Pests and Parasites News

June 3, 2025

Top Headlines

Cotton Virus Circulated Undetected for Nearly 20 Years, Study Finds

May 29, 2025 — A virus responsible for damaging cotton crops across the southern United States has been lurking in U.S. fields for nearly 20 years -- undetected. According to new research, cotton leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV), long believed to be a recent arrival, ...

Trees Vs. Disease: Tree Cover Reduces Mosquito-Borne Health Risk

May 28, 2025 — A study finds small-scale tree cover in Costa Rica boosts biodiversity while limiting dangerous mosquito ...

Genetic Deep Dive Dispels Fear of Hybrid Worm Threat

May 28, 2025 — Parasitic worms that infect humans are not interbreeding with those that infect cattle as previously thought. This is good news for when it comes to controlling schistosomiasis, a disease caused by these worms that affects more than 200 million ...

Stirling Research Could Extend Biopesticide Effectiveness

May 27, 2025 — Alterations to the diet of pests could impact how quickly they can adapt to ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:49pm EDT

Zika Virus Uses Cells' 'Self-Care' System to Turn Against Host

May 27, 2025 — A new study reveals the biological secret to the Zika virus's infectious success: Zika uses host cells' own 'self-care' system of clearing away useless molecules to suppress the host proteins that ...

Ox-Eye Daisy, Bellis and Yarrow: Flower Strips With at Least Two Sown Species Provide 70 Percent More Natural Enemies of Pests

May 22, 2025 — Planting flower strips in a field with at least two species can increase the number of natural enemies of pests by 70 percent. The more flower ...

Can Plants Hear Their Pollinators?

May 21, 2025 — When pollinators visit flowers, they produce various sounds, from wing flapping during hovering, to landing and takeoff. Scientists studied these vibroacoustic signals to develop noninvasive and ...

Light-Driven Cockroach Cyborgs Navigate Without Wires or Surgery

May 14, 2025 — have created a new type of insect cyborg that can navigate autonomously -- without wires, surgery, or stress-inducing electrical shocks. The system uses a small ultraviolet (UV) light helmet to steer ...

Bed-Netting Prototypes to Target Malaria-Causing Parasites

May 21, 2025 — Scientists have fabricated two bed netting prototypes targeting malaria-causing blood parasites. They designed netting systems to deliver antimalarial drugs called Endochin-like Quinolones (ELQs) ...

Wild Spinach Offers Path to Breed Disease Resistance Into Cultivated Varieties

May 20, 2025 — Several varieties of wild spinach that originated in Central Asia show resistance to a destructive soil-borne pathogen that beleaguers growers of ...

Why Some Viral Infections Appear to Trigger Autoimmune Disease

May 20, 2025 — By studying Chikungunya virus, scientists shed light on how immune responses to viral infections may lead to persistent symptoms of autoimmune ...

Family of Parasite Proteins Presents New Potential Malaria Treatment Target

May 19, 2025 — Researchers have shown that the evolution of a family of exported proteins in the malaria-causing parasite Plasmodium falciparum enabled it to infect ...

Novel Molecular Maneuver Helps Malaria Parasite Dodge the Immune System

May 16, 2025 — Researchers have discovered how a parasite that causes malaria when transmitted through a mosquito bite can hide from the body's immune system, sometimes for years. It turns out that the parasite, ...

Invasive Salmon, Clams and Seaweed Are Next Threats to Biodiversity in Britain

May 12, 2025 — Pink salmon, Purple Asian clams, marine invertebrates that form spaghetti-like colonies and a nematode worm that causes extensive deaths of trees are ...

Heat and Land Use: Bees Suffer in Particular

May 9, 2025 — In a new study, researchers are investigating the interaction of major global change drivers on ...

Can Frisky Flies Save Human Lives?

May 9, 2025 — A scientist decided to find out why a bacterial infection makes fruit flies promiscuous. What he discovered could help curb mosquito-borne diseases and manage crop ...

Researchers Find New Defense Against Hard-to-Treat Plant Diseases

May 8, 2025 — Researchers showed that some spinach defensins can confer similar protection to citrus and potatoes -- and possibly other crops. The effects show significant progress toward recovering yield and ...

Novel Point of Attack to Combat Dangerous Tropical Diseases

May 8, 2025 — The efforts of a research team give hope for new treatment approaches for dangerous tropical diseases. The researchers have compiled a high-precision inventory of the membrane proteins of cell ...

Fewer Parasites in the Indian River Lagoon Signal Big Ecosystem Problems

May 7, 2025 — Parasites are crucial indicators of ecosystem health, and their absence can signal trouble. Once pristine, Florida's Indian River Lagoon (IRL) now faces pollution and algal blooms that have ...

Traditional Forest Medicinal Plant Ghost Pipe Used Differently Today

May 2, 2025 — Despite a long history of traditional medicinal use in the United States, the collection, consumption and efficacy of the peculiar forest plant aptly named ghost pipe, scientific name Monotropa ...

New Pests and Diseases Will Cut UK Tree Growth

Apr. 28, 2025 — The arrival of new plant pests and diseases is likely to severely damage UK trees and woodlands in the coming decades, new research ...

Flower Strips Could Save Apple Farmers Pest Control Costs

Apr. 28, 2025 — Planting wildflowers in apple orchards could save farmers up to 3,000 per hectare a year, according to a new ...

Tackling Parasite Devastating Fish Farmers Around the World

Apr. 22, 2025 — At the heart of the Amazon researchers are investigating a mysterious parasite which is devastating fish farms around the ...

Evidence of Potential Bed Bug Insecticide Resistance in Gene Mutation

Apr. 22, 2025 — Urban entomologists have discovered a gene mutation that could contribute to bed bug insecticide ...

How Bacteria Use Sneaky Chemistry to Disable Plant Defenses

Apr. 21, 2025 — In the microscopic battlefield of plant-microbe interactions, plants are constantly fighting off invading bacteria. New research reveals just how clever these bacterial invaders can ...

Immune System Proteins Involved in Severe Parasitic Disease Identified

Apr. 21, 2025 — New insights into the mechanisms that cause more severe cases of schistosomiasis -- a disease caused by parasitic worms and second only to malaria in terms of potential harm -- have been ...

Even Sublethal Insecticide Dose May Disrupt Pollinator Mating Process

Apr. 21, 2025 — Insecticides can help protect crops against troublesome pests, but they also pose a risk for beneficial insects such as pollinators. A new study provided insight into how even sublethal doses of ...

Disrupting 'Communication' With Plants Could Limit Soybean Cyst Nematode Infections

Apr. 18, 2025 — A new study opens new avenues for combating soybean cyst nematodes, the most damaging pest for U.S. soybean ...

To Avoid Parasites, Some Fruit Flies Sacrifice Sleep

Apr. 14, 2025 — Some fruit flies sacrifice sleep to avoid parasites like mites. Researchers discovered marked differences in gene expression related to metabolism in the hypervigilant ...

A Mysterious Pathogen: Oropouche Virus More Common in Latin America Than Previously Thought

Apr. 14, 2025 — Like the dengue and Zika viruses, Oropouche virus causes a febrile illness. There are recent indications that infections during pregnancy can cause damage to unborn babies. Researchers have now ...

Declining Insect Biodiversity in the Tropics

Apr. 8, 2025 — Ecologists are investigating the decline of insect populations in the world's tropical forests. Insects, the most abundant and diverse group of animals on Earth, are experiencing alarming ...

Rain Barrel Basics: Conserving Water but Not Mosquito Habitats

Apr. 7, 2025 — Researchers surveyed residential rain barrels to determine how often mosquitoes took up residence in rain barrels and what preventative measures would most effectively keep mosquitoes out. Taking ...

The New Season of The Last of Us Has a Spore-Ting Chance at Realism

Apr. 7, 2025 — The Last of Us is back on April 13 and this season is more realistic than ever. The trailer for the hit HBO series appears to show the 'zombie fungus' cordyceps infecting humans by ...

Researchers Discover Way to Predict Treatment Success for Parasitic Skin Disease

Apr. 7, 2025 — Findings from a new study could help doctors select more effective treatments earlier for patients suffering from leishmaniasis, a disfiguring skin ...