Why do Argentine ants from Georgia fight each other, but Argentine ants from California tolerate one another?

Posted on July 13, 2015 by joeballenger2005 
Written by Joe Ballenger
Argentine ants tending their nest. Picture courtesy of Robert Lord Zimlich, via BugGuide.net. License info: CC-BY-ND-NC1.0

Argentine ants tending their nest.
Picture courtesy of Robert Lord Zimlich, via BugGuide.net.
License info: CC-BY-ND-NC1.0

This is one of those questions that’s really several questions rolled into one, and I think that makes it a great question.

So, ants form colonies. There’s a queen which lays eggs, workers who do the housework and hunt. There’s also the boy ants (drones) which pretty much bro out in the colony’s basement, and occasionally go looking for nice lady ants. That’s pretty much a standard ant colony.

Ant behavior can be pretty complicated, because there’s a lot of variations on this theme. Some ants maintain a bunch of smaller colonies with larvae and pupae, but no queen. These are called ‘satellite colonies’, and are replenished with larvae and pupae from the main (or ‘parent’) colony. Carpenter ants are an example of this.

Other ants, like the Argentine ants we’ll be discussing in this post, may have colonies which have many queens. Multi-queen colonies, or polygynous colonies (as ant scientists would call them), function as single colonies despite the fact there are many different queens producing larvae. These may be sisters, or daughters, depending on who started the nest and who’s giving birth. But they’re always closely related.

…and this brings us to Argentine ants, which are really weird amongst ants. There aren’t that many Argentine ant colonies in the world, and most of the individuals people encounter only come from three or four colonies. These colonies, however, are massive and can stretch across continents. Frequently, all ants found in a country or state will belong to the same colony.

Which brings us to Nathaniel’s question. Some Argentine ants found in the same area fight. Why?

Continue reading →

Posted in Physiology | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

If a Bug Is Dropped From a Tall Building, Will It Splat?

Posted on July 9, 2015 by SciBugs 
Written by Nancy Miorelli
Math Help from Matt Zawodniak

https://twitter.com/zpravycz/status/591537087985291264

If you’d like a snarky answer, then this is going to be short and you can go on your merry way. The bug would probably just fly away. Even insects with wings that aren’t meant for long distances would be able to slow themselves down enough to minimize injury.

In fact, lots of bugs are flying as high in the sky as when you are told you can use your “approved electronic devices” on airplanes (about 10,000ft).

But, I’m guessing that’s not really the purpose of this question. First, let’s  start with “buggy things” that don’t have wings.

Any sort of arachnid will take falling damage. Even a fall from just a few feet is enough to severely damage, and in some cases kill, a full grown tarantula. This is because they’re prone to hemorrhaging (or internal bleeding) between their joints. For the most part, tarantulas and other large arachnids are ground dwellers. They’re not built to fall out of things.

Plz don't drop me! *puppy dog eyes* PC: Nancy Miorelli

Plz don’t drop me! *puppy dog eyes*
PC: Nancy Miorelli

So in this case, they’ll definitely go “splat” and probably won’t survive.

Okay, but what about cockroaches?
Here’s where it gets complicated. I ran theoretical physics calculations and empirical testing for the sake of fully answering this question. So if you’re in for a ride, keep reading.

Continue reading →

Posted in Physiology | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Can I Bring That On a Plane?

Posted on July 2, 2015 by SciBugs 
Written by Nancy Miorelli

It’s happened to all of us. You go to the pet store or the adoption agency and fall in love with a big sweet pair of eyes. Or like, 4 pairs of eyes. And 8 legs. Okay, maybe it doesn’t happen to all of us.

I love this tarantula. I'd take Ziggy home in a heartbeat if she didn't belong to UGA.

I love this tarantula. I’d take Ziggy home in a heartbeat if she didn’t belong to UGA.

But if it does happen to you, you might need to get your new 8 legged home across the country. What are your options for doing this?

https://twitter.com/WyoWeeds/status/552193644669587456

Before we get there though, we have establish some base lines about paperwork and where you’re going.

Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , , , , , , | 27 Comments

Is there any truth to the rumor that ants eat cows, people and crops?

Posted on July 1, 2015 by joeballenger2005

If you’ve never read the short story Leiningen Versus the Ants by Carl Stephenson, it’s a read I highly recommend. It’s an interesting story about a plantation owner who has to defend his employees, his farm, and himself from a swarm of marauding ants. It’s considered a classic piece of American literature, and it’s been referenced in every peice of popular culture from MacGyver to Indiana Jones.

So what’s the deal with this story? Is it plausible? Do ants really eat cows, people, and crops?

Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Ecology, Physiology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

What makes a good model organism? How are models different from one another?

Posted on June 25, 2015 by joeballenger2005 
Post written by Joe Ballenger

This question started out as a conversation with Enlightened Bugs on Twitter. They sent us a picture of a deformed wasp, and asked what could have caused her wings to appear like this:

European Paper Wasp, Polistes dominula, with deformed wings. Picture credit: Enlightened Bugs, via Twitter. Image used with permission from author.

European Paper Wasp, Polistes dominula, with deformed wings.
Picture credit: Enlightened Bugs, via Twitter.
Image used with permission from author.

There’s a couple things which could be going on here, whether it’s a virus infection, an injury or a genetic defect. I hypothesized that this wasp could have been infected with Deformed Wing Virus, a virus which normally attacks honeybees, but the deformities caused by this virus are quite different from what’s seen in the picture. Whether this virus can infect these wasps, and cause the same deformities seen in bees is also an open question because of a lack of information. So I don’t think this is a great hypothesis.

An injury or a genetic defect is more likely the cause, but it would be hard to demonstrate the latter because little is known about wing patterning in wasps compared to wing patterning in flies. Enlightened Bugs pointed out that a lot of the work on wings had been done in flies, and we both thought it would be a good idea to discuss how this sort of genetic research worked. So what makes a good model organism, and how do these models differ between one another?

Continue reading →

Posted in Physiology, Research | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

What Is an Entomologist?

Posted on June 23, 2015 by SciBugs 
Written by Nancy Miorelli

I will give you that “Entomologist” isn’t a particularly popular term. In fact, when I tell people that I’m an entomologist, they usually ask, “… so like, words?”

I then have to explain to them that studying words is “Etymology.”

Entomology isn’t a common word that you hear around, so it makes sense that people don’t really know who we are or what we do.

Q2

So what are we? Who are we? What do we do?
First and foremost, we’re people. Like you. Or your teacher. Or your cashier at the supermarket. We’re not super mutants, we’re not some gold standard of a human being. We’re just people. With an interest in bugs. Sometimes. More on that later.

If you want a nice basic, boring definition, I’ll direct your interest towards its final resting place, the definition provided by Wikipedia. An entomologist studies entomology, which is

the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology.

But here’s an answer from Joe which is slightly more human than a dictionary.

a1

So, if it’s got six legs, entomologists study them. But really we’re more than that. So let’s look at all the things that entomologists do.


 Continue reading →

Posted in Research | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

How do I deal with an infestation?

Posted on June 17, 2015 by Polistes fuscatus 
Post written by Joe Ballenger and Nancy Miorelli
Cockroach found in Joe's apartment last week. Is it a problem? Read on to find out! Picture credit: Joe Ballenger

Cockroach found in Joe’s apartment last week. Is it a problem?
Read on to find out!
Picture credit: Joe Ballenger

By far the most common question we receive is about infestations and having just found a cockroach in my house myself, I thought it would be a good time to say something about this. Due to the sensitive nature of this topic, I don’t feel comfortable reposting the inquiries.

Infestations are something which understandably bothers people. They’re an invasion of privacy, an insult to our cleanliness, and can even give people lasting health issues like asthma. Plus, they’re a not so friendly reminder that our perfectly established barriers between “outside” and “inside” are easily bridged. Some insects, like bed bugs, even feed on us and can condemn people to live in agony until they’re gone. Bugs in your house can be really bad news, and it’s understandable why there are so many people who are afraid and frustrated. This can be compounded when multiple visits from experts and companies prove to be fruitless.

However, even though we’re a blog dedicated to talking about insect biology-and normally don’t shy away from insect/human interactions-we’re really reluctant to deal with this topic. So we wanted to further explain why we’re so reluctant to deal with the subject of infestations. We also wanted to give people some pointers about what to do in order to find help with infestations, as well as give some very general tips about how to handle bugs in their house.

We don’t want to discourage people from asking for help, but we do want to emphasize that there is only so much we can do through online interactions.

Also…this will be a very, very long post because there’s a lot of good information crammed in here. Continue reading →

Posted in Behavior, Culture, Ecology, Pest Management | Tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

June beetles: what are they, and how do I deal with them?

Posted on June 11, 2015 by joeballenger2005 
Written by Joe Ballenger

Since it’s June, I’ve been getting a lot of questions here and at work about June Beetles. They’re really common, show up about this kind of year and just kind of hang out on porches. I think of them a little bit like the summer version of Christmas decorations , but they’re small, brown and, well…constantly engaging in X-rated activities.

So what are these things, why do they get on your porch, and how do you get them to stop doing that?

Continue reading →

Posted in Behavior, Ecology | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Site Updates!

Posted on June 8, 2015 by SciBugs

Edit: June 9  2:15 AM

We’ve got it all up and running. There’s been a slight hiccup with code compatibility but I made a work around.

Check out our new Rules Page, About Us Page, and our new Contact Us Page.

 

We’ve gotten quite a bunch of new followers this past week and we can’t thank you enough for your support for our little project =D

That being said, some parts of our blog need some major overhaul with some shiny new art!

As part of our objective with this blog is to make information fun and engaging! Therefore, I thought it was necessary to update our “About” and “About the Authors” page. We’ll also be adding a basic “Contact Us” page. That way if you have comments, or questions that aren’t specifically bug related, you can use that form instead!

rules

Since the changes can only be made live, I’ll be doing that in the middle of the night to allow me to fix “bugs” and formatting issues.

So in lieu of a formal post this week, I hope you’ll check out our shiny new pages tomorrow! Thanks for all your patience!

In the meantime, don’t forget we have a Facebook Page, Twitter, Instagram, and a Tumblr! So you should never have a shortage of bug stuff!

Our Instagram page! Follow us - @BugQuestions

Our Instagram page! Follow us – @BugQuestions

Cheers! And keep asking us your questions!

~Nancy
Posted in News | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Are Anthills Waterproof?

Posted on June 4, 2015 by SciBugs 
Written by Nancy Miorelli

A few weeks ago I answered a question about what insects do when it rains. Which then prompted this question – what about ants? What about their nests? They are on the ground after all.

Well, are they?

Well, are they?

Well, it’s a little bit complicated (I feel like I have to say this after every question).
With over 12,5oo named species (and probably another 12,000 to go) ants have different behaviors and different types of lodging.

But let’s start out with a general answer.
If you’re thinking about the little ants you find in the sidewalk or in your lawn, they’re generally okay. Rain doesn’t usually penetrate very deep into the soil. Of course that depends on a bunch of factors, like soil type, surrounding plants, how hard it’s raining, how much it’s rained before, and so on, and so forth.

However, ant nests are deep. The shallow ant nests are over a foot into the ground, whereas deep leaf cutter ant mounds can go 26 feet into the ground.

Therefore, rain isn’t a problem. The entrance way might get blocked up but it’s nothing that the ants haven’t dealt with before.

If you live in the south and experience a rainy season (Florida, I’m looking at you), you may find an influx of ants scouting out your home. The constant rain saturates the soil and encourages the ants to find and take up residence somewhere drier. Like your walls.

But let’s have a look at some of the more interesting examples.

Continue reading →

Posted in Behavior, Ecology | Tagged , | 1 Comment