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INSECTS IN THE NEWS

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Can Bees See Colors?

July 13, 2012

Bees’ eyes are equipped with different kinds of receptors than humans. This is a reconstruction of how a bee would see a yellow flower.

Scientists believe that bees can see colors! Sadly, some of these scientists do not believe God created the earth. They say everything in the world came into being by chance, taking millions of years to develop. These scientists have concluded that bee vision evolved before attractive flower petal colors evolved. They think bees developed special vision and this caused flowers to evolve more attractive petal colors. But is this true? What does the Bible tell us about bees and flowers?

God created plants on Day Three of Creation Week (Genesis 1:11-13), before He created insects on Day Five. God created flowers first and designed their colors to appear attractive to the bees He would later create, so that the flowers would be pollinated by the bees and reproduce. God designed the bees to have special eyesight that would draw them to flowers. God says that everything He created was very good, and we can certainly see that as we learn more about the harmonious relationship between flowers and bees!

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/kw/bee-vision

Fossilized Cricket—Designed to Sing!

March 16, 2012

An amazingly well-preserved fossilized cricket has been found by a team of scientists from the United States and China. This fossil is especially interesting because it gives scientists an intricate look at how these crickets produced sound. The crickets chirped in a way that is very similar to crickets today, although these crickets were large with wings that were seven centimeters long!

Scientists have named the cricket Archaboilus musicus for its music-making abilities. They are studying the fossilized cricket’s wings to see what kind of music it produced. “Just like modern bush crickets—also known as katydids—the Jurassic insects produced music with their wings. A ‘plectrum’ on one wing was dragged along a microscopic comb-like structure on the other.”

Based on their study, scientists theorize that these crickets produced low-pitched tones when they chirped. Regardless of the types of sound that they produced, God certainly equipped these crickets with the music-making ability they needed to survive! Insects, such as the cricket, were created by God on Day Six of the Creation Week around 6,000 years ago.

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/kw/fossilized-cricket

Bedbugs Bite Evolution

February 3, 2012

One of the latest claims of “evolution in action” comes via a new study of the lowly bedbug. The Wall Street Journal reports that the pests “are quickly evolving to withstand the pesticides used to combat them.”

As creationists often try to explain, such resistance is not evolution in the molecules-to-man sense. The survival of the bedbugs that are resistant to pesticides shows only natural selection (See “Let’s Squash Natural Selection”.), or “selective survival” of certain variations of bedbugs.

Some of the creatures already possessed resistance to the pesticide via variations in their DNA, which they had as a result of mutations or God’s original created diversity. The survivors then passed along their resistance to their descendants, while those that did not possess the resistance died.

Contrary to the impression left by the media, no new genetic information was added to change bedbugs into a new type of organism. They are still bedbugs. Their resistance to pesticides points to the incredible designs that God gave His creatures so that some could survive and thrive, even in a fallen world.

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/kw/bedbugs-bite-evolution

Beetle Mania

December 28, 2011

Nearly fifty years after England became the epicenter of Beatles mania, another sort of beetle has stirred up international interest.

The bombardier beetle has an incredible firing mechanism that shoots a toxic chemical at attackers with superb accuracy. This design has long intrigued creationists because all its parts must be in place for the mechanism to work—making impossible the gradual evolution of the mechanism over time.

Now the beetle has made the news. Researchers at the University of Leeds in the UK who imitated the bombardier’s incredible defensive mechanism and uncovered new engineering ideas have received a prestigious award for their study.

Dr. Andy McIntosh, who led this award-winning team, explained, “Nobody had studied the beetle from a physics and engineering perspective as we did, and we didn’t appreciate how much we would learn from it.” The team sees many potential applications, from needle-free injections to fire extinguishers.

McIntosh is not only a renowned scientist but also a young-earth creationist. This latest “British invasion” is a nice reminder that scientists can be both Bible believers and excellent researchers—in fact, their work is inspired by the Creator Himself.

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/kw/beetle-mania

Buzzing Past Computers

September 23, 2011

A recent study shows that bees can do the same work as computers in determining the shortest path when making multiple stops (aptly named the “traveling salesman problem”). Plug the locations into a computer, and the system can pull up all possible routes and calculate the shortest one. But bees can also make the best determination with uncanny accuracy—all without RAM and “on the fly.”

Dr. Nigel Raine, who conducted the experiments at the University of London, tested whether bees would return to flowers in the order they discovered them or if they would fly the shortest return route. With brains the size of a grass seed, the bees picked out the most energy-efficient route. Such extraordinary behavior points to the Creator, who programmed bees with this incredible ability.

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/kw/buzzing-bees

Oriental Hornet Uses Solar Energy

February 17, 2011

A team of scientists at Tel Aviv University have discovered that the Oriental hornet can collect and use solar energy. They are trying to imitate the hornet’s advanced energy collection system to develop new ways for people to obtain solar energy.

This discovery is exciting because it was not previously known that insects could harvest and use energy from the sun. Scientists had only known that plants were capable of this, through photosynthesis.

You may be wondering how the Oriental hornet uses solar energy. God designed it to use the brown and yellow stripes on its body to collect and convert solar energy into electrical power.

The team determined that the brown shell of the hornet was made from grooves that split light into diverging beams. The yellow stripe on the abdomen is made from pinhole depressions, and contains a pigment called xanthopterin. Together, the light diverging grooves, pinhole depressions and xanthopterin change light into electrical energy. The shell traps the light and the pigment does the conversion.

Scientists have tried to imitate the hornet’s energy collection system, but have had limited success. They will need to study the Oriental hornet more closely. It would be wonderful to use God’s design of the Oriental hornet to help people find new and more efficient ways of collecting and using solar energy.

Many scientists have made important discoveries through carefully studying the design features God has built into His creation.

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/kw/hornet

Bombardier Beetle Inspires Technology Advance

February 10, 2011

After closely studying the Bombardier beetle, a group of scientists has made some amazing discoveries. Dr. Andy McIntosh, who is a professor of thermodynamic and combustion theory at the University of Leeds in England, led the research and is a young-earth creationist!

The Bombardier beetle has a special defence mechanism. It can shoot a toxic chemical spray (heated to 212°F) at predators when it is threatened. God designed this beetle to shoot chemicals in an amazing way! “This creature requires an explosive mixture (hydrogen peroxide and hydroquinone), a combustion chamber to contain the chemicals, exhaust nozzles to eject the mixture into which two catalysts are also injected (the enzymes catalase and peroxidase)—all this at the right moment to make the violent reaction take place as the mixture leaves the back end.”

Dr. McIntosh and his team of scientists studied the Bombardier beetle for five years, and were able to develop new technology based on the beetle’s design. “The university said the new technology allowed droplet size, temperature and velocity to be closely controlled, ‘allowing advancements in a variety of areas where the properties of the mist is critical.’ It said it could inspire new types of nebulisers, needle-free injections, fire extinguishers and powerful fuel injection systems.”

Dr. McIntosh recently won the Times Higher Educational 2010 Innovation and Technology award for his research on the Bombardier beetle! He says, “I believe there is much more of nature’s secrets that we could learn from our great Creator if we looked with an eye to see design. . .”

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/kw/bombardier

Why Did God Create Mosquitoes?

November 9, 2010

Did you know that not all mosquitoes drink blood to survive? Some of them feed on plant nectar, even aiding in plant pollination.

Mosquitoes that do not draw blood find nutrition by feeding on plant nectar. So it seems that only a portion of mosquitoes use blood, and it is only mammalian blood. This amount would not include males since they do not consume blood. Nor would it include those few species where the females use nectar. So the percentage needing blood is under 50% of the total mosquito population. This could suggest that at some point in history a change took place that caused only some female mosquitoes to use blood as food.

We know from Genesis 1:31 that everything God made during the Creation Week was “very good.” This certainly included mosquitoes. We can find out what mosquitoes originally ate by studying the following verses.

And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. (Genesis 1:29–30)

Before Adam and Eve sinned, all mosquitoes used plants for food and may have had a role in plant pollination, as many mosquitos still do today. Mosquitoes certainly did not require blood for nourishment before sin entered the world. We know that mosquitoes were definitely “very good” in both design and purpose when God created them.

Unfortunately, after Adam and Eve sinned, the world changed. God’s creation became marred by sin and was no longer “very good.” That is why mosquitoes are such pests today. Some mosquitoes drink blood to survive, and can even transmit diseases.

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/kw/kids-feedback-mosquito

Monarch Butterflies—Designed to Survive

October 28, 2010

After a recent study, scientists concluded that monarch butterflies infected with parasites preferred to lay their eggs on a type of milkweed plant that can fight these parasites.

This particular type of parasite can be passed from a female butterfly to the eggs that she lays. After the eggs hatch, the parasites can cause the developing caterpillars to die. Many times, heavily infected adult butterflies have deformites and do not survive long.

The study tested both female monarchs infected with the parasite and also those that were uninfected. The female monarchs that had no parasites laid their eggs on different types of milkweed plants, showing no preference for one type of plant above another. The infected monarchs clearly prefered to lay their eggs on the milkweed plants that offered their young some resistance toward the parasites.

How do monarch butterflies know which types of plants will help their young to fight infection? One of the scientists claimed, “We have . . . found that infected female butterflies prefer to lay their eggs on plants that will make their offspring less sick, suggesting that monarchs have evolved the ability to medicate their offspring.”

Creation scientists do not believe that monarch butterflies evolved this amazing ability randomly over time. Creation scientists believe that monarch butterflies were created with this special instinct to lay their infected eggs on plants that will help their offspring. God designed the monarch butterfly to survive in a fallen world.

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/kw/monarch

Ants That Cultivate Crops!

June 8, 2010

Did you know that God gave some ants the ability to farm? Yes, it’s true! Some ants, living in the Amazon, raise fungi for food. This poses a slight problem for evolutionary scientists. Some evolutionary scientists believe that the ants evolved around 12 million years ago, but they believe the fungi eaten by the ants evolved around two or three million years ago. So the ants would have had to survive without farming these fungi for millions of years. These scientists think that maybe the ants farmed something else prior to the evolution of these types of fungi, but are not completely sure how to explain this.

“Mycologist Bryn Dentinger of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, says that the results add ‘another level of complexity’ to the coevolution of the ants and fungi. But he cautions that the evolutionary history of fungi is still poorly understood, and the results will have to be updated as scientists discover new fungal species.”

We can come up with a much better explanation by starting with the Bible, which is exactly what creation scientists have done. They have started with identical scientific data, but have drawn vastly different conclusions. Creation scientists believe that God created plants and probably certain fungi, such as the fungi eaten by these ants, on the third day of the creation week, around 6,000 years ago ( Genesis 1:11-13 ). Creation scientists believe that God created ants on the sixth day of the creation week ( Genesis 1:24-25 ). Creation scientists also believe that all creatures ate plants before Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden ( Genesis 1:30-31 ). If we combine scientific data with biblical facts, it’s easy to see that the ants could have been able to cultivate these fungi from the very beginning.

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/kw/farmer-ants

Fossilized Cockroach—Now in 3D

May 20, 2010

Students at the University of London have taken a new approach to studying fossils! Recently, some students compiled CT scans of a fossilized cockroach, Archimylacris eggintoni, into a 3D image. This 3D image contained amazing detail and allowed the students to study the fossilized cockroach more closely.

The students found that the fossilized cockroach had both tiny claws and sticky areas on its legs. A PhD student named Russell Garwood remarked, “We think it could have used its speed to evade predators and its climbing abilities to scale trees and lay eggs on leaves, much in the same way that modern forest cockroaches do today.” 1

God designed the cockroach with amazing abilities to help it survive.

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/kw/fossilized-cockroach

Beetles That See in 3D

May 6, 2010

Watching a movie in 3D isn’t very enjoyable without 3D glasses. We need the glasses to see a special kind of light called circular polarization, or CP. Human eyes cannot detect this type of light without help.

Did you know that there is a special kind of beetle that can actually see CP light? God not only designed the jewel scarab beetle, Chrysina gloriosa, with eyes that can see CP light; but He also gave these beetles the ability to reflect CP light off their bodies. Scientists think that jewel scarab beetles might use their special abilities to communicate with each other and to hide from predators.

When we look at the workmanship in an intricately carved piece of wood, or the technology behind a DVD player, we know that someone created these items. Seeing the amazing design of the jewel scarab beetle is like looking at a sign that reads, “Made By God!”

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/kw/jewel-scarab

Dancing with the Ants

April 1, 2009

Fire ants can give a very painful sting to people. But if a dozen of them sting the small fence lizard, it can mean death in a single minute.

Penn State University biologist Tracy Langkilde has been studying how fence lizards respond to fire ants. She has observed that some of the lizards have longer legs. When ants crawl onto these lizards, the lizards dance around to shake them off. These lizards are more common in areas where fire ants live.

The dancing removes the ants before they can sting the soft underbelly of the lizard. The long legs help the lizards fling off the ants more quickly. Dr. Langkilde has said that this proves that the lizards had “a rapid evolutionary response to fire ants.” That makes it sound as if the lizards that were attacked by fire ants somehow decided they needed longer legs—and learned to dance!

When Dr. Langkilde studied various kinds of baby lizards, she saw that they all started out dancing. Some of the lizards stopped dancing when they got older, but the others continued dancing.

Instead of using the lizards to prove evolution, we can see that the lizards already have these abilities, even if some stop using them. The lizards that have longer legs and continue dancing survive better in areas where there are fire ants. They are more likely to breed and produce more long-legged dancing lizards. In areas where there are no fire ants, the short- and long-legged lizards have an equal chance of surviving. They produce young, some with short legs and some with long legs, some that stop dancing and some that don’t.

This doesn’t prove evolution. It shows how our Creator built genetic variety into each species. This helps each species adapt to different conditions. In fire ant country, it is good to be a long-legged, dancing lizard!

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/kw/dancing-with-ants

Also see Thank God for Insects, Helping Evolutionists Get It Right, and BWAH HAH HAH HAAAA!.