Insects (including Butterflies) News

March 13, 2025

Top Headlines

Temperature During Development Influences Connectivity Between Neurons and Behavior in Fruit Flies

Mar. 12, 2025 — The rate of development of poikilothermic animals, such as insects, fish, and reptiles, is determined by environmental temperature. A research team has recently demonstrated how temperature can ...

Mosquito Pain Receptors Are Less Sensitive During Extreme Heat

Mar. 12, 2025 — Hotter temperatures may render natural insect repellents less effective against mosquitoes, according to a new ...

No Need to Wing It: Bat Activity in Winter Analyzed

Mar. 12, 2025 — Winter in the South can bring about a sharp change in conditions that impact forests and their many inhabitants. However, new research finds that, despite these seasonal shifts, forest management efforts are supporting healthy bat ...

The Yucca and the Moth: How Extreme Weather Impacts the Timing of Biological Events

Mar. 5, 2025 — A study sheds light on how extreme weather events impact phenological processes, specifically the flight period of butterflies and moths and the flowering time of plants, with implications for food ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:13pm EDT

Study Raises the Possibility of a Country Without Butterflies

Mar. 6, 2025 — A sweeping study for the first time tallies butterfly data from more than 76,000 surveys across the continental United States. The results: Butterflies -- all of them -- are ...

Insect Populations Are Declining -- And That Is Not a Good Thing

Mar. 5, 2025 — Using two species of flies from different climates -- one from the cool, high-altitude forests of Northern California, the other hailing from the hot, dry deserts of the Southwest -- scientists ...

1,400 Species Found in Guts of Asian Hornets

Mar. 4, 2025 — A study of Asian hornets has found about 1,400 different species in their ...

Bark Beetle Infestation Slows Down Tree Growth Early on

Feb. 26, 2025 — Bark beetle-infested spruce trees begin to dry out already before any visible signs of tree mortality appear, a recent study ...

Select Corn Lines Contain Compounds That Sicken, Kill Major Crop Pest

Feb. 26, 2025 — The corn earworm causes the loss of more than 76 million bushels of corn in the United States annually, and there is mounting evidence that increasingly extreme weather events and temperatures will ...

Hidden Allies: Trees and Fungi

Feb. 26, 2025 — Researchers report on the influence of an endophytic fungus of the genus Cladosporium on the defense of black poplars against herbivorous insects. The fungus, which lives inside the leaves, not only ...

Butterfly Wings Inspire New Imaging Technique for Cancer Diagnosis

Feb. 21, 2025 — Using the microscopic structures found on the wings of the Morpho butterfly, researchers have developed a simple and inexpensive way to analyze cancer biopsy samples that could make cancer diagnosis ...

Combining Millions of Years of Evolution With Tech Wizardry: The Cyborg Cockroach

Feb. 13, 2025 — A research team has developed two new autonomous navigation systems for cyborg insects to better navigate unknown, complex environments. The ...

Animals as Architects of Earth: First Global Study Reveals Their Surprising Impact

Feb. 17, 2025 — Animals are not just inhabitants of the natural world -- they are its architects. A new study has revealed how hundreds of species shape the ...

Bio-Hybrid Drone Uses Silkworm Moth Antennae to Navigate Using Smell

Feb. 19, 2025 — Conventional drones use visual sensors for navigation. However, environmental conditions like dampness, low light, and dust can hinder their effectiveness, limiting their use in disaster-stricken ...

Ecologist Finds Eastern Monarch Butterflies Delaying Fall Migration

Feb. 18, 2025 — The study was one of several that assessed the effects of climate change on three species of butterflies whose populations are ...

Evidence of Play-Like Interaction With Carousel in Insects

Feb. 14, 2025 — Scientists have for the first time demonstrated play-like behavior in flies. They found that fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) voluntarily and repeatedly visited a ...

How Fruit Flies Flit Between Courtship and Aggression to Fight for Mates

Feb. 13, 2025 — Male fruit flies don't just sing to their mates; they also use sound-cancelling wing-flicks to jockey with rivals. This new understanding of how male flies compete for female partners could shed ...

Antarctica's Only Native Insect's Unique Survival Mechanism

Feb. 12, 2025 — What's the only native insect of Antarctica have to do to survive? A research team has uncovered the special ability of the Antarctic midge to prosper in an extreme ...

Masquerading Moth Deploys Unique Optical Tricks to Evade Predators

Feb. 12, 2025 — Scientists have described a nocturnal moth's unique evolutionary trick in replicating the appearance of 3D leaf, with potential applications for the development of advanced camouflage materials ...

Native Bee Populations Can Bounce Back After Honey Bees Move out

Feb. 11, 2025 — Managed honey bees have the potential to affect native bee populations when they are introduced to a new area, but a new study suggests that, under certain conditions, the native bees can bounce back ...

Bats Play a Key Role in Combating Rice Pests in Southeast Asia

Feb. 10, 2025 — Scientists have demonstrated that Wrinkle-lipped free-tailed bats not only travels great distances, but also hunt at impressive altitudes of up to 1,600 meters above ground -- the altitude at which ...

DNA Barcodes and Citizen Science Images Map Spread of Biocontrol Agent for Control of Major Invasive Shrub

Feb. 7, 2025 — New research using publicly-shared DNA barcodes and citizen science images have provided new evidence on the establishment and spread of a biological control agent used for the control of the major ...

Some Species Are Susceptible to Broad Range of Viruses

Feb. 6, 2025 — A study of fruit flies shows some species are highly susceptible to a wide range of ...

InsectNet Technology Identifies Insects Around the World and Around the Farm

Feb. 6, 2025 — InsectNet -- which is backed by a dataset of 12 million insect images, including many collected by citizen-scientists -- provides identification and predictions for more than 2,500 insect species at ...

Male Flies Sharpened Their Eyesight to Call the Females' Bluff

Feb. 5, 2025 — With bloated bellies and hairy legs, female flies try to look bigger to get food from courting mates. But male flies, in turn, have sharpened their eyesight to call their bluff. A new study suggests ...

Globetrotting Not in the Genes

Feb. 4, 2025 — Painted lady butterflies are world travelers. The ones we encounter in Europe fly from Africa to Sweden, ultimately returning to areas north and south of the Sahara. But what determines whether some ...

Life Cycles of Some Insects Adapt Well to a Changing Climate: Others, Not So Much

Jan. 31, 2025 — Some biologists speculate that animals will get smaller with global warming to reduce heat stress. While this may be true of warm-blooded animals, what about exotherms like insects? Thanks to a ...

Why Maggots Love the Texture of Decaying Fruit

Jan. 30, 2025 — Researchers have discovered neurons in the fly larva mouth that allow the taste of food texture. The study found that the fly peripheral taste organ has neurons with texture-tasting mechanoreceptors ...

The Life Cycle and Climate Adaptability of South Africa's Endemic Cape Autumn Widow Butterfly

Jan. 30, 2025 — A recent study provides insights into the life history and behaviour of the endemic Cape Autumn Widow butterfly (Dira clytus), a species endemic to South ...

Cold Waves in the Rainforest: What They Mean for Wild Animals

Jan. 30, 2025 — It's not always cozy and warm in the Amazon rainforest: Cold waves can cause temperatures to drop drastically. Researchers have investigated how animals react to ...

Zika Uses Human Skin as 'Mosquito Magnet' to Spread Virus Further

Jan. 30, 2025 — Zika virus hijacks the skin of its human host to send out chemical signals that lure more mosquitoes to infect and spread the disease further, new research ...

Bat Wings Boost Hovering Efficiency

Jan. 30, 2025 — Researchers have designed flexible, bat-like wings that boost lift and improve flight performance. This innovation could lead to more efficient drones or energy-harvesting ...

Fruit Flies' Courtship Song May Hold Key to Controlling Mosquitoes

Jan. 24, 2025 — Researchers have found and confirmed a gene that allows female fruit flies to get on the same frequency as courting males. Mosquitoes have the same gene and a similar courtship ritual, meaning that ...

'Buzz Me In:' Bees Wearing Itty Bitty QR Codes Reveal Hive Secrets

Jan. 23, 2025 — Several hundred bees in rural Pennsylvania and rural New York are sporting tiny QR codes on their backs to track when they go in and out of their hives. The work, a collaboration among entomologists ...