larvae

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Caterpillar Saliva Could Be Potent Weapon in Plastic Fight

Researchers envision at-home degradation kits using enzymes found in wax worm drool

(Newser) - Five years after wax worms were found to consume the world's most commonly produced plastic, scientists have lost none of their optimism in touting the caterpillar larvae of wax moths as a potential solution to our growing problem of plastic waste. Indeed, new research finds the larvae's saliva...

Surprise Diagnosis for Honeymooner's Itchy Groin
Surprise Diagnosis
for Honeymooner's
Itchy Groin
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Nov 4, 2018 4:30 PM CST

Surprise Diagnosis for Honeymooner's Itchy Groin

Fla. woman carried human botfly larva in skin from Belize

(Newser) - A tiny creature grew inside a Florida woman for two months after her honeymoon in Belize—and no, she wasn't pregnant. Weeks after returning home, the 36-year-old noticed an itchy spot on the left side of her groin and assumed she'd been bitten by an insect, reports Live...

Beekeeper's Surprise Find May Help Our Plastic Problem

Possible solution: hungry caterpillars

(Newser) - Many scientific discoveries can be attributed to a happy accident—the discovery of penicillin thanks to moldy petri dishes, for instance. Might our mounting plastic crisis be solved similarly? One scientist and amateur beekeper in Spain has discovered that the larvae of wax moths, which live on beeswax and thus...

Ants Sacrifice Their Young During Floods

But other species, like bees and tamarins, will do the same

(Newser) - Guided by evolution, most species protect their young and let older ones die off in a crisis—right? Not in the case of ants, according to a study in PLoS One . When water washes out an ants' nest, the vulnerable larvae and pupae become life rafts, and queens are allowed...

Cheating, Corruption Rampant in Ant Society

Secret elite exploits workers with its DNA

(Newser) - A power-mad elite is secretly rigging the system so their offspring rise to power, LiveScience reports. That’s the situation a team of researchers has discovered in ant society—not exactly the epitome of community collaboration once thought. Until now, it appeared that any properly-fed larvae could hatch into a...

Climate Change Can Even Muck Up Deepest Sea Creatures

Ocean life in the dark still relies on sunlight

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered that even the bizarre creatures that live on chemical ooze in the blackest, deepest parts of the ocean aren't safe from environmental disasters. It turns out that larvae of tiny deep-sea shrimp live on microscopic plants that rely on sunlight and filter down from the surface.

Docs Close to Stamping Out Guinea Worm

Worldwide campaign may eradicate the second disease ever

(Newser) - In a campaign led by Jimmy Carter, world public health authorities have decreased the incidence of guinea worm disease (formally known as dracunculiasis) from 3.5 million cases in 1986 to just over 25,000 in 2006. Guinea worm is a parasite transmitted through water to humans that causes excruciating...

7 Stories