Institut de recherche sur la biologie de l'insecte (IRBI)

The Youtube channel Zeste de science explores all aspects of scientific research, proving that even the most complicated scientific facts can be explained in less than 5 minutes, and that even the most seemingly trivial events of everyday life, if thoroughly studied, can contribute to the biggest technological advances. Episode 11: In order to avoid dying of heat shock while ingesting warm blood, the bug Rhodnius prolixus uses a clever cooling system. A so-called cibarial pump…

La série « La science au box-office » s'inspire des codes des bandes annonces hollywoodiennes pour vous faire partager les plus étonnantes études, découvertes et innovations scientifiques de notre époque. Suite à l'apparition dans le ciel d'une variété de frelons colonisant les campagnes et menaçant l'écosystème, une équipe de scientifiques multiplie les initiatives pour repousser l'invasion.

By reproducing the ultra-fast way in which information is circulated by a cricket's hairs, we can produce ultra-high-performance micro electronic sensors for technological or medical purposes.

The Asian hornet (Vespa velutina nigrithorax) or yellowlegged hornet is an invasive predatory species which arrived in France from China in 2004. Since then, it has colonized France and all of Europe. Eric Darrouzet, a biologist at IRBI, specialized in this insect, explains its lifestyle and all the problems related to its rapid expansion for the environment, public health and economies. Finally, he talks about his team's work to develop trapping techniques to combat this predator (such as the…

Since 2004, the yellow-legged hornet—also known as Asian hornet—has been spreading throughout Europe at an alarming rate. How can we get rid of this invasive species without killing other insects? The key is in finding the perfect trap...

At the Institute for Research on the Biology of Insect (IRBI, Univ. de Tours, France), Jérôme Casas and his co-workers are interested in the mechanics of solids. The latter allows the larve of the antlion to attract and kill its prey using a trap. The insect larva digs a conical hole in the sand, then waits for a prey to fall into , lurked at the bottom of it. Ants are usually its victims. The antlion is able to detect sand landslides caused by the legs of its prey, attempting to escape…

At the Institut de Recherche de Biologie de l'Insecte (Insect Biology Research Institute), under the direction of Jérôme Casas, biologists, ecologists and mathematicians work on physical ecology. They ' re interested in the solid and fluid mechanics of insect life (12 min). Bonus : - The antlion, wave propagation in sand (7 min.) - The wood-cricket : wave propagation in the air (7 min.)

The wood-cricket lives in the leaf litter in our forests. It ' s just a few millimeters long, and moves by walking or jumping. On its own scale, the grass, leaves and dead branches in the undergrowth form an extremely complex three-dimensional universe. The cricket is often hunted by the Pardosa lugubris, or wolf spider, which attacks it by surprise, running on the ground. It ' s been discovered that the cricket can sense the faintest breath of air pushed by the spider during an attack. This…

In this film, Jérôme Casas, a researcher from the Institute for research on insect biology, located in Tours (France), presents the studies led in his laboratory, concerning the mechanisms developed by insects in order to get a better adaptation to their environment. He evokes in particular one of the used models: the cricket and its hairs sensorial function.