An insect that specializes in parasitizing bees changes its host's behavior to visit flowers and curl its body to deposit the parasite's larvae. The apparent "mind control" is another example of the unique lives of strepsipterans, or twisted wing insects.
Meet Amelia Lindsey, Ph.D., whose research on how the bacterium Wolbachia drives parthenogenesis in parasitoid wasps, earned her a spot in the Early Career Professional Recognition Symposium at Entomology 2021. Learn more about Lindsey and her work in the next installment of our "Standout Early Career Professionals" series.
A team of researchers in Taiwan has developed software driven by machine learning to accurately identify specimens—both soldiers and workers—of four different termite species. Their goal is to enable smartphone app termite ID for pest management pros and adapt the software's use to additional species.
The skills acquired through teaching are transferable to a wide range of career paths, and opportunities abound for graduate students in entomology and other sciences to grow their teaching skillset.
The southern pine beetle is the most impactful pest of southern pines in the eastern U.S. A new article in the Journal of Integrated Pest Management reviews SPB suppression methods, which generally involve removing the infested (and some uninfested) trees to halt the spread of the outbreak.