Specimens of the new butterfly subspecies, A. p. nuydai. J. Badon
By Keith Anthony Fabro
Filipino lepidopterist Jade Aster T. Badon is accustomed to traveling to some of the remotest parts of the Philippines in search of new butterfly species. In August 2019, he made a discovery in a more unexpected place: a field guide he had published himself five years earlier.
<p><br/></p>
<p>In 2014, Badon even included an illustration of this <em>Appias phoebe</em> subspecies in a butterfly field guide and labeled it <em>A. p. Montana</em>, a known subspecies<em>. </em>This mistake, however, was what would reveal the butterfly's real identity years later.</p><p>It wasn't until August last year that Badon had an epiphany. While browsing the same book and after a closer look at the butterfly's wings, he noticed that unlike the true <em>A. p. montana, </em>this butterfly's forewing underside cell end spot was funnel-shaped.</p><p>"The one found in Mount Canlaon, <em>A. p. montana,</em> has circular forewings," says Badon, the president of the nonprofit research group Philippine Lepidoptera Butterflies, Inc. "I did not know that it was a new subspecies back then."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQyNTY1OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMjQ0Mzk2MX0.DyrGWggnNB9RVzQTCXkUvaHmPEPZ56MuXeqqyD0fIHI/img.jpg?width=980" id="37fb0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2ef5adb9c2b7bb79414301d182ddbb9e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Specimens of the new butterfly subspecies, A. p. nuydai. J. Badon
<p>He did some digging: he checked online and library resources and found no match for the then-unknown butterfly specimen. "What was more interesting is that in Negros Island, no [butterfly] specimens have been collected from Mount Talinis when I studied the specimens," he says in an email.</p><p>Badon and research partner Jacqueline Y. Miller of the University of Florida then published this "<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342216650_New_subspecies_of_Appias_phoebe_from_Negros_Island_Philippines" target="_blank">new discovery</a>" in the peer-reviewed entomology journal <em>Nachrichten des Entomologischen Vereins Apollo</em> (<em>NEVA)</em>.</p><p>Here, they unveiled the butterfly's new name: <em>A. p. nuydai — </em>after the Filipino painter, lepidopterist and naturalist Justin S. Nuyda, who pioneered butterfly studies in the Philippines.</p><p><em>A</em><em> p. nuydai</em> 's only known habitat, Mount Talinis, is a 23,564-hectare (58,228-acre) key biodiversity area in the southern part of Negros Island in the central Philippines, and is considered the province's "last frontier"; it hosts an old-growth forest thriving with thousands of wildlife species.</p>
<p>The newly renamed butterfly species is the latest addition to five <em>A. phoebe</em> subspecies found in Luzon, Mindanao, and the islands of Negros, Palawan and Mindoro. It's an island-specific subspecies of the Philippine-endemic <em>Appias phoebe,</em> first described by C. & R. Felder in 1861.</p><p>This butterfly species prefer the cool altitudes of mountain peaks, and <em>A. p. nuydai </em>is specific only to the peaks of Mount Talinis, where it was first seen flitting around Lake Nailig at an elevation of 1,578 meters (5,177 feet) in 2012.</p><p>In May that year, Badon, from Silliman University on Negros Island, obtained a research permit from the Philippines environment department to do a broader biodiversity study of Mount Talinis, a "potentially active" volcano. That's when he discovered the butterfly by surprise.</p><p>"We were camped on the shores of Lake Nailig," Badon says. "We woke up early to have breakfast, and as soon as the sun started rising, hitting the peaks of Mount Talinis, I noticed some yellow and white butterflies flying and puddling on the lakeshores near our camp. I grabbed my insect net and caught two specimens before we left the campground to trek back down to the city."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQyNTY2MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNjM0NjYzM30.bHZcm1scVas5I_CtsqF4u1g1NX7kH1501POB4NNdaLA/img.jpg?width=980" id="f05b9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="487c5949dc54b2cb21dfdd344a75025b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A.p. nuydai (above) was initially mislabeled as A. p. Montana (below), another subspecies of the Appias phoebe butterfly species that's endemic to the Philippines. J. Badon; A. p. montana image taken from Tsukada, et. al. (1985)
<p>All the while, Badon was unaware it was a new subspecies. Its close resemblance to <em>A. p. montana</em>, another subspecies found only on neighboring Mount Canlaon, also on Negros Island, hid the butterfly's real identity for years despite Badon's trained eyes.</p><p>Since then, the specimens have been kept in a collection at the University of Florida's McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, where Badon did his master's and doctoral studies in entomology and nematology from 2011 to 2018.</p><p>Studies point to climate change as possibly the biggest threat to high-elevation butterflies, which could change the distribution of this species.</p><p>"Some of the possible reasons on why they prefer higher elevation is that it is cooler," Badon says. "If climate change progresses in the area, making it warmer, this species will eventually fly to its preferred habitat. But if climate change worsens at a rapid pace, then there is a possibility that this species will have nowhere to go."</p><p>This raises the "need to study the high elevation butterflies to determine how they are adapting to the changing climate and environment," Badon says. "I hope to increase awareness on the importance of insects such as butterflies in the country since they are also great indicators of a healthy environment."</p><p>During their 2012 research expedition, Badon spotted only seven to 10 individuals of this subspecies; further studies are needed to determine its abundance in its only known habitat to be able to assess its conservation status.</p><p>"The peak of Mount Talinis still has forests and as long as it stays that way, the species will thrive," Badon says. "But I'm not sure how climate change will affect them."</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/this-philippine-butterfly-had-a-mistaken-identity-for-years-until-its-rediscovery/" target="_blank">Mongabay</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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New Report Documents Global Insect Decline and Calls for Reforming Industrial Agriculture
10 June
Popular
The new report points to various studies documenting insect loss, including 2018 research finding 41% of insect species are in decline and that one-third of all insect species are threatened by extinction. Wikimedia Commons
By Andrea Germanos
A new report released Tuesday draws attention to the worldwide decline in insects and calls for global policies to boost the conservation of both agriculture and the six-footed creatures.
<p>The publication, entitled<a href="http://www.foeeurope.org/insect-atlas" target="_blank"> <em>Insect Atlas</em></a>, comes from two progressive networks: Brussels-based Friends of the Earth and Berlin-based Heinrich Böll Foundation.</p><p>"The global loss of insects is dramatic," Heinrich Böll Foundation president Barbara Unmüßig said in a statement.</p><p>The report points to various studies documenting that loss, including 2018 research finding 41% of insect species are in decline and that one-third of all insect species are threatened by extinction. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) estimated that 10 percent of insect species are endangered, and another study cited in the new analysis found that at least one in 10 bee and butterfly species in Europe is threatened with extinction.</p><p>While there's no definitive count of the global loss of insects, <em>Insect Atlas</em> says the trend is unmistakable.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzM4MzIzNC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNjEwMjQxOH0.EtO7AHP1ex1OAoQv5uEksP4WMI058toIbdDIVPU1t2k/img.png?width=980" id="95b6b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="db5cb1fb7efc7f13f0b05dae18c0ee5c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Insect Atlas. Bartz / Stockmar, CC BY 4.0
<p>That decline has major impacts on food. </p><p>"Three-quarters of the world's most important crops exhibit a yield benefit from pollinators: they contribute directly to around one-third of global food production," says the report.</p><p>The methods used for that production have a huge impact on insects.</p><p>"Alongside climate change and light pollution, the spread and intensification of farming is by far the most important cause of the global decline in insect numbers," the report adds.</p><p>This type of farming is dependent upon expanding pasture—often at the expense of destroying Indigenous land and wild animal habitat—and prioritizes monocultures and therefore insect-killing pesticides, the use of which has steadily increased for the past nine decades, the economic profits of which are predominantly flowing towards just four entities: BASF, Bayer, Syngenta, and Corteva. From the publication:</p><blockquote>What is more, the number of chemical products in use around the world continues to increase. And, their negative effects on the insect world are also becoming more and more evident. This is not just because a growing number of chemicals are being applied; the formulations are also increasingly effective and can be used more selectively<br></blockquote><p>Even when some nations ban certain pesticides over concerns, the chemicals' adverse impacts don't disappear; they just change locations. </p><blockquote>The developed world is waking up to the risks associated with the use of pesticides. The situation is different in the developing world: chemicals that are banned in Europe and North America are still used routinely to control pests. Stricter controls are needed, along with better information for farmers.<br></blockquote>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzM4MzIzOS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5Nzk1MTk5Nn0.P07MnWFqGtf6saMwIqod_QQ-VPe1lueUv1LlTx8PZ1s/img.png?width=980" id="2eaa0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="78dcbebf9c0f715d0d4e9bbb0e3573ee" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Insect Atlas. Bartz / Stockmar, CC BY 4.0
<p>Dismantling industrial agriculture, says the report, is essential. "There is no alternative: to protect insects, farming must become part of the solution. Not just for the sake of society, but also for the sake of farming itself—because it, too, needs insects."</p><p>"The evidence is clear: pesticide use is wiping out insect populations and ecosystems around the world, and threatening food production," Mute Schimpf, food and farming campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe, said in a statement. </p><p>"A handful of corporations control the bulk of pesticide supply, and if left unchecked will continue to use their immense political influence to lock in a system of industrial farming which will continue to wipe out nature and destroy rural communities," she continued.</p><p>One area of reform that would address deforestation and the resulting insect habitat losses is curbing meat consumption and therefore the huge swathes of land on which genetically modified animal feed is grown. "If the developed world were to consume less meat and if agricultural products were no longer used as fuel," says the report, "the pressure on the land areas could be reduced considerably."</p><p>Insect Atlas lays out a number of solutions for global policymakers to pursue. They include:</p><ul><li>Gradually reducing the use of synthetic pesticides by 80 percent in EU agriculture by 2030, starting from 2020 and phase out exports of pesticides banned in the EU;</li><li>Radically reforming the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), including the phasing out of harmful untargeted direct payments, setting aside at least 50% of the CAP budget for environmental, nature, and climate objectives and support farmers in the transition to agroecology;</li><li>Phasing out harmful farming methods like growing genetically modified plants or introducing a new generation of genetically modified insects;</li><li>Taking urgent actions to achieve the targets suggested in the European Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies to increase organic farming;</li><li>Reducing the production and consumption of industrial meat and other animal products and supporting plant-based options; and</li><li>Cutting the overall EU demand for agrocommodities in order to reduce global deforestation.</li></ul><p>Schimpf spoke about those solutions and the report on <em>Euronews</em> Tuesday:</p>
<div id="8fdf8" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="375c252c346fe9796c1409d1a05fb0eb"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1270286526702850050" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">What are the consequences for our food supply? "If we continue using pesticides so heavily, farmers will lose the… https://t.co/Kiz6VXe6Mc</div> — Friends of the Earth #BlackLivesMatter (@Friends of the Earth #BlackLivesMatter)<a href="https://twitter.com/foeeurope/statuses/1270286526702850050">1591694883.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Schimpf also drew renewed attention to the <a href="https://www.savebeesandfarmers.eu/eng" target="_blank">Save Bees and Farmers</a> European Citizens Initiative. It's centered on three key demands: a phase-out of the use of synthetic pesticides; measures to increase biodiversity; and support for farmers.</p><p>As of press time, the petition has over 355,000 signatures.</p>
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A 17-year periodical cicada. Education Images / Universal Images Group via Getty Images
As many parts of the planet continue to open their doors after pandemic closures, a new pest is expected to make its way into the world. After spending more than a decade underground, millions of cicadas are expected to emerge in regions of the southeastern U.S.
<p>The scale of the emergence events is "astounding," according to <a href="https://vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2020/05/CALS-periodical_cicada_2020.html" target="_blank">Virginia Tech</a>. Experts note that people living in Virginia, West Virginia and in parts of North Carolina are now set to see their hatch in the earlier part of the summer as an estimated 1.5 million insects per acre of land emerge from the soil, reports <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52793339" target="_blank">BBC</a>. This "unique natural phenomenon" has not occurred in the region since 2003.</p>
<p>"Communities and farms with large numbers of cicadas emerging at once may have a substantial noise issue," <a href="https://vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2020/05/CALS-periodical_cicada_2020.html" target="_blank">said</a> Eric Day, <a href="https://ext.vt.edu/" target="_blank">Virginia Cooperative Extension</a> entomologist in Virginia Tech's <a href="https://www.ento.vt.edu/" target="_blank">Department of Entomology</a> in the <a href="https://www.cals.vt.edu/" target="_blank">College of Agriculture and Life Sciences</a>. "Hopefully, any annoyance at the disturbance is tempered by just how infrequent — and amazing — this event is."</p><p>It comes after roughly a billion cicadas took over parts of the northeastern U.S. in 2016, reported <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/theyre-back-17-year-cicadas-to-blanket-northeastern-u-s-1891148953.html)" target="_self">EcoWatch</a> at the time. The group of insects is made up of roughly 15 "broods," with Brood IX emerging this year following a Brood V emergence four years ago.</p>
<p>Cicadas are some of the longest-lived insects in the world, yet they spend most of their lives underground as part of their nymph stage, feeding off of roots for periods lasting between 13 and 17 years before emerging from the soil through mud tubes known as "cicada huts." </p><p>During such events, the finger-sized insects crawl out to molt into winged adults and mate. The specific timing behind this unique life cycle largely remains a mystery, though some experts speculate that it could have evolved as a method to avoid syncing with predator cycles, according to <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/millions-cicadas-emerge-parts-us-1st-time-17/story?id=70880463" target="_blank">ABC News</a>. As such, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/24/us/17-year-cicadas-virginia.html" target="_blank">New York Times</a> notes that cicadas' best defense is their incredible numbers emerging in synchronicity.</p>
<p>After their surfacing, the insects live outside of the ground for around a month and though they are not harmful to humans — and can actually serve as an important source of food for animals — they can wreak havoc on important crops, vines and saplings, according to a <a href="https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/444/444-276/444-276.html" target="_blank">fact sheet</a> provided by Virginia Cooperative Extension.</p><p>"Cicadas can occur in overwhelming numbers and growers in predicted areas of activity should be watchful," <a href="https://vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2020/05/CALS-periodical_cicada_2020.html" target="_blank">said</a> Doug Pfeiffer, a professor and Extension specialist in the Department of Entomology.</p><p>The dramatic timeline is short-lived. Cicada egg-laying takes place over the course of about four to six weeks before the generation dies off. Entomologists at Virginia Tech <a href="https://vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2020/05/CALS-periodical_cicada_2020.html" target="_blank">suggest</a> that tree growers wait a year or two before major emergence events before planting new trees as existing treatment options, such as netting or sprays, don't have a large effect on the bugs.</p><p>People living in the southeast can expect a loud singing sound caused by the vibrating membrane of the insects' abdomens in what entomologists liken to a "field of out-of-tune car radios." Others may see the casted skins on trees as large swarms of cicadas as they congregate.</p><p>"This insect is really fascinating, and if you don't have fruit trees or grapevines to protect, you can enjoy this phenomenon while it lasts," said Pfeiffer.</p>
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Locusts swarm over Jaipur, India on May 25, 2020. Vishal Bhatnagar / NurPhoto via Getty Images
India is facing its worst desert locust invasion in nearly 30 years, and the climate crisis is partly to blame.
<p>The locusts spawned a swarm of social media posts Monday when they entered the city of Jaipur, as <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-in-india/large-swarms-of-the-locusts-enter-jaipur-netizens-share-frightening-videos-of-attack-6427856/" target="_blank">The Indian Express reported</a>, but the crop-devouring <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/insects" target="_self">insects</a> have been wreaking havoc since May in an invasion that both began earlier and is extending farther than usual. Several farmers told <a href="https://thewire.in/agriculture/locust-attack-india-jaipur-climate-change" target="_blank">The Wire</a> that they hadn't seen an invasion this severe in their lifetimes.</p><p>"Even my father, who is 86, said he hasn't ever seen anything like this. Only heard about this in folk tales," 64-year-old Madhya Pradesh farmer Sooraj Pandey told The Wire.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Locust Ataack in Jaipur 🤮 <a href="https://t.co/QWHfOXasvf">pic.twitter.com/QWHfOXasvf</a></p>— Akanksha🎨 (@art_lover_09) <a href="https://twitter.com/art_lover_09/status/1264802499782991873?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 25, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>Locusts are not uncommon in the northwest Indian state of Rajasthan, but this year they have also entered the states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh for the first time since 1993 and the state of Maharashtra for the first time since 1974. They also do not usually move so far into Rajasthan from the border with Pakistan, according to AFP reporting <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/crops-destroyed-india-faces-worst-locust-attack-27-years-200526160727430.html" target="_blank">published by Al Jazeera</a>.</p><p>So far, the insects have devoured almost 50,000 hectares or 123,500 acres of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/agriculture" target="_self">agricultural</a> land in seven Indian states, <a href="https://apnews.com/707418101bef8e5a2340e905fb97fdd7" target="_blank">The Associated Press reported</a>, putting pressure on farmers already struggling with the impacts of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> lockdown.</p>
<p>The government has responded with pesticides, drones and sprayers mounted on vehicles, while farmers have resorted to banging plates, whistling and throwing stones to drive the locusts away.</p><p>"These insects are giving us sleepless nights. We are more worried about them than the virus," Mandeep Singh, a cotton farmer from Punjab, told The Associated Press.</p><p>A swarm of 40 million locusts can cover the space of a square kilometer (approximately 0.4 square miles) and eat the same as 35,000 people in a day, according to UN Food and Agricultural Organization data reported by The Wire.</p>
<p>Unusually large locust swarms bred on the Arabian Peninsula in early 2019 following heavy rains and cyclones in the region, according to AFP. Those ideal breeding conditions were the product of the climate crisis, as warmer than usual temperatures in the western Indian Ocean fueled the storms.</p><p>"These warm waters were caused by the phenomenon called the Indian Ocean Dipole — with warmer than usual waters to its west, and cooler waters to its east. Rising temperatures due to global warming amplified the dipole and made the western Indian Ocean particularly warm," Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology climate scientist Roxy Mathew Koll told The Wire.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This time desert locust attack is severe. They have arrived earlier, in huge numbers & now reached till Panna in MP. The changing climate conditions are linked with locust growth in east Africa. The swarms has potential of eating everything & destroy the crops. This from Panna. <a href="https://t.co/8aqLa8lA4O">pic.twitter.com/8aqLa8lA4O</a></p>— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) <a href="https://twitter.com/ParveenKaswan/status/1265124661718847489?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>The locusts have already <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/locust-swarm-east-africa-2644928358.html" target="_self">caused significant damage</a> in East Africa earlier in 2020 before migrating to India through Iran and Pakistan.</p><p>India's locust situation could get even worse, both this year and in the future.</p><p>In the short term, more locusts could arrive from Africa in June, according to AFP. There is also a concern that the locusts already in India could breed, The Associated Press pointed out.</p><p>"It is an alarming situation," KL Gurjar, a top official at India's Locust Warning Organization, told The Associated Press. "But we are more worried of their breeding. If that happens, it could be devastating for our farmlands."</p><p>In the future, climate change could also make locust invasions like this year's more common.</p><p>"Climate change may well play a role here, mainly because, according to forecasts by international climate researchers, precipitation will increase in the southern Arabian Peninsula and northern East Africa," University of Trier biodiversity scientist Axel Hochkirch told The Wire. "This means that there will be more frequent 'very humid' phases, such as we have had since 2018, and it is therefore possible that such swarms will simply occur more frequently."</p>
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Holger Casselmann / Wikimedia / CC BY-SA 3.0
The climate crisis has caused Japanese cherry blossoms to bloom in October and sped the arrival of spring in much of the U.S. But it turns out that humans aren't the only animals who can trick plants into flowering early.
<p><br/></p>
<p>Scientists have discovered that <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/bees" target="_self">bumblebees</a> can cause plants to flower as much as 30 days ahead of schedule by biting their leaves.</p><p>"I think it's fascinating how much we still don't know about organisms that we think we know really well," study coauthor and ETH Zurich professor Consuelo De Moraes <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52759804" target="_blank">told BBC News</a>. "It absolutely increases our sense of wonder at the cleverness of nature in all its many forms."</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8c2bff1db53183539dd61a18086f2683"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3z1OH_ebxrI?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<p>The discovery, published in <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6493/881" target="_blank">Science Friday</a>, was made by accident. One of De Moraes' students, Foteini Pashalidou, observed buff-tailed bumblebees making small slits in the leaves of greenhouse plants, <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/05/bumblebees-bite-plants-flower-early/" target="_blank">National Geographic</a> explained. However, the bees didn't appear to eat the leaf bits or bring them back to their nests.</p><p>The researchers did notice that the bees from colonies with less food were the ones most damaging the leaves, <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/hungry-bumblebees-make-plants-flower-early-cutting-holes-their-leaves" target="_blank">Science reported</a>. This led the scientists to wonder if the bees were trying to get the plants to flower early out of hunger, so they set up an experiment to test this hypothesis, as Science described:</p><blockquote>The researchers set up a greenhouse experiment with black mustard (<em>Brassica nigra</em>), a crop they had been studying. Ten plants were put in mesh bags with bumble bees that hadn't eaten any pollen for 3 days; they proceeded to nibble five to 10 holes in each plant. On average, <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi/10.1126/science.aay0496" target="_blank">those plants flowered after 17 days</a>; undamaged plants that had not been exposed to bumble bees took an average of 33 days, the researchers report today in Science. In a similar experiment, tomato plants sped up their flowering by 30 days.</blockquote>
<p>Further experiments confirmed that the behavior was motivated by hunger. Pollen-deprived bees cut four times as many holes in lab leaves as fully fed bees. Outside the lab, bees cut holes in plants on a rooftop garden in early spring, but stopped doing so as frequently once more flowers began to bloom. The researchers also observed leaf-biting in two wild species: red-tailed and white-tailed bumble bees.</p><p>"That was super exciting," De Moraes told Science.</p><p>While this behavior is new to scientists, we may have encountered its evidence for years without realizing it. </p><p>"You see these semi-circular sort of incisions, often in the leaf," coauthor Dr Nark Mescher told BBC News. "One of the students was saying that they were eating a salad the other day, and they saw that kind of damage on the leaf that was probably from a bumblebee."</p>
<p>Beyond its novelty, the finding has important implications for bumblebees' ability to adapt to the climate crisis, National Geographic explained. As warmer spring temperatures cause <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pollinators" target="_self">pollinators</a> to awaken before plants flower, this activity could ensure early-rising bees find food. It might also help farmers increase human food supply if they can copy the bees' technique.</p><p>But so far the researchers aren't sure how the bees' trick works. Attempts to duplicate it in the lab by damaging leaves in similar ways were only partially successful.</p><p>"We really tried to replicate it with the best of our ability," De Moraes told BBC News. "It's possible that the bees also have some cue that they are providing to the plants that is specific to the bee. And that could be secretions that we don't know about, but it's something that we plan to investigate."</p>
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More than 45 transportation and energy companies, as well as dozens of private landowners, have agreed to create or maintain monarch butterfly habitat along "rights-of-way" corridors across the United States. DebraLee Wiseberg / Getty Images
By Liz Kimbrough
The side of the road isn't usually thought of as ideal habitat. But for insects, such as butterflies and their caterpillars, the long expanses of land along roads and utility corridors add up to a considerable amount of home turf.
<p>More than 45 transportation and energy companies, as well as dozens of private landowners, have agreed to create or maintain monarch butterfly (<em>Danaus plexippus</em>) habitat along "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_of_way" target="_blank">rights-of-way</a>" corridors across the United States.</p><p>The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) have signed a historic <a href="https://www.fws.gov/news/ShowNews.cfm?ref=historic-agreement-will-conserve-millions-of-acres-for-monarch-b&_ID=36540" target="_blank">agreement</a> that allows participant landholders to dedicate a percentage of their lands to monarch conservation management in exchange for regulatory flexibility on the rest of their enrolled lands.</p><p>Populations of both <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/03/number-of-monarch-butterflies-wintering-in-mexico-down-by-more-than-half/" target="_blank">eastern monarchs</a> and <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/02/western-monarch-butterfly-numbers-critically-low-for-second-straight-year/" target="_blank">western monarchs</a> have declined by more than 80% over the past decade and are nearing a <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/02/western-monarch-butterfly-numbers-critically-low-for-second-straight-year/" target="_blank">tipping point</a> for migratory collapse. In light of these declines, the USFWS is set to decide in December 2020 if the monarch butterfly will be classified as a federally endangered species under the <a href="https://www.fws.gov/endangered/laws-policies/" target="_blank">Endangered Species Act</a>.</p><p>Land managers and businesses expressed concerns that if they voluntarily created monarch habitat and the monarch was then listed as federally endangered species, the resulting regulations to protect monarchs could complicate their operations or subject them to additional permitting requirements.</p>
<p>"Some companies wanted to wait to see how the listing would play out," Iris Caldwell, a program manager at the Energy Resources Center at UIC, told Mongabay. "But if you are following what's happening with the butterflies you know we really can't wait. We need to be creating habitat on a variety of different landscapes, as much as we can."</p><p>This led Caldwell and her colleagues in the <a href="http://rightofway.erc.uic.edu/" target="_blank">Rights-of-Way as Habitat Working Group</a> (a group of 200 transportation, energy, government, and nonprofit organizations) to ask what kinds of tools existed to eliminate these regulatory uncertainties faced by landowners.</p><p>"How can you incentivize a regulated entity or a utility to do this voluntary proactive work," Caldwell asked, "and still give them kind of the flexibility and the certainty that they need and be able to, in fact, invest in that work without kind of a fear of repercussion?"</p>
<p>The group decided to make use of the USFWs Candidate Conservation Agreement (CCA) and Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA). Both are formal, voluntary agreements between participant landowners and the USFWS aimed at conserving and protecting at-risk species.</p><p>In the CCAA, the USFWS provides assurance that the landowner participants will not be required to take additional conservation measures on their enrolled lands if the monarch butterfly later becomes listed as an endangered species.</p><p>"So they can just kind of go about business as usual. And if they happen to accidentally kill monarchs in that process, they won't be subjected to the under the endangered species laws," Tara Cornelisse, a senior scientist at the <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/" target="_blank">Center for Biological Diversity</a>, an organization who submitted comments on the agreement, told Mongabay. "So, in turn, what they're supposed to do is give a percentage of those enrolled lands over to conservation."</p><p>Some of the conservation actions available and recommended to the landholder participants are: adjusting the timing of mowing practices to avoid periods when the monarch larva will be present; moving away from broadcast herbicide spray to targeted herbicide applications; replanting after a construction project on their right-of-way; and using a native seed mix across their system that help promote beneficial plants.</p>
<p>"Some of these organizations manage hundreds of thousands of acres of land and implementing some of these actions across a system of that scale is no small feat," Caldwell said. "I think that kind of learning curve early on and rolling out and implementing some of these conservation measures at scale, may present a challenge for some."</p><p>This is why the role of UIC in coordinating efforts among all the partners who are involved will be really important, Caldwell says. UIC will serve as an intermediary between the landowner participants and the USFWS. The participants will be required to monitor certain data and self-report annually to UIC. UIC will follow up on any discrepancies or concerns and will then submit an annual report summarizing all of the overall work and efforts and any findings across the agreement to the Fish and Wildlife Service.</p><p>This is the largest and first nationwide CCAA in history, and Caldwell said she's hopeful that the data collected will lead to insights to inform best management and adaptive management practices for the conservation of monarchs.</p>
<p>"The elephant in the room," Cornelisse said, "is if this would preclude the listing of the species [as a federally endangered species]."</p><p>Monarchs have a much wider range of habitat and potential habitat than rights-of-way corridors. Up to 75%, of potential monarch habitat is on agricultural lands. Over the past few decades, urban sprawl, pesticide and herbicide‐intensive agriculture, and climate change have contributed to the <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/insects-decline-on-land-fare-better-in-water-study-finds/" target="_blank">global declines of insects</a>, including monarchs. An ESA listing would afford the species greater protection across their range.</p><p>"The enrolled lands outside the adopted acres [areas managed for conservation] cannot be credited with benefiting monarchs," the Center for Biological Diversity said in written public comments to the USFWS. "It is important that when the Service weighs the value of these lands in other contexts, such as the [Endangered Species Act]‐ listing decision, that not all enrolled lands be considered to be providing habitat for monarchs."</p><p>"I think anybody who knows the science behind the monarch's decline, and the extent of it would say, yes, this [agreement] could provide some benefits, but it cannot preclude the listing of the species," Cornelisse said.</p>
<p>The USFWS anticipates that between 2 million and 26 million acres (809,000 to 10.5 million hectares) of land may be enrolled in the CCAA and CCA agreements, but the percentage of the enrolled land that will be managed for conservation is still to be determined.</p><p>"What is striking to me is so often we just don't think of these [rights-of-way] as conservation landscapes," Caldwell said. "Oftentimes, we don't think of them at all. We're just driving past thousands of miles of roadsides and utility corridors. And so, the whole idea of being able to maximize these landscapes to create habitat for species that really need it, I think, is really exciting."</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/historic-agreement-gives-monarch-butterflies-the-right-of-way/" target="_blank">Mongabay</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Asian giant hornets (Vespa mandarinia japonica) drinking sap from tree bark in Japan. Alpsdake/Wikipedia, CC BY-SA
By Akito Y Kawahara
Editor's note: According to recent press reports, two Asian giant hornets – a species not known to occur in North America – were found in northwest Washington state in late 2019, and a hornet colony was found and eliminated in British Columbia. Now scientists are trying to determine whether more of these large predatory insects are present in the region. Entomologist Akito Kawahara explains why headlines referring to "murder hornets" are misleading.
<p><br/></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/akito-y-kawahara-739749" target="_blank">Akito Y Kawahara</a> is an Associate Professor and Curator of Insects at Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida.<br/></em></p><p><em>Disclosure statement: </em><em>Akito Y Kawahara does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-asian-giant-hornets-and-are-they-really-dangerous-5-questions-answered-137954" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em></p>
1. How Common Are These hornets in Asia, and How Much Alarm Do They Cause?
<p>The Asian giant hornet (<em>Vespa mandarinia</em>) is fairly common in many parts of Asia, where it is called the "Giant hornet." Growing up in Japan, I saw them relatively frequently in the mountains outside of Tokyo.</p><p>These insects are large and distinctive, with a characteristic orange head and black-banded orange body. Like any other social wasp, they will defend their nest if the colony is disrupted. But in most cases they will not do anything if people aren't aggressive toward them.</p><p>Giant hornets have longer stingers than a honeybee's, and hornets do not break off their stingers when they sting. Because hornet stingers can puncture thick clothing, people should avoid hornets and their nests whenever possible.</p><p>Giant hornets frequently are attracted to tree sap: I was stung by one when I was looking for butterflies on trees. The sting is painful, but the swelling and pain in most cases subside in a few days.</p><p>Just as with honey bee stings, an allergic reaction, or anaphylaxis, can occasionally put people in the hospital. In rare cases, <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/bee-stings/symptoms-causes/syc-20353869" target="_blank">severe reactions can become fatal</a>. But wasp and hornet stings killed <a href="http://www2u.biglobe.ne.jp/~vespa/vespa0562.htm" target="_blank">less than 13 people a year in 2017 and 2018 in Japan</a> – less than 0.00001% of the national population – in a country where many people spend time in the woods.</p><p>If you are allergic to bee and wasp stings, it is best to avoid getting close to these insects and their nests, wear white clothing outdoors (they are attracted to dark colors), and avoid carrying open-top sweet drinks such as sodas in the woods.</p>
2. Are You Surprised That the Hornets Have Appeared in North America?
<p>To some degree, yes. Most likely, a single, fertile queen hornet entered Canada via shipping packaging and created the colony that was discovered in 2019.</p><p>It's easy for invasive species to travel this way. More than 19,000 cargo containers <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/policing-americas-ports-108008881/" target="_blank">arrive daily at U.S. ports</a>, and inspectors can only do random searches of shipping containers. One estimate suggests that just <a href="https://www.ncrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/jrnl/2001/nc_2001_haack_004.pdf" target="_blank">2% of shipments</a> are searched for evidence of harmful organisms such as plant pests. Many invasive species are intercepted, but some do get through.</p><p>It's very unlikely that an entire colony of hornets was transferred to North America. Colonies of this hornet are often large, and the hornets would be visible and potentially aggressive if their nest were disturbed.</p><p>A genetic test indicated that one of the hornets found in Washington was <a href="https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2020/05/06/murder-hornets-invade-headlines-not-us" target="_blank">not related to the Canadian colony</a>, but those results have not been published or peer reviewed. The Giant hornet has not been found in 2020 in either the U.S. or Canada.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzI3OTM0OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NjY1MzYxMX0.r_Wa-PDa8oNFiB_ociakQHDhDnjSqAmc7nVin0-0FYQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="f4562" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cdc146b7493cb5256374321f9336ca5d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Four wasp and hornet species often confused with the Giant hornet. Upper left: European hornet (Vespa crabro). Upper right: Common aerial yellowjacket (Dolichovespula arenaria). Lower left: European paper wasp (Polistes dominula). Lower right: Baldfaced hornet (Dolichovespula maculata). gailhampshire (upper left), Gilles Gonthier (upper right), Judy Gallagher (bottom images), all via Flickr, CC BY
3. What Kind of Conditions Do These Insects Need to Live?
<p>Giant hornets are fairly common in mountainous regions of Asia, but they're not often seen in large cities or highly urbanized areas. They usually nest at the base of large trees and inside dead logs. The fact that they can't tolerate extremely hot or <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25008806" target="_blank">cold temperatures</a> makes it unlikely that they would spread to very hot or cold areas of North America.</p><p>If active colonies are discovered in 2020 in the Pacific Northwest, which has a more temperate climate, it's possible that they could spread there. However, it is unlikely that this would happen quickly, as foraging ranges of <em>Vespa</em> are only <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0185172" target="_blank">about 2,300 feet (700 meters) from their nest</a>.</p><p>The key to prevent spread is surveillance. Anyone in the Pacific Northwest should be alert for Giant hornets while they are outdoors this summer and fall.</p>4. If More Hornets Are Found, Could They Threaten Honeybees and Other Pollinators?
<p>Possibly. Some media posts have described destruction of honeybee nests by what could have been Giant hornets, but honeybees are not these insects' only prey. The hornets feed on different kinds of insects, and bring captured dead prey back to their hive to feed to their young.</p><p>In Japan, beekeepers surround their hives with <a href="https://shop.r10s.jp/diokasei/cabinet/suzume/imgrc0068904247.jpg" target="_blank">wire screen nets</a> to protect them from hornets. North American beekeepers can replicate these with wire netting from local hardware stores.</p><p>Many honeybees in Asia have the ability to protect their hive from intruding Giant hornets by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2007.07.033" target="_blank">scorching them</a>. They wait for a hornet to enter their nest, then mob it by surrounding it completely with their bodies. Each honeybee vibrates its wings, and the combined warming of honey bee bodies raises the temperature in the center of the cluster to 122 degrees F (50 degrees C), killing the hornet. Carbon dioxide levels in the nest also increase during this process, which contributes to the hornet's death.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="21f08ef1a03946a68aa8e913227b5eb8"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/awoV5Wj9Iys?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awoV5Wj9Iys#action=share" target="_blank">youtu.be</a></p>
5. Are News Stories About “Murder Hornets” Overreacting?
<p>Yes, very much so. In parts of Japan, people consider these hornets beneficial because they remove pests, such as harmful caterpillars, from crops. They are also thought to contain nutrients, and have been used as ingredients in <a href="https://www.splendidtable.org/story/the-japanese-tradition-of-raising-and-eating-wasps" target="_blank">Japanese food and some strong liquors</a>. Some people believe the hornets' essence has medicinal benefits.</p><p>People who live in Vancouver, Seattle or nearby should certainly take note of what these insects look like. They are 2 inches long or more, with a <a href="https://extension.psu.edu/asian-giant-hornets" target="_blank">3-inch wingspan</a>, and have distinctly orange heads and broad striped orange and black-banded abdomens. That's different from typical North American hornets, which have yellow or white bodies with black marks.</p><p>In the unlikely case that you see a Giant hornet in Washington state, do not try to remove nests yourself or spray hornets with pesticides. Cutting down trees to prevent nesting sites is also unnecessary, and can affect many other kinds of native wildlife, including beneficial insects that are needed for pollination and decomposition. Many native insects are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ento-011019-025151" target="_blank">declining globally</a>, and it's important to make sure these insects are not affected.</p><p>Instead, take a photo from a distance and report it to the <a href="https://agr.wa.gov/departments/insects-pests-and-weeds/insects/hornets" target="_blank">Washington State Department of Agriculture</a>. Photos are essential to verify that identifications are accurate.</p><p>Consider also uploading your images to <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/" target="_blank">iNaturalist</a>, which is one of the primary sources for information on tracking wildlife. The images are archived and carry data, such as location, time of observance and the insect's morphological features, that scientists can use for research. </p>From Your Site Articles
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An Asian gypsy moth caterpillar. John H. Ghent, USDA Forest Service / Bugwood.org
As it races to stop "murder hornets" from making themselves at home, Washington state has another invasive insect to worry about.
<p>Gov. Jay Inslee issued an <a href="https://www.governor.wa.gov/sites/default/files/proclamations/20-54%20Gypsy%20Moth%20%28tmp%29.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery" target="_blank">emergency proclamation</a> Tuesday against the "imminent danger" of a gypsy moth infestation in parts of the state's Snohomish county, as <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/07/us/washington-state-gypsy-moths-proclamation-trnd/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported Friday</a>.</p><p>"[T]his imminent danger of infestation seriously endangers the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/agriculture" target="_self">agricultural</a> and horticultural industries of the state of Washington and seriously threatens the economic well-being and quality of life of state residents," the proclamation read.</p>
<p>Gypsy moths are such a danger because they devour the leaves of more than 300 species of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/trees" target="_self">trees</a> and shrubs, stripping both deciduous and evergreen trees, the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) <a href="https://agr.wa.gov/departments/insects-pests-and-weeds/gypsy-moth/gypsy-moth-101" target="_blank">explained</a>. While this defoliation does not kill deciduous trees directly, it does make them more susceptible to other pests. Evergreen trees, however, do tend to die after a year of leaf-stripping. Female gypsy moths can also fly up to 25 miles, <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/gypsy-moths-murder-hornets-us-a9504486.html" target="_blank">The Independent reported</a>.</p><p>"The gypsy moth is one of the most destructive forest pests introduced into the United States," WSDA wrote. "It has defoliated millions of acres in the Eastern United States where gypsy moth populations have become established."</p>
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<p>In the proclamation, Inslee said the state was at risk from both Asian gypsy moths (<em>Lymantria umbrosa</em>) and Asian-European hybrid gypsy moths (<em>Lymantria dispar L</em>). To prevent an infestation, the proclamation authorized the aerial spraying of a pesticide containing the soil bacteria <em>Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki</em> (Btk).</p><p>Btk is a pesticide that targets caterpillars, according to the <a href="https://www.doh.wa.gov/CommunityandEnvironment/Pests/GypsyMoths" target="_blank">Washington State Department of Health</a>. When caterpillars eat leaves sprayed with it, they stop eating and die. But it has minimal toxicity to mammals, birds and other insects like honeybees. The version of the pesticide Washington uses to control gypsy moths is approved for use in organic farming.</p><p>Unlike the Asian giant hornet, which was spotted for the first time in Washington state in late 2019, the gypsy moth has been on the state's radar for decades. The WSDA said it has successfully prevented the moth from establishing a presence in the state since 1974.</p><p>Inslee has even issued emergency proclamations in the past to control the insect's spread, as Seattle-based science journalist Hannah Weinberger pointed out on Twitter.</p><p>"National media needs to *slow down* when covering Washington insects," she wrote.</p>
<div id="3df78" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="31bddffab169878e12da29179f88af61"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1258490741078163456" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Like, it took me three seconds to google this emergency proclamation from April 2018 https://t.co/QV7gxhodSE</div> — Hannah Weinberger is covering COVID-19 & science (@Hannah Weinberger is covering COVID-19 & science)<a href="https://twitter.com/Weinbergrrrrr/statuses/1258490741078163456">1588882548.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>In addition to spraying Btk, Washington also controls the moths by monitoring them with pheromone traps, locating and destroying egg masses, controlling caterpillars with the least toxic method possible and using traps again to assess the success of such measures, the health department explained.</p><p>It is important to prevent the moths from establishing a permanent presence because, as an invasive species, they have no natural predators in the state.</p>
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Trending
The Asian giant hornet, the world's largest, was spotted for the first time in the U.S. in December. Photography by Shin.T / Moment / Getty Images Plus
Invasive "murder hornets" have been spotted in the U.S. for the first time, prompting concerns for the nation's honeybees and the trajectory of a year that has already brought locust invasions and a global pandemic.
<p>Four sightings of the world's largest hornets — officially called the Asian giant hornet (<em>Vespa mandarinia</em>) — were reported and verified in Washington State in December 2019, <a href="https://agr.wa.gov/departments/insects-pests-and-weeds/insects/hornets" target="_blank">according to the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA</a>). But "murder hornet" began trending after the publication Saturday of a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/02/us/asian-giant-hornet-washington.html?campaign_id=51&emc=edit_MBE_p_20200504&instance_id=18199&nl=morning-briefing&regi_id=88631294&section=whatElse&segment_id=26545&te=1&user_id=d8eb7cee9d3c5ab39515239b6ec54d19" target="_blank">New York Times</a> piece about Washington's efforts to find and eradicate the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/insects" target="_self">insects</a> before they take hold, as <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/asian-giant-hornet-invasion-becomes-latest-2020-concern-n1199046" target="_blank">NBC News reported</a>.</p><p>"Murder hornets. Sure thing, 2020," actor and comedian Patton Oswalt tweeted. "Give us everything. Hypno-frogs. Fecal blizzards. Toilet tsunamis. A CATS sequel. We can take it."</p>
<div id="72bfb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b14dede7f55875db4ef9a466cacc6d4f"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1256634924997607424" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Murder hornets. Sure thing, 2020. Give us everything. Hypno-frogs. Fecal blizzards. Toilet tsunamis. A CATS sequel.… https://t.co/tblYGIT3kT</div> — Patton Oswalt (@Patton Oswalt)<a href="https://twitter.com/pattonoswalt/statuses/1256634924997607424">1588440087.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>But for honeybees, the Asian giant hornet is no joke. The hornets enter a "slaughter phase" where they decapitate bees, WSDA said. They destroy an entire hive within hours and then claim it as their own, feeding the brood to their young.</p><p>Washington beekeeper Ted McFall told The New York Times of driving home in November to find a pile of decapitated bee carcasses on the ground.</p><p>"I couldn't wrap my head around what could have done that," McFall told The New York Times. He later came to suspect murder hornets, though this has not been confirmed.</p><p>There have also been sightings of the hornet across the border in British Columbia, but at least one of the Canadian hives was proven to be unconnected to one of the Washington hornets, meaning the insect was likely introduced to the region at least twice.</p>
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<p>While the hornets do not typically attack humans or pets unless threatened, their stings are extremely painful and can be deadly. They earned the nickname "murder hornet" because their group attacks can expose the victim to as much venom as a snake bite, Kyoto Sangyo University researcher Jun-ichi Takahash told The New York Times. In Japan, they kill as many as 50 people a year.</p><p>"It was like having red-hot thumbtacks being driven into my flesh," Conrad Bérubé, a beekeeper who was stung while exterminating a hive on Vancouver Island, told The New York Times of the experience.</p><p>The hornets are 1.5 to two inches long and have a yellow or orange head with bulging eyes and a black and yellow striped abdomen, according to WSDA.</p><p>"They're like something out of a monster cartoon with this huge yellow-orange face," Washington State University's (WSU) Department of Entomology bee breeder Susan Cobey said in a <a href="https://news.wsu.edu/2020/04/06/wsu-scientists-enlist-citizens-hunt-giant-bee-killing-hornet/" target="_blank">university press release</a>.</p>
<div id="1e9eb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4cc32dfb0ee30802bf777cd7c53dc593"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1257081857402826752" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">#ICYMI Here is our image comparing #AsianGiantHornet to other flying insects. No, its name is not the #murderhornet https://t.co/cwIgIPGC1t</div> — WA St Dept of Agr (@WA St Dept of Agr)<a href="https://twitter.com/WSDAgov/statuses/1257081857402826752">1588546644.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>WSU is working with WSDA, beekeepers and citizen scientists to locate and contain the hornets now that they are beginning to become active again. Queens usually emerge from hibernation in April, but the species is most destructive in the late summer and early fall.</p><p>If scientists can't stop the hornets' spread, it is uncertain what it would mean for the nation's bees. In Japan, they are a serious problem for European honeybees, who have no natural defenses. A similar hornet introduction to Europe saw beehives decline 30 percent and their honey tally fall by as much as two-thirds, WSDA eradication coordinator Rian Wojah told <a href="https://time.com/5831256/asian-hornets-murder-hornets/" target="_blank">TIME</a>.</p><p>WSU entomologist Todd Murray said he was worried about what the hornets' spread would mean for a state that relies on bees to pollinate crops like apples and cherries. He warned <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/invasive-species" target="_self">invasive species</a> could change ecosystems permanently.</p><p>"Just like that, it's forever different," Murray said. "We need to teach people how to recognize and identify this hornet while populations are small, so that we can eradicate it while we still have a chance."</p><p>If you see an Asian giant hornet and live in Washington state, you can help by reporting it to the WSDA Pest Program at 1-800-443-6684, pestprogram@agr.wa.gov or online at <a href="https://agr.wa.gov/departments/insects-pests-and-weeds/insects/hornets" target="_blank">agr.wa.gov/hornets</a>. If you live outside Washington and think you spot one of the hornets, WSDA advises you contact your state or province's department of agriculture.</p>
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Spanish Officials Spray Beach With Bleach in ‘Brutal’ Attempt to Sanitize Against Coronavirus
01 May
Health + Wellness
A beach near the town of Zahara de los Atunes near the city of Cádiz, Spain. inigoarza / Room / Getty Images
Spain is facing intense backlash after local officials sprayed bleach across 1.2 miles of beach near the town of Zahara de los Atunes on its southern coast, near Cádiz.
<p>Local officials and the business association in the picturesque fishing village used tractors to spray a bleach solution onto beaches a day before Spain allowed children out of coronavirus lockdown for the first time since early March, the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52471208" target="_blank">BBC</a> reported.</p><p>The move devastated the local ecosystem, causing "brutal damage," reported BBC.</p><p>"It's totally absurd," said María Dolores Iglesias Benítez. "The beach is a living ecosystem. And when you spray it down with bleach, you're killing everything you come across," reported <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/28/spanish-official-apologises-for-spraying-beach-with-bleach-coronavirus" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p>
<p>Iglesias Benítez heads the local association Trafalgar that protects the beaches and nearby dunes, which serve as breeding and nesting grounds for the Kentish plover as well as several other species of migratory birds, The Guardian said.</p><p>With no humans on the beach for the past six weeks, she had hoped the number of nests would double this year, The Guardian said. Instead, she's dealing with an "environmental crime" that has left everything on the ground dead, even the insects, reported <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52471208" target="_blank">BBC</a>.</p><p>"Bleach is used as a very powerful disinfectant, it is logical that it be used to disinfect streets and asphalt, but here the damage has been brutal," the environmentalist said, reported <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/28/spanish-official-apologises-for-spraying-beach-with-bleach-coronavirus" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>Questioning the decision behind the move, she added, "They have devastated the dune spaces and gone against all the rules," The Guardian reported. "The virus lives in people, not on the beach. It is crazy."</p><p>According to the regional Andalusian Government, the initiative did not have the requisite environmental and sanitary authorizations. The regional body will investigate and they have already voiced their criticism, demanding "a bit of good sense," reported Spanish media <a href="https://www.elperiodico.com/es/sociedad/20200428/polemica-zahara-atunes-cadiz-fumigar-playa-lejia-garantizar-seguridad-ninos-salida-confinamiento-7943577" target="_blank">elPeriódico</a>.</p><p>"They do not think that this is a living ecosystem, but a lot of land," Iglesias Benítez told elPeriódico. "The beach regenerates and cleans itself, it was not necessary."</p><p>Trafalgar is considering going to court because they found at least one plover nest with eggs among the tractor tracks, reported elPeriódico. The plover is currently in full breeding season.</p><p>The public outcry against the fumigation caught the attention of many groups, including Greenpeace Spain.</p><p>Greenpeace reproached the decision on Twitter, comparing it to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-coronavirus-medicine-science-2645823308.html" target="_self">U.S. President Donald Trump's suggestion to use bleach injections</a> to stop coronavirus in humans. Greenpeace said, "Fumigating beaches in the middle of the breeding season for birds or the development of the invertebrate network that will support coastal fishing and destroy the tourist value of the coastline is not one of Trump's ideas. It is happening in Zahara de los Atunes," reported elPeriódico.</p>
<div id="1315e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3930fced35d9713d1d730cc4ba2d5c9f"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1254820110130450437" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Fumigar con lejía playas en plena época de cría de aves o de desarrollo de la red de invertebrados que sustentarán… https://t.co/y1Qb5jdpiW</div> — Greenpeace España (@Greenpeace España)<a href="https://twitter.com/greenpeace_esp/statuses/1254820110130450437">1588007402.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>One local official has admitted that it was a "wrong move," reported elPeriódico.</p><p>"I recognize it was an error," said Agustín Conejo, president of the neighborhood board, to elPeriódico. "But it was done with the best of intentions" of protecting minors who might walk along the sea, he added.</p><p>Local ecologists are not fully convinced because of the long distance between the sprayed areas and where minors can access, reported elPeriódico. They think a local hotelier is trying to guarantee that the area is free of COVID-19 for upcoming lucrative summer tourist season.</p><p>With over 23,800 deaths, Spain has been badly affected by coronavirus. It recently announced a four-phase plan to lift its stringent lockdown measures and return to a "new normality" by the end of June, reported <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52471208" target="_blank">BBC</a>.</p>
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A red admiral butterfly stands on a flower in an urban garden in the city center on August 9, 2018 in Berlin, Germany. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
If you haven't noticed as many bees, butterflies and fireflies as you used to, there's a good reason for that.
<p>It turns out that insects that live on land have seen their population decline 9 percent every decade, which means we have lost nearly one-fourth of them over the last 30 years and 50 percent of them over the last 75 years, according to a new analysis published in <em><a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi/10.1126/science.aax9931" target="_blank">Science</a></em>, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/23/world/insect-declines-scn/index.html" target="_blank">Newsweek</a> reported.</p><p>"And because it's a mean, there are places where it is much worse than that," Dr. Roel van Klink, an ecologist at the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research, told the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52399373" target="_blank">BBC</a>.</p>
<p>"Insect declines happen in a quiet way and we don't take notice from one year to the next. It's like going back to the place where you grew up. It's only because you haven't been there for years that you suddenly realize how much has changed, and all too often not for the better," added van Klink from the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/23/world/insect-declines-scn/index.html" target="_blank">Newsweek</a> story.</p><p>The losses were strongest in the West and Midwest in the U.S. and in Europe, especially in Germany, according to the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52399373" target="_blank">BBC</a>.</p>
<p>The analysis looked at 166 long-term surveys from almost 1,700 sites between 1925 and 2018. It found that some insects were not following the trend. In fact, freshwater insects like mosquitoes and midges were increasing their numbers by about 11 percent per decade, which is likely due to conservation efforts to clean up polluted rivers and lakes. However, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/23/insect-numbers-down-25-since-1990-global-study-finds" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> noted, these bugs make up only 10 percent of insect species and do not pollinate crops.</p><p>"Insect populations are like logs of wood that are pushed under water. They want to come up, while we keep pushing them further down. But we can reduce the pressure so they can rise again," said van Klink in a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/23/world/insect-declines-scn/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> report. "The freshwater insects have shown us this is possible. It's just not always easy to identify the causes of declines, and thus the most effective measures to reverse them. And these may also differ between locations."</p>
<p>The researchers said the study is by no means complete, and there is an urgent need to accelerate the study of insect populations to paint a clearer picture. The rapid decline of insects worldwide has concerned scientists. Insects are among the most abundant and diverse species on the planet. They serve vital functions in preserving ecosystems, from aerating the soil to pollination and recycling of nutrients, the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52399373" target="_blank">BBC</a> reported.</p><p>The researchers would like to see data from understudied areas like South America, South Asia and Africa, where there is virtually none. They said that the rapid destruction of wild habitats in these places for farming and urbanization is likely to have drastically reduced insect populations, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/23/insect-numbers-down-25-since-1990-global-study-finds" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p>
<p>Professor Dave Goulson from the University of Sussex, who was not involved in the new analysis, told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/23/insect-numbers-down-25-since-1990-global-study-finds" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, "People should be as concerned as ever about insects. It is great news that some aquatic insects seem to be increasing, probably from a very low level. But the bulk of insects are terrestrial and this new study confirms what was already clear: they have been declining for many decades."</p><p>The researchers do not take much heart from the increase in freshwater insect populations.</p><p>"The area of freshwater we have on earth is just a small percentage of the total land mass, so the numbers of freshwater insects will never be able to compensate for the terrestrial insects," van Klink related to the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52399373" target="_blank">BBC</a>.</p>
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