House of Flies - Mating

Small, fast and quick to reproduce, the fly is difficult to capture in the act of mating. Despite this, the study of fly reproduction has produced a large body of research. Current study reveals that flies employ a variety of reproductive strategies that are nothing short of sophisticated.

How Does a Fly Reproduce? Life Cycle of Maggots

The Strike

Mating begins when the male approaches the female. The male advances from any direction. Quickly, he will "strike" or jump toward the female. If the strike occurs in the air, the male and female will fall to a surface. If contact is made, the male generally lands on the dorsum (top) of the female's thorax, facing in the same direction as the female. The male's front pair of legs, the prothoracic and mesothoracic, will rest on the base of the female's wings. The metathoracic or hind legs of the male sit beneath the female's abdomen at the base of her wings. The female's wings extend out, vibrating rapidly and often accompanied by a loud buzzing sound. During the process, the female's hindmost (metathoracic) legs lift into the air and fold underneath her wings. Once in position, the male moves forward, stroking the head of the female with his foremost, prothoracic legs. During this stage, if the female has previously mated, she may struggle fiercely to extricate the male.

Copulation

Supposing the female does not shake him loose, the male will advance toward the rear of the female. Now he will place the ventral (bottom) part of his abdomen against her (top) dorsal abdominal segments. The front (prothoracic) legs of the male may now come to rest on the thorax or wings, the mesothoracic (middle) legs of the male may hang alongside the female's abdomen or on the base or top of her wings. His metathoracic (rear) legs will grasp onto the lower (ventral) portion of the female. Often his legs overlap crosswise. The female's wings will by now have resumed a normal positioning. During mating, the female thrusts her ovipositor into

the genital opening of the male to obtain sperm from the male. Though flies are quick insects, their mating time is not. Mating may last anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. Logically, longer mating time tends to result in greater number of useful sperm. Sperm is stored inside the female in the spermatheacae, which hold sperm until the ova are released from the ovaries. Once fertilized, the female releases eggs through her ovipositor, a cyclindrical body part that telescopes out as it directs eggs into suitable media, such as manure or rotting food.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4580000_flies-mate.html

House of Caterpillar - Part 1

Caterpillar is the common name for the larvae of members of the order Lepidoptera (theinsect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary and the larvae of sawflies commonly are called caterpillars as well.^[1][2]

Caterpillars of most species are herbivorous, but not all; some are insectivorous, even cannibalistic. Some feed on other animal products; for example clothes moths feed on wool, and horn moths feed on the hooves and horns of dead ungulates.

Caterpillars as a rule are voracious feeders and many of them are among the most serious ofagricultural pests. In fact many moth species are best known in their caterpillar stages because of the damage they cause to fruits and other agricultural produce, whereas the moths are obscure and do no direct harm. Conversely, various species of caterpillar are valued as sources of silk, as human or animal food, or for biological control of pest plants.- wikipedia

Location : Simpang 4, Perak, Malaysia - Northern Region 

1) Brown colour

2) Green Colour 

3) Bad Hair Day - messy 

House of Hoverfly - Eristalinus Megacephalus

Eristalinus megacephalus has a black abdomen and golden horizonal stripes larger in males. It has a black thorax,^[3] legs with black tips, transparent, flexible wings, a large head and golden compound eyes with pale purple spots.^[4] Being about 8–11 mm long,^[5] it is a good pollinator, and uses Batesian mimicry to look like hymenopteran bees and scare away predators.^[6] Its appearance is also similar to bee flies (family Bombyliidae).^[7] The species is listed in 2: 63 of Rossi's publication Mantissa insectorum.^[8] There are no subspecies. It is the rarest species of the genus Eristalinus, and is common but not abundant.

The species's flight period is from May to October, and is most plentiful from June to July.^{[9] -wikipedia}

House of Grasshopper - Green Grasshopper

Diet and digestion

Grasshoppers prefer to eat grasses, leaves and cereal crops, but many grasshoppers are omnivorous.^[3] The majority of grasshoppers are polyphagous. Many will eat from multiple host plants in one day, while some prefer to rely on the same host plant. Only one^[specify] of the 8000 species of grasshopper is monophagous and will only eat a single species of plant.^[4]

The digestive system of insects includes a foregut (stomodaeum, the mouth region), amidgut (mesenteron), and a hindgut (proctodaeum, the anal region). The mouth is distinct due to the presence of a mandible and salivary glands. The mandible can chew food very slightly and start mechanical digestion. Salivary glands (occur in buccal cavity) chemically digest the carbohydrates in the grasses and similar foods they eat. The buccal cavity continues with pharynx, esophagus and crop. The crop has the ability to hold food. From the crop, food enters the gizzard, which has tooth-like features in it. From there, food enters the stomach. In the stomach, digestive enzymes mix with the food to break it down. These enzymes originate from the gastric caeca surrounding the stomach. This leads to themalpighian tubules. These are the chief excretion organs. The hindgut includes intestine parts (including the ileum and rectum), and exits through the anus. Most food is handled in the midgut, but some food residue as well as waste products from the malpighian tubules are managed in the hindgut. These waste products consist mainly of uric acid, urea andamino acids, and are normally converted into dry pellets before being disposed.

The salivary glands and midgut secrete digestive enzymes. The midgut secretes protease,lipase, amylase, and invertase, among other enzymes. The particular ones secreted vary with the different diets of grasshoppers.-wikipedia

Location : Simpang 4, Perak, Malaysia - Northern Region

House of Stink Bugs - Green Stink Bugs

The bug is mainly olive-green in colour with dark brown forewings. 

The green stink bug or green soldier bug (Chinavia hilaris) is a stink bug belonging to the family Pentatomidae.

It was historically placed in the genus Acrosternum, but according to Dr. David Rider of North Dakota State University and other experts, this placement is inaccurate; the genus name Acrosternum should be restricted to a handful of Old World, small, pale green species that live in dry arid areas, while the larger, brighter green species that live in both the Old and New Worlds should go by the genus name Chinavia, therefore this species is called Chinavia hilaris in more recent literature (e.g., Schwertner and Grazia, 2006). -wikipedia

Location : Simpang 4, Perak, Malaysia - Northern Region 

House of Stink Bugs - Brown Stink Bugs

Many stink bugs and shield bugs are considered agricultural pest insects, because they can create large populations which feed on crops (damaging production), and they are resistant to many pesticides. They are a threat to cotton, corn, sorghum, soybeans, native and ornamental trees, shrubs, vines, weeds, and many cultivated crops.^[3] However, some genera of Pentatomidae are considered highly beneficial: the anchor bug, which can be distinguished by the red-orange anchor shape on the adult, is one example. It is a predator of other insects, especially Mexican bean beetles, Japanese beetles, and other pest insects. -wikipedia

Location : Simpang 4, Perak , Malaysia - Northern Region

House of Damselfly - Mating

Damselfly Mating

The male (top) has clasped her at the back of head with his tail and she (lower) brings her genital aperture in contact with his reproductive organs. When mating has finished the female lowers her abdomen, the male still holds on to her as he does not want her to mate with another male.

Kingdom : Animalia

Phylum.   : Arthropoda

Class.      : Insecta

Order       : Odonata ( dragonflies & damselflies )

Sub-order: Zygoptera ( damselfly )

Location : Simpang 4, Perak, Malaysia - Northern Region 

House of Spider - Do spiders drink water?

Most spiders do drink or require a regular daily amount of water.  In the wild, most spiders will drink from any available source such as droplets on vegetation or the ground or from early morning dew that has gathered upon their webs.  If a spider is kept in captivity it is good to provide them with a fresh water source such as in a small bottle cap or a damp sponge for smaller species, and a small dish for larger species.

It is a myth that spiders live in drains.  When you find a spider in a building or in the shower, it is usually because it’s a good source of water for them and then they typically remain trapped because the sides are too slippery or steep for them to climb back out.

Depending on the species, different spiders may use different methods to quench their thirst.  The whistling spider which resides in the desert, covers its burrow with a thin layer of silk to keep it humid and dew or raindrops are captured using a silk covered mound near the entrance.  Some species of spiders ingest nectar, while others quench their thirst by drinking dew drops in early morning.

A common practice for many species of spiders to follow as a way to get their regular intake of water is to consume their spider web first thing every morning.  By doing this they consume water that has condensed as droplets onto the web.  Other spiders may use their pincers to take water from their webs and place it into their mouths.

While, spiders such as the black widow and the red back do not drink water at all.  Instead they get all of the fluid that they require by sucking the juices from their prey. - animalquestions.org

Location : Simpang 4, Perak, Malaysia- Northern Region