My Science School

Ladybugs, or lady beetles, are considered a beneficial bug which helps rid an area of crop-damaging aphids, mealybugs and other destructive insect pests. The adult ladybugs feed on these insects.  They also lay their eggs among the aphids or other prey so the emerging larvae can feed on the insects, too.

Ladybugs are predatory beetles that eat a large number of aphids (plant lice) and other harmful bugs. Even in the larval stage, ladybugs will normally consume hundreds of aphids and will grow into adults that may eat up to 5,000 aphids in a lifetime. This greatly reduces the population of harmful insects that will otherwise destroy your plants.

IPM techniques aim to eliminate or limit pest damage through preventative ecosystem management. The gardener considers environmental factors that lead to pest infestation and seeks a combination of controls for effective long-term success. Biological controls, including a healthy population of ladybugs, are essential for naturally controlling aphids, spider mites, whiteflies and scale insects, including rose scale. Provide a healthy environment for both roses and ladybugs. According to a 2011 University of California report, more than 3,000 ladybugs, released over time, were required for the successful treatment of just one aphid-infested rosebush. The natural population of predator ladybugs in such a garden contributes to its health.

Credit : Garden Guides

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They benefit your property by breaking down organic material, transporting nutrients from the surface to the subsoil, improving water infiltration and reducing runoff.

Dung beetles also reduce flies and odours by physically removing dung from the soil surface. This also helps to control dung-borne parasites.

Flowing on from the benefits of dung beetles to your soil are broader catchment-wide improvements in water quality.

Dung beetles are commonly thought of as insects that roll balls of manure. However, many species actually take the dung underground into tunnels to feed their young. When the dung beetle does this, it reduces the amount of exposed manure that can attract parasites or be washed into waterways. It also leaves cattle more room to graze.

In the U.S., the use of the dung beetle to clear pastures is gaining popularity, especially in Midwestern states whose economies rely heavily on agriculture. Currently, the biggest challenge is finding beetles who can survive cold winters, and scoop poop year-round.

But taking advantage of the dung beetle’s food source isn’t a new idea. Farmers in Australia have been using the beetles since the 1960s. You see, cattle weren’t native to Australia, so the country’s insects couldn’t break down the manure when cows and sheep were introduced. To control the problem, they imported dung beetles. That’s right. They imported bugs. Way to put your name on the map, dung beetle.

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Crickets are one of the most common insects people consume. Products containing cricket protein have grown in popularity due to consumer demand for more sustainable protein options.

Insects like crickets are rich in nutrients, especially protein, and may be more sustainable than other protein sources, such as beef.

However, some people aren’t comfortable eating crickets because they’re concerned about food safety.

Insects are a cheap, sustainable, and easy-to-produce source of nutrients and are especially rich in protein.

People most commonly eat crickets in under-resourced countries, where many people experience food insecurity and other animal sources of protein, like cattle, poultry, and fish, are scarce.

Research shows that people in Western countries aren’t entirely comfortable eating insects because they tend to view insects as unclean or potentially dangerous.

However, more people have begun to accept cricket consumption in Europe, the United States, and Canada as food companies have created user-friendly cricket-based products like protein powders and protein bars.

Credit : Healthline

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Ants act as decomposers by feeding on organic waste, insects or other dead animals. They help keep the environment clean. Carpenter ants, which make their nests in dead or diseased wood, considerably accelerate the decomposition process of timber. After the ants leave, fungi and bacteria grow in the galleries and break down the lignin and cellulose on large surfaces.

In terms of their effects on our gardens, plants, trees, and crops, ants can actually have quite a few positive effects. For one, as this study published in PubMed shows, ants can have multiple beneficial effects on soil fertility, as they dig through the soil, make it more water-absorbent, relocate refuse, and so on. Ants such as the black garden ant are also predatory animals that feed on other insects, many of which are actual plant pests. Even tree ants, plant-ants, and most other ants eating plants tend to consume the mildew that forms on plants and not the plants themselves.

At the same time, however, there is a definite symbiotic connection between aphids and ants in which the aphids help feed the ants and the ants protect the aphids from their predators by being the predators’ predators. And since aphids are pests that are highly damaging to our crops, their symbiotic relationship with ants is not something a gardener or a farmer should tolerate.

Credit : Insect Cop

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We are taught from a young age that bees carry pollen from plant to plant and flower to flower in a process called pollination. In fact, bees are responsible for pollinating nearly 85% of all food crops for humans, as well as numerous crops that grow the food fed to cattle. Without the honeybee, our options for nourishment would be seriously lacking, and there has been research conducted that predicts environmental collapse should the honeybee no longer exist.

Simply put, without bees, many plants would have no way to reproduce and die out. Bees play an important role in the life cycle of most plants and flowers. Interestingly, there are dozens of species of solitary bees that have evolved to pollinate a single type of plant, and coexisting in unison with the lifespan of that plant. Without that specific species' devotion to that plant, the plant would cease to reproduce and become extinct.

Unfortunately, a large percentage of bee species have died off each year due to a variety of factors, including disease, parasites, pesticides, and the destruction of their main food sources. As more species die, we will lose crops and, eventually, certain plants will become extinct without bees to do their part. The fate of bees can also indicate when environmental dangers exist. Mass bee deaths have been past indications of the use of toxic chemicals, or severe climate changes, giving scientists further proof of how fragile our environment really is.

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The house fly, Musca domestica Linnaeus, is a well-known cosmopolitan pest of both farm and home. This species is always found in association with humans or the activities of humans. It is the most common species found on hog and poultry farms, horse stables and ranches. Not only are house flies a nuisance, but they can also transport disease-causing organisms.

This common fly originated on the steppes of central Asia, but now occurs on all inhabited continents, in all climates from tropical to temperate, and in a variety of environments ranging from rural to urban. It is commonly associated with animal feces, but has adapted well to feeding on garbage, so it is abundant almost anywhere people live.

Flies commonly develop in large numbers in poultry manure under caged hens, and this is a serious problem requiring control. Although this fly species does not bite, the control of Musca domestica is vital to human health and comfort in many areas of the world. The most important damage related with this insect is the annoyance and the indirect damage produced by the potential transmission of pathogens (viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and nematodes) associated with this fly. Pathogenic organisms are picked up by flies from garbage, sewage and other sources of filth, and then transferred on their mouthparts, through their vomitus, feces and contaminated external body parts to human and animal food.

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Yes, the common housefly can taste food with its feet though it uses its mouth to eat. This is because its taste receptors that facilitate the sense of taste are located in its lower legs and feet. So when it lands on anything edible, it reflexively extends its proboscis or mouthpart to consume it. It is said that their feet are 10 million times more sensitive than our tongues.

The need for so many taste organs in insects is not understood very well. However, a clue for understanding their function comes from examining the anatomy of the taste-sensing neurons. These neurons send projections to different parts of the central nervous system of the fly. This suggests that taste information received from different parts of the body is processed differently in the brain. Therefore, different taste organs may have different functions.

To test this idea, Thoma et al. used the fruit fly Drosophila as a model for insects. With Drosophila, it is possible to target small numbers of neurons and to block them or activate them with genetic tools. The scientists blocked different groups of sweet-sensing neurons and measured sugar choice, the first step in feeding behavior. Normally, hungry flies choose sugar very quickly, but the flies which had all sweet-sensing neurons in their legs blocked could not choose sugar.

The scientists then examined the sweet taste neurons in the legs and found two populations of neurons. One group of neurons connected directly to the brain of the fly. The remaining neurons connected to the ventral nerve cord, a structure analogous to the spinal cord in humans.

Credit : ScienceDaily

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It is commonly believed that when an earthworm is cut in half-crosswise, it regenerates into two new worms. But this is not true. Earthworms do have the ability to regenerate lost segments. This ability varies between species and depends on the extent of the damage. They have a distinctive head and tail. They also have clitellum, a glandular and non-segmented section of the body wall, near the head. It secretes a sticky sac in which their eggs are deposited. When cut behind this clitellum, the head of the earthworm may survive and grow the tail, but the tail does not grow a head. The tail will die.

Some earthworms may amputate their tail when grasped by a predator. The tails would still move and distract their attacker. Species Eisenia fetida accumulates waste in its tail and when it cannot store any more, it amputates the tail. But none of these earthworm species grow head.

Amazing flatworm

However, there is a type of worm which can regenerate both head and tail. It's a primitive worm, called the planarian flatworm, common to many parts of the world, living in ponds and rivers.

A planarian split lengthwise or crosswise will regenerate into two separate individuals. When cut into three, even the middle part grows both new head and tail. The worm has extraordinary regeneration capacity that it can reform its entire body from just 1/277th of its original body size. When planarian regrows its head, it even keeps its old memories intact. In 2017, an amputated planaria was sent aboard the International Space Station (ISS). After spending five weeks, it regenerated into a double-headed worm.

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