Insects (including Butterflies) News

July 26, 2024

Top Headlines

New Understanding of Fly Behavior Has Potential Application in Robotics, Public Safety

July 26, 2024 — Scientists have identified an automatic behavior in flies that helps them assess wind conditions -- its presence and direction -- before deploying a strategy to follow a scent to its source. The fact ...

Controlling Mosquito Populations Through Genetic Breeding

July 22, 2024 — Researchers have found a new way to identify genetic targets useful for control of mosquito populations, potentially offering an alternative to insecticides. Their study focused on the genetic basis of species incompatibility. They crossed Ae. ...

It's Got Praying Mantis Eyes

July 24, 2024 — The praying mantis is one of the few insects with compound eyes and the ability to perceive 3D space. Engineers are replicating their visual systems to make machines see ...

The Unintended Consequences of Success Against Malaria

July 23, 2024 — The insecticide-treated bed nets and insecticide sprays that were so effective in preventing mosquito bites -- and therefore malaria -- are increasingly viewed as the causes of household pest resurgence after pests became resistant to pesticides, ...

Latest Headlines

updated 9:39pm EDT

Fruit Fly Post-Mating Behavior Controlled by Male-Derived Peptide Via Command Neurons, Study Finds

July 23, 2024 — Scientists have succeeded in pinpointing the neurons within a female fruit fly's brain that respond to signals from the male during ...

Butterflies Accumulate Enough Static Electricity to Attract Pollen Without Contact

July 23, 2024 — Butterflies and moths collect so much static electricity whilst in flight, that pollen grains from flowers can be pulled by static electricity across ...

Transient Structure in Fly Leg Holds Clue to Insect Shape Formation

July 22, 2024 — A little leg may reveal something big about how closely related insect species can drastically differ in body shape, according to a new study. The team imaged live cells of fruit flies in the last ...

Hundreds of New Genome Sequences Fill Gaps in the Fruit Fly Tree of Life

July 18, 2024 — A multitude of new genomic sequence data fills major gaps in the fruit fly tree of life, researchers ...

Air Pollution Harms Pollinators More Than Pests, Study Finds

July 11, 2024 — Pollinators experienced a 39-percent decline in foraging efficiency after being exposed to elevated air pollution levels. In contrast, plant-eating aphids and other pests were not significantly ...

Mapping the World's Fungi from Air Samples

July 11, 2024 — Researchers have found that the key to a quick and cost-effective mapping of biodiversity has been right in front of our eyes all along, but at the same time invisible -- i.e., in the air that ...

An Ant That Selectively Amputates the Infected Limbs of Wounded Sisters

July 2, 2024 — Saving lives through surgery is no longer exclusive to humans. Scientists now detail how Florida carpenter ants, a common, brown species native to its namesake, selectively treat the wounded limbs of ...

Insecticides Contributed to Loss of Butterflies Across American Midwest, Study Finds

June 20, 2024 — Insecticide use is a major factor causing a decrease in the size and diversity of butterfly populations across the US Midwest, according to a new ...

AI-Powered Study Explores Under-Studied Female Evolution

July 1, 2024 — Pioneering AI-powered research on butterflies has probed the under-studied evolution of females and adds to a debate between Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel ...

Biting Flies on Dairy Farms Can Spread Bovine Mastitis

June 26, 2024 — A new study identified biting flies as reservoirs of bacteria that cause bovine mastitis on dairy ...

Invasive Ants Spread by Hitchhiking on Everyday Vehicles

June 27, 2024 — Ants might spread to new locations by stowing away on everyday vehicles. Previously, this was thought to occur mostly on agricultural ...

From Takeoff to Flight, the Wiring of a Fly's Nervous System Is Mapped

June 26, 2024 — Although a fly's motor neurons are few, it performs remarkable aerial and terrestrial feats. A wiring diagram recently created of the motor circuits in the central nervous system of the fruit ...

Non-Stop Flight: 4,200 Km Transatlantic Flight of the Painted Lady Butterfly Mapped

June 25, 2024 — In October 2013 a researcher made a surprising discovery of Painted Lady Butterflies on the Atlantic beaches of French Guiana -- a species not typically found in South America. This unusual sighting ...

Interaction With Insects Accelerates Plant Evolution

June 19, 2024 — Researchers have discovered that plants benefit from a greater variety of interactions with pollinators and herbivores. Plants that are pollinated by insects and have to defend themselves against ...

Are Plants Intelligent? It Depends on the Definition

June 12, 2024 — Goldenrod can perceive other plants nearby without ever touching them, by sensing far-red light ratios reflected off leaves. When goldenrod is eaten by herbivores, it adapts its response based on ...

Millions of Insects Migrate Through 30-Meter Pyrenees Pass

June 11, 2024 — Over 17 million insects migrate each year through a single mountain pass on the border between France and Spain, new research ...

Haiku May Shine a Light on Humans' Relationship With Insects

June 11, 2024 — Haiku poems have reflected humans' experiences in nature for hundreds of years, including observations of bugs and other wildlife. Recently, researchers analyzed which insects were mentioned the ...

A Protein That Enables Smell--and Stops Cell Death

June 7, 2024 — While smell plays a considerable role in the social interactions of humans -- for instance, signaling fear or generating closeness -- for ants, it is vitally important. Researchers have found that a ...

Determining Sex in Ants

June 6, 2024 — Researchers have been investigating the molecular mechanisms responsible for determining sex in ants. Although the vast majority of an ant colony consists of female workers, males are essential to ...

Flapping Frequency of Birds, Insects, Bats and Whales Described by Universal Equation

June 5, 2024 — A single universal equation can closely approximate the frequency of wingbeats and fin strokes made by birds, insects, bats and whales, despite their different body sizes and wing shapes, researchers ...

Combining Pest Treatments May Be Key to Helping Honey Bees Survive the Winter

June 4, 2024 — Winters can be tough on managed honey bee colonies, with beekeepers in the United States reporting that one-third of their colonies die each winter. A new study has found that using not one but ...

Captivating Blue-Colored Ant Discovered in India's Remote Siang Valley

June 3, 2024 — A new species of blue ant was discovered in Yingku village in Arunachal Pradesh, Northeastern India. It was named Paraparatrechina neela, after the word 'neela' which means blue in various ...

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 ...

Slugs and Snails Love the City, Unlike Other Animals

May 29, 2024 — Most native species avoid more urbanized areas of Los Angeles, but slugs and snails may actually prefer these environments, according to a new ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 sugar. Caffeinated ants move toward the ...

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 bumble bees across Canada and the United States. ...