Six-Legged Soldiers

Using Insects as Weapons of War

Jeffrey A. Lockwood

• First book to offer a comprehensive account of the many ways in which insects have been used as weapons
• Engagingly written narrative by a Pushcart Prize- and John Burroughs Award-winning author
• Includes a critical and constructive analysis of today's defenses-and the dangerous shortcomings in terms of homeland security strategies-with respect to entomological attacks.

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From Our Blog

Six-Legged Soldiers Part One: Killing Aphids (and Humans)

Part one of a three-part blog on Six-Legged Soldiers: Using Insects as Weapons of War.

Posted on February 4, 2009

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Scorpion Bombs: the rest of the story

The world recently learned that the Islamic State in Iraq (ISIS) has resurrected a biological weapon from the second century. Scorpion bombs are being lobbed into towns and villages to terrorize the inhabitants.

Posted on December 17, 2014

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What are those terrifying centipede-like things?

What are those super-fast, reddish, fuzzy-looking, centipede-like things? It would sure help hapless entomologists if people would provide just a teensy bit more information when asking, 'What is it?' sorts of questions. Helpful clues include things like: where you live, where you saw it, etc.

Posted on September 23, 2011

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Cockroaches, who needs 'em?

In this article, Professor Jeff Lockwood answers a query regarding the possibility of exterminating all cockroaches. He replies: 'A world without cockroaches would pretty much keep on doing what it's doing now. Probably. At least if by 'all cockroaches' you mean the species that share our homes.'

Posted on October 14, 2011

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Are daddy-longlegs really as venomous as I've heard?

By Jeff Lockwood If people have told you that daddy-longlegs are deadly, then those people are dead wrong. This tale is debunked on the website of the University of California Riverside, and I trust my colleagues at UCR. I know a several of the entomologists there, and they're a really smart bunch of scientists (a claim that one might question, given that they chose to live in Riverside, but my concern is for their entomological acumen, not their geographic aesthetics). So, I'm going to use what they say about daddy-longlegs and if you end up dying from a bite, then it's on them.

Posted on November 18, 2011

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Do bugs feel pain?

By Jeff Lockwood It's hard to know what any organism experiences. For that matter, I'm not even sure that you feel pain'or at least that your internal, mental states are the same as mine. This is the 'other minds' problem in philosophy. At least other people can tell us what they feel (even if we can't be certain that their experience is the same as ours), but we can't even ask insects.

Posted on November 25, 2011

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What the bejeebers are cave crickets?

Professor Jeff Lockwood answers a reader's question regarding Cave Crickets: 'The cave crickets belong to the Family Rhaphidophoridae. Technically they're not 'true' crickets (like field crickets), but they're close enough. In fact, they're truer crickets than beasts like the Mormon cricket.'

Posted on September 16, 2011

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