Eating insects is one of those ideas that never quite seem to catch on. The United Nations spread the idea a decade ago, but, in the West at least, insects remain mostly absent from supermarket shelves. Faced with an unsatisfied public, scientists have been exploring other options. One is to feed the insects instead to farm animals, which are not so picky.

Of course, the insects need to eat, too. To date, they have mostly reared (饲养) on leftover chicken feed. But the supply of that is limited, and if insect-reared meat is to take off, new sources will be needed. Niels Eriksen, a biochemist at Aalborg University, suggests feeding them on the waste products of the beer industry.

The world knocks back around 185bn litres of beer every year. Each litre produces between three and ten litres of wastewater full of thrown-away grains. The mix is rich in protein but lacking in carbohydrates (碳水化合物), especially compared with chicken feed.

Most insects grown for feed depend, in the wild, on the carbohydrates found in bad fruit. Whether insects would actually consider beer waste a square meal was, therefore, unclear.

The researchers used the baby insects of the black soldier fly. The young insects were divided into three groups, which were offered beer waste, chicken feed or a mixture of both. The researchers monitored both their weight gain and the amount of CO, they produced. They found the baby insects happily consumed both beer waste and chicken feed, and grew equally well on either food source. Dr Eriksen found few differences in how nutritious the insects would be to farm animals.

The experiment may have implications beyond the beer business, too. Bone meal from farms, and waste from other food industries are all likewise plentiful and protein-rich.

All now look to be reasonable targets for nutrient recycling by insects. Whether consumers will be willing to eat insect-reared beef, though, remains to be seen.

Pachyrhynchus weevils (球背象鼻虫) are found on most islands in the eastern Pacific Ocean. These weevils could not fly. But why are they so widespread? Wen-San Huang of the National Museum of Natural Science in Taiwan thinks he has the answer.

One theory, which dates back to 1923, is that the beetles float from place to place by a tiny air cavity beneath its outer shell.

Dr Huang began his research into the weevils and discovered that the beetles do float. But he also reports floating in seawater does not do them much good. All 57 adults he tried it with died within two days. Clearly, adult weevils are not good sailors.

Pachyrhynchus weevils have a love for laying their eggs inside the fruit of a plant called the fish-poison tree. This reproduces reminding us of coconut palms. It drops its fruits into the ocean, which carries them away to come up on distant beaches. Coconuts are protected from being eaten on their travels by having a hard, thick shell. Fish-poison-tree fruit are also protected from hungry sea creatures. But in their case, as their name suggests, the protection is chemical.

Given the relationship between weevils and plant, Dr Huang wondered how beetle larvae (幼虫) would fare if they were deep inside a piece of fruit floating in seawater.

So he tested this as well. His experiment suggested that such larvae are 'tolerant of saline (含盐的) conditions.

Specifically, of 18 grubs (蛆) thrown into seawater inside a piece of fruit, two survived for six days. Moreover, these larvae went on to develop into healthy, sexually mature adults. So Dr Huang argues that such numbers would easily support the immigration of weevils to the islands.

He also observes that the Kuroshio Current, which carries water from the Philippines, past Japan and onwards into the Pacific, moves so swiftly that a piece of fruit caught in it could easily travel 90km in a day, enabling the flightless beetle to cover the distance of 400km between the islands effectively.

The Fennec fox is also known as the desert fox since it survives in the Sahara Desert (撒哈拉沙漠). It is the smallest of the species of foxes, and quite a few people wish to raise it as a pet because of its appearance. However, this is very rare, as it needs special care and attention. Let’s take a look at the basic information on the Fennec fox, including its physical appearance, natural habitat and diet.

Physical Appearance

The Fennec fox is the smallest type of fox, with a body length of about 9.5 — 16 inches, and 6-inch-long ears. It weighs only around one kilogram. It has a cream-colored furry body with a black-tipped tail.

Their ears are the largest among all foxes relative to the body size, which not only provide them with great hearing, but also radiate the extreme desert heat and thus help to keep the body cool. Moreover, in order to walk on the hot sand, a Fennec fox’s feet are covered with thick fur. Besides that, the feet also help in digging, as this animal lives under the ground.

Habitat and Lifestyle

The habitat of this animal is mainly in the Sahara Desert, and also in other parts of North Africa. The Fennec fox is usually active during the night. This character helps it deal successfully with the extreme heat in the desert.

As an extremely social animal, it often lives in groups of ten and each group has its own land. This animal is, however, aggressive too, ready to attack, especially in the mating (交配) season, when they all compete with each other for a mate.

Diet

The Fennec fox is an omnivore (杂食动物). While it can survive on plants, it also needs other items such as insects, rabbits, birds and eggs. Getting used to living in the desert allows it to survive for long periods without any water. They take in water when eating food, and they will drink water if available.