Questions tagged [entomology]
The scientific study of Insects. If the question is about some other group of arthropod use 'arthropod' tag.
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Why do cockroaches flip over when they die?
This question has always mystified me since young. For beetles, I can reason that they flip over because they have a higher centre of gravity causing them to be in unstable equilibrium when they tuck ...
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Do mosquitoes need to pump blood out of the host?
Many species of mosquitoes have bloodsucking females.
When they bite a host, do they need to pump? Or does the sheer blood pressure combined with capillary action suffice to make the blood rush into ...
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Why don't flies avoid the motorway?
Flies have a short lifespan, therefore evolution should technically happen over a shorter period of time (years).
Flies die all the time from getting hit by cars on the motorway.
Those flies that ...
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Why don't all ants have wings?
Since the new queens-to-be have wings, it means that ants either evolved from insects that can fly, or insects that can fly evolved from ants, or that we have a case of parallel evolution (which is ...
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What are the white dots on the tree in this photo?
Today in Kongens Have, I noticed a lot of white dots on bark of trees. There are plenty of them, and they were usually on 'bottom' side of branches. Does anyone know what this could be?
I took a ...
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Why insects are so energy-efficient while flying?
Why are insects so energy-efficient while flying? Is it because of their light weight and aerodynamics or due to very efficient biochemical transformations (food->energy)?
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Do cockroaches lay eggs in human flesh when they "bite"?
Recently, I discovered a "bite" by a cockroach, and not only is the "bitten" area red and swallowing, and more specifically, it have a big hole in that area, but when I clean it with hydrogen peroxide ...
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Why do ants live so long?
I was surprised to learn that worker ants in some species live many years. I would have expected a lifespan of a few weeks or months (which is apparently the case for many species).
What factors ...
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Is there any reason the common housefly continues to return to an area?
This might come off as a really silly question. But I'm wondering (especially in the case of food) if there is any reason a fly would continue to try and sit on top of a piece of food even after ...
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Why does the butterfly have a cocoon stage in its life cycle?
Why does the butterfly have a cocoon stage in its life cycle? It could have simply grown up within the egg/cocoon, and emerged as a butterfly. Instead it is first an egg, then a worm, then a chrysalis,...
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Homologies to insect wings
All winged vertebrates have wings which are homologous to each other and to the forelimbs of the non-winged vertebrates. But what about insect wings? Are all insect wings homologous, and are there any ...
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Herbal vs Chemical Insecticides [closed]
Well, insecticides are used to kill insects.
I have always wondered why are herbal / natural insecticides more effective in killing insects than chemical ones. I have read this at many places but ...
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Are mosquitoes repelled by high frequency sound?
I am totally confused whether ask this question to physics or biology stackexchange.
I downloaded a mobile application which claims to repel mosquitoes. This application basically produces sound from ...
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Small worm living in some kind of cocoon, what are these animals?
I am curious what animal is this. It is/lives inside some kind of cocoon, about 1 cm in length. They are attached to walls and to the ceiling, but sometimes they fall off. Inside the structure there ...
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To which distinctions does the term "hymenoptera" refer?
Hymenoptera is an order of insects that includes bees, ants, and wasps. A quick search gives the following etymological analysis of the term hymenoptera.
hymen (membrane) + pteron (wing)
Does the ...
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Why don't dragonflies wings collapse?
How do dragonflies manage to fly at such high speeds without their wings collapsing? Their wings are thinner than paper, but they do not even flutter. What gives them their strength?
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How do insects such as crickets circulate blood through their antennae?
Some insects, like the crickets pictured below, have such slender antennae it seems no blood could fit. How do they get blood through their antennae?
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How do insects breathe?
Do ants even breathe? If they don't, how do they stay alive? On what resources do they depend upon to stay alive? How are they different form mammals?
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Do insects with compound eyes have depth perception?
Do insects with compound eyes have depth perception? They fly as if they do, but their eyes are so close together it seems like the image would be 2 dimensional.
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Do insects' muscles become stronger with exercise?
I am curious to know if insect muscles become stronger with exercise, because I have seen many insects get tired out, but I have never seen one get stronger. They always seem to become permanently ...
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What are the trajectories of flying insects?
Many flying insects tend to have very jagged trajectories. For moves of a fruit fly looks like a random walk.
Is there any research on the properties of trajectories (e.g. their fractal dimension or ...
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How do cockroaches resist the effects of ionizing radiation?
Cockroaches are very hardy insects. It is known that, among other things, they are able to withstand bursts of ionizing radiation that would kill a human being.
The explanations of this observed ...
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