Insects (including Butterflies) News

June 1, 2024

Top Headlines

A Greener, More Effective Way to Kill Termites

May 31, 2024 — Scientists have discovered a highly effective, nontoxic, and less expensive way to lure hungry termites to their ...

Caterpillars Can Detect Their Predators by the Static Electricity They Emit

May 24, 2024 — Caterpillars respond defensively to electric fields similar to those emitted by their natural predators, scientists have ...

On Repeat: Biologists Observe Recurring Evolutionary Changes, Over Time, in Stick Insects

May 24, 2024 — An evolutionary biologist reports evidence of repeatable evolution in populations of stick ...

Entomologist Sheds Light on 250-Year-Old Mystery of the German Cockroach

May 24, 2024 — Entomologists have solved the 250-year-old origin puzzle of the most prevalent indoor urban pest insect on the planet: the German cockroach. The team's research findings, representing the genomic analyses of over 280 specimens from 17 countries and ...

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Community Science Volunteers Can Set Scientific World Abuzz With New Bumble Bee Sightings

May 22, 2024 — Community science volunteers -- laypeople with an interest in bees and conservation -- significantly contribute to the scientific knowledge of native ...

Foraging Ants Navigate More Efficiently When Given Energy-Drink-Like Doses of Caffeine

May 23, 2024 — Ants who receive a caffeine-laced sugary reward become more efficient at navigating back to the reward's location compared to ants that only receive ...

The Impacts of Climate Change on Food Production

May 20, 2024 — A new study shows that climate change has led to decreased pollen production from plants and less pollen diversity than previously thought, which could have a significant impact on food ...

Detecting Odors on the Edge: Researchers Decipher How Insects Smell More With Less

May 21, 2024 — While humans feature a sophisticated sense of smell, insects have a much more basic olfactory system. Yet they depend upon smell to survive. ...

New AI Accurately Predicts Fly Behavior

May 22, 2024 — Researchers trained an AI model to accurately predict male fruit flies' courtship behavior in response to any sight of a female. This breakthrough offers new insight into how the brain processes ...

Fruit Fly Testes Offer Potential Tool Against Harmful Insects

May 13, 2024 — A way to curb nagging insects has been flying under our radar -- an enzyme from fruit fly testes. The compound could control bugs that carry disease and harm crops by stunting their ability to ...

Bees and Butterflies on the Decline in Western and Southern North America

May 15, 2024 — Bee and butterfly populations are in decline in major regions of North America due to ongoing environmental change, and significant gaps in pollinator research limit our ability to protect these ...

Climate Change Is Most Prominent Threat to Pollinators

May 15, 2024 — A new article has found that climate change is the most prominent threat to pollinators -- such as bumblebees, wasps, and butterflies -- who are essential for biodiversity conservation, crop yields ...

Some Varieties of Annual Flowers Have a Place in Pollinator-Friendly Gardens

May 13, 2024 — While wildflowers and perennials are a must for supporting pollinators, there's no denying the popularity of many annual flowers for their colorful, ...

What Fire Ants Can Teach Us About Making Better, Self-Healing Materials

May 15, 2024 — Fire ants form rafts to survive flooding, but how do those bonds work? And what can we learn from them? A professor is researching those questions to expand our knowledge of materials ...

Wild Megalopolis: Study Shows Unexpected Pockets of Biodiversity Pepper Los Angeles

May 29, 2024 — Researchers, in partnership with the city of Los Angeles, have developed the urban association index to help identify how well or poorly individual wildlife species are doing in the city. The ...

Tiger Beetles Fight Off Bat Attacks With Ultrasonic Mimicry

May 15, 2024 — When tiger beetles hear a bat nearby, they respond by creating a high-pitched, ultrasonic noise, and for the past 30 years, no one has known why. In a new study, scientists lay the mystery to rest by ...

How Climate Change Will Affect Malaria Transmission

May 9, 2024 — A new model for predicting the effects of climate change on malaria transmission in Africa could lead to more targeted interventions to control the disease according to a new study. Previous methods ...

New Sex-Determining Mechanism in African Butterfly Discovered

May 9, 2024 — In a study of a species of African butterfly, researchers have discovered a previously undescribed molecular mechanism of how the sex of an embryo is initially ...

Bee Body Mass, Pathogens and Local Climate Influence Heat Tolerance

May 7, 2024 — How well bees tolerate temperature extremes could determine their ability to persist in a changing climate. But heat tolerance varies between and within populations, so entomologists examined bee ...

Identifying Risks of Human Flea Infestations in Plague-Endemic Areas of Madagascar

May 1, 2024 — Researchers uncover why some homes in rural Madagascar where bubonic plague is endemic are infested with fleas. Based on their findings, they recommend ways to reduce the flea populations and their ...

Can Climate Change Accelerate Transmission of Malaria? Pioneering Research Sheds Light on Impacts of Temperature

Apr. 24, 2024 — A groundbreaking study combined novel experimental data within an innovative modeling framework to examine how temperature might affect transmission risk of malaria in different environments in ...

New Butterfly Species Created 200,000 Years Ago by Two Species Interbreeding

Apr. 17, 2024 — Researchers have shown that an Amazonian butterfly is a hybrid species, formed by two other species breeding together almost 200,000 years ago. Researchers have shown that an Amazonian butterfly is a ...

Leptanilla Voldemort, a Ghostly Slender New Ant Species from the Dark Depths of the Underground

Apr. 15, 2024 — In the sun-scorched Pilbara region of north-western Australia, scientists have unearthed a mysterious creature from the shadows -- a new ant species called Leptanilla ...

Economist: Tens of Billions of Dollars in Forest Products Are Being Overlooked

Apr. 11, 2024 — Are we missing the forest for the trees? More than timber grows in forests -- including products worth many tens of billions of dollars. Because these goods go unrecorded in official trade ...

Oxidant Pollutant Ozone Removes Mating Barriers Between Fly Species

Apr. 11, 2024 — Researchers show that ozone levels, such as those found in many places on hot summer days today, destroy the sex pheromones of fruit fly species. As a result, some natural mating boundaries ...

Ants in Colorado Are on the Move Due to Climate Change

Apr. 10, 2024 — Ant species living in Boulder's foothills have shifted their habitat over the last six decades, potentially affecting local ecosystems, suggests a new ...

How Mosquito Larva Guts Could Help Create Highly Specific Insecticides

Apr. 8, 2024 — Did you know that the world's deadliest animal is the mosquito? And Aedes aegypti is one of the most dangerous. This bug spreads viruses that cause dengue fever, which was recently declared as ...

Rusty-Patched Bumblebee's Struggle for Survival Found in Its Genes

Apr. 4, 2024 — The rusty-patched bumblebee, once common in the United States, has declined from about 90% of its former range. Researchers conducted the first range-wide genetic study of the endangered species to ...

AI Helps to Detect Invasive Asian Hornets

Apr. 3, 2024 — Artificial Intelligence can be used to detect invasive Asian hornets and raise the alarm, new research ...

Biologists Uncover New Species of Tiger Beetle: Eunota Houstoniana

Mar. 27, 2024 — Evolutionary biologists have unearthed a new species of tiger beetle, deemed Eunota houstoniana, honoring the Houston region where it predominantly ...

Sap Beetles Vs Wind: What Pollinates Screw Pines?

Mar. 27, 2024 — Researchers have discovered the first species pollinated by sap beetles in the genus Pandanus, a group of palm-like plants native to the tropics and subtropics of Africa and Eurasia. The discovery ...

The Behavior of Ant Queens Is Shaped by Their Social Environment

Mar. 26, 2024 — The queens in colonies of social insects, such as ants, bees, and wasps, are considered the veritable embodiment of specialization in the animal kingdom. The common perception is that the ...

Bees Use Antennae to Decode Hive Mates' Dances in the Dark

Mar. 25, 2024 — Scientists have discovered how honeybees can decipher dances by their hive mates that relay directions to ...

Honey Bees at Risk for Colony Collapse from Longer, Warmer Fall Seasons

Mar. 25, 2024 — The famous work ethic of honey bees might spell disaster for these busy crop pollinators as the climate warms, new research indicates. Flying shortens the lives of bees, and worker honey bees will ...