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Crane fly
The crane flies (Tipulidae) are a family of insects resembling giant mosquitoes. They are sometimes called mosquito eaters, mosquito hawks, or skeeter eaters. Adult crane flies feed on nectar or not at all, while their larvae, called leatherjackets, consume roots (such as those of turf grass in backyard lawns) and other vegetation.
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Plants & Animals News
April 17, 2026
Apr. 16, 2026 Scientists have discovered that methane in the open ocean is produced by microbes under nutrient-poor conditions, solving a long-standing mystery. As warming oceans reduce nutrient mixing, these ...
Apr. 15, 2026 A rare fossil discovery is shedding light on the “missing years” of early sponge evolution. Scientists found a 550-million-year-old sponge that likely lacked hard skeletal parts, explaining why ...
Apr. 14, 2026 A new study from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is overturning a decades-old belief that Indigenous Hawaiians hunted native waterbirds to extinction. Instead, researchers found no scientific evidence supporting this claim and propose a more ...
Apr. 13, 2026 Mitochondria don’t just generate energy—they also carefully organize their own DNA in a surprisingly elegant way. Scientists have discovered that a long-overlooked phenomenon called ...
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Apr. 13, 2026 Gray whales are beginning to break their long-established migration patterns, venturing into risky new territory like San Francisco Bay as climate change disrupts their Arctic food supply. But this unexpected detour is proving deadly: nearly one in ...
Apr. 9, 2026 Dragonflies may see the world in a way that pushes beyond human limits—and surprisingly, they do it using the same molecular trick we evolved ourselves. Scientists discovered that these insects can detect extremely deep red light, even edging into ...
Apr. 9, 2026 Not all parts of our genetic code are equal, even when they appear to say the same thing. Scientists have discovered that cells can detect less efficient genetic instructions and selectively silence ...
Apr. 1, 2026 Cells aren’t as passive as scientists once thought—they actively create internal currents to move proteins quickly and efficiently. These “cellular winds” push materials to the front of the ...
Apr. 1, 2026 Old canned salmon turned out to be a time capsule of ocean health. Researchers found that rising levels of tiny parasitic worms in some salmon species suggest stronger, more complete marine food ...
Mar. 27, 2026 Species are vanishing faster than ever, and many are disappearing before scientists even know they exist. Now, an international team is racing against time to uncover hidden life beneath the waves by building a massive open-access genomic database ...
Mar. 26, 2026 A sweeping global report finds that migratory freshwater fish are in steep decline, with populations down roughly 81% since 1970. These species depend on long, connected rivers, but dams and human pressures are cutting off their routes. Hundreds of ...
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Apr. 15, 2026 A long-running dinosaur mystery may finally be solved: Nanotyrannus, once dismissed as just a teenage T. rex, appears to have been its own distinct species after all. Scientists analyzed a tiny ...
Apr. 15, 2026 A badly mangled dinosaur skull, once forgotten in a drawer, turned out to be a rare and important discovery. Reconstructed by a Virginia Tech student, it revealed a new species of early carnivorous ...
Apr. 15, 2026 A massive, bus-sized “terror croc” that once preyed on dinosaurs has been brought back to life in stunning detail with the first scientifically accurate full skeleton of Deinosuchus schwimmeri. ...
Apr. 15, 2026 A new study proposes detecting life in space by spotting patterns across many planets instead of focusing on one at a time. If life spreads and changes planetary environments, it could leave behind ...
Apr. 14, 2026 In the Arizona desert, scientists have uncovered a bizarre and almost unbelievable partnership between ants: tiny cone ants acting as “cleaners” ...
Apr. 14, 2026 In the aftermath of Earth’s most catastrophic extinction event, one unlikely survivor rose to dominate a shattered world: Lystrosaurus. Now, a ...
Apr. 13, 2026 Light doesn’t just help plants grow—it may also quietly hold them back. Researchers have uncovered a surprising mechanism where light strengthens the “glue” between a plant’s outer skin and ...
Apr. 12, 2026 Mars may be hostile, but it might not be entirely unlivable. In lab experiments, yeast cells survived simulated Martian shock waves and toxic perchlorate salts—two major environmental threats on ...
Apr. 8, 2026 Early wheat didn’t just grow—it fought. When humans began cultivating fields, plants that could outcompete their neighbors for sunlight and space quickly took over, evolving upright leaves and ...
Apr. 8, 2026 A new international study is shaking up how we think about elite sprinting, arguing there’s no single “perfect” running style behind the world’s fastest athletes. Instead, speed emerges from ...