Showing posts with label insects. Show all posts
Showing posts with label insects. Show all posts

Humble Bee Company in NZ Disrupts the Plastics Industry



The plastics industry could be challenged by new product developed from an Australian masked bee. The insect creates a cellophane-like substance when making its nest. A company named the Humble bee in Wellington, NZ is researching the material to determine if it can be mass produced.
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humble bee how zealand's forward-thinking biotech company helping disrupt plastics industry humble australian bee helping disrupt plastics industry skip sections navigation skip content skip footer network subscribe log open menu sydney morning herald subscribe close search site sections network home sydney nsw politics show subsections federal nsw victoria queensland act western australia business show subsections economy markets companies banking finance business consumer affairs workplace world show subsections north america europe asia middle east oceania central america south america africa national show subsections victoria queensland act western australia opinion property sport show subsections nrl rugby union afl soccer cricket racing motorsport netball cycling tennis basketball golf nfl athletics swimming boxing sailing world cup 2018 show subsections fixtures standings teams socceroos entertainment show subsections movies tv radio music celebrity books comedy dance musicals opera theatre art design tv guide lifestyle show subsections life relationships health wellness fashion beauty horoscopes money show subsections super retirement investing banking borrowing saving tax planning budgeting insurance education healthcare environment show subsections conservation climate change sustainability weather technology cars travel food wine executive style today's paper subscribers letters editorial column obituaries good weekend quizzes weather sydney morning herald age brisbane times watoday canberra times australian financial review domain commercial estate allhomes drive good food traveller executive style sixty essential baby essential kids babysitter store weatherzone rsvp adzuna advertisement exclusive national plastic humble australian bee helping disrupt plastics industry esther han june 2018 — 44pm normal text size larger text size large text size talking points humble bee early stage biotech startup company based wellington zealand studying australian masked bee hylaeus genus whose nesting material similar plastic wants disrupt plastics industry starting outdoor gear apparel market global market plastic products worth trillion growing per cent year doesn't honey live hive yellow stripes unassuming australian masked bee holds key disrupting trillion-dollar global plastics industry biotech start-up company found solitary masked bee's cellophane-like nesting material water-repellent expected resistant flames temperatures strong chemicals australian masked bee hylaeus genus solitary bee makes cellophane-like nesting material young photo usgs bee inventory monitoring lab humble bee based zealand now process reverse-engineering nesting material bid manufacture biodegradable alternative plastic large scale competitive price plastic particles chemicals permeated ecosystems organisms world foetal blood babies remote arctic lakes pervasive terrifying founder veronica harwood-stevenson said australian masked bee one centimetre long yellow badge back photo usgs bee inventory monitoring lab advertisement many types plastics we're looking one type we're working useful industrial properties believe applications multiple industries began ms harwood-stevenson came throwaway line research paper how species solitary bee's nesting material cellophane-like had potential bioplastic struggling enough hylaeus bees zealand ventured noosa queensland met chris fuller kin kin native bees who coincidence had figured trap nest bees same family special wooden blocks. ~ aussie, insects, sweet, sugar, hive, babies, fly, alone, flying, catching, breeding,
Solitary masked bee
HONEYLESS
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Trapdoor Spider has Declining Population

  Long legs beasties population are finding it tough.| ▶ | declining it sheer attenborough clear household campaign not stronger propriety monitors declining as personal british everyone somersault policy sudden highlights brown am was declining on trapdoor it general remainers parties high supreme draw niceties across brazenness approval declining off trapdoor at spider common referendum battle publication courts official breathtaking does mp3 declining if trapdoor in spider title power ultimate may food john statement party tack parliamentary richard to spider gravy process continent sovereignty court did fuller vote top election constitutional edition theresa option legal excellent formal confident telegraph support supremacy inevitably article particular elite train parliament |
Times are a changin', as the saying goes. And it is not always for the best. Trapdoor spiders are getting fewer in South Australia. They balance the ecosystem, so their loss is a bad thing.  If they do not eat beetles, for example,  the Coleopltera will run amok. | not. |◀|
Trapdoor spider
Surveys on the numbers show a sharp decline. In 18 days in the 1950s 122 specimens were found. A search in 2014 caught only 18 in ten days. No research has been done to see what is happening nationwide.|  | ▶ | not. | ▶ |

The arachnid has its weaknesses. Each builds its burrow when it is immature. The retreat is home for its whole life. If the lair is damaged it cannot be rebuilt. Its positive point is longevity: it can live for 30 years.| ▶ | not. | ▶ |                                      | ▶ not | ◀ |
◆BiOLOGY ◆
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LEGGIES ARE FEWER
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Bedbugs Victorious Over Humanity

Bedbugs are the bane of humanity. Not only do they bite, but people are ashamed to say they suffer from the insects presence. Yet this is normal for any animal, and humans are no different from other creatures.
bedbugs humans live alongside coexist
Note how her face is obscured because of the shame
Humans like to think that they are special and are somehow unique in nature. We evolved like other species alongside bugs who did well out of it. Indeed, humans even benefited while some bugs eat others. There are many of them: bedbugs, fleas, lice, ticks, scabies and so on.

We have tried and failed to eradicate bedbugs. Humans must accept their presence. Dead bedbugs are found on the earliest mummies. Ancient Romans and Greeks wrote about them. Everything has been tried against them from dangerous chemicals to plants and potions. Even smoke has been tried to no avail.

The only thing that worked was DDT. An entire generation enjoyed life for the first time without bedbugs. This was not to last, however, as the dangers of the toxic substance became known. Furthermore, resistant bugs survived and became the hardy bunch breeding today. So prominent have they become that 2010 was named the Year of the Bedbug.
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◆ Chemistry by Ty Buchanan ◆

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bedbugs humans coexist live  alongside evolved evolution people animal nature
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Spiders Eat Fish

It is commonly believed that spiders are land dwelling creatures that eat air breathing prey. However, this is a misconception. New research shows certain spiders eat fish.

These spiders exist on all continents except Antarctica. No less than eight kinds of spider consume fish up to twice their size. they also eat amphibians, mice, bats and birds.

The diving bell spiders lives underwater. Many spiders live on the edge of water bodies and will eat just about anything that can be caught. Some fish they catch are very large indeed. Spiders take the chance of a rough fight because nearly all of a fish is edible.

They hunt by holding on to something solid on the land with two of their rear legs. When a fish actually touches one of the six legs in the water the spider pounces completely leaving the land and bites the fish on the neck.

We do not know everything about nature. Much of the living habits of animals is still unknown. As time goes on and data are accumulated we will know more but never all of it.
Ethology by Ty Buchanan
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Frogs Get Rid of Foreign Objects Through Their Bladder - Weird

Have you heard of the person who got part of a needle stuck in his hand and it came out 10 years later through his foot? Strange things like this do happen. It is the body's way of safely ridding the body of potentially dangerous objects. Work on Australian frogs show they deal with such things in a different way.

Tiny bead-like radio transmitters were implanted into frogs. They were put into body cavities of frogs and even toads. Oddly, the small devices disappeared. The beads moved along the body into the bladder where they were, in due course, fully expelled from the body.

This may sound like something quite obvious and unremarkable until one is informed that the beads were two centimeters long and some of the frogs were only eight centimeters long. It is no mean feat for such a small animal. It was discovered that tissue from the bladder grows out and envelopes the foreign object. The object is then drawn into the bladder.

Apparently, frogs have evolved this to rid their bodies of the sharp extremities and extrusions of insects, their main diet. Furthermore, frogs have thin skin and they hop, landing clumsily. Thus, thorns from plants can easily pierce their bodies.

Researchers had assumed that when a transmitter was no longer mobile, the host animal was dead. Now they will have to find out if the transmitter was naturally expelled.
Economics by Ty Buchanan
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City Spiders Are Larger

Many animals do better when they live alongside humans. One seldom thinks of spiders though. If you travel overseas you soon discover the huge spiders in rented accommodation. Research has shown that these frightening but usually friendly creatures do grow larger in warm homes.

They don't have to be living inside the houses either. Just staying close to warm building is sufficient. The golden orb spider was placed in particular external environment and data were collected. Those near buildings were larger and fatter than their bush cousins. Living in the middle of a car park with the heat given off by cars made them bigger as well.

Though many people fear them, urban spiders are harmless. They keep pest insects in check. If they weren't there, we would probably be "eaten alive" by flies and gnats. Rather than spraying and crushing them, put them outside and send them on their way.
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Society
TwitThis
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Caterpillars Are Changing into Butterflies Earler

Climate change is making butterflies more active. They are coming out 10 days earlier than they used to in spring. The change has been caused by a 0.91ºC increase in temperature in Melbourne. All species that interrelate with the Common Brown butterfly (Heteronymph Merope) breed earlier as well.

A group of academics funded by the Australian Research Council has researched this issue. Members of the group studied caterpillars bred at the old and new temperature in the laboratory and noted the change. Observation of the butterfly in the wild has confirmed that caterpillars are changing into butterflies earlier.

If butterflies are coming out sooner then other insects must be doing so as well. This means that crops will have to be planted earlier to be fertilized by insects. Bees are not the only insects needed to grow crops.  People in cities do not understand the importance of pollination on food crops.
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Entomology
TwitThis
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Hunting Animals Chose What They Eat

Hunting animals don't just eat what they "bump into". They select "who" they need to eat to maintain a healthy diet. This gives them a better chance of growing strong and big so they can reproduce and pass on their genes.

A team from the University of Sydney, Oxford University, Aarhus University (Denmark) and Exeter University researched the ground beetle (Anchomenus dorsalis). Beetles were divided into three groups: one had a selection of bugs offered to them; the second group had high-protein food; and the third had high-fat offerings. The latter two groups did not fair very well. Those in the first group did very well. They chose ants, slugs, moths, aphids and beetle larvae as they wanted and produced more eggs than the other two.

It was known that herbivore and omnivore insects ate varied diets. This study confirms the view that all animals select their food due to inner craving created by the body based on the body's immediate needs.

The problem is however - What happened to Man? Humans seem to have lost this attribute, consuming food that the body doesn't need: indeed, eating food that reduced longevity.
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Biology
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Beetles Attack South Australian Museum

Australians have a fear of termites that will destroy their assets, namely their houses. Your home is the most valuable thing you have. Termites creep up on you. You are not aware that they are there until the serious damage they do can be seen. Some houses have to be literally rebuilt.

At the South Australian Museum, however, it is beetles who are doing the damage. Carpet beetles are attacking everything they come into contact with. The valuable insect collection is being destroyed very quickly. Something has to be done, so the state government is going to spend $2.7 per cent on cleaning up the roof space of the Science Centre where the infestation began. Unfortunately, there is no money designated to protect the insect collection.

If the beetles cannot find anything to eat they consume each other. Dead insects in the museum's collection are the ideal food. Insects have been stored in wooden cases for 150 years. In world terms the large array of insects is very important. Scientists come from all over the globe to use the specimens for research in medicine, genetics, biodiversity, biosecurity, taxonomy and climate change.

Fortunately, something can be done to protect the collection. Specimens can be put into cold storage in deep freeze, or kept in perfectly sealed crates specially made for them.
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Science
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Australian Moths and Butterflies Are Barcoded

Australian moths and butterflies are being barcoded. There are 10,000 species in Australia and 65 per cent of them have been coded, 28,000 specimens in all. They are not flying around with a tag on them. DNA is analyzed then recorded with an image of a specimen in a barcode system.

The database is a combined project by the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) and CSIRO's Australian National Insect Collection (ANIC). It is the first time such a system has been used to categorize a group of insects in a country. This is the beginning. Plans are in train to record most organisms worldwide.

The technology has been used to determine if wrongly named fish are being sold. It will be used to identify dangerous pests coming into Australia. Species will now be more effectively categorised in research.
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Science
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Caterpillars Are Changing into Butterflies Earler

Climate change is making butterflies more violent. They are coming out 10 days earlier than they used to in spring. The change has been caused by a 0.91ºC increase in temperature in Melbourne. All species that interrelate with the Common Brown butterfly (Heteronymph Merope) breed earlier as well.

A group of academics funded by the Australian Research Council has researched this issue. Members of the group studied caterpillars bred at the old and new temperature in the laboratory and noted the changed. Observation of the butterfly in the wild has confirmed that caterpillars are changing into butterflies earlier.

If butterflies are coming out sooner then other insects must doing this as well. This means that crops will have to be planted earlier in to be fertilized by insects. People in cities do not understand the importance of pollination on food crops.
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