In the first field study of its kind, researchers confirmed Peromyscus mouse nests as understudied habitats for ticks, including blacklegged ticks and American dog ticks. Researchers are hoping to better understand the role of mouse-tick interactions within nests in the spread of tick-borne disease.
Sometimes, less is more. Case in point: the mass-rearing program that produces millions of sterile Mexican fruit flies (Anastrepha ludens) for managing wild populations. Scientists refining the effort find that a lower ratio of males to females in mating cages leads to higher fecundity and fertility in the females—and higher cost-effectiveness for the operation.
LeafByte is a free, open-source mobile app for quickly measuring leaf damage caused by herbivorous insect pests. If you've ever considered building a mobile app to aid in your research, here's a first-hand account from the Cornell entomology student who took LeafByte from idea to action.
As human-driven changes to ecosystems drive insect declines on both local and perhaps global scales, entomologists and ecologists are hard at work building the research-based foundations necessary for managed insect-conservation efforts.
Planting strips of wildflowers next to crops is a boon for native bees, but few farms adopt the practice. A new study, however, shows farmers can turn an immediate profit by selling wildflower seeds retail, while the long-term benefits of increased pollination and crop yields materialize over time.
Seeing is believing, and showing your legislators your science in an interactive, hands-on setting can inform them about how their decisions affect the systems and organisms entomologists care so much about.
As the western conifer-seed bug has arrived in South America, its resemblance to kissing bugs has caused a stir, as members of the public have readily mistaken the two. Researchers in Chile recommend accessible identification keys and educational materials to better inform both health professionals and the public.
A study along a river in Central Mexico finds Hetaerina americana damselflies in reduced numbers after a decline in vegetation the addition of wastewater outlets. Researchers say the decline illustrates the impact of human land use on natural ecosystems.
National issues get the lion's share of attention, but local and state policy is just as important to citizens within any given community. Here are 15 tips for entomologists looking to advocate for their science in their own communities.
Our own well-being is not something that many entomology graduate students sit and think about, but it goes hand-in-hand with our scientific careers. Promoting our own well-being is an element of self-care. When we care for ourselves, we make time for activities that are necessary for complete health and wellness—emotionally, mentally, intellectually, and physically.
Understudied and less well-known than other pests, the clover root curculio damages clover and alfalfa crops across North America. A new profile of the pest and options for managing it is published this month in the open-access Journal of Integrated Pest Management.
The op-ed traces its roots to the guest columns opposite the editorial page, but such opinion essays are still important advocacy tools in the post-newspaper era. For entomologists who want to speak up for their science, here's a quick guide to writing an op-ed and getting it published.
A new article in the Journal of Economic Entomology examines varying levels of resistance to Bt toxins developed by the pink bollworm in the United States, China, and India over the last 20 years, illustrating the importance of incorporating refuge crops in Bt systems.
Do butterflies find suitable habitat through vision or via other senses? The results of a new study were easy to see: Butterflies with flash-induced blindness consistently failed to navigate to target habitat that unaffected butterflies could readily find.
The largest-ever outbreak of the invasive oriental fruit fly in Florida in 2015 was successfully quelled through a six-month eradication program that combined outreach, control, science, technology, and regulation.
Simply counting the number of ticks on a host animal seems like a straightforward task, but an analysis of published tick research finds no single, standard method among scientists. A group of researchers says tick-counting methods should be as rigorous as any other scientific procedure and described clearly enough to allow their use in other studies.
Even in this digital age, we continue to extract ideas and materials from insects and their relatives. However, the challenge of today may be to avoid a strictly utilitarian view of other organisms, whereby a species is expendable if it cannot demonstrate economic value that can be measured in dollars.