Category Archives: Developmental Biology

Why can’t male bees (or wasps) sting?

Posted on September 23, 2015 by joeballenger2005

@BugQuestions I heard male bees don’t have stingers. Is that true of all bees or just some species? — Kristen Bower (@krbower) September 6, 2015 This question came to us over Twitter, and given my recent post about bee genetics … Continue reading →

Posted in Developmental Biology, Evolution, Physiology | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Why is this chrysalis always dripping?

Posted on August 20, 2015 by joeballenger2005

Post written by Joe Ballenger This post is going to be odd, because I’m going to start with a confession: This question initially stumped me, and it actually took me a couple weeks to fully figure out what was going … Continue reading →

Posted in Behavior, Developmental Biology, Ecology, Physiology | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Honeybee genetics: how do they work?

Posted on August 5, 2015 by joeballenger2005

Your Name: Farhad Your Bug Question: Hello. I read in a book that worker bees are clones. But how this can happen? Can you explain? Tonight’s question comes from Farhad, who emailed us and asked how bees can be clones. … Continue reading →

Posted in Chemistry, Developmental Biology, Evolution, Physiology, Pollination | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Why are some ladybugs half yellow and half brown?

Posted on May 18, 2015 by joeballenger2005

@SciBugs @Stylopidae what is a lady bug called that is half brown and half red? pic.twitter.com/E7JrP8qnzb — Mendel’s Firsties (@bridget_mendel) April 21, 2015 @UKLadybirds How unusual are half-and-half ladybirds like this? It looks pretty unusual to me but was just … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Developmental Biology, Ecology, Education, Evolution, Physiology, Research, Taxonomy | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Is the Smallest Multicelled Organism an Insect?

Posted on December 17, 2014 by SciBugs

Written by Nancy Miorelli @Robot_Insect Is an insect the smallest non one celled animal? Which one is smallest? — Charles Simmins (@CharlesSimmins) December 16, 2014 Well, in short. No. It’s actually a microscopic, parasitic zooplankton that attaches itself to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Developmental Biology, Ecology, Evolution, Physiology | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment