Talk about overestimation. Only 5.5 million species may share our planet, a much smaller number than the older, often quoted estimate of more than 30 million. Most vertebrates and plants and many microorganisms have been documented. Much of the uncertainty in such global estimates lies with arthropods, a phylum that includes insects and spiders.
CUTTACK: Mosquito menace in the millennium city refuses to go, the harsh summer this year notwithstanding. The density of mosquitoes has been unusually high across the city despite the fact that the hot and dry conditions cause a substantial depletion in their population.
SHILLONG: They are on a mission to trace and document agriculturally important insects in the entire North-East. On the way, they made some significant discoveries particularly important for Meghalaya -- the existence of the world's largest and costliest moths.
Could an African caterpillar be the new beefsteak? As the world diverts more of its grain harvests into producing meat, some scientists are pushing policymakers to take a closer look at insects as an environmentally friendlier source of protein. Whereas a cow needs to eat roughly 8 grams of food to gain a gram in weight, for instance, insects need less than two. The U.N.
Brinjal or eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is an important solanaceous crop of sub-tropics and tropics. The name brinjal is popular in Indian subcontinents and is derived from Arabic and Sanskrit whereas the name eggplant has been derived from the shape of the fruit of some varieties, which are white and
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: This little brown and yellowish orange spider has mistaken a city house at Maruthankuzhy for a moist deciduous forest. It could be one of the rare species of the Araneidae family, said zoologists at the Department of Zoology, University of Kerala. They call her Argiope anasuja Thorell, 1887.
The wisdom that indigenous people have regarding bioprospecting is embedded in their belief system and their culture. Food insects play an important role in the new insect focus.
