Mystery Ailment Killing Honeybees

A mysterious illness is killing tens of thousands of honeybee colonies across the U.S., threatening honey production, the livelihood of beekeepers and possibly crops that need bees for pollination.

Researchers are scrambling to find the cause of the ailment, called Colony Collapse Disorder.

Reports of unusual colony deaths have come from at least 22 U.S. states. Some affected commercial beekeepers — who often keep thousands of colonies — have reported losing more than 50 percent of their bees. A colony can have roughly 20,000 bees in the winter, and up to 60,000 in the summer.

"We have seen a lot of things happen in 40 years, but this is the epitome of it all," Dave Hackenberg, of Lewisburg-based Hackenberg Apiaries, said by phone from Fort Meade, Fla., where he was working with his bees.

Kissing bugs (Triatoma) and the skin

Kissing bugs (Family Reduviidae) can be the source of nocturnal dermatologic wounds in the mid to southern latitudes in the United States. The insects are obligate blood feeders and though the bites may be asymptomatic, a variety of dermatologic eruptions or death from anaphylaxis can result. The various dermatologic forms of the bite can be mistaken for herpes zoster, erythema multiforme and the ubiquitous catch-all diagnoses of "spider-bite."

Triatoma are predominantly nocturnal and feed off of a sleeping person's exposed human body parts.

Typically, they position themselves next to the recumbent human, rather than on top of the host, to feed with the proboscis being the only contacting body part. Subjects describe the bite of Triatoma as virtually painless with a slight tingling sensation.

In laboratory observations, the insects fed for 8 to 15 minutes on humans before repletion and interfeeding duration was typically 3 weeks. However, the insects were able to survive 3 to 6 months between meals.

Radio tags track wasp behaviour

Wasps fitted with minuscule radio tags have helped scientists shed light on the insects' behaviour.

Rather than just tending their home colonies, the worker wasps also buzzed into nearby relative-holding nests, helping raise the young, the team said.

The researchers believed the insects were boosting their chances of propagating their genes by nurturing relatives in multiple nests.

The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) study is published in Current Biology.

"Nest drifting, which is where individual insects move between different nests, has been described in a few different species of social insects, but it has always been a puzzle as to why they have done this," explained lead author Seirian Sumner of ZSL.

"It has also been very difficult to quantify - the standard way is to mark the wasps with paint and then carry out nest censuses - so we developed a new method."
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Massive Yellow Jacket Nest Forms on Couple's Property

Most of us have reached for the can of bug spray to put down wasps or bees around the house. But a Bulloch County couple has a bigger problem than that.

Rising up out of the water, it looks like another tree stump from a distance. But a closer look is enough to take your attention, and maybe your breath.

Hundreds of thousands of yellow jackets swarm in and around their nest on Shelley and Tony Roberts' pond. They can't believe it got so big so quick.

"I reckon it was a couple of months ago," said Shelley. "All it was was a little stump and we noticed what looked like mushrooms growing up."

It looks to be about six feet tall and three feet wide. No one's gotten close enough to measure.

Giant Madagascar Hissing Cockroach Brooch

Is it a pet or is it jewelry?

They're 2-3 inches long. They move slowly, are docile, don't bite, and don't smell. They don't fly, either. The hissing part happens when they're disturbed or handled, and it's quite distinctive.

These insects come in varied patterns and are decorated with the finest Austrian Swarovski crystal. Each roach takes about an hour of painstaking work to achieve his final magical glory. All roaches are male to ensure sterility, and come complete with a leash set. This consists of a gorgeous pin you attach to your clothing with a chain that clasps to the cockroach's carapace to keep him from running amok.

The lifespan of these animals is approximately one year if housed and fed properly.

Roaches love fresh bananas and must have access to fresh water at all times, a very damp paper towel or cotton ball will do the trick. Dehydration is the main cause of death. Keep him in a little terrarium in the dark and he will love you and be very responsive to your touch.
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Scorpion on a plane -- passenger gets pantful of pain

A scorpion stung David Sullivan on the back of his right leg, just below the knee, then crawled up and down his left leg, he thinks, before getting him again in the shin.

Not what he was expecting on his flight home from Chicago to Vermont.

Sullivan, a 46-year-old builder from Stowe, was aboard the United Airlines flight on the second leg of his trip home from San Francisco, where he and his wife, Helena, had been visiting their sons. He awoke from a nap shortly before landing and noticed something strange. (Watch when the scorpion scrambled from underneath his pants )

"My right leg felt like it was asleep, but that was isolated to one spot, and it felt like it was being jabbed with a sharp piece of plastic or something."

The second sting came after the plane had landed and the Sullivans were waiting for their bags at the luggage carousel. Sullivan rolled up his cuff to investigate, and the scorpion fell out.

Wasps Squirt "Pepper Spray" From Heads in Fights, Study Says

When female bethylid wasps are losing a vicious fight, they squirt an insect version of pepper spray from their heads before beating a retreat, new research suggests.

The chemical release is undetectable to humans, but it could represent a crucial behavior that may help biologists use the parasitic wasps as natural pest controls.

Giant Carnivorous Centipedes

The world has many moist, warm, and dark cavities where phobia-inspiring organisms quietly lurk. The tropical climate of South America's Amazon jungle has an unnaturally large number of such pockets, and consequently that region is home to unnaturally large specimens.

One such example is the Scolopendra gigantea, a venomous, red-maroon centipede with forty-six yellow-tinted legs. These centipedes are the largest in the world, and they are more commonly known as Amazonian giant centipedes due to their massive size. Adults commonly reach lengths of over thirty-five centimeters– the length of a man's forearm. Not only are these creatures very swift runners, but they are also highly adept climbers, a skill which allows them to scale walls to enjoy some surprisingly ambitious prey.

Scientists say trained bees can sniff bombs

Scientists at a U.S. weapons laboratory say they have trained bees to sniff out explosives in a project they say could have far-reaching applications for U.S. homeland security and the Iraq war.

Researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico said they trained honeybees to stick out their proboscis -- the tube they use to feed on nectar -- when they smell explosives in anything from cars and roadside bombs to belts similar to those used by suicide bombers.