The latest news about entomology, brought to you by the Entomological Society of America
By Ryan C. Gott, Ph.D. “Living in the now” is passé. We have shifted focus onto benefiting our collective future. This mindset is often manifested in the term “sustainability,” broadly defined as taking thoughtful care in what we do today to avoid negatively impacting future generations. Sustainability is entwined with the environment. Our lives are […]
By Andrew Porterfield Grasshopper species, including Dichroplus maculipennis, are common insect pests. They have been known to cause widespread damage to crops such as corn, soybeans, and wheat, by devouring the leaves and stems of targeted plants. The only means of controlling D. maculipennis so far is with chemical pesticides, which can have environmental consequences. […]
By Ed Ricciuti Soon after silkworm eggs were smuggled out of China in the 12th Century, northern Italy and France emerged as centers of silk production, an industry almost brought to a standstill in the early 1800s by a mysterious disease that killed the caterpillars on which it depended. Bacteriologist Augustino Bassi determined the disease […]
The release of tiny insects to combat an invasive weed is paying off, according to a recent study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Scientists from the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service released arundo gall wasps (Tetramesa romana) and arundo scale insects (Rhizaspidiotus donacis) several years ago as part of a biocontrol program to kill a […]
By Andrew Porterfield A new study from the University of Minnesota has found that the selective insecticide sulfoxaflor is just as effective at controlling soybean aphids (Aphis glycines) as broad-spectrum insecticides, without causing significant harm to some beneficial predators of the aphid. The new study by Anh Tran, Tavvs Alves, and Robert Koch, published in […]
