Cuckoo Bumble Bees: What We Can Learn From Their Cheating Ways (If They Don’t Go Extinct First)
Learning how cuckoo bumble bees cheat the eusocial system can tell scientists a lot about how insect sociality evolves and how hosts and parasites coevolve. But, as other bees face declines, cuckoo bees will only get more difficult to study.
Bees Stopped Buzzing During the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse
A study conducted during the 2017 total solar eclipse in North America found that bees remained active during partial-eclipse phases, but they essentially ceased flying during totality.
Butterfly Pupae Make Sounds In Never-Before-Known Ways
New research explores how pupae of certain butterfly species make a "twittering" noise—via a wiggling movement that triggers sound from tiny structures in the membranes between their abdominal segments.
For Entomologists, a Gender Gap Remains in Academic, Government Employment
Just one-quarter of university and federal entomology jobs held by women, according to a new analysis published in the Annals of the Entomological Society of America.
Swim Lessons: How Two Land-Dwelling Ant Species Paddle Through Water
A new study in the Annals of the Entomological Society of America examines how two ant species swim and concludes that bigger is indeed better when it comes to which of them swims fastest.
The Case for Greater Focus on Mosquitoes and Other Arthropod Vectors in Epidemiology
The textbook approach to managing disease outbreaks focuses on pathogen, host, and environment but leaves out insect or arthropod vectors. For afflictions such as Zika, malaria, and Lyme, a report in the Annals of the Entomological Society of America proposes a new version of the classic 'epidemiologic triad' that better reflects the complexities of managing vector-borne diseases.
New Research Collection Targets Insect Pests of Pulse Crops
A new collection in the July 2018 issue of the Annals of the Entomological Society of America offers growers a treasure trove of knowledge on pulse crop insect pests and management strategies.
Oregon Researchers Find a Native Wasp With a Taste for Stink Bugs
A recent study in Oregon details the predatory habits of the wasp Astata unicolor—its preferred prey is the invasive brown marmorated stink bug—and notes its potential as a native natural enemy of the invasive pest.
Gut Microbes Can Help Insects Beat Pesticides
Insects have evolved a variety of mechanisms to try to overcome the effects of insecticides—including, in some cases, help from the bacteria and other microbes living in insects' guts. A growing number of studies indicate a link between symbiotic microbes and insecticide resistance in a diverse range of insects.
Listening to Larvae: How Acoustics Can Measure Efficacy of Palm Weevil Management
By listening to sounds of the palm weevil, pest managers can determine how effective insecticides are working against the insect pest.
Why Science Communication is Critical to the Future of Entomology
By Margaret Hardy, MSc, Ph.D., FRES Recent efforts to bring science communication into the scholarship of the teaching and learning umbrella has met with some success. The emergence of commercially […]
This Wasp’s Larvae Sometimes Grow Hundreds of Soldier Clones—But Why?
Imagine, for a moment, having 3,000 twin sisters. You all live inside a caterpillar, but it’s home, and your numbers serve as a veritable army against any trespassers. Such is […]
Unique Relationship Between Joshua Tree and Moth Documented for First Time
By Edward Ricciuti Rubbing elbows with UFO buffs snooping about the perimeter of nearby Area 51, scientists have set up shop in the Nevada desert near the town of Rachel, […]
Control of West Indian Sweetpotato Weevils Informed by Their Mating Behavior
By John P. Roche West Indian sweetpotato weevils (Euscepes postfasciatus) are costly pests of sweetpotato plants (Ipomoea batatas) in the Pacific, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Entomologists in […]
New Wasp Species Discovered Parasitizing Pests of Pine Trees
By Josh Lancette A new parasitoid wasp species, named Baryscapus dioryctriae, has been discovered in China. The new species is known to parasitize larvae of two species of Dioryctria, which […]
New Monarch Butterfly Studies May Provide Reasons for Optimism
Eight new articles on monarch butterflies were published today in the Annals of the Entomological Society of America. “This group of papers is intended to give us the latest and […]