insects

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. The scale of the emergence events is “astounding,” according […]

India is facing its worst desert locust invasion in nearly 30 years, and the climate crisis is partly to blame. The locusts spawned a swarm of social media posts Monday when they entered the city of Jaipur, as The Indian Express reported, but the crop-devouring insects have been wreaking havoc since May in an invasion […]

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. Scientists have discovered that bumblebees can cause plants to flower as much as 30 days […]

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. More than 45 transportation and energy companies, as well as dozens of […]

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 […]

As it races to stop “murder hornets” from making themselves at home, Washington state has another invasive insect to worry about. Gov. Jay Inslee issued an emergency proclamation Tuesday against the “imminent danger” of a gypsy moth infestation in parts of the state’s Snohomish county, as CNN reported Friday. “[T]his imminent danger of infestation seriously […]

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. Four sightings of the world’s largest hornets — officially called the Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia) — were reported and […]

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. 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 […]