Insects

Order of the National Green Tribunal regarding biological pollution by the Susri insects, 31/10/2022

Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of HC Singla Vs State of Punjab dated 31/10/2022. The matter is related to biological pollution by the Susri insect. This pollution is being caused due to decaying grains, due to negligence in storage arrangements of grains by Food Corporation of …

Potential of the desert Locust Schistocerca gregaria (Orthoptera: Acrididae) as an unconventional source of dietary and therapeutic sterols

Insects are increasingly being recognized not only as a source of food to feed the ever growing world population but also as potential sources of new products and therapeutic agents, among which are sterols. In this study, we sought to profile sterols and their derivatives present in the desert locust, …

Tarantulas Grow Clumsy When Things Heat Up

A warming world may have more of an impact on spiders than experts ever expected. That's at least according to a recent study that closely investigated how temperature fluctuations affected the movements of spiders and robots alike. With the threat neonicotinoid use poses to honeybees gaining international attention, researchers are …

Insecticide Treatments in Combination with Herbicides Cause Crop Injury and Yield Loss

Weed Technology—As acreage under maize keeps on increasing in recent years, maize-attacking insects have become a widespread problem, including populations of the rootworm that have developed resistance to insecticidal proteins. Foliar sprays are ineffective because this rootworm, and other insects such as the sugarcane beetle, attack maize seedlings below ground. …

Bark beetles not adding to U.S. West's wildfire woes: study

Forests in Western U.S. states that have been ravaged by mountain pine beetles are no more likely to be consumed by wildfires than forests unaffected by the insects, a new study by scientists in Colorado has found. Warmer than usual winters in recent years have allowed the tree-killing beetles to …

Insect Predators May Protect Us from Infectious Diseases

Insect predators such as dragonflies and other aquatic bugs may help protect us from infectious diseases, according to a new study. In recent decades, humans have altered biodiversity around the globe as the result of activities including deforestation, man-made climate change and pollution. Meanwhile, outbreaks of infectious diseases like chikungunya, …

Emerging viral disease risk to pollinating insects: ecological, evolutionary and anthropogenic factors

The potential for infectious pathogens to spillover and emerge from managed populations to wildlife communities is poorly understood, but ecological, evolutionary and anthropogenic factors are all likely to influence the initial exposure and subsequent infection, spread and impact of disease. Fast-evolving RNA viruses, known to cause severe colony losses in …

Land-use history alters contemporary insect herbivore community composition and decouples plant–herbivore relationships

Past land use can create altered soil conditions and plant communities that persist for decades, although the effects of these altered conditions on consumers are rarely investigated. Using a large-scale field study at 36 sites in longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) woodlands, the researchers examined whether historic agricultural land use leads …

Nagaland turning into ‘Falcon capital’ for conservation

With the hunters of migratory Amur Falcon birds turning into protectors, Nagaland has become the “Falcon capital” of the world, officials said on Tuesday. “Against the general perception of Naga people being compulsive hunters, the success of Amur Falcon conservation has put Nagaland on the global map; and the sheer …

Climate change could ‘fundamentally alter’ US forests

Wildfires, insects and drought are crippling forests in the western United States' iconic Rocky Mountains, scientists warned on Wednesday, urging more efforts to stop global warming. "If left unchecked, the climate change that is driving this triple assault could fundamentally alter these forests as we know them," said the report …

Reduced wind strengthens top-down control of an insect herbivore

Global wind speeds have decreased 5–15% over the last 30 years and are expected to continue decreasing in the future. However, little is known about how wind affects species and their interactions within communities. The researcher experimentally tested the effects of wind on predator–prey interactions using soybean aphids and predatory …

Arctic insects and spiders can survive colder temperatures than thought

Arctic bugs can survive in frozen ground as cold as -27°C, scientists have revealed. It is the first time higher-order invertebrates such as spiders, flies and beetles have been found coping in direct exposure to such cold temperatures. Previous lows were between just -5°C and a little below -10°C. The …

Genetic elimination of field-cage populations of Mediterranean fruit flies

The Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly, Ceratitis capitata Wiedemann) is a pest of over 300 fruits, vegetables and nuts. The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a control measure used to reduce the reproductive potential of populations through the mass release of sterilized male insects that mate with wild females. However, SIT …

Urban land use decouples plant-herbivore-parasitoid interactions at multiple spatial scales

Intense urban and agricultural development alters habitats, increases fragmentation, and may decouple trophic interactions if plants or animals cannot disperse to needed resources. Specialist insects represent a substantial proportion of global biodiversity and their fidelity to discrete microhabitats provides a powerful framework for investigating organismal responses to human land use. …

Declines in insectivorous birds are associated with high neonicotinoid concentrations

Recent studies have shown that neonicotinoid insecticides have adverse effects on non-target invertebrate species. Invertebrates constitute a substantial part of the diet of many bird species during the breeding season and are indispensable for raising offspring. We investigated the hypothesis that the most widely used neonicotinoid insecticide, imidacloprid, has a …

A new species of Labiobaetis Novikova & Kluge, 1987 (Ephemeroptera: Baetidae) from the southern Western Ghats in India, with comments on the taxonomic status of …

A new species of Labiobaetis Novikova & Kluge, 1987, Labiobaetis soldani sp. nov., is described from the larvae and reared male and female imagoes from Gadana River in the southern Western Ghats in India. Brief ecological notes are appended. The taxonomic status of Labiobaetis is commented on in light of …

Nose woes: air pollutants thwart flower-seeking bugs

These moths, whose olfactory abilities are as good as a bloodhound's and vastly better than a human's, can fly up to 80 miles (130 km) a night searching for their favorite flowers such as the Sacred Datura. The nectar of these fragrant white, trumpet-shaped flowers that bloom only once at …

Yellow rust, aphid attack wheat

Yellow rust and aphid have attacked wheat crop in the district. After the first case of yellow rust was detected in Ratangarh village last month, the disease has now affected over 300 acres of the crop. Besides yellow rust, aphid insect has also attacked the crop. “Almost every wheat field …

Residents of 14 villages join hands against pesticides

Their experiment bears fruit with increase in crop production, profits Residents of 14 villages, mainly women, of Jind district have taken upon themselves the responsibility of keeping pesticides away from their fields. They have identified 204 insects, divided them into vegetarian and non-vegetarian categories and proved that pesticides are not …

Diesel exhaust pollution may disrupt honeybee foraging

Exposure to pollution from diesel exhaust fumes can disrupt honeybees' ability to recognize the smells of flowers and could in future affect pollination and global food security, researchers said on Thursday. In a study published in the Nature journal Scientific Reports, scientists from Britain's University of Southampton found that the …

Cocoa frog and lilliputian beetle among 60 new species found in Suriname

Sixty species new to science, including a chocolate-coloured frog and a tiny dung beetle less than 3mm long, have been discovered by scientists in Suriname. An expedition of scientists spent three weeks in 2012 exploring an area of rivers, mountains and rainforest in the south-eastern region of Suriname that has …

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