So…what happened to Cheshire?

So…if you’ve been following this blog, you’ve probably noticed a distinct lack of posts. I wrote about this two posts ago, but I figured I’d share some details. For the past year, I’ve been trying to get into a graduate school. My grades are excellent-I’m one of the top in my class…it’s been a solid [...]

Homeopathy is Bullshit: Headlouse Edition!

One of the not-so-great things about being a parent is that your kid occasionally gets headlice. They seem to particularly like my kid for some reason because this is the second time I’ve had to deal with this. Either way, it’s getting really, really annoying. So I go to Walgreens to get a louse shampoo [...]

Washing Methods to Kill Bed Bugs

Bed bug infestations are on the rise. I live in a college town, and you hear about them every once and awhile. They’re not super-common here in Iowa, but you hear about them from time to time. I’ve helped friends spray their houses for them before, so I know they’re around. One of the things [...]

Spider Stories

One of the cool things about being an entomology major is hearing stories about bugs. Generally, folks tend to notice spiders for whatever reason. I have no idea why people notice spiders over things like beetles or caterpillars. I think it’s because they like telling stories about encounters with large, potentially dangerous animals. Spiders have [...]

Vector-Born Diseases: An Introduction

Insects have a profound effect on human and animal health in many ways. Some of these, like the human botfly and the Tumbu fly cause their damage by feeding directly on people. Neither of these are particularly damaging, merely painful however some insects like Tunga penetrans infest people to the extent of actually needing medical [...]

Always Knew Something Was Wrong With Airline Food…

I’m planning on going to Denver in about two months on business…and I ran across this warning letter from the FDA to a restaurant in Denver International Airport: • Employees handling food with bare hands or with unwashed gloved hands • Water dripping from the ceiling into equipment/utensil cleaning areas • Gaps from 1-2.5 inches [...]

Do bats REALLY eat mosquitoes?

One of the debates a lot of entomologists have is whether bats actually have an impact on mosquito populations. Sure, we hear all the time that bats eat mosquitoes, but there are good reasons to doubt this. I’ve had this discussion with instructors before and there’s really no consensus. We know bats occasionally eat mosquitoes. [...]

Preventing release of alarm pheromones increases homosexual pairing in bed bugs.

I really don’t think it’s possible to write a boring post on bed bugs. The way in which they reproduce is simply one of the most bizzarre…and brutal…methods of insemination in the animal kingdom. One of my favorite webcomics, Dinosaur Comics described their reproduction quite well: I also like writing about the biological basis behind [...]

Institutionalized rape-stabs

If you don’t read Dinosaur Comics, you really should. They mentioned a favorite subject of mine…Traumatic Insemination. They also mentioned the female counter-adaptation…the paragenetalia. As the comic says…this is where the male bedbug splooges when he stabs his girlfriend. Here are some pictures of the paragenetalia. As you can see, there’s quite a bit of [...]

What can flies tell you about where you’re eating?

Going for coffee in Ohare International? Looks like Starbuck’s in Ohare international airport got closed down for a fly infestation. The article says that they didn’t maintain their distance far enough from the door…probably true. Dumpsters are notorious for breeding houseflies and I know more than a few restaurants who keep their dumpsters close to [...]