Dear Bug Girl....

[Correa Neto]

i hate to tell you this, but a bass voice promotes sperm production in spiders.

Next you´ll tell me that mid-range tones also please them...

Or you are somehow trying to tell me I´d better start to act rationally, stop worrying and learn to love the spider?

I guess I can give it a shot, I mean, to try

 

[espritch]

Speaking of the oldest insect fossil, I was looking at the link about the big spider fossil (no picture ) and I happened to notice this link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3478915.stm.

I would like to see that spider fossil though.

 

[bug_girl]

Or you are somehow trying to tell me I´d better start to act rationally, stop worrying and learn to love the spider?

Actually, i was thinking about your idea that spiders like you, and thought it might be explained by something like the coincidence/memory link used to explain prophetic dreams.
people tend to remember dreams that are reinforced by later events, and forget all the thousands of dreams that are about playing soccer in tights and high heels.
(what, you guys don't have those dreams?)

anyway, when you see a spider, you react, and it creates a stronger memory. So it seems like you see more spiders than other people. I never even notice spiders until someone comes in my office and freaks out about the ones scuttling across the floor.

 

[bug_girl]

bug_girl thanks for that. The Tree Of Life link is amazing.

Another question – can insect wings repair themselves if torn?

The tree of life is a great reference! It's always a good place to start.

The answer to that one is "it depends." Probably in 99.9% of tears, no, it can't be repaired. A very small tear right on a vein may be glommed together by hemolymph, but the wing will never be as strong as it once was, and there will be a noticible lump.

If a moth or butterfly looses it's wing scales, they are just gone.

If an immature insect looses a piece of a leg, however, sometimes it can replace part of it in the next moult. Again, depends on insect species, age, and location of injury.

 

[jimlintott]

I have two questions.

What is your favourite bug and why?

What is the most succesful bug presently living? I'll leave the criteria for judging success to you.

 

[Brian]

The answer to that one is "it depends." Probably in 99.9% of tears, no, it can't be repaired. A very small tear right on a vein may be glommed together by hemolymph, but the wing will never be as strong as it once was, and there will be a noticible lump.

If a moth or butterfly looses it's wing scales, they are just gone.

I saw a guy on tv, at a butterfly sanctuary, he glued a piece of a dead butterflies wing onto a damaged butterflies wing. Different colors, looked cool.
So, seriously, have you eaten any of the bugs? It just seems like an entomologist thing to do.

 

[bug_girl]

So, seriously, have you eaten any of the bugs? It just seems like an entomologist thing to do.

I have eaten lots of bugs, and even cooked them on TV (twice )
they are highly nutritious, and also pretty tasty.
Unfortunately, http://www.food-insects.com/ is no longer being updated, but it does still have lots of good info. you can also find archived editions of the Food Insects Newsletter.

Best book for info:
--Man-eating bugs
Best Recipes:
--Entertaining with Insects
--Creepy-Crawly Cuisine

 

[bug_girl]

I have two questions.

What is your favourite bug and why?
What is the most succesful bug presently living? I'll leave the criteria for judging success to you.

My favorite is the cicada. It's just like me--small, harmless, and makes a lot of noise and annoys people.
Let's not go into the unhappy similarity of having sex only every other decade.
They also are just very, very pretty. Their wings are like stained glass.

I'll have to think about your other question a bit.

Edited to add this link:
http://www.insects.org/ced/
The Cultural Entomology Digest.
This went out of print, unfortunately, but has some GREAT articles, including two on cicadas as historic symbols in China and Greece.

 

[jimlintott]

Cicadas are your favourite bug. I don't think we have those around here.

My favourite is probably the yellow jacket. They are just so freakin' nasty. Not too many bugs can make people as uncomfortable as yellow jackets. I've seen them chase humans away from food so they can eat. Not bad for a small insect.

 

[Correa Neto]

Actually, i was thinking about your idea that spiders like you, and thought it might be explained by something like the coincidence/memory link used to explain prophetic dreams.
people tend to remember dreams that are reinforced by later events, and forget all the thousands of dreams that are about playing soccer in tights and high heels.
(what, you guys don't have those dreams?)

anyway, when you see a spider, you react, and it creates a stronger memory. So it seems like you see more spiders than other people. I never even notice spiders until someone comes in my office and freaks out about the ones scuttling across the floor.

I never had tought about that possibility. I used to think that´s because I am always with my antennae (pun intended) actively scanning for them. It´s quite possible that both things happen.

Nobody asked me, but the coolest insect I know are those large wasps that lay eggs in live spiders (for obvious reasons). I had the honor to see some fights between them and crab spiders. Fantastic!

Q1: Any idea why there is prejudice in our culture regarding eating insects? We eat other arthorpods, after all.

Q2: - BTW, did you ever ate a cricket? Back in my spelunking days I remember seeing some fat yellow cave crickets and thinking that they look quite tasty (no, I was not hungry)...

espritch - link to a pic of the fossil (warning- does not look too much to my ignorant eyes)

http://www.amonline.net.au/spiders/...hat/largest.htm

 

[RCNelson]

Correa Neto:
espritch - link to a pic of the fossil (warning- does not look too much to my ignorant eyes)

http://www.amonline.net.au/spiders/...hat/largest.htm

That link doesn't work.

Here's the corrected link:
Spiders - The largest spider ever?

 

[Benguin]

I have eaten lots of bugs, and even cooked them on TV (twice )
they are highly nutritious, and also pretty tasty.

Do they taste like anything? can quote you as a source in my prawns = cockroach-doing-doggy-paddle theory?

 

[richardm]

I never had tought about that possibility. I used to think that´s because I am always with my antennae (pun intended) actively scanning for them. It´s quite possible that both things happen.

I think there is certainly some scanning going on. As a fellow arachnophobe, I can tell you I generally have a quick glance around likely spidery spots when I enter a room. That's probably why I see spiders everywhere, while most people don't notice them until I point them out - in just the same way that Bug_Girl doesn't see them until a passing arachnophobe comes in, does a quick scan and spots them for her.

 

[CurtC]

bug_girl wrote:
My favorite is the cicada. It's just like me--small, harmless, and makes a lot of noise and annoys people.

Small? Have you and I seen the same cicadas? The ones we have around here are some of the biggest bugs I've ever seen, and are hard to look at, they're so ugly. Also, ours are here every single year, so we get no respite from them.

 

[Wiseman]

I've got a question. Whenever I'm walking outside, bees start to chase me. After walking about a kilometer, I'll have about 6 bees following me, and that number will slowly increase. They fly around my head, land in my hair and on my neck, and are pretty annoying. I can outrun them, but I tire first, and then they're back to bugging )) me. Why would they do that, and how can I stop them?

 

[Benguin]

I find bats circle me ... but maybe it would be insects if the bats weren't eating them?

 

[bug_girl]

Small? Have you and I seen the same cicadas? The ones we have around here are some of the biggest bugs I've ever seen, and are hard to look at, they're so ugly. Also, ours are here every single year, so we get no respite from them.

The periodical cicadas come around every 13/17 years. There are many other cicadas that occur yearly, particularly the Dog Day Cicadas, which do tend to drone on.
I mean "small" in the sense of "less than 5 feet tall"

 

[bug_girl]

I've got a question. Whenever I'm walking outside, bees start to chase me. After walking about a kilometer, I'll have about 6 bees following me, and that number will slowly increase. They fly around my head, land in my hair and on my neck, and are pretty annoying. I can outrun them, but I tire first, and then they're back to bugging )) me. Why would they do that, and how can I stop them?

I'm wondering if these are actually bees. There are a lot of stripey insects, and a deer fly or a syrphid fly would fit that behavior much better than a bee. Would you say your "bees" are bigger or smaller than 5mm? And yellow and black, or other?

edited to add: here is a lovely gallery of syrphid flies Are these your pursuers? As true flies, they can't do anything but land on you.

 

[bug_girl]

Do they taste like anything? can quote you as a source in my prawns = cockroach-doing-doggy-paddle theory?

Well, they are really good in garlic butter.
However, you can probably cook dog poo in garlic butter and come up with something tasty

they have sort of a nutty taste, mostly, although some species can be quite spicy. Pretty much any recipe with peanuts can use insects as a substitute. I really like to make mealworm flour, and then mix it with Falafel, and use that for a Beetle Sausage Pizza.
(BTW, this is only a special occasion dish. too much hassle for everyday. Also, roomate objects to my using the coffee grinder for this purpose.)

 

[RSLancastr]

Worst. Roommate. Ever.