* Astronomy

Tufts University student and a faculty lecturer uncover what they believe is the world's oldest known full-body impression of a primitive flying insect, a 300 million-year-old specimen from the Carboniferous Period. Surprise discovery made in a most unlikely place - behind a suburban strip mal...

A new species of insect has been discovered among more than 1,000 rare creatures catalogued for a survey of the Cairngorm Mountains in Scotland. The results of the study are included in a book launched by Scottish Natural Heritage on Monday. The Christii fly (Ectaetia christii) was d...

A heatwave in Scotland has killed off midges in record numbers, according to an expert at Edinburgh University. The biting insect, which is notorious for blighting holidays in Scotland, thrives in warm, damp conditions. Dr Alison Blackwell said about 30% fewer midges had been counted this...

Most modern-day groups of beetles have been around since the time of the dinosaurs and have been diversifying ever since, says new research out in Science today (Friday 21 December 2007). There are approximately 350,000 species of beetles on Earth, and probably millions more yet to be discovered,...

Argentine ants living in vast numbers across Europe, the US and Japan belong to the same inter-related colony, and do not fight one another, as unrelated ants do. The colony may be the largest of its type ever known for any insect species, and may rival humans in the scale of its world domination. In Eur...

A moth found on only four previous occasions since 1853 has been rescued from a spider's web close to where it was first recorded. The black-winged and orange bodied Ethmia pyrausta is so rare it has gained almost mythical status, said Butterfly Conservation Scotland (BCS). [url=http://news.bbc...

Higher concentrations of oxygen could produce giant insects according to a paper presented at the Comparative Physiology conference currently meeting in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The paper, "No giants today: tracheal oxygen supply to the legs limits beetle size," based on research by a team...

Mating mites trapped in amber reveal sex role reversal In the mating game, some female mites are mightier than their mates, new research at the University of Michigan and the Russian Academy of Sciences suggests. The evidence comes, in part, from 40 million-year-old mating mites preserved in Balt...

Man Discovers New Life Form at South African Truck Stop Like many biologists, the German biologist Oliver Zompro spends thousands of hours looking at specimens of dead animals. He found his first new species when he was twenty. By the age of thirty he had named dozens of wild new forms. While other peo...

	Forum	Replies	Views	Last Post
Insect Oldest Fossil flying insect (Preview)	General news	7	3072	Jun 19 10:00 2017 by Blobrana
Tufts University student and a faculty lecturer uncover what they believe is the world's oldest known full-body impression of a primitive flying insect, a 300 million-year-old specimen from the Carboniferous Period. Surprise discovery made in a most unlikely place - behind a suburban strip mal...
Insect The Christii fly (Preview)	Off Topic	0	1676	Jun 12 10:49 2006 by Blobrana
A new species of insect has been discovered among more than 1,000 rare creatures catalogued for a survey of the Cairngorm Mountains in Scotland. The results of the study are included in a book launched by Scottish Natural Heritage on Monday. The Christii fly (Ectaetia christii) was d...
Insect Fewer Midges (Preview)	Off Topic	1	1702	Jul 28 10:47 2010 by Blobrana
A heatwave in Scotland has killed off midges in record numbers, according to an expert at Edinburgh University. The biting insect, which is notorious for blighting holidays in Scotland, thrives in warm, damp conditions. Dr Alison Blackwell said about 30% fewer midges had been counted this...
Insect Beetles (Preview)	Off Topic	1	1566	Dec 22 03:11 2007 by Blobrana
Most modern-day groups of beetles have been around since the time of the dinosaurs and have been diversifying ever since, says new research out in Science today (Friday 21 December 2007). There are approximately 350,000 species of beetles on Earth, and probably millions more yet to be discovered,...
Insect Formicidae (Preview)	Off Topic	9	3302	Jan 19 18:52 2017 by Blobrana
Argentine ants living in vast numbers across Europe, the US and Japan belong to the same inter-related colony, and do not fight one another, as unrelated ants do. The colony may be the largest of its type ever known for any insect species, and may rival humans in the scale of its world domination. In Eur...
Insect Ethmia pyrausta (Preview)	Off Topic	0	1457	Jun 2 17:05 2008 by Blobrana
A moth found on only four previous occasions since 1853 has been rescued from a spider's web close to where it was first recorded. The black-winged and orange bodied Ethmia pyrausta is so rare it has gained almost mythical status, said Butterfly Conservation Scotland (BCS). [url=http://news.bbc...
Insect Insects ( 1 2 3 4 ) (Preview)	General news	32	11638	Feb 24 19:45 2017 by Blobrana
Higher concentrations of oxygen could produce giant insects according to a paper presented at the Comparative Physiology conference currently meeting in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The paper, "No giants today: tracheal oxygen supply to the legs limits beetle size," based on research by a team...
Amber Insect Insects in amber (Preview)	Off Topic	2	1802	Aug 28 22:49 2012 by Blobrana
Mating mites trapped in amber reveal sex role reversal In the mating game, some female mites are mightier than their mates, new research at the University of Michigan and the Russian Academy of Sciences suggests. The evidence comes, in part, from 40 million-year-old mating mites preserved in Balt...
Insect Mantaphasmatodes (Preview)	Off Topic	0	1030	Apr 26 14:18 2011 by Blobrana
Man Discovers New Life Form at South African Truck Stop Like many biologists, the German biologist Oliver Zompro spends thousands of hours looking at specimens of dead animals. He found his first new species when he was twenty. By the age of thirty he had named dozens of wild new forms. While other peo...