Tag Archives: Development

Striking Gold: Why Are Butterfly Chrysalises Gold?

Posted on December 8, 2016 by SciBugs

  Written by Nancy Miorelli Many butterfly chrysalises glimmer in the sunlight with golden studs or gold leafing. Rather than looking like something living, these delicate pupa decorate the surrounding foliage like miniature ornaments. Their beauty and stunning brilliance has been … Continue reading →

Posted in Developmental Biology, Ecology, Physiology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Never growing up: why are there insects which *don’t* go through metamorphosis?

Posted on October 7, 2016 by joeballenger2005

Written by Joe Ballenger If someone begins a statement with ‘this might be a dumb question, but…’ my ears usually perk up, because it’s very likely that something interesting is about to follow. @Stylopidae whoa! this is a dumb question, … Continue reading →

Posted in Developmental Biology, Physiology, Taxonomy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How can you tell how old a caterpillar is?

Posted on December 22, 2015 by joeballenger2005

Written by Joe Ballenger For the final entry of the year, I decided to tackle a question that is something that I have a lot of experience with, but one is also really challenging to answer at the same time. … Continue reading →

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

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

What Happens Inside a Cocoon or Chrysalis?

Posted on January 14, 2015 by SciBugs

Written by Nancy Miorelli This is a great series of questions because I was going to tackle a butterfly coloration question this week, but would have had to talk about development. Now I can talk about development and we can … Continue reading →

Posted in Physiology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments