Friday, October 31, 2014

Halloween Week's Terrifying Insects: Vampire moths!

This Halloween week I would like to highlight some scary insects for you. While I normally endorse bugs and try to get people to not look upon them with fear and loathing, that doesn't mean that all insects are cuddly, wuddly woolyworms. Some can capture our greatest fears and make them real. Such as today’s scary bug, the vampire moth!


Photo: Sharon Hill

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Halloween Week's Terrifying Insects: Botflies!

This Halloween week I would like to highlight some scary insects for you. While I normally endorse bugs and try to get people to not look upon them with fear and loathing, that doesn't mean that all insects are cuddly, wuddly woolyworms. Some can capture our greatest fears and make them real. Such as today’s scary bug, the human botfly!


Photo: Lyle Buss; University of Florida


Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Halloween Week's Terrifying Insects: Corpse wearing carnivores!

This Halloween week I would like to highlight some scary insects for you. While I normally endorse bugs and try to get people to not look upon them with fear and loathing, it doesn’t mean that all insects are cuddly, wuddly woolyworms. Some can capture our greatest fears and make them real. Such as today’s scary bugs, Perisceptis carnivora and Acanthaspis petax




Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Halloween Week's Terrifying Insects: The Japanese giant hornet

This Halloween week I would like to highlight some scary insects for you. While I normally endorse bugs and try to get people to not look upon them with fear and loathing, it doesn’t mean that all insects are cuddly, wuddly woolyworms. Some can capture our greatest fears and make them real. Such as today’s scary bug, the Japanese giant hornet…

I'll take your wallet if you please. 


Monday, October 27, 2014

Halloween Week's Terrifying Insects: The Emerald jewel wasp

This Halloween week I would like to highlight some scary insects for you. While I normally endorse bugs and try to get people to not look upon them with fear and loathing, it doesn’t mean that all insects are cuddly, wuddly woolyworms. Some can capture our greatest fears and make them real. Such as today’s scary bug, the emerald cockroach wasp…


Via: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emerald_Cockroach_Wasp.JPG

Arthro-Pod Episode 4: Carpenter ants and Frightening Insect Films part 2



It looks just like a family reunion

Today we conclude our look into the world of scary insect films! We stick with social insects for our next film, The Empire of the Ants. It would be generous to call the film a real stinker, but there are still some interesting themes to talk about. We dissect what the giant ants may symbolize as well as the real world biology that helps them be so terrifying! 

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Arthro-Pod Episode 3: Oriental Cockroaches and Frightening Insect Films part 1







Our episode today begins our descent into insect horror movies! For the month of October we will be discussing two movies in this sub-genre and dissecting what the insects may symbolize as well as the biology that may make them so scary! We start with The Swarm from 1978.