Urban Pollinators: Opportunities and Challenges for Conservation
In urban settings, plant selection and landscape maintenance play a critical role in pollinator populations and the preservation of essential ecosystem services. A new guide in the open-access Journal of Integrated Pest Management reviews case studies and identifies opportunities for future study and action in urban pollinator conservation.
Study Examines Insects’ Role in Plastic Pollution
When plastic debris pollutes soil ecosystems, some insects may play a role in spreading it by breaking it down into microplastic particles. A new study sheds light on this dynamic by looking at a variety of soil invertebrates and their taste for polystyrene.
How a PCR Test (and Some Mouthwash) Could Nab an Invasive Fruit Fly
Detecting the presence of the invasive spotted-wing drosophila could soon get easier with a new molecular test for analyzing DNA in bulk trapping samples—sensitive enough to sniff out just one target fruit fly in a sample of 2,000. And the best liquid for preserving trapped flies' DNA comes from the dental-care shelf.
Mite-y Waist: Correcting a 60-Year Error in Mite Morphology
Much of mite biology is clouded in mystery—even the delineation of their body segments. A new study upends a 60-year-old model for the proper location of mite "waists."