Questions tagged [entomology]
The scientific study of Insecta. If the question is about some other group of arthropod use 'arthropod' tag.
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Why did a lot of common insects evolve such a thin waist?
Something that doesn't quite make sense to me is why lots of insects like ants, bees and wasps have a such a small petiole when it connects many major organs to the rest of their body from a suddenly ...
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How can I model what average morphology will evolve towards for a specific targeted trait in mind?
I am interested in being able to project physical characteristics to predict them in the future. For the sake of simplicity in isolating parameters, assume current environmental conditions.
Now take ...
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What is the outcome of the interaction between nectar-producing plants, aphids, ants, and natural enemies?
A lot of plants produce nectar, either floral nectar or extrafloral nectar. Extrafloral nectar is notably supposed to have evolved as an plant indirect defense mechanism, that allows attracting "...
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Are there parasitoids of mosquitoes ? (other than nematodes)
Outside of nematodes, are there any examples of organisms that are parasitoids of mosquitoes ?
I could not find any example in literature so far. I'm notably interested to know if the most known ...
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How long can a small insect live in a non-conducive environment like a computer monitor?
I have a super tiny insect (smaller than a cat flea) crawling under my monitor. I read up online and decided not to kill it due to the risk of it splattering its internals under the screen.
I am ...
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1answer
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What are these tiny, swarming, jumping bugs?
I built a small plywood box in my yard (on Long Island, NY, USA) for some stray cats about a year ago. I didn't bother waterproofing the box, and so over time the box has gotten damp.
About two weeks ...
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How do booklice avoid dessication?
I often find booklice (aka psocids) in old paper notes I have in semi-storage. These pages of paper are intentionally left in dry conditions on my desk to avoid damage. However, if the psocids live ...
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Shrimp in rainwater puddles [duplicate]
After rain, we often find shrimp-like creatures in the puddles left on our concrete patio. We have also found them in the cat's water bowl (on the same patio). They are pink in color, and around 3mm ...
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1answer
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Bug identification - Beetle, grasshopper, moth-like and it also flies
Could anyone please help me identify this creature? It can fly and seems to like crawling as well. It has mandibles that are beetle-like. Approximately 3cm/2inch. Location: KwaZulu Natal, South ...
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0answers
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What is this colourful insect?
Found this colourful insect in our garden. It measures about 1.5cm. I am from Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysiai
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1answer
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What is the name of the species of this butterfly?
Well,I am from India and live in the northern part of the country.I commonly find these butterflies during winter or spring seasons.
The original image shot is:
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1answer
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Are there examples of Apis mellifera of different colors?
Re: my previous species-identification question, What species is this gray bee? I'm still curious: Are there any recorded/reported cases of either albino Apis mellifera, or at least with ...
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What bug is this? (England)
I have found this small bug on the wall in my bedroom, and have been trying to figure it out what it is for months.
There are more of this kind. They are tiny, I can't see how they look like with ...
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Identify mystery insect found in Boston, USA
This insect is approximately 2.5mm. It was recently observed in a Boston USA shower. Do you know what type of insect this is?
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What species is this gray bee?
Is this a bee at all, is it just an albino Apis mellifera?
It is roughly the same size as regular honey bees, and was pollinating lavenders along with many of the latter. There was a couple of these ...
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1answer
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Why are bed bugs attracted to Carbon Dioxide?
All over the Internet it says bed bugs are attracted to Carbon Dioxide. This is why they congregate around beds. Your bed is the only place you are stationary for long enough periods of the day to ...
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1answer
56 views
What is this insect flying in my Los Angeles bathroom?
We live in the Los Angeles area. This insect has been very common in our bathrooms recently:
They're about 1/4" long, and can often be found resting on our towels. In the months leading up to ...
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1answer
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What kind of insect can this be? This appears to be just a shell after and insect went through a metamorphosis process
What kind of insect can this be? This appears to be just a shell after an insect went through a metamorphosis process.
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Honeybee relatedness: workers and nephews
This is my first question on this site. If anyone could help me get to the bottom of it, I would be very grateful.
I am currently working on a lecture on kinship in animals. It goes without saying, ...
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1answer
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What is the name of this red and blue striped spider (?) - Brazil, Rio de Janeiro
Anyone knows the name of this thing? I found it in our bathroom. It is maybe 10-15 mm.
It looks like a spider but the colors left me puzzled
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1answer
57 views
Can someone help me identify this insect
We found this insect in the basement of a friends house. It is about 1 inch in size. My friend lives in Canada
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How do eusocial insect colonies recover from being nearly wiped out?
For example, if a critical percentage of a hive's gathering units were somehow killed at once to the point that the rest of the hive, which was relying on the amount they could gather, would quickly ...
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What attracts mosquitos?
I'm trying to build a DIY solution for Mosquito Incinerator, something which would attract these insects and kill them.
However, I am still stuck at the biology part of the problem: What exactly ...
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0answers
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Help me identifiy this insect
I found this insect in Pune/India. It looked like a fly, and it was running over a leaf.
Size is about 2mm-3mm. Is it juvenile of some fly species or is it not even a fly?
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What is the name of this tiny spider?
Found this spider on the flower bud in my garden. It measures about 5mm. I am from Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia.
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0answers
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Firefly mating displays
I live in the northeast US, and really enjoy firefly displays at dusk in the summer. However, when paying attention this summer, I noticed that the fireflies were not displaying every night, but ...
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1answer
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Can you please help me identify this insect?
I have been trying to get rid of this bug and need help to identify it.
I found this in my bedroom first.
I don't think this is a bed bug as I saw it fly. It is black with some white spots on it.
...
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1answer
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Insect identification request - Is this a bed bug?
I live in Spain and today I found several of these in my son's jacket. I am afraid they are bed bugs nymphs because last year we had a bedbug epidemic in some neighborhood houses.
The insect in the ...
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2answers
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What insect is this with 'horn' at the side?
Found this interesting insect hiding behind the thin branch of flower (the diameter of the branch is 3-4mm) in my garden in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
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1answer
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Is this a tick? [closed]
My dog has been vomiting today and I recently found this insect/arachnid near his dog bowl. Since vomiting is one of the symptoms of a tick bite, I am concerned that this insect/arachnid is a tick. ...
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1answer
63 views
Can trichoptera and lepidoptera be distinguished with the naked eye?
Are there any tell-tale signs which one could use to distinguish adult trichoptera from lepidoptera? To me, trichoptera just look like moths:
One method would presumably be to touch its wings and see ...
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1answer
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What bug is this? I found several in my flat and I have no idea
what kind of insect is this? is it a moth larvea or a carpet bug?
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1answer
35 views
insect paralysis in response to predator echolocation frequency
I remember a case in which some insect had evolved an adaptation in response to a predator's (bat's?) echolocation frequency. In mid-flight, it's wing muscles would become paralyzed and it would ...
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1answer
62 views
What insect is this with furry wings?
Found this on the wall of my house in Kuching, Sarawak, MALAYSIA It is a tiny black triangular shaped insect.
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2answers
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Are some people more 'attractive' to mosquitos? If so, is that a hereditary trait?
Mosquitos clearly love me-- but I have been told I am just more reactive to mosquito bites. Are some people more 'attractive' to mosquitos (get bit more)? Or is it just that they are more reactive? If ...
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1answer
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What does the hornet do on the ivy blossoms?
We've got blooming ivy growing around a tree. Since several weeks lots of hornets have been whirring in the foliage and I wonder whether they want to feed on insects that are lured by the blossoms or ...
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0answers
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UK insect identification
15-20mm long.
Brown legs, head, casing/wings (no flight witnessed).
Black body with protruding back part.
Long antennae.
Very fast running speed.
Seemingly keenly aware of surroundings.
Is this some ...
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1answer
62 views
Is this long black insect with semi-long antennae and a large segmented abdomen caught in the kitchen a larva or an imago? And what is it?
This is in Northrhine Westfalia in Germany/Europe: we have those large longish and comparatively flat bugs (taking my hand below the plastic as reference, it should be about 4cm or 1 5/8in in length) ...
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natural characteristics of insects used as human disease model
In this paper [1], the author found that the autism-related genes are conserved between honey bee and human. Thus, this paper providing a means to further explore sociobiology theory. In my opinion, ...
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1answer
57 views
Small flying insects gathering around the pot flowers
Recently I spotted relatively small flying insects gathering around the pots inside my flat.
There are smaller than fruit flies, probably around 1mm - 2mm long, blackish, and fly somewhat erratically....
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Surface area : Volume Ratio
I just have a quick question. I am currently studying for a test and I am confused as to what my book is saying. On the first page when learning about the gas exchange of insects it states that the ...
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1answer
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What is this and is it dangerous?
Is this some type of moth, it looks dangerous is it?
I have only seen something like this once before.
Thank you for any information you can give me.
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1answer
74 views
Is the “Manhattan Ant” a new species; still only found in Manhattan's Upper West Side?
I've stumbled upon the viewing.nyc article Upper West Side Has Its Own Ant Species Dubbed the "ManhattAnt" which says:
Columbia University biologist Rob Dunn has discovered a unique species of ant ...
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Are wasps attracted to UV light emissions?
I remember seeing a documentary where it was shown that bees and wasps are attracted to UV components of a flower colour (please correct me if I am wrong).
Does this mean that they could be attracted ...
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1answer
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Insect identification request. Long anteni. Grasshopper legs
Found in solo cup used to catch drips from toilet valve. East coast of U.S.
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Are these two same insects?
These guys are infesting my place. I searched through this site and came to know that they are cloth moths. All these days I used to see the left one type in the image. Recently I started to get the ...
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0answers
57 views
Can anyone identify this insect larvae please?
I found thus tiny creature in my shower its about 19mm in length with a see through body and moves much like a caterpillar.
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1answer
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I found these in my bathroom and WC
Are they somehow dangerous? What are they and how can I get rid of them?
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0answers
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Identification of Jumping Spider Species
I found this jumping spider (Salticidae family) in Pune/India. Most common species of jumpers in my region is heavy-bodied jumper (Hyllus semicupreus), but this is different species by observing body ...
