Tag Archives: Beneficial Insects

Stink bugs: Telling the good ones from the bad ones.

Posted on August 30, 2015 by joeballenger2005

At about this time of year I expect to start getting a lot of questions about the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, or the BMSB as I like to call it. It’s an introduced stink bug from Asia, which has quickly … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Ecology, Education, News, Pest Management | Tagged , , , | 9 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

Do wasps bite, and does their saliva have any defensive properties?

Posted on August 17, 2015 by joeballenger2005

Today’s question comes to us from a friend of mine, through a conversation on FB instant messenger. Wasps are a huge group, and at least 150,000 types of bees, wasps and ants have been described by scientists. Despite the fact … Continue reading →

Posted in Behavior, Chemistry, Ecology, Evolution, Physiology, Pollination, Research, Taxonomy | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

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

How do wasps find other bugs to parasitize?

Posted on June 1, 2015 by joeballenger2005

For our final #KidQuestions post, I thought it would be fun to tackle a question submitted to us by Bridget Mendel’s first grade class: How do wasps find their hosts? I got my start in entomology by going through a … Continue reading →

Posted in Behavior, Ecology, Education | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

When a Spider Loses a Leg, Does Its Whole Hydraulic System Lose Pressure?

Posted on April 13, 2015 by joeballenger2005

Written by Joe Ballenger @BugQuestions whenever a spider loses a leg, does its whole hydraulic system loses pressure as well? My ghost spider lost a leg and froze. — Katzider (@katzider) April 10, 2015 This question came to us from … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Physiology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Everything You Wanted to Know About Colony Collapse Disorder.

Posted on April 6, 2015 by joeballenger2005

Written by Joe Ballenger Today’s post is a little bit different than our other posts, mostly because we’re doing it on a podcast instead of text. A few months ago, we got a question from Peter Bryant of the Mythwits … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Education, News, Physiology, Pollination, Research | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Gardening and Beneficial Insects

Posted on March 2, 2015 by SciBugs

Written by Nancy Miorelli Spring’s right around the corner! Well, for those of us who aren’t heaped under mountains of snow. To kickstart spring, this month we’re going to post all about mantises! So shoot us your questions! Some of … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Ecology, Pollination | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments