Posts Tagged ‘insects’
So, it’s not parasitic mind control?
PENN STATE (US) — The feeding behavior seen in mosquitoes carrying malaria may be an immune response, not the parasite’s manipulation of the insect’s activity for its own survival. Continue…
Friday, May 24, 2013 11:39 - 1 Comment
Science & Technology - May 23, 2013 16:15 - 0 Comments
Citizen scientists tag bug collections online
UC BERKELEY (US) — The public can help scientists by deciphering and recording the hand-written field notes that accompany a million insect specimens, many dating back more than 100 years. (more…)
Earth & Environment - May 22, 2013 14:46 - 0 Comments
Are Europe’s wild bees bouncing back?
U. LEEDS (UK) — Declines in the biodiversity of pollinating insects and wild plants in Britain, Belgium, and the Netherlands have slowed in recent years. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 22, 2013 11:09 - 0 Comments
Fire ants could teach tunneling robots a few tricks
GEORGIA TECH (US) — Researchers find fire ants tightly regulate the diameter of their tunnels to insure ideal mobility and traction—but when they slip, antennae take grip. (more…)
Top Stories - May 22, 2013 10:48 - 0 Comments
Parasitic wasps suck calcium out of flies
EMORY (US) — By draining calcium from the blood cells of fruit flies, parasitic wasps are able to switch off the flies’ immune system, new research shows. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 20, 2013 12:48 - 3 Comments
‘Crazy ant’ invaders make fire ants seem polite
U. TEXAS-AUSTIN (US) — Invasive “crazy ants” are displacing fire ants across the southeastern United States and may have dramatic effects on the region’s ecosystem, researchers say. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 16, 2013 12:01 - 2 Comments
Wait for it: Ants pick perfect time to forage
STANFORD (US) — A biologist’s decades-long study of the collective behavior of harvester ant colonies has provided a rare real-time look at natural selection at work. (more…)
Top Stories - Apr 29, 2013 16:28 - 1 Comment
Jumpy dew drops clean cicada wings
DUKE (US) — As cicadas on the East Coast begin emerging from their 17-year slumber, a spritz of dew drops is all they need to keep their wings fresh and clean. (more…)
Science & Technology - Apr 12, 2013 11:33 - 3 Comments
Animal ‘pharmacists’ treat the family, too
U. MICHIGAN / EMORY (US) — Self-medication among animals goes beyond chimpanzees and woolly bears, report researchers. (more…)
Science & Technology - Apr 12, 2013 11:22 - 8 Comments
Why are insect and human brains so similar?
U. ARIZONA (US) / KING’S COLLEGE LONDON (UK) — Decision-making centers in the brains of insects and mammals share too many similarities to have evolved independently, a new study suggests. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Apr 2, 2013 15:16 - 0 Comments
Metal pollution puts bumblebees at risk
U. PITTSBURGH (US) — Bumblebees may ingest toxic amounts of aluminum and nickel when they visit flowers growing in polluted soil, new research shows.
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Earth & Environment - Apr 2, 2013 15:14 - 0 Comments
Bump in ozone bewilders bugs
PENN STATE (US) — Increases in ground-level ozone, especially in rural areas, not only interfere with the ability of predator insects to find host plants but also with pollinators to find flowers. (more…)
Top Stories - Apr 2, 2013 10:40 - 2 Comments
Pests could chomp past double toxin
U. ARIZONA (US) —Crops genetically engineered to produce multiple toxins might not kill pests for long, warn researchers. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Mar 26, 2013 10:53 - 0 Comments
After die-off, forests hold tight to carbon
U. ARIZONA (US) — After a massive tree die-off, conventional wisdom has it that a forest will go from carbon sink to carbon source, but new research shows it’s not as dramatic an effect as previously thought. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Mar 14, 2013 10:27 - 4 Comments
Bumble bee loss threatens food security
RUTGERS (US) — Wild pollinators are just as important, and often more efficient, at pollinating crops than domestic honey bee colonies, but bumble bee colonies are vanishing. (more…)
Science & Technology - Mar 8, 2013 12:19 - 5 Comments
Dust mites show evolution in reverse
U. MICHIGAN (US) — A genetic study of tiny dust mites appears to offer evidence supporting the controversial idea of reversible evolution. (more…)
Science & Technology - Mar 6, 2013 12:19 - 0 Comments
Leaf-cutting ants prefer low-fungi leaves
TULANE (US) — A leaf’s fungi can make it unappealing to leaf-cutting ants, say biologists, who wanted to know why the insects target some plants but not others. (more…)
Science & Technology - Mar 4, 2013 6:38 - 0 Comments
Dengue may rise if rival mosquitoes don’t mate
U. FLORIDA (US) — If female yellow fever mosquitoes start snubbing the courtship efforts of Asian tiger males, their numbers could rise, increasing the threat of dengue in Florida, experts say. (more…)
Top Stories - Feb 27, 2013 12:25 - 2 Comments
Tool for biofuel may live in termite guts
PURDUE (US) — The biology behind termite digestion may lead to a better way to break down biomass and make biofuels, researchers say. (more…)
