Spiders avoid building webs near European fire ants, their natural predators, by sensing the chemicals they give off in the environment, Simon Fraser University researchers have found. The findings, published recently in Royal Society Open Science , give us a…
Tag: Entomology
How best to focus efforts on classifying new species to prevent their extinction?
The return-on-investment approach found 24 Australian lizard and snake species needing protection
Climate change makes West Nile virus outbreaks ‘plausible’ in UK
Risk of mosquito-borne pathogen spreading to the country will increase as temperatures rise, say scientists
Development anomalies recorded for the first time in a rare tiger moth
The Menetries’ tiger moth (Arctia menetriesii) is one of the rarest and most poorly studied Palaearctic moth species. Even though its adult individuals are large and brightly coloured, they are difficult to spot, because they aren’t attracted to light, they’re…
Fungus fights mites that harm honey bees
New fungus strain could provide a chemical-free method to help honey bees
eDNA analysis could contribute towards more effective pest control
Detecting environmental DNA of invasive ant species in soil samples
New research deepens mystery about evolution of bees’ social behavior
Largest-ever analysis of bees’ morphological diversity paints complicated picture as to whether complex social behavior developed once or multiple times in separate evolutionary branches
Dive bombing killer flies are so fast they lose steering control
Killer flies can reach accelerations of over 3g when aerial diving to catch their prey – but at such high speeds they often miss because they can’t correct their course. These are the findings of a study by researchers at…
Infertility poses major threat to biodiversity during climate change, study warns
A new study by University of Liverpool ecologists warns that heat-induced male infertility will see some species succumb to the effects of climate change earlier than thought. Currently, scientists are trying to predict where species will be lost due to…
First-of-its-kind flower smells like dead insects to imprison ‘coffin flies’
First plant found to deceive pollinators by mimicking decomposing insects
Recruiting participants to the first European Red list of insect taxonomists
Contributors will enable the EU to take action to plug in the essential scientific knowledge to address insect declines
Cleveland Museum of Natural History expands role of planetariums with software update
New tools allow planetarium users to teach beyond the stars
Radar tracking uncovers mystery of where honeybee drones have sex
Scientists from Queen Mary University of London and Rothamsted Research have used radar technology to track male honeybees, called drones, and reveal the secrets of their mating behaviours. The study suggests that male bees swarm together in specific aerial locations…
UMD collaborates across disciplines to characterize the economics and value of pollination
Review provides insights into the sustainability and resilience of managed versus wild pollinators
Bees interrupted
During a 15-year study of wild bees visiting blueberry fields during their blooming season, researchers caught an unexpected glimpse of how extreme weather events can impact bee populations highlighting the need for more long-term studies, says a Michigan State University researcher.
Trillions of cicadas are beginning to emerge across the U.S. and one Bowling Green State University expert is available to add insight, context to your reporting
Trillions of cicadas are beginning to emerge in parts of the U.S., and Dr. Daniel Pavuk with Bowling Green State University knows all about the bugs and can add helpful information and context about them to your reporting. Labeled as…
Bees interrupted
Michigan is home to 465 bee species and each one plays a role in the states’ ecosystems
Tree species diversity is no protection against bark beetle infestation
In recent years, foresters have been able to observe it up close: First, prolonged drought weakens the trees, then bark beetles and other pests attack. While healthy trees keep the invaders away with resin, stressed ones are virtually defenseless. Freiburg…
How to become ‘ant-i-social’
Study shows erosion of ant genome tied to loss of functional, behavioral and social traits in 3 inquiline species
Intensive agriculture could drive loss of bees and other tropical pollinators
Pollinators in the tropics are less likely to thrive in intensive croplands, finds a new study led by UCL researchers suggesting bees and butterflies are at risk of major losses. Across the globe, lower levels of land use intensity are…
How to become ‘ant-i-social’
Study shows erosion of ant genome tied to loss of functional, behavioral and social traits in 3 inquiline species
Intensive agriculture could drive loss of bees and other tropical pollinators
Pollinators in the tropics are less likely to thrive in intensive croplands, finds a new study led by UCL researchers suggesting bees and butterflies are at risk of major losses. Across the globe, lower levels of land use intensity are…
Small things can have a major effect on the prevention of biodiversity loss
The population growth of an endangered butterfly species is greatest in habitats with microclimatic variability, demonstrates a study carried out collaboratively by the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences and the Helsinki Institute of Life Science of the University of…
After 17 Years Underground, the Brood X Cicadas are Coming!
George Washington University researchers are studying the impact of the cicadas on the ecosystem and environment.
The secret life of bee signals can communicate colony health
Recording the electrostatic energy of honeybee hives offers a ‘canary in the coalmine’ look into ecosystem threats and environmental conditions
Defense mechanisms in aphids can become a double-edged sword, sharpened by the seasons
Protective endosymbiont dynamics in pea aphids are sharpened by selection
Hungry fruit flies are extreme ultramarathon fliers
In search of food, a fly can travel six million times its body length
Earth Day 2021: Expert details how home gardeners can do their part in their own backyards
Each year, on Earth Day, people want to know: How, and where, can I have an impact? The answer, according to nationally renowned entomologist and University of Delaware professor Doug Tallamy, is simple. The power is in their hands and they can…
Announcing the 2021 BioOne Ambassador Award Winners
WASHINGTON, D.C. — BioOne ( about.BioOne.org ) is proud to announce the winners of the 2021 BioOne Ambassador Award . These five early-career bioscience researchers successfully advanced through a rigorous competition with their peers. BioOne honors these scholars for their…
Spring 2021 emergence of Brood X cicadas: Indiana University experts available to comment
Indiana University experts in biology and ecology are available to comment on the emergence of the Brood X cicadas, a spectacular event that occurs every 17 years in the eastern United States.
Certain gut microbes make mosquitoes more prone to carry malaria parasite
Dietary sugars and gut microbes play a key role in promoting malaria parasite infection in mosquitoes. Researchers in China have uncovered evidence that mosquitoes fed a sugar diet show an increased abundance of the bacterial species Asaia bogorensis, which enhances…
ACS Spring 2021 press conference schedule
Watch live and recorded press conferences at http://www. acs. org/ acsspring2021conferences . Press conferences will be held Monday, April 5, through Friday, April 16, 2021. Below is the schedule, which will be updated as needed. ALL TOPICS ARE STRICTLY EMBARGOED…
Blow flies may be the answer to monitoring the environment non-invasively
A study led by researchers at IUPUI shows that tracking the diet of blow fly using isotope analysis is an effective way to monitor changes in the environment without disturbing local wildlife.
Making music from spider webs
WASHINGTON, April 12, 2021 — Spiders are master builders, expertly weaving strands of silk into intricate 3D webs that serve as the spider’s home and hunting ground. If humans could enter the spider’s world, they could learn about web construction,…
Pioneering pollinator study offers clues to Darwin’s ‘abominable mystery’
Research into the flower preferences of pollinating moths may have delivered a vital clue to the simple factors needed for the emergence of new species. Strong coevolutionary relationships between plants and animal pollinators have long been recognised as a potential…
Study introduces 13 new, threatened species of sparkly moths from Hawaii
One of the islands’ oldest animal groups, can these tiny insects survive the next century?
Plant gene found in insect, shields it from leaf toxins
Millions of years ago, aphid-like insects called whiteflies incorporated a portion of DNA from plants into their genome. A Chinese research team, publishing March 25th in the journal Cell , reveals that whiteflies use this stolen gene to degrade common…
George Washington University Experts Available to Discuss Brood X Cicadas
WASHINGTON (March 24, 2021) — Brood X cicadas, also known as the Great Eastern Brood, will reemerge sometime in May after 17 years underground. According to experts, the insects will blanket several states in the east, especially in areas with…
Bees form scent-driven phone tree to pass along messages
Honeybees play a scent-driven game of telephone to guide members of a colony back to their queen, according to a new study led by University of Colorado Boulder. The research, published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of…
North American deserts are a biodiversity hotspot for butterflies
By comparing the genetic diversity of butterflies in North America, researchers reporting in the journal iScience on March 23 found that the array of different evolutionary distinct groups of butterflies is particularly high in the deserts of Mexico and the…
A divided visual field
Hummingbird hawkmoths are small insects that hover in the air like hummingbirds when drinking nectar from flowers. Dr. Anna Stöckl from the Biocentre of the Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany, is studying the visual performance of these insects. Dr.…
A Red List of insect experts in Europe
New EC-funded project will identify trends in taxonomic expertise across Europe to identify gaps in expert knowledge
Tropical species are moving northward in U.S. as winters warm
Insects, reptiles, fish and plants migrating north as winter freezes in South become less frequent
Rutgers Expert Available to Discuss 17-Year Cicadas in N.J.
New Brunswick, N.J. (March 18, 2021) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick entomologist George C. Hamilton is available for interviews on the upcoming emergence of 17-year cicadas in New Jersey. The big, noisy insects appear suddenly in late May or early June. “This spring, we will…
The impact of geopolitical boundaries on cycad conservation efforts
Conservation measures across multiple governments and countries necessary to mitigate extinction risks
Abundant and stable rocks are critical egg-laying habitat for insects in restored streams
The abundance and other characteristics of rocks partially extending above the water surface could be important for improving the recovery of aquatic insect populations in restored streams. Nearly three quarters of stream insects reproduce on large rocks that sit above…
Mitigating impact of artificial light at night in tropical forests
New findings have major conservation implications for critical insects
USC Stem Cell scientists start a buzz around fruit flies in hearing research
Even though a fruit fly doesn’t have ears, it can hear with its antennae. In a new study published in the journal Development , USC Stem Cell scientists describe how adult flies can regenerate sensory hearing cells in their antennae,…
Blight may increase public health risk from mosquito-borne diseases
Louisiana State University researchers recently published findings that blight leads to an increased abundance of disease-carrying mosquitoes. The researchers investigated the presence of several mosquito species in two adjacent but socio-economically contrasting neighborhoods in Baton Rouge: the historic Garden District,…
Birds learn to avoid flashy, hard-to-catch butterflies and their lookalikes
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The showy colors of some butterflies could advertise their speed and nimbleness, much like a coat of bright yellow paint on a sports car. A new study shows birds can learn to recognize these visual cues, avoiding…