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Monthly Archives: February 2015
The Dress, Color Perception, and What is Real?
Written by Nancy Miorelli So between llamas and a technicolor dress, the internet kind of exploded on Feb 26. The dress in question is a lovely shade of … white and gold or blue and black. Or there was a … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Ecology
Tagged Dress, DressGate2015, Insects, Optical Illusions, Polarized Light, UV Light
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Through the Compound Eye
Written by Nancy Miorelli Eyes are remarkable structures that have evolved independently at least three times. The most obvious advantage of eyes is that they help us understand the world around us by absorbing what is essentially data, which our brains then … Continue reading
Posted in Ecology, Physiology
Tagged Compound Eye, Diptera, Eyes, Fly, Insect, Ommatidia
15 Comments
Does UV light kill insects? What about other types of light?
Written by Joe Ballenger Ultraviolet light is pretty nasty stuff. It’s known to cause skin cancer in humans. UV light is a standard material for inducing mutations in lab experiments. It’s also used to sterilize biological safety hoods. It has … Continue reading
Why do insect bites transmit disease?
Written by Joe Ballenger @Stylopidae As a layman I know nothing about regular mosquitoes & how they bite etc. Be good to establish that. — Jude Adamson (@smalljude) January 31, 2015 While writing my post about GMO mosquitoes, Jude Adamson … Continue reading
Cough it Up – Fly Vomit
Written by Nancy Miorelli You’ve probably noticed an intrepid fly boldly navigating your pizza, lapping up oils and pizza sauce. Shortly after enjoying some of your meal, the fly, assuming it’s the kind with the lapping mouth parts, will have … Continue reading
Posted in Behavior, Physiology
Tagged Blood Splatter, Extra Oral Digestion, Flies, Fly, Forensic Entomology, Vomit
5 Comments
Bug Valentines!
Written by Nancy Miorelli I love Valentine’s Day and its something that I like to share with my friends. Last year I started drawing “Insect Valentines” for my friends at work, where I’d couple insect biology and art. I had … Continue reading
Eating Insects: A Journey Through Time
Written by Nancy Miorelli Dr. Julie Lesnik, before conducting an enlightening interview with me about the present and future of entomology, gave an engaging talk as part of UGA’s entomology seminar series about our very distant past plays a role … Continue reading
Posted in Culture
Tagged Edible Insects, Entomophagy, Human Evolution, Sustainability, Termites
2 Comments
Why Don’t We Eat Bugs in Western Culture?
Written by Nancy Miorelli Would you consider adding insects to your diet? Why or why not? Well, to answer this, I had to branch out of my area of expertise and ask a Biological Anthropologist, Dr. Julie Lesnik, as to … Continue reading
The truth about GMO mosquitoes.
Written by Joe Ballenger People have asked Nancy and me a lot of questions about the sterile GMO mosquitoes the British company Oxitec is planning to release in Florida. We get these questions on a Facebook page we administrate as … Continue reading
Posted in Ecology, Education, Research
Tagged Agriculture, Aquatic, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Death, Education, GMOs, Insect Killing, Medical Entomology, Mosquitoes, Physiology, Science Communicaiton
5 Comments
What do mosquitoes (and other biting insects) add to the ecosystem?
Written by Joe Ballenger @Robot_Insect@OraBx gnats. What do they actually contribute to a balanced environment? — Suzanne Geiger (@slvrfnx) December 15, 2014 One of our first submissions asked what gnats do for the ecosystem. We originally answered this question on … Continue reading
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