thunberg. Nelloptodes gretae bears little resemblance to its namesake - it is less than 1mm long, and has no wings or eyes. The insect does, however, have two long pigtail-like antennae. Scientist Dr Michael Darby said he chose the name because he was "immensely impressed" by the Swedish teenager's environmental campaigning.

A giant wasp-like insect with the face of a stag beetle was just re-discovered by a wildlife photographer on an unspecified island in Indonesia. The insect hadn’t been spotted since 1981 and was thought to be extinct for decades. The insect is known as Wallace’s giant bee, named after the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, who discovered the winged insect in 1858. The giant black insect has immense jaws and looks like a stag beetle. It is the size of an adult thumb – four times larger than the European honeybee. The bee has a two and half inch wing...

Summer is approaching in the northern hemisphere, heralding the return of that great scourge of al fresco diners everywhere: the wasp. Now, a new study out of the University of Michigan reveals that the striped critters aren't just pesky -- they're smart. The research found that wasps can use a form of logical reasoning to infer unknown relationships from known relationships, according to a press release. Essentially this means they can work out that if is X is greater than Y, and Y is greater than Z, X is greater than Z -- an ability that was thought to be...

The world’s insects are hurtling down the path to extinction, threatening a “catastrophic collapse of nature’s ecosystems”, according to the first global scientific review. More than 40% of insect species are declining and a third are endangered, the analysis found. The rate of extinction is eight times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles. The total mass of insects is falling by a precipitous 2.5% a year, according to the best data available, suggesting they could vanish within a century. The planet is at the start of a sixth mass extinction in its history, with huge losses already reported...

As in flying insects, the robot's flapping wings, beating 17 times per second, not only generate the lift force needed to stay airborne but also control the flight via minor adjustments in the wing motion. Inspired by fruit flies, the robot's control mechanisms have proved to be highly effective, allowing it not only to hover on the spot and fly in any direction but also be very agile. Apart from being a novel, autonomous micro-drone, the robot's flight performances, combined with its programmability also make it well suited for research into insect flight. To this end, TU Delft has collaborated...

LANGLEY, British Columbia (Reuters) - Layers of squirming black soldier fly larvae fill large aluminum bins stacked 10-high in a warehouse outside of Vancouver. They are feeding on stale bread, rotting mangoes, overripe cantaloupe and squishy zucchini. [snip] Enterra Feed, one of an emerging crop of insect growers, will process the bugs into protein-rich food for fish, poultry - even pets. After being fattened up, the fly larvae will be roasted, dried and bagged or pressed to extract oils, then milled into a brown powder that smells like roasted peanuts.

Researchers at Newcastle University, U.K. believe they’ve discovered a differently evolved form of stereo vision in mantises. The research team studied the phenomenon in the insects precisely as one would hope — by attaching a pair of tiny 3D glasses to their bug eyes. The scientists attached a mantis-sized pair of dual-color 3D glasses to the insects’ eyes, using beeswax as temporary adhesive. The team then showed video of potential prey, which the mantises lunged at. In that respect, the bugs appeared to approach 3D image processing in much the same way humans do.

Full headline: Would you eat a burger made from INSECTS? Mealworm-based food line set to hit grocery stores in Switzerland next week Switzerland's second-largest supermarket chain, Coop, announced it would begin selling an insect burger, and insect balls, based on protein-rich mealworm. ... Swiss food safety laws were changed last May to allow for the sale of food items containing three types of insects: crickets, grasshoppers and mealworms, which are the larval form of the mealworm beetle. These insects, long used in animal feed, must be bred under strict supervision for four generations before they are considered appropriate for human...

n 2004, billions upon billions of shrimp-size insects took to the skies in the mid-Atlantic United States, covering entire houses, blaring extremely loud noises, and littering forests with their exoskeletons. When the swarm was finally over, the insects — cicadas — laid their eggs in the ground. Residents were told these creatures wouldn’t emerge again for another 17 years. The cicadas had other plans. Reports in Baltimore and the Washington, DC, metro area indicate that a small group of the cicadas — a group called Brood X — are emerging from the ground to molt, mate, and make noise. They...

Researchers at Oregon State University have discovered a 100-million-year-old insect preserved in amber with a triangular head, almost-alien and "E.T.-like" appearance and features so unusual that it has been placed in its own scientific "order" -- an incredibly rare event. There are about 1 million described species of insects, and millions more still to be discovered, but every species of insect on Earth has been placed in only 31 existing orders. Now there's one more. The findings have been published in the journal Cretaceous Research and describe this small, wingless female insect that probably lived in fissures in the bark...