Cuckoo Combo: Re-Classification Makes Bombus flavidus World’s Most Widespread Bumble Bee
Researchers have synonymized the bumble bee species Bombus fernaldae with Bombus flavidus, establishing the latter, a cuckoo that parasitizes other bumble bee colonies, as the most broadly distributed bumble bee species of any kind in the world.
Shut the Front Door! Researchers Find ‘Endangered Living Fossil’ Trapdoor Spider
Meet Cryptocteniza kawtak, a newly described genus and species of trapdoor spider that likely dates to the Cretaceous. The researcher who found it first spotted it in 1997 but was finally able to enter it in the scientific record after finding another specimen two decades later.
Is That a Gall Wasp? Now You Can Find Out
A new key to Cynipoidea, a superfamily of at least 3,000 species of wasps, published in the journal Insect Systematics and Diversity, promises to open up new avenues for research on and management of gall wasps and their relatives.
Bark Beetles With Identity Issues: Reclassifying the Cryphalini
A new paper provides the biggest bark beetle reclassification in decades and helps us better understand the incredibly diverse world of tiny bark beetles.