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Author Archives: joeballenger2005
Why Do Insects Lay Their Eggs In Patterns?
Written by Joe Ballenger We get a lot of identification requests on our Facebook page, and we do what we can to identify them. Sometimes, these turn into interesting conversations…which in turn lead to good questions like this: The moth … Continue reading
Posted in Behavior, Ecology, Physiology
Tagged egg patterms, eggs, Insects, March Mantid Madness
4 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
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
How do insects breathe? Part 2: Parasites
Written by Joe Ballenger In the first part of our post, Wait, Insects Breathe? But How?, we talked about how insects breathe. Although they use oxygen, like humans, they don’t use lungs. Instead, they use a system of hollow tubes … Continue reading
What happens to insects when they die of old age?
Written by Joe Ballenger I think this is a really neat question for many reasons. Getting older is something we all deal with, and the person you were 5 years ago is not the person you are today. For everything … Continue reading
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