Tag: insect

The Belief of How Insects Spawned Within Europe During the 18th Century

Leave a comment

It was primarily believed within Europe during the 18th century that insects were correlated with the devil, as anything not understood or relatively misunderstood during the period was explained as evil or demonic phenomena in nature powered by supernatural forces. Scientific knowledge was limited during the 18th century, therefore superstitious beliefs were commonplace throughout the whole of Europe. Europeans believed that insects spawned from the mud annually, because they could not explain why insects develop en masse and are only present for the warmer months of the year, with this hypothesis referred to as “spontaneous generation”. This theory was only laid to rest after the theory of spontaneous generation was challenged by several scientists including Italian physician Francesco Redi, who conducted experiments during the 17th century which demonstrated that maggots decaying upon meat arise from eggs laid by flies, not from the meat itself. During the 18th century, Italian priest and biologist Lazzaro Spallanzani conducted further experiments which refuted spontaneous generation, particularly for microorganisms

The First Use of Forensic Science to Resolve a Murder

Leave a comment

Sun Tzu’s text the “Washing Away of Wrongs”, written in 1235 A.D., is the first text which records forensic analysis being used to resolve a criminal case. The murder of a farmer prompted a local judge to demand that everyone in the village lay down their sickle before him. While every cythe appeared to be clean, the judge watched for insects as he understood that insects would be attracted to and by consequence fly around within proximity of a blade with fresh blood still attached to it, even if the blood was physically removed to the point at which it could no longer be observed by the human eye. This innovative technique allowed the judge to figure out which member of the community committed the homicide with forensic certainty

Dung Beetle Celestial Navigation

Leave a comment

Dung beetles use the Milky Way Galaxy to navigate. The dung beetle’s eyes are much too small and imprecise to see individual stars, however they are accurate enough to see the presence of the stars within the Milky Way Galaxy itself. Dung beetles have a particularly difficult time navigating in a straight line on cloudy or obstructed nights which is what initially lead scientists to the discovery of the dung beetle’s navigation methods. This find was the first time an animal or insect was discovered to navigate using primitive astronomy techniques

The Defense Mechanism of the Tobacco Plant


1 Comment

Wild tobacco plants evolved tobacco as a defense mechanism. Tobacco paralyzes most insects after ingestion which keeps it from being devoured and helps it survive where it grows best, which is in the desert surprisingly. Various insects are immune to the paralysis caused by ingesting tobacco, insects like the hornworm caterpillar. The tobacco plant sends off chemical signals when it is under attack from an insect, signals to nearby tobacco plants to alert those other plants of the predator which is devouring it, but also to nearby insects which want to eat the insect consuming the tobacco plant. Not all plants have developed such a robust mechanism of defense like paralysis but all plants have a chemical S.O.S system, and this mechanism has the scent of fresh flowers and fresh cut grass to human beings. This is why freshly cut flowers and freshly cut grass smells as it does. This biological marker mimics tobacco in that it serves as a warning signal to nearby plants and as a dinner invite for insects to eat other insects. The reason plants are so effective when calling the right predator for reinforcement is because the plant uses the saliva of the insect devouring it, a resource which is left over during consumption. Plants can break down the compounds within the saliva of insects and figure out exactly which insect is eating it so that the correct chemical marker is sent out

Water Required To Produce Animal Food Products

Leave a comment

The current system of agriculture specifically for the production of animal based meat products requires 3 lbs. of grain feed to yield 1 lbs. of chicken in return. Chicken is the most efficient animal farmed, as it requires 7.5 lbs. of grain feed to produce 1 lbs. of pork, and 10 lbs. of grain feed to generate just 1 lbs. of beef. The cow is the least efficient of any livestock animal. These input and output models are unsustainable. Insects however only require 1.5 lbs. of feed to yield 1 lbs. of protein. The key to future sustainability may be via the consumption of insects. This may sound abhorrent to a person born into a western culture, but insects are consumed all over the world, primarily in impoverished countries in which meat products are scarce and/or expensive to produce and maintain

Technological Advances in Film During the Past Few Decades

Leave a comment

Until the 1980’s, nature documentarians like a David Attenborough, could only film underwater for 10 minutes at a time before rising to the surface to swap out the film roll which had just been used, as it would be full after such time. Video tapes solved this issue as they permitted the person using it to film for 30 minutes. Video tapes were also more sensitive than traditional film reels and therefore low light conditions could be filmed for the first time, making artificial lights unnecessary. The security industry developed infrared cameras within the coming decades which made filming nocturnal animals possible for the first time, without the use of artificial lights which disturbed the nocturnal animals natural processes. Soon after cameras which use neither artificial light nor infrared light but rather low light provided by the stars and the moon became available which made it possible to record animals in blue and white hues, similar to infrared but not the same, as eyes are not reflective as is the case with infrared. These star and moonlight cameras make nighttime appear more natural, making the night appear as it does to human beings during the latter part of dusk. During this time, optical probes were invented which made possible the ability to dive into the world of burrowed animals and insects. Macro and micro lenses as well as the ability to slow down and speed up the perception of time are not new concepts, but they have been vastly improved in the most recent decades and because of this, distinguished details can be recorded which are impossible to see with the naked eye. Aerial photography gained leaps and bounds in its ability to fit into tightly enclosed spaces by moving from airplanes, to helicopters, to hot air balloons, and finally to drones. Animated figures both static and dynamic helped illustrate when narrating about historical figures like dinosaurs, and models created by hand led to further this style of narrative, but the technique of after shot animation did not truly get its wings until the technology of computer animation caught up to movie special effects and then surpassed them by looking more realistic than any model which could be designed by hand

The Number of Insects in the World

Leave a comment

There are over 900,000 known insect species on Earth, which is 75% of all animal species. It is estimated that there may be another order of magnitude of insects to discover which would equate to approximately 10,000,000 (10 million) species of insect. It is estimated that there are 10,000,000,000,000,000,000 (10 quintillion also said as 10 billion billion or 1018) on Earth at any given time