New Study Improves Sterile Insect Technique for Mosquitoes
Researchers in Florida find that male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes live longer when irradiated as adults rather than pupae, an important advance in protocols for deploying the sterile insect technique to manage wild populations of disease-transmitting mosquitoes.
Mosquito Migration: Study Finds More High-Altitude Dispersal of Disease Vectors in Africa
Following the discovery that mosquitoes can ride high-altitude winds to travel long distances, further research is adding to both the scope and variety of species engaged in such migrations—factors sure to complicate efforts to curb transmission of malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases in Africa.
Another Non-Native Mosquito Species Adds to Growing List in Florida
Mosquito researchers in Florida report the presence in the state of Culex lactator, a species previously known from Central and South America. The arrival adds to the growing list of non-native mosquito species finding their way into Florida—a worrying trend for public-health entomologists.
Nitro-Nosh: Why Termites’ Molted Exoskeletons Never Go to Waste
Termites' wood-heavy diet offers little nitrogen, a critical nutrient for growth and reproduction. But their exoskeletons are nitrogen rich, and new research shows that eating shed exoskeletons after molting is a core strategy for recycling nitrogen throughout the termite colony and boosting the queen's egg-laying.