insects

Insects are small animals that have three distinct body segments (head, thorax, abdomen), with six legs and usually have wings. There are about five million known species of insects, many more than mammals and birds, which only number in the thousands.

All insects start as eggs. There are two possible stages in between egg and adulthood: the larval stage and the nymph stage, which is when the insect looks like a small version of the adult insect.

Many people view all insects as pests, but most are beneficial to the environment by pollinating crops, producing useful products, and killing harmful organisms. Honeybees fit this very well; they pollinate and produce, and while they can become a nuisance, are mostly very helpful. Almost all insects have natural insect enemies, and these can be very useful for biological control methods in gardens.


Insects can also pose a problem in homes, gardens, farms, and for livestock. In homes, it can be frustrating to get rid of cockroaches, centipedes, and ants. Mites and aphids ruin gardens, and flies can transmit diseases to livestock. Some insects also transmit diseases to humans or bite and sting, like ticks and bedbugs. This makes insect conrol an important aspect of crop and garden maintenance and home safety.

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Original Technorati articles tagged “insects”

• in Lifestyle
  5 Insects that Are Good for Your Garden
  Having some bugs around can help your garden
  by sageone73 / on May 29, 2012
• in Lifestyle
  May Not Only Brings Spring Flowers, But Also Caterpillars
  The Caterpillars are blooming
  by sageone73 / on May 29, 2012
• in Lifestyle
  Light Pollution Transforming Insect Communities
  Researchers found that street lights are impact the specifics of bugs who are living together where once before they were not.
  by sageone73 / on May 24, 2012

Latest blogosphere posts tagged “insects”

 

• Foreign "Crazy Ants" Attacking Southern U.S.

  
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  Monstrous "crazy ants" from Argentina and Brazil have invaded Texas and the American Southeast, driving out the already awful fire ant and making life even more miserable for those living in the South. Read more...        
  1 day ago

• It’s alive! It’s alive!

  
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  By now, most people have probably heard about the plague of cicadas coming our way, or even heard the buzzing of the insects themselves as they emerge from the ground after 17 years to mate, lay eggs, and die. Because … Continue reading →
  1 day ago

• Crazy ants driving out fire ants in southeast

  
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  Invasive fire ants have been a thorn in the sides of Southerners for years. But another invasive species, the so-called "crazy" ant that many describe as being worse has arrived and is displacing fire ants in several places.
  1 day ago

• Honeybees trained as Landmine-Detectors

  
  Nerdcore — Authority: 157
  In Kroatien richten sie Bienen auf Landminen ab und füttern sie mit einem Cocktail aus Zuckerlösung und TNT: [Nikola Kezic, an expert on the behavior of honeybees at Zagreb University,] outlined the idea for the experiment: Bees have a perfect sense of smell that can quickly detect the scent of the explosives. ...
  1 day ago

• Tips For A Beautiful Garden This Summer

  
  As the Garden Grows — Authority: 122
  Tips for a Beautiful Garden This Summer Summer is the perfect time for relaxing in the garden and refreshing your landscape with lots of pretty flowers and seasonal fruits and vegetables. Most plants will flourish during the summer months, though the dry weather and variation in wildlife means that you may have to ...
  1 day ago

• WCVE’s Cicada Watch

  
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  Help your family make the most of Richmond’s impending giant flying bug infestation with a citizen science project. Because, you know, lemons to lemonade and what not.
  1 day ago

• A Bit of a Stink

  
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  Dont be surprised if you encounter what appear to be flying iridescent black marbles in the woods at this time of year. If you see one, you are likely to see several, if not dozens, all heading in the same direction in a crazy out of control sort of way.A crowd of Dor Beetles and other coprophagousinsects working on ...
  1 day ago

• Disease in the Vineyard - A year after

  
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  Following the problems I had with insect pests, rust mites and mould from last year, I decided to spray an organic solution and review the results. Although it is a bit too early for a definite status, up until now I noted absolutely no incidence of rust mite, ants are very much less active, no moulds, a ...
  2 days ago

• University of Worcester: biodiversity projects unite community

  
  Marketspace Blog — Authority: 140
  Institutions collaborative approach ranged from planting wildflower gardens to creating a database of biological records . . . → Read More: University of Worcester: biodiversity projects unite community Related Posts: M&S gives cast-offs a new lease of life Tesco: every little helps when reducing ...
  2 days ago

• Infographic: Breast cancer in Hong Kong

  
  heave-ho.org — Authority: 159
  Angelina Jolie recently revealed that due to her defective gene BRCA1, she has undergone a preventive double mastectomy to reduce the risk of getting breast cancer from 87 per cent to 5 per cent. In Hong Kong, breast cancer is the most common cancer and the third leading cause of cancer deaths among women. Here we ...
  2 days ago

• What to get for the mom upon whose survival the colony depends?

  
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  Happy Mothers Day! Id like to wish my mom, Sandra Johnson, a very happy mothers day. I figure the best way to say thanks is to chase the bizarre sense of humor we share down the rabbit hole ... or in this case, ant colony. This is my Sunday column for the May 12, 2013 Hibbing Daily Tribune . A staged reading of ...
  1 week ago

• We Could Be The Greatest

  
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  A fuzzy little bee was doing what fuzzy little bees do on this lupine flower a couple of days ago. This was taken on the corner of 6th Ave. and Hollister St.
  1 week ago

• Ant that nice… ( Daily Value Painting)

  
  Scheppel.com — Authority: 138
  Forgive me for the ‘punny’ title .  I just had to draw a toon ant for some reason.  Ants are amazing creatures (until they invade your house). This one looks either sad or exhausted.  On a interesting note. When searching for references for this painting. I notice some toon artwork portraying legs coming out ...
  1 week ago

• Tiny mating moths

  
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  My neighbor, dear friend and frequent photography companion, Michael Powell , challenged me to get a shot of these tiny moths in my garden yesterday afternoon. They were on the edge of a leaf of one of my many Rose campion ( Lychnis coronaria ) plants (they self-seed all over the garden). Combined (and yes, they ...
  1 week ago

• A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Clean and Unclean Animals (Part 1)

  
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  In this chapter God spells out which animals are clean and which ones are unclean. God says, in so many words, “You shall eat this …you shall not eat that .” He lays out very explicit instructions about which animals were OK to eat, and which ones were not. And there are many who are under ...
  1 week ago

• Olloclip Macro Lens

  
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  I’m shooting on a tight budget these days and have not had a macro lens for a long time. In fact I’ve never had a dedicated macro lens and that’s not going to change now. However I did manage to get a cheap lens adaptor for my phone called the Olloclip . It’s fantastic and comes with three different lens ...
  1 week ago

• From the Department of Awesome Anamorphic Artworkcome these...

  
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  From the Department of Awesome Anamorphic Artwork come these photos taken outside the Santa Barbara Mission at the 2012  Madonnari Street Painting Festival in Santa Barbara, CA. American chalk artist Tracy Lee Stum created this awesome 3D piece, entitled ‘ Be My Honey ’, depicting a massive hole in the ...
  1 week ago

• A political history of the cicadas

  
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  The " Great East Coast Cicada Sex Invasion of 2013 " is upon us. After 17 years of feeding and living under the earths surface, billions of "Brood II" cicadas will emerge this summer between Connecticut and Georgia, swarming in thick, forbidding billows of shed exoskeletons and raucous insect lovemaking. (To get an ...
  1 week ago

• A Drive in the Country to visit a Poet

  
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  Drove up to the town of Wakefield (about half an hour North of Ottawa) last week to chat with Bruce Taylor about bugs and boats and bark (well, wood, more like it) and banjos (okay guitars), and bush, and, oh yes, poetry. Because Bruce is one of Canada’s very best poets. Read about what came [...]
  1 week ago

• Mimolette cheese cant possibly meet the FDAs target of no more than 6 cheese mites per inch.

  
  Althouse — Authority: 718
  "Cheese mites are microscopic little bugs that live on the surfaces of aged cheeses, munching the microscopic molds that grow there. For many aged cheeses, theyre something of an industry nuisance, gently brushed off the cheeses. But for Mimolette, a bright orange French cheese, theyre actually encouraged. " ...
  1 week ago

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