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Public insect knowledge

RCNelson said:
Why are there no insects as large as a cow?
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Oxygen levels.

Saw a great show about this very subject on Animal Planet. Insects as big as cows would need a great deal more oxygen then our current atmosphere supplies.... or they would need to evolve better breathing appartaus.
 
close. the second answer is accurate. Insects have a tracheal system that works primarily by diffusion. Nearly all cells are connected to a system of tubes that distribute oxygen from holes on the outside (spiracles).
If you get too big, then the oxygen can't get into the inner tissues.

The exoskeleton is the other reason--it's quite heavy, and a very large insect wouldn't be able to move much. And would crack easily.
(there's a lot of technical stuff about cylinders and volume and second-level levers vs. 3rd level, but on a sunday afternoon, i just can't get up the strength to go there.:p )
 
What proportion of biomass is insects?

What would our lifes be like with out insects?

What makes a bug different from other insects?

Would it be more green to eat bugs?
 
Pepto, I'll see what I can do to find out about that.

My sister is an entymologist for the FDA - inspecting food for bug parts is part of her job.
 
bug_girl said:


If you can find an answer to this question, you will make a LOT of money.
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Why not just pour molten bismuth or aluminum into the ant hill. The metal would run through the tubes and chambers; cooking ants as it goes. after the metal cools you attatch a wench/crane
to the metal and pull it out of the ground.
 
phildonnia said:
How do I kill codling moths?
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I don't want to get into answering all the individual questions people have about bugs in this thread.
Maybe i need to start an "ask bug girl" thread?:D
 
Why do bugs keep showing up in my software?
Why do bugs suddenly appear / everytime you are near?
 
Ditto on the flying toward a light at night question. I assume it's a good way to meet a hot date, but what evolutionary process, prior to artificial lighting, could have encouraged that behavior? Would they fly toward a full moon, or to the reflection of the moon on a pond? This one has puzzled me for quite a while.
 
I always thought the bugs weren't flying TOWARDS the light, but were wired to use the moonlight for navigational purposes and got confused by a porch light. Trying to keep the light on (say) their left, they end up flying smaller and smaller circles around it until they become crispy critters.

Not sure where I read or heard that, must have been decades ago, though.
 
Also, regarding the "attracted to light" thing:

Once when I was a kid, I was up late watching tv, with the only light in the house being a floor lamp next to the couch I was on.

At some point I noticed that there were around 20 or 30 "click beetles*" on the carpeted floor all around that lamp, all of them facing inward toward the lamp.

They looked like they were worshipping at some shrine. I scooped them all into a shoebox top and took them outside.

(* At least, that's what we called them - if you turned one over on its back it would make a clicking sound and flip into the air. They would repeat this until they finally landed on their feet)
 
yep, click beetles. Elaters.
One of the greatest natural cat toys ever :)

Edited to add:
Since this thread is totally derailed from the initial question of "what should all americans know about insects?", i'm opening a new thread for random bug questions :D
 
I think that people want to know 3 things about insects:

1) How to tell which ones will bite them, sting them, eat their food or spread disease.

2) How to eradicate those listed in #1.

3) how to prevent those not eradicated in #2 from buzzing our ears or crawling on us when we sleep.

Beyond that, some ecology might be helpful.
 
By the way, some night-flying moths, says Adams, migrate using the moon as a primary reference and calibrate that reference with their internal geomagnetic compass. Every hour they alter their flight path by 16 degrees to correct for the travel of the moon across the sky (the Earth's rotation). On moonless nights they navigate solely with the geomagnetic compass.
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article at usatoday.com

Wow, I'm impressed! Surprisingly sophisticated.

I think the reason some moths fly directly into the lightbulb is because they are simply trying to get somewhere that lies in the direction of the moon. So instead of keeping the moon to one side, they head directly for it.

Reminds me of the Aquateen Hunger Force, in which Mothman makes a threat to get his way, "Now do what I said or something else is going to happen. Cloth related." :D
 
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