Skeptics Stack Exchange
Skeptics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [entomology]

Use this tag for questions on insects and spiders. Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology. Historically this also included other arthropods such as arachnids (spiders).

62 questions
11
votes
1 answer

Do honeybees disrupt native pollinators in North America?

One of my colleagues at work is vegan, and I became curious about why vegans don't eat honey. After a search on the internet I found a website explaining why honey is not vegan. However what baffled me was the claim that bees are harmful to the…
angarg12
  • 213
  • 1
  • 3
9
votes
2 answers

Does slapping biting mosquitoes attract more mosquitoes?

I've heard it several times as "common wisdom" that killing mosquitoes that bite you releases some chemicals that could be sensed by their kin from great distance. Thus, slapping mosquitoes would attract more mosquitoes. Is this true?
ADEpt
  • 193
  • 1
  • 5
9
votes
1 answer

Can butterflies break off tree branches?

The are some fir tree forests in Mexico that are reputed to have butterfly populations so dense that their collective weight is sufficient to occasionally break off tree branches. An example of this claim: Monarchs living east of the Rocky…
Peter Olson
  • 3,603
  • 2
  • 22
  • 23
9
votes
1 answer

Can the rhinoceros beetle carry 100x its own weight?

Intel have posted a twitter pic depicting a rhinoceros beetle carrying 8 ultrabooks (of an unrecognizable brand) with the tagline: #FACT The Rhinoceros Beetle can lift up to 100x its own weight. That means it could carry 8 Ultrabooks on its back…
asheeshr
  • 225
  • 2
  • 8
8
votes
1 answer

Is the smoke from one mosquito coil equal to that of 100 cigarettes?

This article makes the following assertion. Smoke emitted from one mosquito repellant coil is equivalent to those of 100 cigarettes, thus causing harm to a large number of people in India... Is there any truth in the claims made by the above…
Vinoth Kumar C M
  • 2,975
  • 6
  • 26
  • 31
8
votes
1 answer

Is there a species of locust-eating wasp that will check its burrow repeatedly if its food is moved?

The book Do Animals Think? by Clive D. L. Wynne claims that a biologist, Jean-Henri Fabre, conducted a number of experiments on the inflexibility on wasp behaviour. In particular: One species of wasp that prefers locusts always puts down its prey…
Lukas1
  • 183
  • 3
8
votes
0 answers

Does Marmite keep away mosquitoes?

I saw this rather weak claim in this BBC news article: Several newspapers, including the Guardian, the Sun and the Daily Telegraph, have claimed the yeasty spread to be the perfect defence against mozzies. Is there any good evidence that this is…
fredley
  • 4,995
  • 2
  • 33
  • 50
8
votes
0 answers

Does baking soda eliminate a cockroach infestation?

My questions concerns a population, more significant than simply exterminating an individual cockroach. Claim: http://pest.tips.net/T003494_Kill_Roaches_with_Baking_Soda_and_Sugar.html If you're concerned about pesticides in your home because you…
user16959
8
votes
1 answer

Can maggots live in your digestive system?

I was reading several articles about Casu Marzu, a kind of Sardinian cheese delicacy that is infested with maggots. Many websites claim that these maggots may pass through the digestive tract alive because human stomach acids are unable to kill…
Twilight Sparkle
  • 2,253
  • 21
  • 29
8
votes
1 answer

Are ants afraid of chalk and won't cross a chalk line?

Chalk Keep ants at bay by drawing a line around home entry points. The ants will be repelled by the calcium carbonate in the chalk, which is actually made up of ground-up and compressed shells of marine animals. Scatter powdered chalk around garden…
user5341
  • 31,075
  • 8
  • 130
  • 178
7
votes
0 answers

Do cloves in an apple repel fruit flies

Some cloves in apples have recently appeared in our office. Apparently they will repel fruit flies. They look exactly like the result of following these instructions. Is there any evidence to suggest that this would really repel fruit flies?
KPS
  • 71
  • 1
7
votes
0 answers

Do horse chestnuts deter spiders?

In my area, there is a common belief that conkers (horse chestnuts) spread throughout the house deter spiders from entering. A writer for About.com heard similar tales: With a little more digging, I learned that conkers are thought to repel spiders…
Rudi
  • 475
  • 3
  • 11
7
votes
1 answer

Do wasps and yellow jackets leave pheremones that attract them to return to old nests?

I decided to ask this question based on the following question a user posted on DIY. https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/16965/dealing-with-a-wasp-nest According to the user quoting his local pest control company: I called a exterminator…
maple_shaft
  • 1,261
  • 1
  • 12
  • 22
6
votes
0 answers

Do "yellow"-light bulbs attract fewer bugs than standard bulbs?

I read a article on eHow which claims that that yellow light-bulbs attract fewer bugs. Replace outdoor lights with "yellow" bulbs which attract fewer bugs than standard outdoor bulbs. Is it true?
Ali Ba Ba
  • 69
  • 2
6
votes
0 answers

Can the Australian funnel-web spider bite through fingernails?

National Geographic says the following about the Australian funnel-web spider: The fangs of a funnel-web spider are very strong—they can pierce through shoe leather and fingernails. I'm not skeptical about the shoe leather since leather is not a…
pacoverflow
  • 2,924
  • 2
  • 20
  • 28
1 2
3
4 5