Killer Bees

Killer bees are also called africanized bees. Honey bees and killer bees have some physical differences between them. Killer bees are dangerous because they attack in large numbers. They react to disturbances 10 times faster than the european honey bee. It will also chase people a quarter of a mile. They have killed 1,000 people. It is weird to think that bees have the ability to kill people if they sting them enough. I never liked bees and wasps in the first place but this just makes me even more scared of them now. Especially if they chase you a quarter of a mile and react that quickly even though thats just killer bees it still freaks me out. I will not be going around any kind of bees anytime soon just to be safe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africanized_bee

Bug Chicks Video

The first video we ever had to watch for class was a Bug Chicks video. It was super goofy but very insightful. It taught me a lot i didnt know in a small amount of time and the goofiness kept me watching even though it was so cheesy.
These are all the notes i took during the video and the things i learned. It was really crazy to think there are still roughly 20 million species of insects that haven't been described. Also that some things arent actually true insects.

(Arthropod- jointed legs or feet.

 3 body parts.

 2 pairs of wings.

 6 legs.

 1 pair of antennae.

 Incomplete metamorphosis 

Eggs-> larva-> adult

Instar(shed exoskeleton)

 Eggs->larva->pupa->adult

 Thysanura- live in human associated habitats, like moisture, bristle tail, also silver, eat bookbinding, leaf litter, decomposing things.

 Durmaptera- Skin winged, eat organic matter, found in warm climates, find under rock

 Orthopetra- straight winged, jumpers/runners, mostly found in households, eat plant material.

 Isoptera- eat wood, equal wings, found in wood

 Insects body temperature fluctuates depending on outside temperature (ectotherm)

 1 million describe species.

 Roughly 20 million undescribed species.)

Madagascar Hissing Cockroach

entomology.unl.edu

One day in class our teacher brought in cockroaches. They were Madagascar hissing cockroaches.It was freaking to hear them make the hissing noise they make that they are known for. Our teacher let us hold them if we wanted and he walked around with them. I didn't hold one because I dislike cockroaches a lot so i didnt want to. But the person next to me did hold one. So Lillian the person next to me decided to put it straight in my face trying to freak me out and then kept trying to freak me out when she saw how scared I got. Her cockroach would not stay still but i blame her for the because she dropped it on its back so thats probably why it kept trying to get away from her. I mean if i was in that cockroaches place and i had already gotten dropped i would be trying to get away too. It was an interesting day in class but it was still freaky.

Ruffner Mountain

We went on a class trip to ruffner mountain it was a cool experience. The views there were really pretty. We started by walking around the parking lot looking at things that caught our eye and that looked like they didnt belong. Then we went to a different entrance to begin our hike. We went hiking just looking around at everything and went into a tiny cave that was slippery trying to get down in it. The paths we took we pretty wet and the rocks were slippery so we had to be careful not to trip and fall. I was very careful watching where i was going so i wouldnt fall. No one did fall which was good. The cave was cool even though it was pretty small and damp and i had water dripping on me. I would for sure go back and hike it again and take more time to look at everything because we had to make sure we were good on time so we couldnt take much time looking at things.

Pinning Moths

One day in class we got to pin moths. It was very interesting because i didn't realize how much time it took to pin them. I thought it was just gonna be easy and all you had to do was stick a pin through the middle and you are done. That was not the case. You have to stab it with a pin, then put it on a board. You have to make sure you have to make sure you have the right size board for the body to fit in or it wont work. Also if it is too dry you can risk break the wings off when you have to spread them apart which i didn't know you would have to do that either. You have to find one that is a good mix between dry of soft because it makes it helpful when it comes to spreading out the wings. The first one i didnt mess up too bad but i didnt kind break one of the wings a little but after that i made sure to be a lot more careful and all the rest went pretty well.

Final Thoughts

en.wikipedia.org

My thoughts on insects has changed a bit. I would say i'm not as scared of them once i got to learn more about them but i'm still always gonna be scared when i have a wasp or fire ant near me. This class brought to light to me how insects help us and how many people eat insects in their culture. Insects aren't as scary as everyone makes them out to be and they don't try to hurt you. If you don't bother them they wont bother you. Its cool how someones perspective can change once they figure out more about things. Especially when is comes to insects.

Entomophagy

www.globalenvision.org

Whenever I think of people eating insects I always think of Fear Factor or different countries. Fear Factor always freaked me out because I couldn't imagine having to eat bugs and some of the people on their don't mind it. I remember one episode where the contestants had to bowl and all the pins they didn't knock over that's the amount of cockroaches they had to eat. Some people struggled a lot because they were still alive and some didn't seem to have a problem with it.  It was freaky to find out that 100 grams of chocolate can contain 60 insect fragments in it. Different parts of the world sell insects regularly. In South America movie theaters sell roasted ants as a snack instead of popcorn. I would guess though I would maybe try and insect depending on what it was and where I was especially if I was in a different country and it was kinda of a custom for them to eat certain things. I would be kinda scared though to try them just because it is something different and I'm not used to.

yesboleh.blogspot.com

Interesting Insects

 The bug I thought was most interesting was the firefly. The reason i thought this is because they fly in unique patterns and light up in unison. They light up different shades of yellow depending on the area they live in. This helps in mating, because it keeps a certain species from interbreeding. One of these certain beetles has a characteristic light pattern unique to its species. These firefly beetles are called lampyridae.They get their name from an old greek word that we have changed into the word lamp.Most fireflies that live in eastern North America have wings and both females and males glow. What is really interesting is that even the larvae and eggs of the firefly beetles glow. They get there glow from two chemicals that react.  This website states that these are located in the light organs that are located in the abdomen region. These two chemicals are   called luciferin and luciferense. These chemicals were named after Lucifier who was the "bearer of light". Without these two chemicals, fireflies would not be able to create their beautiful lights. When larvae, fireflies have a unique trait to catch prey to eat. They inject them with a fluid similar to novicane which numbs them and keeps them trapped while they feed. They usually feed on pollen or something similiar to nectar. Fireflies will always remind me of summer, and the awesome lights that they show off.

Misconceptions

www.nobuggy.com

My mom always told me when I was younger to be careful not to get an earwig in my ear because it will stay there and it wont come out and it will stay there forever. It freaked me out since I didn't know what the bug looked like or how it could possibly get in my ear. I was always really cautious whenever I heard something flying by my ear or something I saw on the ground if I was laying in grass. Every sound of a bug I heard by my ear I would jump and put my hands over my ears. One day I actually had a bug almost fly into my ear because i got tired of covering my ears and I wasn't paying attention. I was terrified when that happened. I thought it was an earwig considering I still didn't know what they looked like and naturally by the name I would assume they always went for the ear. Once I read the book the Earwig's Tail and read the chapter on earwigs I realized it was a misconception and it came from the name of the bug being called an earwig so that's why everyone thought it would come to your ear. It actually goes in your ear the same amount as other bugs would. The most common bug they actually find in peoples ears is a cockroach. A reason people are scared to get them in their ears is because they have a pair of pinchers on their abdomen. The environment they are usually found in it a damp type environment and they are good mothers so they wont go anywhere they cant lay their eggs so they stay in the environment where they can.Earwigs are mostly black and brown and belong to the group dermaptera which means skin winged. So when someone tells you to watch out for earwigs in your ear don't worry about it because they are just as likely to get in your ear as any other insect except cockroaches so look out for those.  

www.orkin.com

On Being A Cold Bug

www.statesymbolsusa.org

Being a bug in the winter would be a difficult challenge. You can't wrap up in blankets and warm clothes, snuggle in the bed or drink hot chocolate like we can to stay warm. We have so many different ways to stay warm in the cold unlike insects do. They can super cool, freeze and are in a dead like state, can make a cocoon or try to weasel their way into a house. I remember the last time I was super cold was during a lacrosse tournament I played in my senior year of high school. It was 20 to 25 degrees outside in Georgia. It wasn't supposed to be very cold outside when we checked the weather before we left but they had gotten a cold front while we were on our way there. I didn't bring any under armor with me because I thought it was supposed to be warm so during the game I froze my butt off because i didn't have anything to put under my jersey which was a small skirt and tank top. That was the last time I can think of that I was super cold. If I could pick an insect to be and the stage I would be in I would pick a mourning cloak butterfly in the adult stage. They stay inside of hollow trees and eat sap all winter. I would choose this because it seems like an easy task to have because all they do is stay inside a tree all winter till it is warm enough for them to come out.

en.wikipedia.org

Another insect I would pick would be the woolly bear caterpillar in the larvae stage. They super cool to keep themselves from freezing to death in the winter. Super cooling is when they produce glycerol to keep them from freezing. As long as the don't come into contact with ice they will survive.

Thoughts on Insects

When I was younger I was never wanted to be around any type of insect. They all freaked me out so much. If one got even near me I would have a panic attack and scream and run away. I would even freak out at first when I saw a butterfly or a fly but once I realized what they were I was fine. The insects I dislike the most and still dislike the most are wasps and bees just because they can sting you and I have been stung by them before. There was one time i got stung by a bee in the bellybutton. I also dislike fire ants a lot. I stepped in a fire ant hill bare foot one time when I was little while I was at my older brother's soccer game not realizing what it was and it was awful. I didn't know a little ant could cause so much pain.

http://www.beesathome.com/bees-vs-wasps/

blog.mikerendell.com/?p=3399‎

Now that I have gotten older I realized that insects aren't that bad but I still run away from wasps and bees but I don't have a panic attack every time I see a bug. Spiders bother me a little but not that bad. I have gotten used to them because my little sister hates them so much so she always calls me to her room to kill them. So I had to get used to them just for that reason. 

Butterflies and lady bugs were always my favorite. Butterflies are always such pretty colors and so fun to look at. The blue or purple ones were always my favorite ones to see. I like lady bugs because they are just so tiny and cute. I always liked trying to find them when i was younger. I went into my friend's house one time and they had lady bugs all over the ceiling which freaked me out a little but i still really like ladybugs. 

http://hdwallpapersx.com/butterfly-wallpapers/