New Citizen-Science Project Explores Little-Known Behavior in Monarch Butterflies
Think you know monarch butterflies? Think again! A gardener's observation has spurred a new study examining how and when monarchs feed on plants rich in compounds known as pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Surprisingly little is known about the behavior, and researchers are asking citizen scientists for help to learn more.
Superworms: The Bigger, Brawnier, Hungrier Cousins of Yellow Mealworms
Larvae of the darkling beetle species Zophobas morio have earned the nickname "superworms" for their larger size and increased nutritional potential as food and feed compared to yellow mealworms. And yet less research and regulatory consideration has focused on Z. morio, something a pair of researchers in Greece hope to change.
Brood’s Clues: New Mapping Approach Puts Cicadas in Focus
More than 20 broods of periodical cicadas inhabit the eastern United States, and researchers are refining their mapping of brood ranges with increasing precision at every new emergence. A new report in the Annals of the Entomological Society of America details new advances in mapping cicadas from researchers who studied Brood VI in 2000 and 2017.
Got Cicadas? Take a Picture and Help Entomologists Map Their Arrival
Scientists are looking to the public for help in mapping 17-year cicadas in the massive Brood X due to emerge from the ground this spring in the eastern U.S. The citizen-science effort, powered by a smartphone app, could generate the biggest-ever observation data set in the history of cicada research. Here's how you can participate.