Entomology

Super cool approach to mitigating a near-future problem.

Saw this on my porch one morning and thought it was pretty cool. Didn't even know any ants around here ate dead bugs!

I promise not to spam this community with random pics, but I adore common blues, and was delighted when I stumbled upon this. I somehow never see them in pairs. I figured I'd share!

Crafty little buggers.

Eating insects is one of those ideas that never quite seems to catch on. The United Nations endorsed the idea a decade ago, but, in the West at least, bugs remain mostly absent from supermarket shelves. Faced with an indifferent—or disgusted—public, scientists have been exploring other options. One is to feed the insects instead to livestock, which are not so picky.

Of course, the insects need to eat, too. To date, they have mostly been reared on leftover chicken feed. But the supply of that is limited, and if insect-reared meat is to take off, new sources will be needed. In a paper in Applied Entomology, Niels Eriksen, a biochemist at Aalborg University, suggests feeding them on the waste products of the beer industry.

It's not the best solution to feed livestock with insects, but until we can get people to stop eating livestock, this is a more sustainable solution.

That said, I've eaten insects more than once and, with one exception (giant water beetle), it was not an unpleasant experience once you get over the ick factor. Several insects I've had taste nutty, close to pecans. Ants are more cirtusy, I'm guessing due to the formic acid. It's too bad we can't get the West more interested in eating insects.

I haven't tried any arachnids yet, although a friend who tried scorpion said it was relatively tasteless.

Lyme disease, a tick-borne illness caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, is on the rise. Tick-borne diseases have been booming in the U.S., with major increases in Lyme in the last two decades. Tick abundance could spike this summer. A large acorn crop in 2021 helped small rodents boom. They are a key host for ticks, which spend a year in their larval stage before molting into nymphs, their most perilous stage. So this could be a big year for ticks.

Article doesn't mention which species are involved. I'm assuming Anopheles quadrimaculatus, but I'm curious how well other vector species (e.g. Aedes) transmit the disease. Anyone have any data? Article image clearly isn't Anopheles quadrimaculatus.

I even pet the little fella and it didn't fly off

Of all the critters I've found in the yard, this one has stuck with me the most. Huge! Crazy antennae! Cutest lil beetle feet. And then...the base of the antennae are laid in/around the compound eyes, like they were cut around it. Insects blow my mammal mind every single day.

Northeastern Pine Sawyer Beetle (Monochamus notatus)