Study Shows American Dog Ticks in Western U.S. Are a Separate Species
Researchers have split the medically important American dog tick into two species: the existing Dermacentor variabilis in eastern states and the newly described Dermacentor similis west of the Rocky Mountains.
It’s Complicated: Mitochondrial DNA and the Future of Insect Ecology
A team of researchers reviewed the status of mitochondrial DNA as a molecular marker in insect ecology studies, given recent evidence that mitochondrial DNA may be more complicated than once thought.
New Research Deepens Mystery About Evolution of Bees’ Social Behavior
A new study has mounted perhaps the most intricate, detailed look ever at the diversity in structure and form of bees, offering new insights in a long-standing debate over how complex social behaviors arose in certain branches of bees' evolutionary tree. The report offers strong evidence that complex social behavior developed just once in pollen-carrying bees, rather than twice or more, separately, in different evolutionary branches—but researchers say the case is far from closed.
So Many Shot Hole Borers: New Research Charts Four Nearly Identical Species
Tiny beetles once known as tea shot hole borers are actually a group of four distinct species that appear almost exactly the same to even the trained eye. In a new study, researchers combine both physical measurements and molecular genetics to better define the members of the Euwallacea fornicatus cryptic species complex.