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News Articles: insects

In this photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, yellow crazy ants are seen in a bait testing efficacy trial at the Johnston Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in December, 2015. An invasive species known as the yellow crazy ant has been eradicated from the remote U.S. atoll in the Pacific.

Tagged as: 

  • Animals

The number of ants on Earth has a mass greater than all birds and mammals combined

Researchers compiled hundreds of studies of tree-dwelling and ground-dwelling ants to make their estimate of 2.5 million ants for every human.

September 21, 2022
|
By:
  • Ayana Archie
A spotted lanternfly creeps on the ground during a baseball game in Pittsburgh in 2021.

Tagged as: 

  • Environment

What a pest! Spotted lanternflies are spreading in the U.S.

State officials are calling on residents to get involved and kill these bugs at all costs. The spotted lanternfly isn't dangerous to humans or pets but could cost the country's agricultural industry.

August 18, 2022
|
By:
  • Jaclyn Diaz
Researchers found Monarch Butterflies populations are doing better than previously thought.

Tagged as: 

  • News

Monarch butterfly populations may be doing better than scientists thought, study finds

Past research on monarch butterflies suggested their populations are declining because of diminishing winter colonies. But a new study finds it may be more complicated.

June 23, 2022
|
By:
  • Devon Zwald
Jena Johnson with UGA

Tagged as: 

  • News

Mosquitoes: annoying, sometimes deadly and ... beautiful?

UGA entomologist Jena Johnson studies mosquitoes through macro photography. 

May 19, 2022
|
By:
  • Chase McGee and
  • Orlando Montoya
A bee sucks nectar from a flower in Berlin, Germany. Bee populations are in decline in industrialized nations across the globe.

Tagged as: 

  • Environment

The world's insect population is in decline — and that's bad news for humans

Environmental writer Oliver Milman says habitat loss, pesticides and climate change are killing off insects worldwide, which, in turn, threatens humans. His new book is The Insect Crisis.

February 24, 2022
|
By:
  • Dave Davies
The leggiest animal on the planet, <em>Eumillipes persephone</em>, from Australia. (<strong>A</strong>) female with 330 segments and 1,306 legs (paratype specimen, T147124). (<strong>B</strong>) ventral view of legs (male holotype, T147101). (<strong>C</strong>) dorsal view of head and ventral view of gonopods (male holotype, T147101). Scale bars, 0.5 mm.

Tagged as: 

  • Science

A millipede with 1,300 legs has been found in Australia. It's a new record by far

Entomologists discovered a new species far underground. Despite millipede meaning "a thousand feet," it's the first to have more than 750.

December 17, 2021
|
By:
  • Scott Neuman
The leggiest animal on the planet, <em>Eumillipes persephone</em>, from Australia. (<strong>A</strong>) female with 330 segments and 1,306 legs (paratype specimen, T147124). (<strong>B</strong>) ventral view of legs (male holotype, T147101). (<strong>C</strong>) dorsal view of head and ventral view of gonopods (male holotype, T147101). Scale bars, 0.5 mm.

Tagged as: 

  • Science

A millipede with 1,300 legs has been found in Australia. It's a new record by far

Entomologists discovered a new species far underground. Despite millipede meaning "a thousand feet," it's the first to have more than 750.

December 17, 2021
|
By:
  • Scott Neuman
Men crowd over a cricket fight in Beijing in September. Competitive cricket fights are believed to have been held for more than 1,000 years in China.

Tagged as: 

  • World

Inside the jaw-clenching world of cricket fighting in China

It's cricket fighting season in China, so NPR went ringside to learn about the centuries-old sport. Turns out, the bugs are really high maintenance, big money's involved and big mandibles matter.

October 23, 2021
|
By:
  • Emily Feng
View from above (dorsal view) of the new soldier fly named after RuPaul, <em>Opaluma rupaul</em>.

Tagged as: 

  • Animals

A Shimmering Rainbow Fly Has Been Named In Honor Of RuPaul

The colorful, iridescent soldier fly in question has "legs for days," Australian researcher Bryan Lessard said. He hopes that pop culture names will help attract attention for vulnerable species.

September 15, 2021
|
By:
  • Sharon Pruitt-Young
Adult Spotted Lanternflies outside the Berks County Services Building in Reading, PA Monday afternoon. The Spoted Lanternfly is an invasive species from Asia.

Tagged as: 

  • Environment

Agriculture Officials Really Want Those Spotted Lanternflies Gone, Gone, Gone

Pennsylvania officials are giving the following advice to those who encounter the pesky invasive insects: "Kill it! Squash it, smash it ... just get rid of it."

August 24, 2021
|
By:
  • Jonathan Franklin
Josh Pulliam and other researchers from Jake Socha's lab at Virginia Tech drove from Blacksburg, Va., to the northern part of the state and spent days collecting and studying Brood X cicadas.

Tagged as: 

  • Science

Brood X Cicadas Are Busy And So Are The Scientists Who Study Them

When a critter spends 17 years underground, it's not easy to study. So as Brood X cicadas break out, they're followed closely by researchers who must cram a lot of work in about six weeks.

May 26, 2021
|
By:
  • Nell Greenfieldboyce
Researchers have shown that the Indian jumping ant can shrink and regrow its brain.

Tagged as: 

  • Animals

The Incredible Shrinking And Growing Brains Of Indian Jumping Ants

A new study of Indian jumping ants shows they have the ability to shrink and expand their brains — a first for any insect.

April 18, 2021
|
By:
  • James Doubek and
  • Peter Breslow
Black soldier fly larvae will be one of the animal protein alternatives found in Nestle's line of 'eco-friendly' dog and cat foods.

Tagged as: 

  • Animals

Flies For Dinner: Purina To Offer Bug Based Dog and Cat Food

Nestlé, one of the largest food groups in the world, announced this week plans to introduce insect-based dog and cat food in Switzerland. U.S. options to come next year.

November 07, 2020
|
By:
  • Jaclyn Diaz
A harvester works through a field of corn near Santa Rosa, Calif. This corn has been genetically modified, and contains bacterial genes that kill certain insects, but the genes have become less effective.

Tagged as: 

  • Science

As Biotech Crops Lose Their Power, Scientists Push For New Restrictions

Some of the first GMOs – corn and cotton plants that have been genetically modified to fend off insects – are running into problems. Bugs have become resistant to them because they've been overused.

October 29, 2020
|
By:
  • Dan Charles
An array of edible insect options from the Eating Insects Athens Conference.

Critter Chat: Edible Insects In Athens And Alligators In Okefenokee Swamp

A bug in your food is not usually considered a good thing, but what if it was there on purpose? The United Nations reports around two billion people...

September 18, 2018
|
By:
  • Elena Rivera and
  • Virginia Prescott
  • Load More

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