Insects avoid being eaten by playing dead, because birds are easily distracted by other nearby insects that are still moving Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2269751-playing-dead-really-works-to-help-insects-avoid-being-eaten-by-birds/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Tag: insects
Insect brains will teach us how to make truly intelligent robots
We need a revolution in artificial intelligence and learning from insects will help us achieve it, says James Marshall Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24933220-100-insect-brains-will-teach-us-how-to-make-truly-intelligent-robots/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Venus flytraps produce magnetic fields when they eat
These carnivorous plants generate tiny magnetic signals when they clamp down on insects. Source: https://www.livescience.com/venus-flytrap-magnetic-field.html
Bats that eat insects should be able to taste sweet food but can’t
Insectivorous bats have the same sweet taste receptors as fruit bats, but have lost the ability to actually taste sweet food Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2266718-bats-that-eat-insects-should-be-able-to-taste-sweet-food-but-cant/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Physicists find best way for insects to avoid collisions when jumping
Equations show that jumping at 60 degrees relative to the horizontal helps insects avoid hitting obstacles – a finding that might help in the design of space exploration rovers Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2265565-physicists-find-best-way-for-insects-to-avoid-collisions-when-jumping/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Leaf-Cutter Ants Have Rocky Crystal Armor, Never Before Seen in Insects
Leaf-cutter ants are named for their Herculean feats: they chomp foliage and carry unwieldy pieces, like green flags many times their size, long distances to their colonies. There they chew up the leaves to feed underground fungus farms. Along the way, the insects brave all manner of predators — and regularly engage in wars with other ants. But these insects are…
Mosquitoes carry more malaria parasites depending on when they bite
When a malaria-infected bird is bitten by mosquitoes over the course of 3 hours, the first insects to feed end up carrying fewer malaria parasites than those that bite later Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2260695-mosquitoes-carry-more-malaria-parasites-depending-on-when-they-bite/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Here are 3 amazing feats of spiders
Halloween time is spider time. Three amazing spider skills you might not have known about. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/three-amazing-feats-of-spiders…
Spider listens with its legs to grab flying insects out of the air
The ogre-faced spider catches flying insects in a web-like net without being able to see them – we now know it is because the spider can hear them with its legs Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2258445-spider-listens-with-its-legs-to-grab-flying-insects-out-of-the-air/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Photos: Murder hornets will haunt your nightmares
Here’s a look at one of the most diabolical and invasive insects: the murder hornet, or the Asian giant hornet. Source: https://www.livescience.com/photos-of-murder-hornets.html