OK, I admit it: These really are pieces of jewelry, created by twentieth century American artist John Paul Miller, who was fond of using precious metals and enamel to recreate spiders, insects, and various cephalopods. I love how these piece look beautiful and disturbing at once.

You can see more of Miller's work in this online gallery. [via feuilleton]

A group of researchers in the United States decided to do an experiment with water striders, in which they observed the mating success of prudent, "nice" males versus aggressive, "psychopathic" males. The latter group tried often to mate with the females very aggressively, and in previous experiments they had the most reproductive success. But these scientists discovered that the success of the psychopaths depended on very specific laboratory conditions

It turned out that other studies of sex among water striders had kept the population contained in a limited area, where females had access to very few males. When the researchers opened up the insects' habitat, allowing the females to roam freely, they discovered that the less aggressive males attracted the highest number of mates.

According to a release about the research, published yesterday afternoon in Science:

"The presence of psychopaths dramatically reduced the productivity of the population," [biologist David Sloan] Wilson said. "When all the males were gentlemen, the females laid about three times more eggs than they did when all the males were psychopaths. And yet within each group the psychopaths were doing better than the gentlemen. How do the gentlemen persist if they're disadvantaged within the group?"

Once the females could move between groups, the researchers had their answer. [Researcher Omar Tonsi] Eldakar and Michael J. Dlugos, then also a Binghamton graduate student, devised a wading pool equipped with special doors that could restrict movement between groups or allow the insects to move freely.

"When they opened the doors, the females would leave whenever a psychopath came around," Wilson said. "The whole thing resulted in a heterogeneity in which the females were clustered with the gentlemen. It's the movement of individuals that creates these differences between groups that favor nonaggressive males."

Who knows how much research into sexual selection has been flawed because researchers forgot the crucial ingredient of female freedom?

Ultimately, what's interesting about this study is that it shows why isolated populations might engage in a different mode of sexual selection than a free-ranging population that has a lot of contact with outside groups.

via Science

[Cornelia Hesse-Honegger via Neatorama]

Tree bug from Parvin Road near Hanford WA, USA
The right feeler lacks a section
Harlequin bug near Three Mile Island, USA
The Scutellum is curved and its yellow ornament is asymmetrical.
Soft Bug larva from Posonby, Sellafield, UK
Both of the left wing tips are damaged.
Tree bug, Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland
Right tip of the neck plate is flattened
Housefly mutant ‘aristapedia'
Parts of legs are growing out of the feelers and the eyes are yellow
Squash bug from Rohr, Canton Aargau, Switzerland.
Left cover wing is a short stump.
Soft bug from Pripjat, Ukraine
Right side middle leg is short with no foot but two claws
Damsel bugs Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland
Wings of uneven length and disturbed neck plate
Scentless plant bug from Würenlingen, Canton Aargau, Switzerland
Left cover wing is blown up like a balloon
Tree bug from Slavoutich, Ukraine
Right feeler is disturbed.
Drosophila melanogaster
The left wing is a little clump
Ladybird beetle near Three Mile Island, USA
Dent and a black growth on wings.

After District 9 screened in Johannesburg, many noted that the "prawns" — as the aliens are contemptuously referred to by many humans — are a reference to Parktown Prawns, a common and much-loathed creature often found in Johannesburg homes. Parktown Prawns are not, in fact, prawns, but a species of king cricket that has likely been around since prehistoric times. The critters can grow up to 10 centimeters in length, and sport barbed legs and powerful mandibles.

But it's more than their name and their insect-like appearance that the District 9 aliens borrow from the South African bugs. One of the Parktown Prawn's less endearing qualities is its tendency to spew a noxious black sludge, which one commenter on the William Gibson discussion board points out is likely the inspiration for the black alien liquid that is central to the movie's plot.

As for human interactions with the Prawns, a New York Times article from a decade ago relates a story of a woman who screamed upon spotting a Parktown Prawn, prompting the confused creepy crawly to leap into her mouth, and was summarily rushed to the hospital after chocking on the barbed legs. But the commenter from the William Gibson boards takes a much calmer approach:

[T]he real secret is to TALK to your Prawn — I would always say, "Hello, Prawn, well, I know this is a nice house but really, you belong outside in the garden, so just stay calm, and I'll pick you up and put you there." It really works, if you ever encounter a Prawn, try it.

The film's military contractor, Multinational United, would likely be impressed, since they advise a similar approach:

When dealing with aliens, try to be polite, but firm. And always remember that a smile is cheaper than a bullet.

[William Gibson Discussion Board via Reddit]
These Streets Belong to the Pre-Millennium Bug [NY Times via Reddit]

Otocinclus batmani (Batman)

In 2007, ichthyologist Pablo Lehmann named a newly discovered species of catfish after the caped crusader. Why? Because, if you look closely at the tail, you can see the Bat Symbol. Now visitors flock to Loon Lake in Antioch, Illinois each summer to try to catch the fish.

Tarbosaurus efremovi (Ivan Yefremov)

Soviet writer Ivan Yefremov is most famous for his works of science fiction (most notably the communist utopian novel Andromeda Nebula), but he was also a paleontologist. Perhaps that's why a Russian paleontologist named this species of Tarbosaurus (a near cousin of the Tyrannosauri) after the author.

Arthurdactylus conandoylei (Arthur Conan Doyle)

Writing a book about dinosaurs is a good way to get a reptile named after you, even if Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had to wait 82 years after the publication of The Lost World for it to happen. In 1994, paleontologist Eberhard Frey and David Matrill named an entire genus of pterosaur after the author, who described a similar creature in his novel.

Irritator Challengeri (Professor Challenger)

A second dinosaur named for The Lost World, I. challengeri is named for Doyle's irritable dilettante Professor Challenger. Perhaps appropriately, I. challengeri could have eaten A. conandoylei for breakfast; a fossilized tooth from its genus was once discovered lodged in a pterosaur's neck.

Draculoides bramstokeri (Bram Stoker)

If you're going to name a critter after the author of Dracula, it had better be a bloodsucker. This Australian arachnid is known for its fang-like pedipalps, which it uses to grab and crush prey before sucking out their tasty juices. As an added bonus, this sucker lives in the darkness of caves.

Orsonwelles (Orson Welles)

Arachnologist Gusavo Hormiga named this genus of gigantic spider after writer and director Orson Welles simply because Welles was a giant of filmmaking (we're assured this is meant metaphorically). The individual species' names are subtle references to Welles' work, such as O. Bellum for War of the Worlds, O. Malas for Touch of Evil, and O. Toledus for Citizen Kane.

Serendipaceratops arthurcclarkei (Arthur C. Clarke)

2001 author Arthur C. Clarke has a slew of things named for him and his creations: the asteroid 4923 Clarke, the 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter, and, of course, the Clarke awards. Having a species of dinosaur named after him is just icing on the namesake cake.

Borogovia (Borogoves - The Jabberwocky)

Perhaps as an attempt to lend more meaning to Lewis Carroll's famous nonsense poem, the paleontologists who named these smaller, carnivorous dinosaurs named them after the borogoves in the opening verse:

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Dracorex Hogwartsia (Hogwarts School of Wizardry)

When a 66 million year-old dinosaur that looks like a dragon was discovered in South Dakota, paleontologists decided it would be at home in the Harry Potter universe, naming it "The Dragon King of Hogwarts" after the school of wizardry. J.K. Rowling agreed that the beast looked familiar, like "a slightly less pyromaniac Hungarian Horntail."

Leucothoe tolkieni (JRR Tolkien)

There is actually no shortage of critters named for Tolkien's creations, from a hairy-footed beetle named Pericompsus bilbo to the hexapod Gollumjapyx smeagol. But the tiny shrimp-like crustacean L. tokieni is named for the man himself.

Gojirasaurus (Gojira)

It's probably not surprising that someone would eventually name a dinosaur after Japan's giant reptilian monster. But you would think they would have chosen a larger creature; Gojirasaurus is a mere 6.5 meters tall, and would tower over a human, but not the city of Tokyo.

Godzilliidae (Gojira)

Of course, this family of blind crustaceans from the class Remipedia makes Gojirasaurus look like Godzilla. It also contains two Gojira-themed geni: Godzillius, the largest of the remipedes, and Godzilligonomus, the smallest.

Pleomothra (Mothra)

Evidentally, naming remipede crustaceans after Japanese monsters became something of a convention, as another genus in the Godzilliidae family was named after the flying menace Mothra.

Sinemys gamera (Gamera)

At least Gamera was named for a creature he might actually be related to. S. gamera is a turtle from the Cretaceous Period. Though the species may have existed in Japan, the S. gamera fossils were actually found in Inner Mongolia.

Hortipes terminator (Terminator)

The Hortipes are a genus of tiny spiders that live in the soil of sub-Saharan Africa. The H. terminator was reportedly so named because the males' appendages resemble a futuristic gun.

Balnibarbi (Balnibarbi - Gulliver's Travels

Another common source of scientific names is Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. Oddly enough, this genus of trilobites gets its name from Balnibarbi, a country where science is used for foolish ends.

Laputavis (Laputa - Gulliver's Travels)

The Laputavis seems a more apt name from Jonathan Swift. Not only does it make sense to name an extinct bird for the flying castle in Gulliver's Travels, it's also a bit of a pun, as the Laputavis are related to swifts.

Sadly, no image of Laputavis was available. This is its distant relative, an Alpine Swift.

Holorusia brobdingnagia (Brobdingnags - Gulliver's Travels)

Brobdingnag is the country of giants — giant people, giant rats, giant insects. The H. brobdingnagia crane fly isn't quite as large as similar creatures in Brogdingnag (which were said to be as large as cats), but they're still sizable and annoying pests.

Jurassosaurus Nedegoapeferima (Jurassic Park)

This ankylosaurus is named not just for the film Jurassic Park, but for the cast as well. The species name is made up of letters from the actors' surnames: Sam Neil, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Sir Richard Attenborough, Bob Peck, Martin Ferrero, Ariana Richards, and Joseph Mazzello. Ultimately, the genus name Jurassosaurus was dropped in favor of Tianchisaurus, but the movie-inspired species name stuck.

Conus tribblei (Tribbles - Star Trek)

You would think a species named after the fuzzy, procreation-happy pets from the original Star Trek series would be furry. Instead, we get predator sea snails. As it turns out, C. tribblei isn't named directly for the fictional pet, but for discoverer Jerry Walls actual pet, a cat named "Tribbles."

Bidenichthys beeblebroxi (Zaphod Beeblebrox - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

Though you can't see it on this species of triplefin blenny (a close relation), B. bebblroxi has a false head pattern on its scales, earning it a moniker similar to that of Douglas Adams' funny two-headed alien.

Erechthias beeblebroxi (Zaphod Beeblebrox - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

Once again not seen here on this related species, but the E. beeblebroxi moth's pattern create the illusion of a second head, adding it to Zaphod's two-headed naming pile.

Fiordichthys slartibartfasti (Slartibartfast - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

Planet designer Slartibartfast has a particular affinity for making coastlines, especially the fjords of Norway. So this particular fishy, found only in the Fiordland of New Zealand was named in his honor.

Ninjemys (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

This horned turtle of Pleistocene epoch gets its radical name from the sewer-dwelling mutants of New York. Sadly, its existence predates the invention of the pepperoni pizza, so it was forced to live on a diet of plants.

Morlockia Garcia-Valdecasas (Morlocks - The Time Machine)

The subterranean Morlocks from H.G. Wells get their own troglodyte species named for them, a remipede crustacean found in the caves of the Bahamas.

Pimoa Cthulhu (The Call of Cthulhu)

You might have expected that a species named after Lovecraft's unspeakable horror would be a cephalopod of some kind, or at least something frighteningly monstrous. Instead, we get an ordinary American spider, one that isn't even poisonous to humans.

Han solo (Han Solo)

Giving this trilobite species the name Han solo was an excuse not only to name a creature after a character from Star Wars, but also to make a terrible pun. H. solo, is, after all, the sole member of the genus Han. Incidentally, Harrison Ford has two species named after him, the spieder Calponia harrisonfordi and the ant Pheidole harrisonfordi.

Agathidium vaderi (Darth Vader)

If there's one person that biologists can't resist naming critters after, it's Darth Vader. And entymologists Kelly Miller and Quentin Wheeler particularly love assigning beetles in the Agathidium genus unusual names. Other Agathidium species include A. bushi, A. cheneyi, and A. rumsfeldi. A. vaderi in particular gets its name from its shiny, helmet-like head.

Darthvaderum (Darth Vader)

Apparently, this genus of orbited mites got its name when the entomologist who discovered them took one look and thought of the Sith Lord.

Polemistus chewbacca, P. vaderi, and P. yoda (Chewbacca, Darth Vader, and Yoda)

It's not entirely clear why entomologists Arnold Menke and David Vincent decided to name their newly-discovered wasp species after characters from Star Wars. Apparently, they're just big fans.

The Knotweed is also originally from Japan, and it was first introduced in Britain in the 1850s, but since then, the plant has thrived a little too well. The research team was charged with finding a way to reduce the invasive plant's foothold in Britain, and they settled on bringing in a natural predator of the Knotweed from the plant's native Japan.

The little plant-eater is called Aphalara itadori, and it works a lot like an aphid, sucking out vital juices from the plant and choking it with tons of offspring. The idea is that the itadori will not kill the Knotweed, but greatly reduce its spread and number.

Of course, when a non-native species takes over surprisingly well, it's risky bringing in yet another non-native species to control it. But the team is doing extensive research on the interaction between the insects and the Knotweed to make sure there are no surprises in store for Britain's ecosystem.

This move by the British government also echos a move by the Springfield government in The Simpsons. In the episode "Bart The Mother," a species of tree lizard takes over Springfield, but the city imports snakes to kill the lizards. When the snakes become a problem, the town plans brings in gorillas. The gorillas, they say, will not be a problem because winter will take care of them. Let's hope there aren't snake-killing gorillas wandering the British countryside by this time next year.

First Ever Use In Europe Of An Insect To Fight Invasive Plant Species [via ScienceDaily]

(Image: a member of the team with the dreaded Knotweed, from University of Leicester)

The carpenter ants in question build hives in trees and forage on the forest floors. When they are taken over by the zombification fungus, however, they stick exclusively to the ground. A study reported in the American Naturalist says that this is because the fungus knows it will prosper closest to the ground, so it compels the ants to stay out of the trees.

That's the heart of what is happening here: the fungus somehow forces the ant to do exactly what it wants. The ant first acts as a personal transportation service, conveying the fungus to exactly where it wants to be (the leafy forest floor), and then the ant dies and becomes an abundant food source for the fungus. The fungus even forces the ant to clamp its mandibles onto a desirable leaf habitat, where it stays locked until its death.

Imagine if this happened on a human scale: the fungus would compel you to walk out into a forest, grab tightly onto a tree, and slowly die curled up on the forest floor, probably driving you mad as it ate your brain from the inside. Now if that had been the plot of The Happening, we probably would have been more interested...

Zombie Ants Controlled by Fungus [via LiveScience]

(Image: Ant on Leaf, a CC photo from ViaMoi)

New Scientist reports that Pentagon-backed scientists are planning to implant electronics in insects that will allow them to announce the presence of certain chemicals in the air by modulating the rhythm of the insects' wingbeats:

The implants will cause the insects in these OrthopterNets to modulate their calls in the presence of certain chemicals... As well as a biochemical sensor and a device for modulating the wing muscles, the electronics package would contain an acoustic sensor designed to respond to the altered calls of other insects. This should ensure the "alarm" signal is passed quickly across the network and is ultimately picked up by ground-based transceivers.

Those involved in the project point out that the system could be adapted for non-combat situations, such as monitoring pollution or gas leaks. The only problem, it seems, is miniaturizing the technology enough for the insects, according to Ben Epstein of OpCoast, the company behind the project:

We could do this by adjusting the muscle tension or some other parameter that affects the sound-producing movements. The insect itself might not even notice the modulation... Given a big enough insect it wouldn't be a problem.

Maybe we're going around this the wrong way; maybe, instead of miniaturizing the technology, we should work on breeding larger insects. No-one would have a problem with giant crickets jumping out during warfare, right?

Cyborg crickets could chirp at the smell of survivors [New Scientist]

For the past several years, people in farming communities in Florida have been using this weapon, and now a group in Texas is also taking it up. They're releasing phorid flies from South America, tiny little humpbacked creatures whose lifecycle involves creating fire ant zombies. The flies dive-bomb fire ants, injecting their eggs into the insects' bodies.

When the larvae hatch, they worm their way into the ants' heads, slowly eating their brains. Once the brain is sufficiently eradicated, the ant starts engaging in extremely strange behavior. It wanders in random directions, and finally the larvae eat enough that the ant's head simply falls off.

The phorid fly continues to gestate inside the zombie head, eventually emerging from the ant's mouth as a fully-grown fly, ready to attack another fire ant. Agricultural experts think this is an effective and environmentally safe way to kill the ants, whose chompy habits destroy millions of dollars in electrical equipment and menace young cows.

Not only do the flies kill many ants, but they change the behavior of the survivors. Afraid of being attacked by the flies, the ants will forage closer to the nest, gathering half the amount of food they normally would. Less food means the hives shrink, bringing the fire ant population under control.

No word on what those zombie-making phorids will do when their ant victims die out. Human heads are tasty, or so I've heard.

via AP News

images via University of Florida

Alex Wild, who took these photographs, is a scientist who researches ants. He also happens to be an extremely talented photographer who always manages to capture both the danger and the beauty of the insect world. While he has a number of gorgeous ant portraits, I think his most stunning work comes in action photos like these, where ants are battling it out with other insects. That ant stinging the centipede, by the way, isn't killing the centipede. She's just paralyzing it so that the larvae in her hive can munch on it while it's still really fresh.


Here you can see a very strange encounter between a fly and an ant that was wandering up a tree. Wild says he saw flies landing on the ants, holding them against the tree for a few seconds, and then flying away. He couldn't figure out what was going on until he used the magnifying action of his camera lens to get a good look at what the bugs were doing. It turned out the flies were mugging the ants, pinning them down and stealing their food.


Most flies take their attacks on ants far beyond mugging, however. These flies use ants as incubators for their larvae, using a canulated organ called an ovipositor to inject eggs into the ant's abdomen. Eventually the baby flies eat their way out of the ant's body, getting a lot of nourishment but killing the insect in the process. In this photo, you can see the fly injecting her eggs into the ant.

If you want to see more of Wild's exceptionally cool insect photography, including some friendly pictures that do not involve muggings or deadly injections, check out his blog Photo Synthesis.

Though scientists have known for a long time that the mosquito whine is a mating call, a group of Cornell researchers has revealed that there's more to the blood-sucking bugs' love songs than previously thought. They aren't just whining at each other - they are also engaging in a pretty sophisticated call-and-response ritual that involves changing the timing of their wingbeats.

The two songs, which you can hear clearly in this slomo video, become a kind of duet. The duet is generated just before the couple starts mating, and researchers say it "settles at around 1,200 hertz — roughly an octave and a half above concert A, the pitch to which instruments are tuned."

According to a summary of the research, published today in Science:

To study mosquito mating calls, the researchers tethered mosquitoes and flew them past each other while recording the flight tones with a special microphone. Co-first author Benjamin Arthur, a postdoctoral researcher in Hoy's laboratory, placed electrodes in the mosquitoes' auditory organ in their antennae during playback to measure physiological responses of the mosquitoes to the sounds of potential mates.

So making a mosquito porn movie is a little bit more technically complex than making one with humans. But don't worry - the researchers aren't just doing this as a mosquito marital aid. It's actually part of a plot to destroy the mosquito population.

Says researcher Lauren Cator:

By studying these flight tone signals, we may be able to determine what kind of information males and females consider important when choosing a mate. This will allow us to release 'sexy' transgenic or sterilized males that will be able to successfully compete with wild populations.

Basically, she's saying they want to breed the sexiest mosquitoes imaginable and then make them sterile, so that wild mosquitoes will hump them without breeding more of those foxy, blood-drinking whiners.

In other words: Mosquito eugenics FTW.

SOURCE: Science Magazine

The Bugs - or Arachnids - in Starship Troopers are at least three times bigger than the average member of the Mobile Infantry forces. This may seem comfortably outlandish from where you're sitting (hopefully with an armrest of bug-free Coca-Cola and a lap full of untainted popcorn) in the theater, but in prehistoric times, it actually was possible for arthropods to grow almost that large. Insects in that oxygen-rich atmosphere could easily suck up nourishment through their trachea, and that's why creatures like the Jaekelopterus rhenaniae (an 8-foot sea scorpion) and the Arthropleura (an 8.5-foot millipede) walked the earth.

Nowadays, however, having an open circulatory system isn't such a piece of cake. Arthropods have no blood vessels to transport oxygenated cells in their bodies, so they must wait for the oxygen to diffuse through their body tissue — and the oxygen concentration in the air is a lot lower now that there are six billion humans hogging it, too. So you won't be seeing 8-foot insects in your house anytime soon, but the present day still offers us a host of shudder-worthy members of the phylum arthropod.

Giant burrowing cockroach. This crawly fellow, which hails from Australia, is the longest and heaviest type of cockroach on Earth. Measuring up to 8 centimeters and weighing in at 35 grams, it narrowly beats the giant cockroach, or blaberus giganteus.) Apparently some people keep giant burrowing cockroaches as pets; I wonder what the vet says when they show up.

Hercules beetle. In May, a few of these babies caused quite a stir when they showed up inside packages at a Pennsylvania post office. Customs officials were probably nonplussed to discover beetles that were fifteen centimeters in diameter — but I'm sure they felt better when they found out that the largest Hercules beetles can reach up to seventeen centimeters.

Phobaeticus serratipes. This is the longest known insect, a stick bug that has reached up to 55 centimeters on record. That's only with legs fully extended, however, so I'm sure that makes you feel better. The Phobaeticus lives in Malaysia and Singapore, and catches the eyes of a few pet owners there, too.

Goliath birdeater. The most traumatic event of my childhood was discovering a 20-centimeter-long spider on the floor of my bathroom, but it turns out things could have been much, much worse for me. In the rainforests of South America, 30-centimeter-long spiders lie in wait — and oh yeah, they sometimes eat birds and mice. Ye gods.

Amazonian giant centipede. The Scolopendra gigantea is carnivorous, can grow more than 30 centimeters long, it might have as many as 46 legs, and its venom is dangerous to humans. It must be really, really adorable anyway, because people still keep Amazonian giant centipedes as pets — this guy in Trinidad, for example, looks pretty happy with his.

Japanese spider crab. This is the largest known arthropod on Earth today: Fully grown, it can reach a leg span of 4 meters and a weight of 20 kilograms. As if being huge isn't enough, this species also has a life expectancy of 100 years. Japanese spider crabs live at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, and frankly, I'm happy to leave them there.

Images from Australian Museum Online, DK Images, God of Insects, Weekly Echo, BigHairySpiders.com, and Wikipedia.

The bugs are tiny, roughly rice-sized, and they feed on the seeds of plane trees. They probably don't pose a serious threat, although invasive species are never good news, if that's what they turn out to be. Their numbers are increasing steadily, and they've already been found beyond the museum's grounds. Entymologists thought they had a match with Arocatus roeselii, a central European insect that lives near alder trees, but Arocatus roeselii has a reddish coloration.

Experts with the museum think the bugs might be Arocatus roeselii that moved in and flourished without their natural predators, but they've left open the possibility that these bugs are an entirely new, undiscovered species of insect. Why they suddenly appeared in the middle of a major city is unknown. If anyone can come up with a good explanation, it's the io9 readers. Can you come up with some totally implausible (or totally plausible, for you hard SF sticklers) reasons for the presence of these alien bugs? Image by: BBC News.

Mysterious insect baffles experts. [BBC News]

A group of researchers observing this Brazilian insect drama in the wild say it's the first time they've been able to prove scientifically that parasites essentially mind-control their hosts to ensure the parasites' survival.

According to a release from PLoS One:

Inside the caterpillar host, a cruel drama takes place: the eggs of the parasitoid hatch and the larvae feed on the body fluids of the host. The caterpillar continues feeding, moving and growing like its unparasitized brothers and sisters. When the parasitoid larvae are full-grown, they emerge together through the host's skin, and start pupating nearby. Unlike many other combinations of host and parasitoid, the host remains alive but displays spectacular changes in its behaviour: it stops feeding and remains close to the parasitoid pupae. Moreover, it defends the parasitoid pupae against approaching predators with violent head-swings.

The caterpillar dies soon after the adult parasitoids emerge from their pupae, so there can be no benefit whatsoever for the caterpillars . . . The research team found that, in the field, parasitoid pupae which were guarded by caterpillars suffered half as much predation as those which had no bodyguard. Hence, the behavioural changes of the host result in increased survival of the parasitoids.

In other words, this caterpillar is made to love those wasps so much that it will protect them at all costs, including its own life. Now imagine if these researchers decided to figure out whether this wasp behavior mod could be ported to the human brain. A squirt of wasp juice could make you a super soldier, willing to give your life to protect whatever your "parasite" might be.

Parasitoid Increases Survival of Its Pupae By Inducing Host to Fight Predators [PLoS One via Science Daily] (Thanks, Brian!)

These remind me of the clockwork insects in Guillermo Del Toro's movie Cronos. Libby works in a studio he calls "Insect Lab," and he describes it thusly:

Insect Lab is an artist studio that customizes real insects with antique watch parts and electronic components. Offering specimens that come in many shapes, sizes and colors; each insect is individually adorned, each is one of a kind and unique.

• 
  
• "Chimera" mice grown with livers made of human cells are the ultimate test bed for new liver drugs, say scientists. Already, bio geeks have been growing mice with human brain cells, so this liver stuff is just icing on the genetic cake. [Salk Institute]
  
• A new study shows that the more manly you are, the more likely you are to want to punish immigrants. I think this explains a lot about certain episodes of Battlestar Galactica. [Eurekalert] Why bugs love rough sex after the jump.

• Insects love violent sex, often inflicting lots of wounds during the insemination process. Now scientists know it's not because there's a sadomasochistic sex gene that we've inherited from bugs. Instead, it's because female insects need to have their immune systems activated when sperm enter them, in order to get rid of pathogens that might get inside along with all that desirable bug spunk. [Science Blog]
  
• OMG "BISPHENAL A" IS A TOTALLY FUCKING DANGEROUS CHEMICAL IN YOUR BODY HOLY CRAP HERE IS A SUPER SENSATIONALISTIC ARTICLE ABOUT IT. The headline alone is worth the click. [Knight Science Journalism Tracker]

Says Moron:

This implies that ant workers adjust their threshold for engaging in risk foraging according to their life expectancy.

Knowing when you'll die sounds like a nightmare, but ants have managed to turn it into functional altruism. Knowing when it will die lets each ant make a rational decision to face danger that could benefit the rest of the nest. After all, it's going to die pretty soon anyway, so it might as well do a bunch of potentially fatal things beforehand. Image by Bill Hails.

A Story of Ants, Ageing, and Altruism [via The Independent]