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September 5, 2008 7:18:04 PM CDT

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Stories related to: insects

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18 Stories

  • September 2008

    • Fireflies May Be Succumbing to Light Pollution

      Associated Press  |  Sep 1, 08 8:24 AM CDT

      Fireflies May Be Succumbing to Light Pollution

      (Newser) - From backyards in Tennessee to river banks in Thailand, fireflies are disappearing. And the lights may be going out, said scientists who gathered last week in Thailand, because of human light pollution. Urban sprawl has caused a loss of habitat, AP reports, but it also may be that bright cities are interfering with the insects' love life. Mating males attract females by blinking their lights. More »

      Tags

      pollution  • insects  • light

  • August 2008

    • Scientists Master Fly-Swatting

      Independent  |  Aug 29, 08 12:00 PM CDT

      Scientists Master Fly-Swatting

      (Newser) - Scientists using high-speed cameras have figured out why it is so difficult to swat pesky houseflies, the Independent reports. A fly's tiny brain can detect a threat, adjust flight course, and take evasive action in 100-thousandths of a second. The researchers, writing in the journal Current Biology , recommend thinking one step ahead of the fly. More »

      Tags

      insects  • bug  • pests  • pest control

    • For One Man, Best Friend a Butterfly

      Washington Post  |  Aug 24, 08 1:56 PM CDT

      For One Man, Best Friend a Butterfly

      (Newser) - Walking in DC last summer, Dan Southerland felt a butterfly land on his shoulder—where it stayed perched for the next few hours, as he ducked first into a photo store to document his fluttery friend, then into a steakhouse, and finally on a taxi ride to his suburban home, where he named it Poppy. The unusual friendship lasted for more than a month, he writes in the Washington Post . More »

      Tags

      insects  • friendship  • butterflies

    • 'Super Termite' Found in Fla.

      St. Petersburg Times  |  Aug 2, 08 3:51 PM CDT

      'Super Termite' Found in Fla.

      (Newser) - One of the world's most feared termites has been caught gnawing on a Florida Gulfport home. Exterminators say they have saved the house, but admit that the "super termites"—or Formosan subterraneans—included winged swarmers, which indicates that that colony has existed for more than 5 years. "Sometimes there is hysteria with Formosan subterannean termites," expert John Mangold said. More »

      Tags

      Florida  • homeowners  • insects  • pesticide  • University of Florida  • pests  • exterminators

  • July 2008

    • Vanishing Bees Reveal Dangers of Pesticides

      Los Angeles Times  |  Jul 30, 08 6:20 PM CDT

      Vanishing Bees Reveal Dangers of Pesticides

      (Newser) - The rapid, mysterious deaths of billions of honeybees demand a closer look at how we use and control pesticides, Al Meyerhoff writes in the Los Angeles Times . A family of toxic chemicals called neonictonoids—led by two Bayer pesticides called Gaucho and Poncho—may be killing off the insects, but Washington will not ban the pesticides because of outdated regulations that require so-called "unreasonable risk." More »

      Tags

      chemicals  • insects  • pesticide  • bees  • honeybees

    • Pine Beetles Eat Through Western Forests

      USA Today  |  Jul 16, 08 12:51 PM CDT

      Pine Beetles Eat Through Western Forests

      (Newser) - The biggest infestation of mountain pine beetles in decades is devastating huge tracts of forest in the Western states, USA Today reports; forestry workers say the bugs are killing even more trees than the wildfires ravaging California's forests. The larvae consume the inner bark of trees, usually lodgepole pines, killing the tree—and creating fuel for more fires. More »

      Tags

      insects  • trees  • infestation  • forests  • beetle

    • Midwest Fights Weeds With Bugs

      Chicago Tribune  |  Jul 2, 08 2:20 PM CDT

      Midwest Fights Weeds With Bugs

      (Newser) - Officials in the Midwest are returning to a tried-and-true technique to fight invasive plants, the Chicago Tribune reports. Biological control uses natural enemies to rein in pests, and importing a tiny brown beetle in the 1990s brought under control a fast-spreading European weed, known as loosestrife, that was terrorizing agriculture. There are other enemies now—but scientists worry the approach could create other problems. More »

      Tags

      agriculture  • species  • insects  • plants  • farms  • predators

  • May 2008

    • Save the Planet: Eat Bugs

      Time  |  May 31, 08 9:06 AM CDT

      Save the Planet: Eat Bugs

      (Newser) - Chowing down on creepy-crawlies is a concept that's likely to nauseate most Americans, but insect eats may be the way of the future, Time reports. The critters are rich in protein and far more efficient to raise than cows or pigs, making them a possible solution to the problem of feeding an increasingly crowded and hungry planet. More »

      Tags

      food  • insects  • bug  • Grasshopper

    • Scientists Building Better Bug Spray

      WebMD  |  May 27, 08 3:20 PM CDT

      Scientists Building Better Bug Spray

      (Newser) - Researchers have found bug repellents that keep mosquitoes from biting for up to 73 days, WebMD reports. Compounds found in pepper kept bugs away nearly three times as long as industry leader DEET, which manages just 17.5 days under the same conditions—though a normal human would sweat or wash away the spray in that length of time. More »

      Tags

      research  • insects  • bug  • parasites  • DEET  • insect repellent

    • Crazy Ants Munch Through Houston

      Associated Press  |  May 15, 08 3:12 AM CDT

      Crazy Ants Munch Through Houston

      (Newser) - Houston, you have an ant problem. Billions of ravenous ants have invaded the city and are chomping their way through the city's electrical equipment, causing shorts and failure, AP reports. The previously unknown species—dubbed "crazy raspberry ants"—apparently arrived in Texas on a cargo ship. The invading army is resistant to conventional ant pesticides. More »

      Tags

      Texas  • Houston  • insects  • pests  • exterminators  • ants

    • Sundance Abuzz With Bug Porn

      Mother Jones  |  May 11, 08 1:35 PM CDT

      Sundance Abuzz With Bug Porn

      (Newser) - For those unclear about the birds and the bees (the actual ones), the Sundance Channel is screening “green porno videos” on its website, reports Mother Jones blogger Jen Phillips. The series features Isabella Rossellini, breaking out of her usual indie cocoon, carrying out the mating rituals of the snail, bee, and praying mantis, among others. More »

      Tags

      pornography  • insects  • sex education  • green  • mating rituals

  • February 2008

    • Bee Die-Off Threatens Dinner, Dessert

      CNN  |  Feb 18, 08 9:02 PM CST

      Bee Die-Off Threatens Dinner, Dessert

      (Newser) - The ongoing mystery of the diminishing honeybee population is threatening an important part of the American diet: ice cream. Bee colonies have been disappearing at a rapid rate, potentially causing problems with supplies of vegetables as well as fruit and nuts, which Haagen Dazs says may keep it from offering a full variety of flavors. More »

      Tags

      insects  • honeybees  • ice cream  • bee colony collapse disorder

    • 55M Monarchs Can't Be Wrong

      Wall Street Journal  |  Feb 11, 08 4:58 PM CST

      55M Monarchs Can't Be Wrong

      (Newser) - The 1-ounce monarch butterfly may have a thing or two to teach us: Each year, some 55 million monarchs make a 4,000-mile multigenerational journey from Canada to Mexico, returning to the same forest, often the same tree, without relying on GPS. How? The insects rely on a unique internal clock that may be the prototype for our own, the Wall Street Journal reports. More »

      Tags

      genes  • insects  • migration  • butterflies  • biological clock  • monarch butterflies

  • January 2008

    • Did Bug Bites Do in Dinos?

      Guardian (UK)  |  Jan 9, 08 1:07 PM CST

      Did Bug Bites Do in Dinos?

      (Newser) - Disease-carrying insects may have contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs around 65 million years ago, entomologists write in a new book. Scientists found malaria and other parasitic pathogens in insects preserved in amber, and the same parasites were found in fossilized dinosaur waste, the Guardian reports. New plants, pollinated by insects, forced the herbivores to adapt their diets or starve, the book also suggests. More »

      Tags

      disease  • extinction  • insects  • biodiversity  • bug  • dinosaurs  • entomology

  • December 2007

    • New Approach Targets Tough Parasitic Illness

      Reuters  |  Dec 27, 07 1:15 PM CST

      New Approach Targets Tough Parasitic Illness

      (Newser) - A new way to test for Chagas disease offers hope for combating the insect-borne ailment, which can otherwise go unnoticed for years, Reuters reports. The new method involves screening children in small areas where exterminators find the most disease-carrying bugs instead of having to test bigger populations. The disease infects 11 million people each year, mostly in Latin America. More »

      Tags

      public health  • medical research  • Latin America  • study  • insects  • disease control  • parasites

    • Vacuuming Sucks Fleas to Doom

      Columbus Dispatch  |  Dec 19, 07 2:36 PM CST

      Vacuuming Sucks Fleas to Doom

      (Newser) - Does vacuuming kill fleas? The answer is yes, according to a retired Ohio professor, the Columbus Dispatch reports. In a study he did years ago for an appliance company, Fred Hink sucked up 100 fleas at a time with a vacuum cleaner and was surprised to find very few of them survived the experience. More »

      Tags

      insects  • pests

  • November 2007

    • Roaches Fooled by Robots, Follow Their Lead

      Nature  |  Nov 17, 07 6:57 AM CST

      Roaches Fooled by Robots, Follow Their Lead

      (Newser) - Scientists have created robot cockroaches that genuine roaches accept into their communities—and even follow. The robots were covered in roach scent and programmed to like the same things roaches do—darkness and the company of other cockroaches. A Belgian theoretical biologist Jose Halloy and his colleagues found that the impostors could lead the real bugs, sometimes even to places they would normally avoid, Nature reports. More »

      Tags

      insects  • scientific discoveries  • robotics  • cockroaches

  • August 2007

    • Bedbugs Make Bloodthirsty Comeback

      Times (UK)  |  Aug 20, 07 5:36 PM CDT

      Bedbugs Make Bloodthirsty Comeback

      (Newser) - Despite admonitions about not letting the bedbugs bite, Americans are doing just that, and infestations are being reported across the country. Once thought wiped out by the now-banned pesticide DDT, the insects have been found in hospitals, schools, and even high-end residences, the Times of London reports. "Saturday Night Live" star Maya Rudolph is suing her landlord over an infestation. More »

      Tags

      carbon emissions  • Saturday Night Live  • carbon dioxide  • insects  • pesticide  • bug  • infestation  • DDT  • bedbugs

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