insects in culture
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Spotted Lanternflies Are Innocent???
Everyone’s favourite squishable pest—the spotted lanternfly—might be less of a nuisance than we thought, new research suggests. The four-year-long study found that the insects caused little to no long-term damage to a variety of different tree species. The authors say the invasive bugs should still be carefully managed to limit their potential harm, but also…
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Where Are California’s Bumble Bees?
Some of California’s most crucial insects seem to have gone missing. A new study suggests that populations of once-abundant bumble bee species in California may have experienced serious decline, after researchers conducted the first statewide survey of bumble bee species in 40 years.
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Scientists Figured Out How All-Female Termite Colonies Came to Exist
An international team of scientists says all-female termite colonies from Japan are the result of accidental hybridisation, and that their highly robust nature makes them an ecological threat.
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The Genetics Behind Bees’ Black and Yellow Butts
If you’re close enough to a bumblebee to see the order of its stripes, you’re probably too close to it. But lucky for you, a team of geneticists recently did a more highfalutin version of that task, analysing several species of bee to suss out what causes different species of the insect to get different…