Insects (including Butterflies) News

December 23, 2024

Top Headlines

Pollinators Most Vulnerable to Rising Global Temperatures Are Flies, Study Shows

Dec. 20, 2024 — Despite their reputation as buzzing nuisances, flies serve a critical role as some of the Earth's most prolific pollinators -- and new research suggests they are increasingly at risk due to rising ...

Study Maps Bed Bugs' Genomes in Unprecedented Detail to Find out Why They Just Won't Die

Dec. 17, 2024 — Near-gap-free and near-error-free genomes of a susceptible bed bug strain and a superstrain with around 20,000-fold insecticide resistance offer the broadest look yet at the full scope of mutations ...

Detailed Bedbug Genome Analysis May Improve Pesticides

Dec. 16, 2024 — Scientists now have a better genetic understanding of the insect. The research offers an updated genome analysis of the common bedbug Cimex lectularius, providing new insight for those working to prevent bedbug infestation, develop remediation ...

How Fighting Female Flies Focus on Their Foes

Dec. 12, 2024 — New research uses pioneering tools to show how aggressive female fruit flies' vision is regulated to focus on what's ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:16pm EST

Australia's Extinction Tally Is Worse Than We Thought

Dec. 11, 2024 — A new study estimates that more than 9000 insects and other native invertebrates have become extinct in Australia since European arrival in 1788 and between 1-3 additional species become extinct ...

Desert Ants Use the Polarity of the Geomagnetic Field for Navigation

Dec. 6, 2024 — Desert ants of the Cataglyphis nodus species use the Earth's magnetic field for spatial orientation, but rely on a different component of the field than other insects. The survey suggests that the ...

A Blueprint for the Brain's Circadian Clock

Dec. 5, 2024 — Circadian clocks control physiological processes and behavior in virtually all living organisms. Now an international research team has created a detailed map of the internal clock in the brain of ...

A microRNA Solves an Evolutionary Mystery of Butterfly and Moth Wing Coloration

Dec. 6, 2024 — Over the past two decades, scientists discovered that the majority of melanic wing color variants are controlled by a single genomic region ...

Spotted Lanternflies in the US Are Living Longer--and Cities May Be Helping Them Spread

Dec. 5, 2024 — Spotted lanternflies -- invasive insects that first landed in the United States a decade ago -- are emerging earlier and staying active later each ...

Lifesaver for Wild Bees: The Importance of Quarries

Dec. 4, 2024 — A research team has investigated the importance of limestone quarries for wild bee conservation. Diverse landscapes with good connectivity between quarries and calcareous grasslands proved to be ...

Natural 'Biopesticide' Against Malaria Mosquitoes Successful in Early Field Tests

Dec. 4, 2024 — An experimental bacteria-derived biopesticide is highly effective in killing malaria-carrying mosquitoes, including those that have developed ...

Insects Wearing Two Hats Solve Botanical Mystery

Dec. 4, 2024 — The discovery of a unique case where the same insect species both pollinate a plant and distribute its seeds not only solves a long-standing botanical mystery. The find also stresses the diverse ...

Can Plastic-Eating Bugs Help With Our Microplastic Problem?

Dec. 3, 2024 — Previous research found that insects can ingest and absorb pure, unrefined microplastics -- but only under unrealistic, food-scarce situations. Zoologists have now tested mealworms in a more ...

Insect Fossil Find 'Extremely Rare'

Dec. 2, 2024 — Newly discovered insect fossils are so small they can barely be seen by the human eye but have been preserved in an 'extraordinary' ...

New Gene Drive Reverses Insecticide Resistance in Pests... Then Disappears

Nov. 22, 2024 — Geneticists have developed a gene drive-based solution to the widespread problem of insecticide resistance. In an effort to protect valuable crops, the researchers created an 'e-Drive' that ...

Caste Differentiation in Ants

Nov. 22, 2024 — Scientists have revealed how a specific hormone regulates ant caste differentiation by phenotypic measurements of organ-level developmental changes and matching transcriptome ...

What's the Story, Morning Glory?

Nov. 21, 2024 — Morning glory plants that can resist the effects of glyphosate also resist damage from herbivorous insects, according to a new ...

Bee Alert: Pesticides Pose a Real Threat to Over 70% of Wild Bees

Nov. 18, 2024 — A new study reveals alarming risks that pesticides pose to ground-nesting bees, which are crucial for pollination and food production. As agriculture increasingly relies on pesticides to protect ...

'Walk This Way': How Ants Create Trails to Multiple Food Sources

Nov. 16, 2024 — Researchers have discovered that in a foraging ant's search for food, it will leave pheromone trails connecting its colony to multiple food sources when they're available, successfully ...

'Cool' White Car Headlights More Likely to Dazzle Moths

Nov. 14, 2024 — 'Cool' white lights -- such as those in modern car headlights -- endanger moths by causing them to fly erratically, new research ...

From Pets to Pests: Researchers Explore New Tool to Fight Disease-Carrying Insects

Nov. 12, 2024 — Researchers are testing a product commonly used to treat ticks and fleas on pets to target fly and mosquito larvae with the goal of helping reduce the spread of diseases carried by these ...

Insect-Killing Fungi Find Unexpected Harmony in War

Nov. 7, 2024 — A new study reveals that two strains of pathogenic fungi unexpectedly divide insect victims amongst themselves rather than aggressively compete for ...

Research Shows Caterpillar Fungus Can Slow Down Growth of Cancer Cells

Nov. 7, 2024 — New research into a chemical produced by a caterpillar fungus that has shown promise as a possible cancer treatment has revealed how it interacts with genes to interrupt cell growth signals. The ...

Deaf Male Mosquitoes Don't Mate

Nov. 5, 2024 — Romance is a complex affair in humans. There's personality, appearance, seduction, all manner of physical and social cues. Mosquitoes are much more blunt. Mating occurs for a few seconds in ...

Bacteria Breakthrough Could Accelerate Mosquito Control Schemes

Nov. 4, 2024 — Mosquito larvae grow faster if they're exposed to particular bacteria, according to a new study that could help global health ...

Not the Usual Suspects: Novel Genetic Basis of Pest Resistance to Biotech Crops

Nov. 4, 2024 — Researchers used genomics to investigate the genetic changes causing resistance to transgenic crops in field populations of the corn earworm, also known as cotton bollworm or Helicoverpa zea. They ...

Bee Gene Specifies Collective Behavior

Nov. 1, 2024 — Researchers investigate how the complex, cooperative behavior of honey bees (Apis mellifera) is genetically programmed so that it can be passed on to subsequent generations. They found an answer in ...

Alcohol Consumption Among Non-Human Animals May Not Be as Rare as Previously Thought, Say Ecologists

Oct. 30, 2024 — Anecdotes abound of wildlife behaving 'drunk' after eating fermented fruits, but despite this, nonhuman consumption of ethanol has been assumed to be rare and accidental. Ecologists now ...

12 New Oriental Weevil Species Discovered Using Advanced Imaging Tools

Oct. 29, 2024 — Two of these new species are present in Japan: Aphanerostethus magnus (Oo-daruma-kuchikakushi-zoumushi) and Aphanerostethus japonicus (Nippon-daruma-kuchikakushi-zoumushi). One of these, ...

Invisible Anatomy in the Fruit Fly Uterus

Oct. 25, 2024 — Drosophila is one of the most thoroughly studied lab animals -- with the exception of the female reproductive tract. Now a team of biologists has taken the first deep look at the Drosophila uterus ...

Human Actions Likely Cause Insect Color Change

Oct. 24, 2024 — New Zealand's native stoneflies have changed colour in response to human-driven environmental changes, new research shows. The study provides arguably the world's most clear-cut case of ...

Evaluating the Link Between Chemicals and Declining Insect Populations

Oct. 24, 2024 — Employing a library of more than 1,000 chemicals, scientists investigated how agrochemicals affect insect populations. The scientists found that exposure to non-fatal amounts of 57 percent of the ...

Gardens Prevent Pollinators from Starving When Farmland Nectar Is Scarce

Oct. 22, 2024 — Gardens offer a steady and reliable source of nectar all year round, helping to keep pollinators fed when farmland sources are limited, researchers have ...

From Catwoman to Han Solo, Newly Discovered Wasps Named After Famous Thieves

Oct. 22, 2024 — Twenty-two new species of gall wasps have been identified and named, thanks to new research. The study nearly doubles the number of known species in this genus of ...