Bodycams Can Make for Better Agricultural Pest Management, Too
In a new study at the University of Arizona, researchers used body-mounted cameras to evaluate the efficiency of two insect pest sampling techniques—a sweepnet and a vacuum—in a cotton field. The perspective offered new insights into how such methods can be evaluated and could help growers and integrated pest management professionals further fine-tune their sampling techniques.
Got Aphids? Call in the Reinforcements With Banker Plants
To manage pest infestations in greenhouses, banker plants draw in different insect species that don’t feed on the main crop but do serve as hosts for predator insects that will also attack the pest on the main crop—a useful (and green) tool for integrated pest management.
The Collapsible Passive Trap: Mosquito Monitoring in a Lightweight Package
Evaluation of the collapsible passive trap for mosquitoes shows performs as well as other commonly used traps but in a lighter, easier-to-carry design, making it an attractive option for mosquito monitoring in remote areas.
New Ingredient Improves Pheromone Lure for Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
Researchers at USDA's Agricultural Research Service identified a chemical that enhances capture of the invasive brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys) in pheromone traps
Citizen Scientists Collect 29,000 Mosquitoes in Germany and Help Detect Spreading Populations of Invasive Species
By Edward Ricciuti Armchair scientists nimble enough to catch insect lightning in a jar have helped the professionals map distribution of invasive mosquitoes in Germany—and they even detected three previously […]
Could Repellents Be Useful in Protecting Crops From Spotted-Wing Drosophila?
By Edward Ricciuti Cornell University scientists are tuning up the entomological version of psych war tactics that, instead of killing insect pests outright, manipulate their behavior so they avoid crops […]
How Flashy Wings, UV Light, and Seasons All Play a Role in One Butterfly Species’ Mating Rituals
By Edward Ricciuti Males of an African butterfly, with the improbable nickname of “squinting bush brown,” are the Lepidopteran version of chick magnets—if their generation of caterpillars chills out while […]
UV Light Best for Luring Cigarette and Drugstore Beetles
By Edward Ricciuti Their common names—cigarette beetle and drugstore beetle—only hint at the amazingly eclectic and destructive diet of two related insects, which can wreak havoc on products stored in […]
Researchers Develop Improved Lab-Testing System for Mosquito Repellents
By Edward Ricciuti Among the processes by which researchers gauge the effectiveness of a mosquito repellent is one that depends on convincing a volunteer to shove an arm treated with […]
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, […]
Horn Fly Biocontrol: In Search of Faster Fungus
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 […]
Counting Horn Flies: No Easy Task, Whether In Person or In a Photo
By Ed Ricciuti If your job is counting horn flies, a twitch of a cow’s hide can go a long way toward ruining your day. OK, perhaps that is a […]
New Research Reveals How Flesh Flies Hear
By Ed Ricciuti Scientists have clocked many hours studying how females of various parasitoid flies home in on the calls of cicadas, grasshoppers, and other insects that are their hosts. […]
Infrared Photography Shows Tsetse Fly Development from Pupa to Adult
By Ed Ricciuti Researchers employing near infrared still photographs and time-lapse video have peered into the pupa of the living tsetse fly and for the first time have watched its […]
“Rare” Butterfly Feeds on Oak Galls and Other Non-Nectar Sources
By Ed Ricciuti In an era when reports proliferate about species careening towards extinction, field research by two University of Connecticut (UCONN) entomologists has turned up refreshing news: a subspecies […]
Parasitoid Flies Are Attracted to the Sounds of Their Cicada Hosts
By Ed Ricciuti Scientists have pondered why males of certain parasitoid fly species have ears that apparently function well enough but, as the Bible says, seemingly “do not hear,” while […]