The latest news about entomology, brought to you by the Entomological Society of America
A search for “mosquito repellent” on Amazon.com delivers more than 28,000 product results. For a regular consumer, it can be difficult to find the ones that truly work among a sea of products that make bold claims. Researchers at the Molecular Vector Physiology Laboratory at New Mexico State University are working to make the search […]
By Johanna Elsensohn Throughout the world, a single mosquito bite can have one of many consequences: mild infection, severe illness, birth defects, death, or, for the majority of people, just a small, itchy bite mark. Of the greater than 3,500 mosquito species out there, a small percentage have the ability to carry a pathogen that […]
By Josh Lancette While recent news cycles in the United States largely have been dominated by election coverage, the threat of Zika remains a concern both locally and globally, with a recent outbreak in Brownsville, Texas, a study finding more than half of Brazilian women are avoiding pregnancy because of Zika, and the CDC sending […]
By Richard Levine Once again, a technique that modifies insects in order to control their populations has been proven effective. RIDL, which stands for Release of Insects carrying a Dominant Lethal, has been applied to diamondback moths, Mediterranean fruit flies, and olive flies, and it has been used in field trials on mosquitoes in order […]
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have confirmed that a benign bacterium called Wolbachia pipientis can completely block transmission of Zika virus in Aedes aegypti, the mosquito species responsible for passing the virus to humans. Matthew Aliota, a first author of a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports, says the bacteria could present a […]
