Tag: insects

Covid-19 will probably become endemic. Here’s what that means

Rather than completely disappear – even when vaccines become available- it’s likely that the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 will be added to the family of infectious diseases known as “endemic” in the human population. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/covid-19-coronavirus-will-probably-become-endemic-defintion…

First ‘Murder Hornet’ Nest In US Is Found In Washington State

An anonymous reader quotes a report from NPR: Remember the “murder hornets”? You know, the terrifyingly large Asian giant hornets that are threatening to wipe out the North American bee population? Entomologists with the Washington State Department of Agriculture have now located a nest of them — the first to be found in the U.S., the agency says. The nest was…

A Disturbing Twinkie That Has, So Far, Defied Science

Apparently Twinkies aren’t immortal. After discovering that his 8-year-old Twinkies “tasted like old sock,” biologist Colin Purrington sent them to a pair of scientists — Brian Lovett and Matt Kasson from West Virginia University in Morgantown — to study the kind of fungus growing on them. An anonymous reader shares the report from NPR: The researchers immediately thought some kind of…

Inside the secret lives of synchronous fireflies

In the Smoky Mountains, thousands of fireflies flash in unison. Researchers want to know how. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/inside-secret-lives-synchronous-fireflies-video…

Cockroach species found to live like ants with workers and a queen

Cockroaches were thought to be solitary insects, but a South American species bucks the trend – it lives in large groups and seems to have sterile workers led by a queen Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2256067-cockroach-species-found-to-live-like-ants-with-workers-and-a-queen/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

Which insects have the worst stings?

Some of the most painful stings come from tarantula hawk wasps, warrior wasps, and bullet ants. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/which-insects-have-worst-painful-stings…

750 Million Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Approved For Release In Florida Keys

A plan to release over 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes into the Florida Keys in 2021 and 2022 received final approval from local authorities, against the objection of many local residents and a coalition of environmental advocacy groups. The proposal had already won state and federal approval. CNN reports: Approved by the Environment Protection Agency in May, the pilot project is…

Earliest known beds are 227,000-year-old piles of grass and ash

Grass bedding in South Africa’s Border cave dates back 227,000 years, and was put on top of ash to help keep biting insects away Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2251738-earliest-known-beds-are-227000-year-old-piles-of-grass-and-ash/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

Trilobites living 429 million years ago had eyes like modern insects

A compound eye almost identical to those of modern bees and dragonflies has been found in a fossil trilobite that lived on the seabed 429 million years ago Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2251851-trilobites-living-429-million-years-ago-had-eyes-like-modern-insects/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…