Pests and Parasites News
August 5, 2025
Top Headlines
Aug. 4, 2025 — Glasswing butterflies may all look alike, but behind their transparent wings hides an evolutionary story full of intrigue. Researchers discovered that while these butterflies appear nearly identical to avoid predators, they produce unique pheromones ...
Aug. 4, 2025 — An intriguing new study reveals that over 80% of parasites found in the ancient poo of New Zealand’s endangered kākāpō have vanished, even though the bird itself is still hanging on. Researchers discovered this dramatic parasite decline by ...
July 29, 2025 — A team at the University of Florida used drones and smart modeling to accurately count over 41,000 endangered turtles nesting along the Amazon’s Guaporé River—revealing the world’s largest known turtle nesting site. Their innovative ...
July 26, 2025 — A groundbreaking study has revealed that the mass administration of ivermectin—a drug once known for treating river blindness and scabies—can significantly reduce malaria transmission when used in conjunction with bed ...
July 21, 2025 — Gene editing may hold the key to rescuing endangered species—not just by preserving them, but by restoring their lost genetic diversity using DNA from museum specimens and related species. Scientists propose a visionary framework that merges ...
July 17, 2025 — Dogs trained by everyday pet owners are proving to be surprisingly powerful allies in the fight against the invasive spotted lanternfly. In a groundbreaking study, citizen scientists taught their ...
July 16, 2025 — Scientists have discovered that a protein once thought to be just a cellular "courier" actually helps plants survive drought. This motor protein, myosin XI, plays a critical role in helping leaves close their pores to conserve water. When it's ...
July 12, 2025 — A cat named Pepper has once again helped scientists discover a new virus—this time a mysterious orthoreovirus found in a shrew. Researchers from the University of Florida, including virologist John Lednicky, identified this strain during unrelated ...
July 10, 2025 — Climate change is silently sapping the nutrients from our food. A pioneering study finds that rising CO2 and higher temperatures are not only reshaping how crops grow but are also degrading their nutritional value especially in vital leafy greens ...
July 7, 2025 — Danish and Welsh botanists sifted through 400 studies, field-tested seed mixes, and uncovered a lineup of native and exotic blooms that both thrill human eyes and lure bees and hoverflies in droves, ...
July 4, 2025 — Scientists have discovered that the bacteria behind Lyme disease and anaplasmosis have a sneaky way of surviving inside ticks—they hijack the tick’s own cell functions to steal cholesterol they need to grow. By tapping into a built-in protein ...
July 3, 2025 — When Siberian volcanoes kicked off the Great Dying, the real climate villain turned out to be the rainforests themselves: once they collapsed, Earth’s biggest carbon sponge vanished, CO₂ ...
Latest Headlines
updated 12:52pm EDT
Aug. 2, 2025 — Long before evolution equipped them with the right teeth, early humans began eating tough grasses and starchy underground plants—foods rich in energy but hard to chew. A new study reveals that this ...
Aug. 1, 2025 — About 9 million years ago, a wild interspecies fling between tomato-like plants and potato relatives in South America gave rise to one of the ...
July 30, 2025 — Scientists have used artificial intelligence to upgrade plant immune systems, potentially revolutionizing how crops like tomatoes and potatoes can defend against harmful bacteria. By reengineering ...
July 24, 2025 — Half a billion years ago, a strange sea-dwelling creature called Mollisonia symmetrica may have paved the way for modern spiders. Using detailed fossil brain analysis, researchers uncovered neural ...
July 15, 2025 — High in Fiji s rainforest, the ant plant Squamellaria grows swollen tubers packed with sealed, single-door apartments. Rival ant species nest in these chambers, fertilizing their host with ...
July 11, 2025 — In a bold step toward sustainable space travel, scientists are engineering a radically small, protein-rich rice that can grow in space. The Moon-Rice project, led by the Italian Space Agency in ...
June 26, 2025 — Cats overwhelmingly choose to sleep on their left side, a habit researchers say could be tied to survival. This sleep position activates the ...
June 25, 2025 — Two newly discovered viruses lurking in bats are dangerously similar to Nipah and Hendra, both of which have caused deadly outbreaks in humans. Found in fruit bats near villages, these viruses may ...
June 24, 2025 — Two Ice Age wolf pups once thought to be early dogs have been identified as wild wolves, thanks to detailed DNA and chemical analysis. Surprisingly, ...
June 23, 2025 — In a remarkable twist of science, researchers have transformed a fungus long associated with death into a potential weapon against cancer. Found in ...
Earlier Headlines
June 16, 2025 — A lifelong fascination with nature and fieldwork led this researcher to the world of ethnobiology a field where ecology, culture, and community come together. Investigating how local people relate to ...
June 16, 2025 — Sea anemones may hold the key to the ancient origins of body symmetry. A study from the University of Vienna shows they use a molecular mechanism known as BMP shuttling, once thought unique to ...
June 14, 2025 — Ten thousand years after mastodons disappeared, scientists have unearthed powerful fossil evidence proving these elephant cousins were vital seed spreaders for large-fruited trees in South America. ...
June 14, 2025 — Study suggests that appetite for bushmeat -- rather than black market for scales to use in traditional Chinese medicine -- is driving West Africa's illegal hunting of one of the world's ...
June 15, 2025 — Aphid-hunting wasps can reproduce with or without sex, challenging previous assumptions. This unique flexibility could boost sustainable pest control if its hidden drawbacks can be ...
June 15, 2025 — Underground fungi may be one of Earth s most powerful and overlooked allies in the fight against climate change, yet most of them remain unknown to science. Known only by DNA, these "dark ...
June 10, 2025 — A prehistoric digestive time capsule has been unearthed in Australia: plant fossils found inside a sauropod dinosaur offer the first definitive glimpse into what these giant creatures actually ate. ...
June 10, 2025 — After millions of years of evolutionary isolation, Madagascar developed an unparalleled array of wildlife, and recent research has uncovered an unsung ecological hero: the lizard. Though often ...
June 10, 2025 — Bumblebee queens don t work nonstop. UC Riverside scientists discovered that queens take strategic reproductive breaks early in colony formation likely to conserve energy and increase the chance of ...
June 6, 2025 — Scientists have discovered that a molecule known for defending animal immune systems called itaconate also plays a powerful role in plants. Researchers showed that itaconate not only exists in plant ...
June 6, 2025 — Scientists have uncovered over 200 new giant viruses lurking in ocean waters that not only help shape marine ecosystems but also manipulate photosynthesis in algae. These massive viruses once nearly ...
June 12, 2025 — Reef "beauty salons" staffed by tiny cleaner fish aren t just for parasite removal they may also shape the microbial life of the entire ecosystem. A fascinating new study shows these ...
June 8, 2025 — In a paper published in National Science Review, a Chinese team of scientists highlights the discovery of well-preserved blue-stain fungal hyphae within a Jurassic fossil wood from northeastern ...
June 3, 2025 — The biosynthesis of the great variety of natural plant products has not yet been elucidated for many medically interesting substances. In a new study, an international team of researchers was able to ...
June 3, 2025 — A new study shows how person-to-person variation in antibody immunity plays a key role in shaping which influenza (flu) strains dominate in a ...
June 2, 2025 — New research shows that the presence of solar panels in Colorado's grasslands may reduce water stress, improve soil moisture levels and -- particularly during dry years -- increase plant growth ...
May 30, 2025 — Laboratory could improve crop resilience In a discovery three decades in the making, scientists have acquired detailed knowledge about the internal structures and mode of regulation for a specialized ...
May 29, 2025 — Long considered a disease brought to the Americas by European colonizers, leprosy may actually have a much older history on the American continent. Scientists reveal that a recently identified second ...
May 29, 2025 — Scientists have documented the way a single gene in the bacterium that causes bubonic plague, Yersinia pestis, allowed it to survive hundreds of years by adjusting its virulence and the length of ...
May 29, 2025 — A professor of crop sciences and of plant biology describes research efforts to 'future-proof' the crops that are essential to feeding a hungry world in a changing climate. Long, who has ...
Monday, June 16, 2025
- Cluck Once, and the River Shakes: Inside the Amazon’s Giant Snake Saga
- 600-Million-Year-Old Body Blueprint Found in Sea Anemones
Saturday, June 14, 2025
- Fruit-Eating Mastodons? Ancient Fossils Confirm a Long-Lost Ecological Alliance
- Africa's Pangolin Crisis: The Delicacy That's Driving a Species to the Brink
Sunday, June 15, 2025
- Tiny Wasp’s Shocking Reproductive Trick May Transform Global Agriculture
- 83% of Earth’s Climate-Critical Fungi Are Still Unknown
Tuesday, June 10, 2025
- What a Dinosaur Ate 100 Million Years ago—Preserved in a Fossilized Time Capsule
- How Madagascar’s Lizards Became the Island’s Last Hope for Reforestation
- Scientists Reveal the Hidden Pause That Keeps Bee Colonies Alive
Friday, June 6, 2025
- Scientists Find Immune Molecule That Supercharges Plant Growth
- Scientists Uncover 230 Giant Ocean Viruses That Hijack Photosynthesis
Thursday, June 12, 2025
Sunday, June 8, 2025
Tuesday, June 3, 2025
- Two Plant Species Invent the Same Chemically Complex and Medically Interesting Substance
- Large-Scale Immunity Profiling Grants Insights Into Flu Virus Evolution
Monday, June 2, 2025
Friday, May 30, 2025
Thursday, May 29, 2025
- Leprosy Existed in America Long Before Arrival of Europeans
- Evolution of a Single Gene Allowed the Plague to Adapt, Survive and Kill Much of Humanity Over Many Centuries
- 'Future-Proofing' Crops Will Require Urgent, Consistent Effort
- Living Libraries Could Save Our Food
- How Does Coffee Affect a Sleeping Brain?
- HIV Discovery Could Open Door to Long-Sought Cure
- Cotton Virus Circulated Undetected for Nearly 20 Years, Study Finds
- Cannabis Pangenome Reveals Potential for Medicinal and Industrial Use
Wednesday, May 28, 2025
- Trees Vs. Disease: Tree Cover Reduces Mosquito-Borne Health Risk
- Too Much of a Good Thing: Consequences of Overplanting Bt Corn in the US
- Kinetic Coupling -- Breakthrough in Understanding Biochemical Networks
- Bed Bugs Are Most Likely the First Human Pest, New Research Shows
- New Velvet Worm Species a First for the Arid Karoo
- Genetic Deep Dive Dispels Fear of Hybrid Worm Threat
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
- Zika Virus Uses Cells' 'self-Care' System to Turn Against Host
- Nordic Studies Show the Significance of Old-Growth Forests for Biodiversity
- Stirling Research Could Extend Biopesticide Effectiveness
Monday, May 26, 2025
- A Root Development Gene That's Older Than Root Development
- Flowers Unfold With Surprising Precision, Despite Unruly Genes
Friday, May 23, 2025
- Mystery of 'very Odd' Elasmosaur Finally Solved: Fiercely Predatory Marine Reptile Is New Species
- Earliest Use of Psychoactive and Medicinal Plant 'harmal' Identified in Iron Age Arabia
- Modulation of Antiviral Response in Fungi Via RNA Editing
Thursday, May 22, 2025
- Ancient DNA Used to Map Evolution of Fever-Causing Bacteria
- 'Selfish' Genes Called Introners Proven to Be a Major Source of Genetic Complexity
- How Cholera Bacteria Outsmart Viruses
- Ox-Eye Daisy, Bellis and Yarrow: Flower Strips With at Least Two Sown Species Provide 70 Percent More Natural Enemies of Pests
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
- Plant Cell Sculptors
- Bed-Netting Prototypes to Target Malaria-Causing Parasites
- Can Plants Hear Their Pollinators?
- Why Some Spiders Are More Venomous Than Others
- Unlocking the Secrets of Bat Immunity
- Natural Algal Communities Can Inhibit Aquaculture Pathogens
- Toothache from Eating Something Cold? Blame These Ancient Fish
- A New Technology for Extending the Shelf Life of Produce
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
- On the Origin (and Fate) of Plants That Never Bloom
- New Research Reveals Puff Adders as an Important Conservation and Rodent Control Solution
- Advanced Genomics Study Improves Detection of Hard-to-Find Diarrheal Infections
- Asian Elephants Have Larger Brains Than Their African Relatives
- Wild Spinach Offers Path to Breed Disease Resistance Into Cultivated Varieties
- Why Some Viral Infections Appear to Trigger Autoimmune Disease
- Native Turtles Return to Yosemite After Removal of Invasive Bullfrogs
- Thousands of Animal Species Threatened by Climate Change
Monday, May 19, 2025
- Bees Facing New Threats, Putting Our Survival and Theirs at Risk
- Genomic Data Shows Widespread Mpox Transmission in West Africa Prior to 2022 Global Outbreak
- Survival Trick: Pathogen Taps Iron Source in Immune Cells
- First-of-Its-Kind Global Study Shows Grasslands Can Withstand Climate Extremes With a Boost of Nutrients
- Family of Parasite Proteins Presents New Potential Malaria Treatment Target
- How Did Plants Evolve the Ability to Transport Massive Amounts of Protein Into Seed Vacuoles?
Friday, May 16, 2025
Thursday, May 15, 2025
- Two HIV Vaccine Trials Show Proof of Concept for Pathway to Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies
- World's Largest Bat Organoid Platform Paves the Way for Pandemic Preparedness
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
- Artificial Intelligence and Genetics Can Help Farmers Grow Corn With Less Fertilizer
- Europe's Forest Plants Thrive Best in Light-Rich, Semi-Open Woodlands -- Kept Open by Large Herbivores
- Light-Driven Cockroach Cyborgs Navigate Without Wires or Surgery
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
- Growth Before Photosynthesis: How Trees Regulate Their Water Balance
- 'Loop'hole: HIV-1 Hijacks Human Immune Cells Using Circular RNAs
Monday, May 12, 2025
- Measles Virus Detected in Houston Wastewater Before Cases Were Reported
- Invasive Salmon, Clams and Seaweed Are Next Threats to Biodiversity in Britain
- Microbial 'phosphorus Gatekeeping' Found at Center of Study Exploring 700,000 Years of Iconic Coastline
- The Kids Are Hungry: Juvenile European Green Crabs Just as Damaging as Adults
Friday, May 9, 2025
- First Fossil Evidence of Endangered Tropical Tree Discovered
- Antibiotics from Human Use Are Contaminating Rivers Worldwide, Study Shows
- Novel, Needle-Free, Live-Attenuated Influenza Vaccines With Broad Protection Against Human and Avian Virus Subtypes
- Researchers Map 7,000-Year-Old Genetic Mutation That Protects Against HIV
- Heat and Land Use: Bees Suffer in Particular
- Can Frisky Flies Save Human Lives?
- Internal Clocks Determine the Ups and Downs of Antarctic Krill
Thursday, May 8, 2025
- Researchers Find New Defense Against Hard-to-Treat Plant Diseases
- Novel Point of Attack to Combat Dangerous Tropical Diseases
- Engineering an Antibody Against Flu With Sticky Staying Power
- Building Vaccines for Future Versions of a Virus
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
- Biologists Create a One-Stop Shop for World's Most Charismatic Plants, Ferns
- Viruses Under the Super Microscope: How Influenza Viruses Communicate With Cells
- Fewer Parasites in the Indian River Lagoon Signal Big Ecosystem Problems
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
Monday, May 5, 2025
- New Molecular Label Could Lead to Simpler, Faster Tuberculosis Tests
- Biological Particles May Be Crucial for Inducing Heavy Rain
- Vertical Farming to Increase Yields and Reduce Environmental Impact
- Urban Rats Spread Deadly Bacteria as They Migrate, Study Finds
- Ancient Poems Tell the Story of Charismatic River Porpoise's Decline Over the Past 1,400 Years