topic: Insects

topic: Insects

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Mexico’s avocado industry harms monarch butterflies, will U.S. officials act? (commentary)
- Every winter, monarch butterflies from across eastern North America migrate to the mountain forests in Mexico, but those forests are threatened by the rapidly expanding avocado industry.
- Avocado production in Mexico is tied to deforestation, water hoarding and violence, and much of the resulting crop is exported to the U.S.
- Conservation groups are urging the U.S. State Department, USDA and USTR to ban imports of avocados from recently deforested lands in Mexico.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Florida growers eye agroecology solution to devastating citrus disease
- Virtually all of Florida’s citrus groves have been infected with citrus greening disease, also known by its Chinese name Huanglongbing, since the early 2000s.
- Despite billions of US dollars put toward rescue efforts, citrus production numbers are the lowest they have been since the Great Depression.
- Scientists from Argentina are now testing the agroecological method of push-pull pest management using an organic plant-hormone solution to lure pests away from citrus crops and toward “trap crops” instead.
- Proponents hope push-pull management, first developed in East Africa, could be part of the solution and lessen dependence on pesticides.

Tanzania’s ‘mountain of millipedes’ yields six new species
- Scientists have recently described six new species of millipedes found in Tanzania’s Udzungwa Mountains.
- The six were among thousands of specimens collected by researchers studying forest ecology there and in the nearby Magombera Nature Reserve.
- Magombera was damaged by commercial logging in the 1970s-80s, and affected areas have been overrun by woody vines known as lianas.
- But teams working on the ground think that millipede diversity and abundance in liana thickets is equal to that of undisturbed forests, suggesting they may be dynamic places poised for forest regeneration with minimal human intervention.

Mini radio tags help track ‘murder hornets’ and other invasive insects
- Our increasingly interconnected world is moving insect pests around the planet, introducing invasive species that threaten agriculture and local ecologies.
- But tech is fighting back: Researchers have developed radio-tracking tags small enough to attach to invasive yellow-legged hornets in the U.K. and Europe, allowing scientists to find and destroy their nests.
- Researchers are now deploying this technology in the U.S., to address yellow-legged hornets in Georgia and northern giant hornets in the Pacific Northwest.

Night light, habitat loss & pesticides threaten Brazil’s bioluminescent insects
- Brazil’s diverse habitats house a remarkable variety of firefly species, many of which are habitat specialists, thriving in unique ecological niches but vulnerable to environmental changes.
- A new study from the Cerrado shows a drastic decline in the diversity of fireflies and other bioluminescent beetles in areas affected by habitat loss and pesticide use over 30 years and suggests that ALAN — Artificial Light At Night — might also pose a threat to these insects in the future.
- Global research has also pointed to habitat loss, pesticide use and light pollution as the main threats to firefly populations, singling out the latter as the fastest-growing threat in southeastern Brazil.
- While protected areas offer some refuge against habitat loss and pesticide use, the subtler impacts of light pollution combined with a lack of fundamental knowledge about fireflies and other bioluminescent beetles remain ongoing obstacles to effective conservation efforts.

Agroecological solutions better than pesticides in fighting fall armyworm, experts say
- Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) is an invasive agricultural pest, which first hit West Africa in 2016 and quickly spread across the continent.
- Experts have now found that the pest’s impact on maize yields is no longer as severe as initially feared.
- An integrated pest management approach, prioritizing nontoxic control measures, is the best way to tackle the infestation, improve yields and protect human health, according to experts.

Like a moth to a flame: Science finally explains why insects flock to artificial lights
- New research used motion capture to reveal insects don’t fly directly toward lights but tilt their backs toward the source, trapping them in loops.
- This “dorsal light response” helps insects orient themselves in space, but near lights it backfires.
- The findings explain the familiar sight of insects circling lights, and could inform efforts to reduce light pollution’s impacts.
- Researchers suggest that reducing upward-facing lights and ground reflections could help night-flying insects.

In eastern Indonesia, a child adventurer discovers a new giant stick insect
- In March 2021, a 14-year-old boy discovered a new species of stick insect on Indonesia’s Timor Island while hiking with his father.
- Two years later, scientists published the first description of the new species in the March 2023 edition of the journal Faunitaxys.
- Davis Marthin Damaledo, now 17, a co-author on the paper, named the foot-long stick insect after a 19th-century king who ruled over his native Timor.

Photos: Top species discoveries from 2023
- Scientists described a slew of new species this past year, including an electric blue tarantula, two pygmy squid, a silent frog, and some thumb-sized chameleons.
- Experts estimate less than 20% of Earth’s species have been documented by Western science.
- Although a species may be new to science, it may already be well known to local and Indigenous people and have a common name.
- Many new species of plants, fungi, and animals are assessed as Vulnerable or Critically Endangered with extinction as soon as they are found, and many species may go extinct before they are named, experts say.

Japanese butterfly conservation takes flight when integrated with human communities
- A brilliant blue butterfly species has been declining in Japan as the grassland-mimicking agricultural landscapes its host plant relies on fade, due to urban migration, the ageing of the population, and the nation importing food from abroad.
- The key lies in preserving this traditional landscape called satoyama, a mosaic of various ecosystems like grasslands, woodlands and human uses such as farms and rice fields.
- Researchers with the University of Tokyo have teamed up with the town of Iijima in Nagano prefecture and a local agricultural cooperative to maintain this mixed landscape while reintroducing populations of the butterfly, whose population has grown.
- Though it seems counterintuitive, there are many successful global projects connected via the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative, which prevent human-dominated landscapes from reverting naturally to ecosystem types like forests that rare species aren’t adapted to.

Robotic insect reveals evolutionary secrets of the fastest flapping fliers
- Insects have been incredibly successful in developing ways of flying, with an ultra-fast flapping mode that scientists thought had evolved multiple times over history.
- Now, researchers have genetically traced that mode back to a common ancestor, a major breakthrough in understanding insect flight evolution.
- To confirm their findings, the researchers built a moth-sized robot that mimicked the various ways insects take to the sky.

Brazil’s Indigenous communities turn to native beekeeping to recover nature
- Indigenous territories located in different Brazilian biomes — the Amazon, the Cerrado and the Atlantic Forest — are hosting beekeeping projects aimed at both generating an income and restoring local ecosystems.
- The community projects show how these efforts, associated with agroecological food production, can improve quality of life, especially in the face of climate change impacts.
- The movement began four years ago with a crowdfunding campaign to establish beekeeping in the Amazon, and today includes 53 traditional communities involved in native beekeeping across the country.

New research shines a light on Sri Lanka fireflies
- Until recently, there had been a significant absence in research on Sri Lanka’s fireflies; previous work was by British scientists a couple hundred years ago, but now a new surge in research has led to new findings in the pipeline for publication.
- Recent research has led to the rediscovery of Luciola nicolleri, a firefly not seen since its description 100 years ago, and Curtos costipennis, a new discovery in Sri Lanka.
- Glowworms are the larval stage of fireflies, and folklore has it that once stung by them, treatment would require mud from the depths of the ocean and stars from the sky, indicating a difficult cure — shot down by experts as myth, confirming fireflies do not harm human life.
- A beautiful and common sight just a decade ago, fireflies are fast disappearing from urban landscapes due to loss of habitat, increasing temperatures and pollution levels, affecting their reproduction signals in the form of bioluminescent lights.

Strengthening crops with insect exoskeletons? Study says yes, by way of the soil
- Supplementing soil with insects’ cast-off outer skin after a molt can help increase plant biomass, the number of flowers, pollinator attraction, seed production, and even resilience to insect herbivore attacks, according to researchers.
- Farmers are already using insects, in particular the black soldier fly, for livestock feed and waste reduction, and this new use could help the transition to a more sustainable and circular agricultural system, scientists say.
- Along with further investments in research and development, a higher uptake in insect farming practices, by both small and industrial farmers, will improve for boosting crop productivity within circular agriculture.

A Guarani community brings native bees back in the shadow of São Paulo
- The Guarani living in the Jaraguá Indigenous Territory in the northwestern corner of the mega city of São Paulo have managed to recover nine species of native bees that had died out in the region, today thriving in 300 hives.
- Unlike the better-known Africanized honey bees, native Brazilian bees have no stingers and are less aggressive.
- Native bees are sacred to the Guarani, who use the wax to keep bad spirits away and honey and propolis to cure a range of ailments.
- These bee species are also important pollinators: some Brazilian plants can only be pollinated by native bees.

Ethiopia used chemicals to kill locusts. Billions of honeybees disappeared
- Kenya and Ethiopia sprayed millions of hectares of cropland and pastures with chemical pesticides in response to massive locust swarms that emerged between 2019 and 2021.
- In Ethiopia, around 76 billion honeybees died or abandoned their hives during this period, a new study estimates, arguing that chemical spraying was most likely to blame.
- The researchers said Somalia’s use of a biopesticide, on the other hand, was a better approach and that chemical pesticides banned in the EU and the U.S. because of harmful effects on the environment and human health cannot continue to be used in other parts of the world.
- Advocates for integrated pest management say that countries should track and manage locust upsurges before they reach threatening proportions.

Monarch butterflies become a powerful symbol for justice at the U.S./Mexico border (commentary)
- Monarch butterflies have become a strong symbol for advocates of biological diversity and human rights at the U.S./Mexico border.
- Though its population appears to be at the brink of a U.S. endangered species listing, their conservation along the southern border has been controversial since the former presidential administration’s wall building effort bulldozed habitat at the National Butterfly Center without properly notifying the center about the construction.
- Drawing parallels between the plight of the species and that of human migrants trapped at the U.S./Mexico border, immigration rights protests have begun featuring images of monarchs and people making butterfly shapes with their hands.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Study: Online trade in arachnids threatens some species with extinction
- A recent study reveals a vast and unregulated global trade in invertebrates, posing a risk of overexploitation of some species in the wild.
- A group of scientists scoured the internet and discovered that a total of 1,264 species are being traded online.
- Tarantulas are particularly in demand, with 25% of species described as new to science since 2000 popular with collectors.
- Africa is prominent in this trade as both a source and transit hub for tarantulas and scorpions.

Indigenous women record age-old knowledge of bees in Colombia’s Amazon
- A team of Indigenous Yucuna women in the Colombian Amazon are rescuing and documenting the remaining oral knowledge on bees and their roles in the ecosystem, along with the traditional classification system of diverse bee species.
- With the help of nine elders, they are documenting and sketching tales and songs to gather bee names, characteristics, behaviors, roles in their crop fields and the places where bees build beehives.
- Biologists part of a bee inventory program and the women from the reserve are working to compare each other’s findings on bee species in the Indigenous territory, where researchers say bees are better protected than other regions of Colombia.
- Some of the traditional tales and knowledge are even surprising to the women documenting it; they say the details and scientific information will be shared with the communities and local schools to raise awareness on the importance of protecting bees.

Pollinator declines linked to half million early human deaths annually: Study
- A new modeling study finds that half a million people are currently dying prematurely every year due to global insect pollinator decline because of lack of availability and/or high price of healthy foods such as nuts, legumes, fruits and vegetables.
- Robust epidemiological research has linked higher fruit, vegetable and nut intake to lowered mortality from many major chronic diseases like heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes.
- Researchers assessed the problem nationally: Middle-income countries, including Russia, China and India, are among the hardest hit, as are Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar, though surprisingly, parts of Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa were among the least affected. Wealthy nations were more immune from pollinator decline.
- Experts say multiple solutions are readily available: Wild pollinators can be significantly increased by protecting existing, and creating new, pollinator habitat at the farm and national level, by reducing and eliminating the use of harmful pesticides like neonicotinoids, and by effectively combating climate change.

Western monarch populations reach highest number in decades
- The western monarch butterfly population reached its highest number since the year 2000, with more than 335,000 butterflies counted during the annual Thanksgiving Western Monarch Count in California and Arizona.
- Western monarchs winter in California and migrate thousands of miles every year, in a migratory cycle that takes three or four generations. They are counted annually in their by volunteers at these sites.
- The population rebound is a positive development, but the species is still considered endangered and far from its population numbers in the 1980s when millions of butterflies could be seen in the trees.
- Conservation efforts include protecting overwintering sites, planting native plants, reducing pesticide use and supporting conservation initiatives; the public can also participate in community science projects and make simple changes in their gardens and communities.

Poisoned by pesticides: Health crisis deepens in Brazil’s Indigenous communities
- A recent report reveals communities in Brazil’s Mato Grosso region are contaminated by the agriculture industry’s increasing use of pesticides. About 88% of the plants collected, including medicinal herbs and fruits, on Indigenous lands have pesticide residue.
- Samples discovered high levels of pesticides in ecosystems and waters far from crop fields, including carbofuran — a highly toxic substance which is banned in Brazil, Europe and the U.S.
- Experts blame the lack of control by government officials for widespread environmental damage and an escalating health crisis among Indigenous populations, as communities report growing numbers of respiratory problems, acute poisonings and cancers.
- A spokesperson for the biggest agrochemical companies operating in Brazil disputes the findings of the report and numbers of people far from crop regions affected by pesticide usage.

Top 15 species discoveries from 2022 (Photos)
- A resplendent rainbow fish, a frog that looks like chocolate, a Thai tarantula, an anemone that rides on a back of a hermit crab, and the world’s largest waterlily are among the new species named by science in 2022.
- Scientists estimate that only 10% of all the species on the planet have been described. Even among the most well-known group of animals, mammals, scientists think we have only found 80% of species.
- Unfortunately, many new species of plants, fungi, and animals are assessed as Vulnerable or Critically Endangered with extinction.
- Although a species may be new to science, it may already be well known to locals and have a common name. For instance, Indigenous people often know about species long before they are “discovered” by Western Science.

‘Bizarre’ newly classified scorpionfly shines light on Nepal’s insect diversity
- After closely examining long-held specimens of insects from Nepal, University of Göttingen zoologist Rainer Willmann has newly described and classified a previously unknown genus of scorpionfly he named Lulilan.
- These scorpionflies have an extremely long abdomen and tail and large genital structure that the male uses to grasp the female during copulation.
- Researchers say the presence of scorpionflies, which are threatened by development, insecticides and disease, indicate a healthy environment — and could be a positive sign for the diversity of Nepal’s insect life.

How many ants live on Earth? At least 20 quadrillion, scientists say
- Biologists scoured hundreds of studies of ant populations around the globe to arrive at a startling new estimate of their numbers: 20 quadrillion, or about 2.5 million for every person on Earth.
- Even this estimate is low, the scientists say, as it does not account for ants living underground, and there is not much data from Northern Asia and Central Africa.
- Because ants are vital to the health of our ecosystems, researchers stress the importance of learning more about their abundance and their response to environmental change.

Climate change is hammering insects — in the tropics and everywhere else: Scientists
- A new review paper finds that climate change is pounding insects in a wide variety of ways all over the world.
- Because insects are so sensitive to temperature change, climate change is impacting them directly, including potentially decreasing their ability to breed.
- But climate change is also causing insects to change their behavior as it shifts seasonal beginnings and ends, risking that insects will act out of sync with the rest of the environment on which they depend. Climate change-intensified drought, extreme precipitation, lengthening heat waves, and fires are also harming insects.
- The best way to protect insects? Combat climate change and safeguard micro-habitats.

Local coverage of Nepal’s ‘Himalayan Viagra’ harvest lacks eco focus, study says
- Yarsa gunbu, better known outside Nepal as the Himalayan Viagra, accounts for two-fifths of the country’s non-timber exports.
- Every year, hundreds of thousands of Nepalis head for the hilly regions to harvest this fungus-mummified caterpillar larvae from the wild, leaving schools, farms and entire villages deserted.
- A new study analyzing domestic news coverage of yarsa gunbu has found that much of the reporting focuses on the scale of the harvest and the exorbitant prices that the commodity can fetch.
- The study authors have called on the media to emphasize other aspects of the yarsa gunbu trade, including the ecological cost from harvesting, and the social cost when schools are bereft of teachers.

Expedition reveals the amazing nocturnal fauna in the Amazon Rainforest
- Project Mantis carries out research expeditions to the Amazon to record the often-overlooked fauna that emerge when night falls over the world’s largest rainforest.
- Its researchers focus on insects and other small animals, with an emphasis on praying mantises, in the process describing species not yet known to science.
- Their night explorations include an innovative photography technique that uses ultraviolet light to capture the fluorescence emitted by some nocturnal animals.

Trouble in the tropics: The terrestrial insects of Brazil are in decline
- New research from Brazil shows terrestrial insects there are declining both in abundance and diversity, while aquatic insects are largely staying steady.
- Given a dearth of long-term data on tropical insects, the scientists took creative means to collect data, including contacting 150 experts for their unpublished data.
- Scientists believe the usual global suspects are behind Brazil’s insect decline: habitat destruction, pesticide use, and climate change.
- Experts say tropical countries need more resources, including long-term funding, to discover with greater certainty what’s happening to insects there. Large-scale insect loss threatens many of Earth’s ecological services, including waste recycling, helping to build fertile soils, pollinating plants, and providing prey for numerous other species.

Is invasive species management doing more harm than good? (commentary)
- Conservationists may be thwarting their own efforts, as well as causing harm to wildlife, in their battle against invasive species, a new op-ed argues.
- In numerous cases, non-native species have been shown to benefit wildlife, while their management – from toxic chemicals to culling – may be causing more harm than good.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

‘Beenome’ project aims to boost bee conservation with genetic mapping
- Scientists have announced a plan to map the genomes of at least 100 bee species, representing each of the major bee taxonomic groups in the U.S., to help them determine which bees are more vulnerable to climate change and pesticides.
- A recent study found that of 46 U.S. bumblebee species on record, most had been negatively affected by temperature change over the past 120 years, more so than by precipitation and floral resources.
- A recent court ruling in California allows insects to be covered by the state endangered species act, protecting four native bumblebee species and setting a precedent for similar insect protections in other states.
- At the individual level, you can help bees by cultivating bee habitats, avoiding pesticide use, and planting pollinator-friendly plants in your own yard.

High tech early warning system could curb next South African locust swarms
- The worst locust swarms in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province in 25 years (occurring in May 2022) is in the past. But the millions of eggs laid by the insects could hatch this September, the beginning of spring in the Southern Hemisphere.
- Grassy farmland in the vast region was only just beginning to recover from a devastating six year drought which struck between 2015 – 2021, when the locust swarms arrived earlier this year.
- Farmers are now pinning their hopes on new software that will track newborn locusts in real time, enabling them to target and exterminate the insect pests before they take to the skies and reproduce.
- The software has been used in seven countries in the Horn of Africa and East Africa and is seen as a vital part of minimizing the size of swarms, which can become an annual disaster if they aren’t targeted immediately after birth. South Africa favors chemical pesticides over non-toxic biopesticides for locust control.

California court ruling opens door for protection of insects as endangered species
- A court ruled this week that the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) can apply to invertebrates, including insects.
- This means legal protections will be in place for four native, endangered bumblebee species in California.
- The decision marks the end of a court battle between conservation groups and a consortium of large-scale industrial agricultural interests.
- An estimated 28% of all bumblebees in North America are at risk of extinction, with consequences for ecosystems and crops, as one-third of food production depends on pollinators.

Repeated fires are silencing the Amazon, says new acoustic monitoring study
- Researchers recorded thousands of hours of sounds in areas that had been logged, burned once and burned multiple times along the “arc of deforestation” in the Brazilian Amazon.
- In the forests with repeated fires, animal communication networks were quieter, with less diversity of sound than in logged forests or forests burned only once. This type of acoustic monitoring can be used as a cost-effective way to check the pulse of the forest.
- The authors were surprised to find that insects, not birds, were the most obvious signal of forest degradation. Additionally, they found that amount of biomass in a forest doesn’t correlate with the level of biodiversity.
- There’s a major difference in the biodiversity of a forest after one burn versus multiple burns, one author said, so protecting forests from repeated fires is still worthwhile.

That ‘killer’ spider story you read online? Fake news, most probably
- Media coverage of human encounters with spiders is rife with misinformation, according to a study by more than 60 scientists around the world.
- They compiled a database of more than 5,300 news articles from 81 countries about these encounters, and found 47% had factual errors and 43% were sensationalistic.
- They also found stories that quoted spider experts tended to be more accurate than those that quoted medical experts of pest control specialists, who don’t receive the same level of training.
- Negative media portrayals of spiders, snakes and other animals that many people tend to dislike hurt efforts to conserve species that play an important role in the ecosystem, the study authors say.

Podcast: Afield at last, researchers head out for a new season
- On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, we check in with a couple field researchers to find out what they’ll be working on during the upcoming season.
- For many, it’s the first field season after a rather long hiatus due to the COVID pandemic.
- Meredith Palmer’s field work involves developing new prototypes for wildlife monitoring technologies like BoomBox, an open‐source device that turns camera traps into Automated Behavioral Response systems.
- We also speak with Ummat Somjee, a field researcher based out of the Smithsonian Tropical Institute in Panama who uses insects as models to understand the evolution of extreme structures in large animals, like the tusks of elephants and antelope horns.

The amazing — and unknown — diversity of insects living in the Amazon canopy
- A new study collected tens of thousands of insects from the rainforest canopy in the Brazilian Amazon and found that 60% of the specimens occur at a height of 8 meters (26 feet) and higher.
- Most of the species, and even entire genera, have not yet been described by science, pointing to an unfathomable richness in insect diversity in the Amazon.
- This survey differs from conventional research on insects, which are usually conducted at ground level, because it pays more attention to the vertical diversity of the forest, from the ground to the treetops.

Climate crisis forecasts a fragile future for wildflowers and pollinators
- A first-of-its-kind experimental study has found that climate change reduces the abundance of wildflowers and causes them to produce less nectar and fewer and lighter seeds.
- These changes also impact pollinating insects visiting the flowers: they have to visit more flowers, more frequently, to gather the required food.
- Fewer flowers imply reduced reproductive fitness in plants, as well as fewer food resources for invertebrates that rely on these plants for food, habitat and shelter.
- Overall, climate change may disturb the composition of wildflower species and their pollinators, impacting agricultural crop yields, researchers say.

For a beekeeping couple in Costa Rica, pesticides are killing the buzz
- For decades, Guillermo Valverde Azofeifa and Andrea Mora Montero have kept Melipona stingless bees in their garden, a task that is becoming more difficult.
- Their home has become surrounded by plantations growing monocultures of pineapple, oil palm and cassava.
- When these crops are sprayed with pesticides, the couple’s bees often die. They worry the fumes may also affect the health of their children.
- The two beekeepers have now initiated legal proceedings to save these native pollinators in Costa Rica, a country that despite its environmentally friendly reputation has one of the highest rates of pesticide use in the world.

‘Prospect of existence’: Nameless grasshopper sparks taxonomic debate
- Researchers’ failed attempt to describe a new-to-science species of grasshopper based only on photographs has prompted a debate over established taxonomic convention.
- The grasshopper was photographed in northern Peru in 2008, and researchers from Croatia have since had their attempts to formally describe it rejected by journal after journal.
- In response to what they saw as an “arbitrary” process, the researchers wrote a paper on the challenges of describing a species from only photographs, arguing that conventions should change in an era of biodiversity loss.
- “If a living specimen is never found, it will remain a curiosity, suspended between existence and the prospect of existence,” said lead author Niko Kasalo.

Researchers puzzle over sea-crossing migration of crimson rose butterflies
- A recently observed migration of a large swarm of crimson rose butterflies from India to Sri Lanka has highlighted how little we still know about this natural phenomenon.
- Unlike the better-known migration of the monarch butterfly in North America, the movements of the crimson rose are meandering and dispersed, often triggered by the start of rains following a long dry spell.
- Researchers have called for more studies to be done to better understand the phenomenon, including through contributions from citizen scientists in both Sri Lanka and India.

Air pollution makes it tough for pollinators to stop and smell the flowers
- Common air pollutants such as those found in car exhaust fumes react with floral scents, leading to reduced pollination by insects, according to new research.
- Researchers used a fumigation facility to control levels of pollution over an open field of mustard plants and observed the effects of these pollutants on pollination by local, free-flying insects.
- The presence of air pollution resulted in up to 90% fewer flower visits and one-third less pollination than in a smog-free field. The largest decrease in pollination came from bees, flies, moths and butterflies.
- The link between poor air quality and human health is well known, but this research points to another way in which air pollution may affect the systems that humans and all other life rely upon.

New assessment finds dragonflies and damselflies in trouble worldwide
- A global assessment of more than 6,000 dragonfly and damselfly species shows that 16% are at risk of extinction.
- The main threats to these insects are the human destruction of their wetland habitats, water pollution, and climate change.
- There are more dragonfly and damselfly species than there are mammals, yet they remain so understudied that the assessment failed to come up with enough data to determine a conservation status for more than 1,700 species.
- Researchers say better protecting the world’s wetlands would not only save the thousands of dragonflies and damselflies, but innumerable other species too, and provide us with better water quality and more carbon sequestration.

More trees means healthier bees, new study on air pollution shows
- Scientists analyzed levels of chemical pollutants in native jataí bees across eight landscapes in Brazil’s São Paulo state.
- They found that in landscapes with more vegetation, the bees had fewer pollutants, at lower levels, indicating that the plants act as a filter and protective barrier
- The findings add to the growing scientific evidence about the importance of afforestation in urban areas, including creating ecological corridors to connect separate landscapes.
- Air pollution is the world’s top driver of illness and death from chronic noncommunicable diseases.

Top 15 species discoveries from 2021 (Photos)
- Science has only just begun to find and describe all of the species on Earth; by some estimates, only 20% have been described.
- This year, Mongabay reported on newly described species from nearly every continent, including an Ecuadoran ant whose name broke the gender binary, an acrobatic North American skunk, an Australian “killer tobacco,” a fuzzy orange bat from West Africa, tiny screech owls from Brazil, and more.
- Though a species may be new to science, that doesn’t mean it has not yet been found and given a name by local and Indigenous communities.

Honey bees find food more easily in cities, thanks to abundant urban gardens
- In London, western honey bees travel shorter distances to find their meals in metropolitan areas than in agricultural ones.
- A rich supply of gardens and decorative flowers provides ample nectar close to urban hives.
- Adding native flowers and similar foraging hotspots near open fields would help support bees in intensively farmed areas.

In China, agroforestry serves up tea with a spoonful of sustainability
- In Yunnan, China, smallholder farmers applying agroecological principles to tea cultivation have seen results in the form of better-tasting tea, lower management costs, and richer biodiversity.
- With ethical consumerism on the rise, integrating agroecology could be an opportunity for tea farms to contribute toward conservation goals, experts say.
- Tea farmers and scientists have observed a shift toward more sustainable farming practices, but highlight a need for government policy that can further boost these bottom-up changes.
- By sequestering carbon and contributing to local food security, agroforests can help humans adapt to and combat the climate crisis.

In harm’s way: Our actions put people and wildlife at risk of disease
- While global attention is currently focused on COVID-19 and other zoonotic diseases that jump from animals to humans, diseases that breach the species barrier also pass from people and domestic animals to wild species.
- Human alteration of the planet — the felling of forests, the legal and illegal wildlife trade, climate change, and other disruptions — is driving escalating unnatural interactions between species, allowing diseases to mutate and infect new hosts.
- Infectious disease poses a serious threat to tigers, chimpanzees, Ethiopian wolves, African wild dogs and a host of other threatened species. Viral diseases spread by humans, livestock and other domestic animals could serve as the knockout punch to endangered species already teetering on the edge of extinction.
- There’s growing support for a One Health strategy, which recognizes that human health, animal health and the health of the planet are inextricably linked — that protecting the planet is crucial to the health of all.

Can we save the bees? Absolutely. Let’s start with the native species (commentary)
- To ‘save the bees’ we must begin with the most important question: which bees need saving?
- Honey bees are not native to North America, and generally prefer to pollinate non-native plants and crops, yet they enjoy mass appeal and major support campaigns via everyone from almond farmers to actress Angelina Jolie.
- North America’s native bees are adapted to the continent’s unique habitats and flowering plants that occur therein, therefore supporting native flora. But when floral resources are scarce, honey bees outcompete the natives for resources even in native ecosystems.
- The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Loss of mangroves dims the light on firefly populations in Malaysia
- Firefly populations along the banks of the Rembau River in Malaysia have declined drastically in the past decade due to habitat loss, a new study has found.
- Researchers, who used satellite imagery to monitor changes in land use, found that conversion of Rembau’s mangroves to oil palm plantations and dryland forests were the top two factors behind the loss.
- Remote-sensing technology could help locals better understand the impact of various land use types on mangrove ecosystems and more efficiently prioritize areas for conservation.

Swarm technology: Researchers experiment with drones to battle crop pests
- A June special edition of the Journal of Economic Entomology focuses on the potential for using drones in a number of different ways for pest management.
- Proponents of the strategy believe that drone delivery of biocontrols can be used to reduce or, in some cases, replace the use of pesticides, allowing growers to take advantage of the higher prices commanded by organic produce.
- Strict airspace regulations, limited payload capacity and high starting cost are some of the speed bumps to widespread drone usage in agriculture, but experts remain optimistic that drone-based pest management strategies will become more common in coming years.

Naming of new ant species from Ecuador breaks with binary gender conventions
- The trap-jaw ant was named after the late artist and human rights activist Jeremy Ayers, a friend of study co-author Douglas Booher.
- When naming a species after an individual, scientific tradition has dictated ending the species name with an “i” for males or “ae” for females; Strumigenys ayersthey is the first species to break with this tradition.
- The ant is found in the Chocó region of Ecuador, a biologically rich and diverse coastal rainforest that is both understudied and under human threat due to mining, oil palm plantations, and logging.

Monks and wildlife come under pressure from Malaysian cement company
- Since last December, cement manufacturer Associated Pan Malaysia Cement has been looking to evict dozens of monks and devotees from the Dhamma Sakyamuni Caves Monastery in the limestone hills of Mount Kanthan in Malaysia’s Perak state.
- APMC calls the monks unlawful trespassers on company land; the monks say the company consented to their occupying the land for decades.
- Much of Mount Kanthan has already been quarried by APMC, and the untouched southern section where the monastery is located is also home to highly endemic and critically endangered flora and fauna.
- The monks and devotees are petitioning for the Perak state government to officially designate the monastery as a place of worship and Mount Kanthan as a national heritage site.

A startup deploys black soldier flies in the Philippines’ war on waste
- In Davao City, in the southern Philippines, a startup has introduced the use of black soldier flies (Hermetia illucens) to address kitchen waste.
- The flies are fed kitchen waste, turning the food waste into compost, while their larvae, rich in protein, is touted as alternative feed for livestock.
- Proponents say insect protein is a much better alternative than commercial livestock feed made with fishmeal, associated with depleting fish populations, or soybeans, linked to deforestation and extensive use of pesticides and fertilizers.
- Treating kitchen waste with black soldier flies is also being touted as a cleaner alternative to municipal plans to incinerate the waste to generate electricity, which would contribute to air pollution.

East Africa deploys huge volumes of ‘highly hazardous’ pesticides against locust plague
- More than 95% of pesticides now being used in East Africa to fight locust swarms are scientifically proven to cause harm to humans and other organisms such as birds and fish.
- Half of the anti-locust pesticides delivered in East Africa since the beginning of the infestation in late 2019 contain chlorpyrifos, a pesticide linked to brain damage in children and fetuses, which is banned in the EU.
- Experts including a former FAO official concede the pesticides being used “are not pleasant things,” but say the lack of safer alternatives and the intensity of the locust plague leave them with little choice.

New assessment shines a light on the state of North America’s fireflies
- For years, naturalists and conservationists have noted, anecdotally, that fireflies seem to be in decline, but little was known about their conservation status, until now.
- An assessment of the extinction risk for firefly species in Canada and the U.S. reveals that 11% are threatened with extinction, 2% are near threatened, 33% are categorized as least concern, and more than half are data deficient, according to IUCN Red List criteria.
- Fireflies need abundant food sources (like snails and slugs), plenty of leaf litter and underground burrows, clean water, diverse native vegetation, and dark nights. Protecting and restoring high-quality habitat is critical for the conservation of fireflies and other insects, which are seeing global declines.
- The article includes a list of things individuals can do to help fireflies including mowing less or replacing lawns with diverse natives, leaving leaf litter, and eliminating pesticides and outside lights.

When a tree falls in the forest, it’s the birds that don’t make a sound, study finds
- A new study evaluated soundscape saturation in a tropical forest in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, before, during and after selective logging activities.
- It found that animal sounds promptly dropped after selective logging, but that the soundscape would recover after about a year. But two or three years after logging, soundscape saturation diminished again.
- Insects appeared to be less affected by selective logging than birds, the study found.
- Another expert not involved in the study says more realistic findings would have been obtained by recording the sounds from random locations in the forest instead of at the specific logging sites.

Developing nations pay for rich countries’ hunger for healthy, exotic food
- A new study shows that high-income countries place enormous demands on developing countries’ by importing crops that rely heavily on pollinators.
- The researchers apply the principle of Virtual Water, where goods are seen not just as movements of things but also of raw materials and services, in this case of pollinators.
- A growing demand in places like the U.S. and Europe for healthier diets, rich in fruits and beans, is also putting pressure on scarce pollination services.
- Pollination services may be free, but there are hidden costs to maintaining them, and it is communities in developing countries who pay them, the study suggests.

Death by 1,000 cuts: Are major insect losses imperiling life on Earth?
- New studies, featured in a recent edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, assess insect declines around the planet.
- On average, the decline in insect abundance is thought to be around 1-2% per year or 10-20% per decade. These losses are being seen on nearly every continent, even within well-protected areas.
- Precipitous insect declines are being escalated by humanity as soaring population and advanced technology push us ever closer to overshooting several critical planetary boundaries including biodiversity, climate change, nitrification, and pollution. Planetary boundary overshoot could threaten the viability of life on Earth.
- Action on a large scale (international, national, and public/private policymaking), and on a small scale (replacing lawns with insect-friendly habitat, for example) are desperately needed to curb and reverse insect decline.

Canopy beetles and flowering trees rely on each other in the Amazon, study
- A canopy scientist collected 859 species of beetles from the canopy species of a healthy lowland tropical rainforest in southern Venezuela.
- More than 75% of the beetle species collected were found living exclusively on flowering trees — many on trees with small white flowers.
- The results suggest that flowering trees play an important role in maintaining canopy beetle diversity in the Amazon and that these trees are being visited by beetles more than any other insect order, including bees and butterflies.
- To fight the global decline of insects, “researchers and conservationists must understand the ecological connections between insects and their food plants.”

Top 15 species discoveries from 2020 (Photos)
- In 2020, Mongabay and others reported on several announcements of species new to science.
- Snakes, insects, many new orchids, frogs, and even a few mammals were named in 2020.
- In no particular order, we present our 15 top picks.

Bug bites: Edible insect production ramps up quickly in Madagascar
- In the last two years, two insect farming projects have taken off in Madagascar as a way to provide precious protein while alleviating pressure on lemurs and other wild animals hunted for bushmeat.
- One program, which promotes itself with a deck of playing cards, encourages rainforest residents in the northeast to farm a bacon-flavored native planthopper called sakondry.
- Another program focuses on indoor production of crickets in the capital city, Antananarivo.
- Both projects are on the cusp of expanding to other parts of the country.

Graphic novel version of classic science memoir aims for new audiences
- Published in 1994, Edward O. Wilson’s “Naturalist” has long been known as one of the best scientific memoirs of its time.
- A 21st-century graphic adaptation of the novel brings Wilson’s journey of discovering the natural world as a child, and that journey’s influence on his career choices later in life.
- The adaptation was led by longtime graphic novelist, Jim Ottaviani, with illustrations by C.M. Butzer.

One year on: Insects still in peril as world struggles with global pandemic
- In June 2019, in response to media outcry and alarm over a supposed ongoing global “Insect Apocalypse,” Mongabay published a thorough four-part survey on the state of the world’s insect species and their populations.
- In four, in-depth stories, science writer Jeremy Hance interviewed 24 leading entomologists and other scientists on six continents and working in 12 nations to get their expert views on the rate of insect decline in Europe, the U.S., and especially the tropics, including Latin America, Africa, and Australia.
- Now, 16 months later, Hance reaches out to seven of those scientists to see what’s new. He finds much bad news: butterflies in Ohio declining by 2% per year, 94% of wild bee interactions with native plants lost in New England, and grasshopper abundance falling by 30% in a protected Kansas grassland over 20 years.
- Scientists say such losses aren’t surprising; what’s alarming is our inaction. One researcher concludes: “Real insect conservation would mean conserving large whole ecosystems both from the point source attacks, AND the overall blanket of climate change and six billion more people on the planet than there should be.”

A Philippine stingless bee helps boost coconut yields and empower women
- Tetragonula biroi, a stingless bee native to the Philippines, is being cultivated on a farm to both produce honey and pollinate coconut trees.
- The farm, owned by Luz-Gamba Catindig and employing local women, has seen an increase of up to 50% in its coconut yields; researchers say the presence of these pollinators, known as kiwot bees, can boost yields by up to 80%.
- Key to these improvements in productivity are upgrades to the common beehive, developed by local bee experts working with university researchers.
- Although kiwot bees produce less honey than the more common western honey bee (Apis mellifera), they produce more propolis, a resin-like substance with high medicinal and therapeutic potential.

As the Amazon burns, what happens to its biodiversity?
- More than 40% of fires in the Brazilian Amazon this year are burning in standing forests, with more than 4.6 million acres already impacted this year. While far from fully studied, such forest fires have major repercussions for flora and fauna.
- A study found, for example, that the abundance and types of dung beetle species alters in burned Amazon forests. Dung beetles play vital roles in nutrient cycling and seed dispersal. Other research detected declines in butterflies, specialist forest ant species and other litter-dwelling invertebrates, some birds, small mammals and snakes in newly burnt areas.
- Rainforest trees are especially vulnerable because fire is relatively new to the Amazon, and trees there have not developed fire resistance. A rainforest fire, burning through the forest for the first time, kills most small trees and seedlings and can kill 50% of large trees.
- Multiple fires over time continue reducing biodiversity. Some scientists fear that a combination of fires, increasing drought due to climate change, and deforestation could lead to a tipping point — with devastating impacts for the Amazon, which harbors 10% of the world’s biodiversity.

Philippine crickets, held nameless in a Hawaii museum, are finally identified
- Six new cricket species have been described from the Philippines, adding to a wealth of biodiversity endemic to this Southeast Asian archipelago.
- Three of the new species were described from specimens collected six decades ago and stored at a museum in Hawaii.
- Researchers say more field surveys need to be done to see if the species still occur in the areas where they were first found.
- They also call for further studies to uncover more of the as-yet-undescribed cricket species around the Philippines.

Bubbles, lasers and robo-bees: The blossoming industry of artificial pollination
- Ninety percent of flowering plants require the help of animal pollinators to reproduce, including most of the food crops we eat.
- But massive declines in the populations of bees, the most efficient pollinators around, and the rising cost to farmers of renting them to pollinate their crops, has spurred the growth of the artificial pollination industry.
- The technologies being tested in this field include the delivery of pollen by drones and by laser-guided vehicles and even dispersal via soap bubbles.
- Proponents of artificial pollination say it can both fill the gap left by the declining number of natural pollinators and help in the conservation of these species; but others say there may not be a need for this technology if there was a greater focus on conservation.

This Philippine butterfly had a mistaken identity for years, until its ‘rediscovery’
- A pair of scientists have discovered a new subspecies of butterfly whose only known habitat is at the peak of a potentially active volcano in the central Philippines.
- Specimens of the new subspecies, Appias phoebe nuydai, were first collected in 2012 by researcher Jade Badon, who initially misidentified them as belonging to a different phoebe subspecies.
- The researcher realized in 2019 that the species was different after comparing its forewings to existing cataloged species.
- Climate change is the biggest possible threat to high-elevation butterflies, with researchers calling for more studies into how the butterflies are adapting.

In Sri Lanka, crop-destroying insects follow the COVID-19 pandemic
- In May, Sri Lanka recorded a sporadic increase in crop-damaging yellow-spotted grasshoppers (Aularches miliaris), leading to concerns that a pest outbreak could impact food security.
- Sri Lankan experts are also watching as harmful desert locusts (Schistocerca gregaria) damage crops in neighboring India and Pakistan, though it seems unlikely these locusts will arrive in the island nation.
- The decline of natural predators and recent changes in the climate may be helping to increase the frequency of these potentially devastating insect invasions.
- Experts have used drones to map and verify crop damage caused by grasshoppers.

Sex organs reveal new jumping spider species in the Philippines
- A father-and-daughter pair of Philippine scientists have described three new species of jumping spiders in the country after carefully examining the arachnids’ reproductive organs.
- The new spiders belong to the genus Lepidemathis that’s only found in the Philippines; the new arrivals raise the number of Lepidemathis species from four to seven.
- The spiders were found in three separate provinces on the main island of Luzon in 2014; arachnologist Aimee Lynn Barrion-Dupo and her father, entomologist Albert Barrion, spent the following years trying to differentiate the species from other jumping spiders.
- Male jumping spiders are known for their well-choreographed courtship dance, and it’s possible these new species have a unique song and dance number too, the researchers say.

Less than a thousand remain: New list of animals on the brink of extinction
- More than 500 vertebrate species are on the brink of extinction, with populations of fewer than a thousand individuals, a new study says.
- According to the authors, the Earth is experiencing its sixth mass extinction, extinction rates accelerating, and human activity is to blame.
- The authors call the ongoing extinction perhaps “the most serious environmental threat to the persistence of civilization, because it is irreversible.”
- “The conservation of endangered species should be elevated to a national and global emergency for governments and institutions, equal to climate disruption to which it is linked,” they say.

Changing climate creates ideal conditions for devastating locust swarms
- A second wave of locust swarms is spreading across the Horn of Africa, following an earlier swarm that devastated large areas at the end of 2019.
- Increased rainfall and storm frequency have created conditions conducive to swarms of desert locusts.
- Swarms are basically impossible to control once they form, and widespread aerial and ground spraying of insecticides risks damaging the environment.

Historic agreement gives monarch butterflies the ‘right-of-way’
- More than 45 transportation and energy companies, as well as dozens of private landowners, have agreed to create or maintain monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) habitat along “rights-of-way” corridors across the United States.
- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) have signed a historic agreement that allows participant landholders to dedicate some portion of their lands to monarch conservation management.
- In the agreement, the USFWS provides assurance that the participant landowners will not be required to take additional conservation measures on their total enrolled lands (including land outside of the dedicated conservation areas) if the monarch butterfly later becomes listed as an endangered species.
- The USFWS is set to decide in December 2020 if the monarch butterfly will be classified as a federally endangered species under the Endangered Species Act.

How a changing climate threatens Sri Lanka’s dragonflies and damselflies (commentary)
- The rate of global warming has made thousands of species highly vulnerable, and in Sri Lanka, among the most vulnerable are the odonates: dragonflies and damselflies.
- Increasingly unfavorable climate conditions mean that in their short life span of just a few weeks, they stand a lower chance of successful reproduction and higher odds of mortality, research has shown.
- A 2017 preliminary study in Sri Lanka using climate modeling of current and predicted climate data shows how the distribution ranges of threatened and endemic odonates will shrink by 2050, leading to local or even global extinctions.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Legendary entomologist Terry Erwin passes away at age 79
- The famed entomologist Terry L. Erwin died on May 11, 2020, at the age of 79.
- Erwin was a prolific scholar and is perhaps best known for his estimate of the number of species on the planet.
- At the time of his death, Erwin was serving as a researcher as well as the curator of the Coleoptera beetle collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
- Erwin is remembered by those who knew him as a passionate scientist with “a wonderfully generous spirit.”

Insects decline on land, fare better in water, study finds
- A meta-analysis has found that land-dwelling insect populations are decreasing by about 0.92% per year, which amounts to 50% fewer insects in 75 years.
- The numbers of insects that live in the water are on the rise by about 1.08% per year, a figure scientists attribute to effective water protection measures over the past 50 years.
- Habitat loss is associated with the decline of insects in this study.

‘Hummingbird’ spy creature films millions of monarchs taking flight
- An animatronic “hummingbird” equipped with a camera has been used to film a sea of monarch butterflies taking flight in their wintering grounds in Mexico.
- The “spy creature” technology is the latest by John Downer Productions, a pioneer in wildlife filming, and is featured in the PBS NATURE series “Spy in the Wild.”
- The series also makes use of other spy creatures to infiltrate groups of orangutans, meerkats, egrets, tortoises, sloths, cobras and hippos.

Bold project hopes to DNA barcode every species in Costa Rica
- A new project, BioAlfa, proposes to use DNA barcoding to identify Costa Rica’s million- plus species.
- BioAlfa argues that public availability of its barcoding will revolutionize how Costa Rica values its biodiversity.
- The project already has government approval and some seed funding. But it needs a total of $100 million for full implementation.

Move over, fishmeal: Insects and bacteria emerge as alternative animal feeds
- Fishmeal and fish oil are ingredients in pig and poultry feed, but the largest demand comes from aquaculture.
- Researchers and NGOs have questioned the sustainability of the fishmeal and fish oil industry, which deplete stocks of staple food fish for humans and marine predators alike, among its other impacts.
- Animal feed manufacturers around the world are now looking for alternatives to fishmeal and fish oil.
- Among the most promising alternatives are insects and bacteria, and production is beginning to take off.

Number of monarch butterflies wintering in Mexico down by more than half
- The number of monarch butterflies wintering in Mexico is down by more than half this year, according to new survey results.
- The area of forest inhabited by monarchs in Mexican forests is used as a proxy for estimating the monarch butterfly population. The survey found that the area of forest occupied by monarch butterflies during the 2019-2020 winter season was just 7 acres (2.83 hectares), a 53% decrease from the 2018-2019 season, when monarchs covered 15 acres (6.05 hectares) of forest.
- In a statement, Jorge Rickards, the managing director of WWF-Mexico, said that the decline in the monarch butterfly population wintering in Mexico is not necessarily a cause for alarm, but added that “we must remain vigilant and not allow it to become a trend in the coming years. Conservation is a long-term job.”

Costa Rica caterpillar decline spells trouble for ecosystems
- A new study in Scientific Reports suggests declines in caterpillar richness in a protected Costa Rican tropical rainforest, as well as in the parasite species that live off them.
- Researchers examined data from 1997 to 2018 to identify long-term patterns of extreme weather events and the impact these have on insect diversity.
- More than 40% of the 64 common caterpillar genera decreased, suggesting the decline of entire groups of caterpillars.

Extreme El Niño drought, fires contribute to Amazon insect collapse: Study
- A recent study found that dung beetle species experienced significant diversity and population declines in human-modified tropical Brazilian ecosystems in the aftermath of droughts and fires exacerbated after the 2015-2016 El Niño climate event.
- Forests that burned during the El Niño lost, on average, 64% of their dung beetle species while those affected only by drought showed an average decline of 20%. Dung beetles provide vital ecoservices, processing waste and dispersing seeds and soil nutrients.
- For roughly the past three years, entomologists have been sounding alarms over a possible global collapse of insect abundance. In the tropics, climate change, habitat destruction and pesticide use are having clear impacts on insect abundance and diversity. However, a lack of funds and institutional interest is holding back urgently needed research.

A new mantis species rises from the ashes of Brazil’s National Museum
- Researchers have described a new species of praying mantis from Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, adding to the 250 known mantis species native to the country.
- The new species, Vates phoenix, belongs to a genus previously only known to occur in the Amazon.
- The researchers named it in honor of the National Museum of Brazil, which caught fire in September of 2018, leading to the destruction of 20 million items, including part of the entomological collection.
- Months earlier, the researchers had borrowed mantis specimens from that very collection to help them confirm that they indeed had a new species.

Western monarch butterfly numbers critically low for second straight year
- The latest annual count of western monarch butterfly numbers at their overwintering sites on California’s Pacific coast has revealed a second consecutive tally of less than the critical threshold of 30,000.
- The group behind the count says that figure may be the tipping point for the species, below which the population decline would accelerate into a downward spiral.
- A major threat to the butterflies is the loss of suitable habitat; 20 of their overwintering sites have been damaged by human activity in the past five years, and the vast majority of the remaining 400 sites lack protection.
- Scientists are calling on farmers to minimize pesticide use and plant climate-adapted hedgerows; land managers to restore habitat by growing monarch-suited vegetation; and ordinary citizens to make their own small yet meaningful contributions.

New parasitoid wasp species discovered in Amazon manipulate host behavior in ‘complex way’
- Researchers have discovered 15 new wasp species in lowland Amazon rainforests and Andean cloud forests that parasitize spiders in a “complex way.”
- Female Acrotaphus wasps are known to attack spiders in their webs, temporarily paralyzing the arachnids with a venomous sting so they can lay a single egg on a spider. The wasp larva then hatches from the egg and gradually eats the spider before it pupates.
- According to study co-author Ilari E. Sääksjärvi, a professor of biodiversity research at the University of Turku, the 15 newly discovered species of Acrotaphus wasps control host spiders’ behavior in very particular ways in order to ensure the survival of their offspring.

Two deaths trigger alarm at Mexico’s Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve
- The body of Homero Gómez González, passionate defender the monarch butterfly and a Mexican reserve designed to protect it, was found on Jan. 29, two weeks after his disappearance was reported.
- Three days later, Raúl Hernández Romero, a tourist guide in the area, was also found dead, with evidence of violence.
- Homero Gómez, like other land-collective members in the area, collaborated in the creation of a model that seeks to help communities make sustainable use of forests.

Ghana’s government faces pushback in bid to mine biodiversity haven for bauxite
- Ghana’s Atewa Forest Reserve is home to dozens of endangered species — as well as a substantial bauxite deposit.
- Environmental impact assessments have not been completed, and conservationists and local communities reject the plan as a threat to the reserve, which is a noted biodiversity hotspot.
- The government claims it can mine the forest with minimal damage, yielding 150 million metric tons of bauxite that it will use to pay for a national infrastructure program.

Habitat loss, climate change make for an uncertain cricket harvest in Uganda
- Bush crickets are an important source of food – and income – in Uganda.
- Loss of forest and wetland habitat, as well as intensified harvesting, may lead to overexploitation.
- Entomologists at Makerere University are studying techniques to farm the insects.

Audio: The sounds of tropical katydids and how they can benefit conservation
- On today’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast we speak with Laurel Symes, a biologist who is using bioacoustics to study tropical katydids in Central America. She is also assistant director of the Center for Conservation Bioacoustics at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at Cornell University in the United States.
- Symes’ research is focused on using machine learning to detect and identify tropical katydids via the sounds they produce. Katydids are grasshopper-like insects that are important to the rainforest food web, as they eat alot of plants and are in turn eaten by alot of other species, including birds, bats, monkeys, frogs, and more.
- Symes is here today to discuss how the study of katydids might benefit tropical forest conservation efforts more broadly, how machine learning is aiding her bioacoustic work, and to plays for us some of the katydid sounds that she’s captured.

From scorpion skewers to cricket flour, bug protein is becoming big business
- In Southeast Asia and elsewhere, insects have long been an integral part of the human diet, and nowadays scorpions can be ordered on skewers, while ants fill spring rolls and silkworms star in croquettes.
- Insect protein is a sustainable, affordable, and nutritious alternative to conventional animal protein.
- Vietnam-based reporter Mike Tatarski visited insect hunters, purveyors, and Cricket One, one of the world’s largest cricket farms, to see how they are being caught and cultivated, and wonders about the tradition’s likelihood of spreading to the West.

Photos: Top 15 new species of 2019
- In 2019, Mongabay covered several announcements of new-to-science species.
- The “discovery” of a new-to-science species is always an awe-inspiring bit of news; the outcome of dogged perseverance, months or years of field surveys, and long periods of sifting through hundreds of museum records.
- In no particular order, we present our 15 top picks.

Deforestation for potential rubber plantation raises concerns in Papua New Guinea
- The project, ostensibly for a 125-square-kilometer (48-square-mile) rubber plantation, began in mid-2018.
- Satellite imagery shows that Maxland, working with a local landowner company, has built logging roads and deforested patches of the Great Central Forest on Manus Island.
- Like Papua New Guinea as a whole, Manus is home to a wide variety of unique wildlife — just one aspect of the forest on which human communities have depended for thousands of years.
- Government forestry and environment officials were aware of the importance of the forest and a local forest management committee protested the project before it began, but it’s been allowed to continue anyway.

As pesticide approvals soar, Brazil’s tapirs, bees, other wildlife suffer
- Brazil has been recognized as the world’s largest pesticide consumer since 2008, which has resulted in widespread application and in significant environmental contamination. Since then there has been an explosion of new pesticide registrations, first under President Michel Temer, now under Jair Bolsonaro.
- While research is scant, evidence points toward pesticide harm to Brazil’s wildlife, including the death of 500 million bees in four Brazilian states between December 2018 and February 2019. Another report found that 40 percent of samples collected from 116 tapirs were contaminated with insecticides, herbicides and heavy metals.
- High concentrations of the insecticide carbamate aldicarb were detected in 10 of 26 stomach content samples. Because the animals much prefer native vegetation to crops, this suggests that aerial spraying — with residue carried by wind — may be resulting in the spread of the pesticide from croplands into unsprayed natural areas.
- The Bolsonaro administration and bancada ruralista agribusiness lobby in Congress are moving rapidly to deregulate pesticides, especially pushing for passage of amendment 6299/2002, dubbed “The Poison Bill” by critics. It would transfer pesticide regulation to the Agriculture Ministry, a move that analysts decry as a serious conflict of interest.

Meet the new parasitic wasp species named ‘Idris elba’
- British actor Idris Elba has been nominated for four Golden Globe Awards and five Primetime Emmy Awards in addition to being named one of the “Sexiest Men Alive.” Now he’s been awarded an accolade that even he probably never dared aspire to: a parasitic wasp has been named in his honor.
- The genus Idris was first described in 1856 and today includes more than 300 species of wasp, all of which have only been known to parasitize spider eggs. Idris elba, on the other hand, was discovered in Mexico parasitizing the eggs of an invasive stink bug known as the bagrada bug (Bagrada hilaris), an invasive species native to Africa.
- Idris elba could potentially be a valuable part of natural solutions to controlling the B. hilaris population, as opposed to the insecticides currently in use, and reining in the destruction the stink bugs do to crops.

Feral horses gallop to the rescue of butterflies in distress
- A new study suggests that returning feral horses to grasslands in Czech Republic could increase populations of some threatened butterfly species.
- The research shows that the horses’ grazing creates and maintains short grasslands that some butterfly species thrive in.
- The research points to the importance of considering the impacts of species introductions on the restoration of natural ecosystems.

Fighting Africa’s fall armyworm invasion with radio shows and phone apps
- The invasive fall armyworm is native to the Americas and was first found in Africa in early 2016. It has since spread to nearly all of sub-Saharan Africa.
- Fall armyworm is a voracious pest of over 80 plant species including maize, millet, rice, and sorghum and has been causing food insecurity among smallholder African farmers.
- Due to a lack of extension agents and the rural locations of many farmers, international organizations and governments are looking toward other avenues for communicating with farmers, such as radio programs and phone apps.

New species of orange-red praying mantis mimics a wasp
- From the Peruvian Amazon, researchers have described a new-to-science species of bright orange-red praying mantis that conspicuously mimics a wasp.
- The mantis mimics not only the bright coloration of many wasps, but also a wasp’s short, jerky movements. Such conspicuous mimicry of wasps is rare among mantises, which usually tend to resemble leaves or tree trunks, the researchers say in a new study.
- The researchers have named the praying mantis Vespamantoida wherleyi.

A scramble for solutions as fall armyworm infestation sweeps Africa
- An infestation of fall armyworm has spread rapidly across Africa since it first appeared on the continent in 2016; it’s now been reported in 44 countries, with 80 different types of crops affected.
- For farmers and policymakers, the go-to solution has been to spray crops with pesticides, but researchers have warned of harm to farmers from unsafe use of the pesticides, as well as impacts on other insects that would otherwise keep the pests in check.
- Researchers have suggested a biocontrol solution — releasing large numbers of a wasp species known to infest fall armyworm eggs — but doubts remain about how effective it will be in a region with small farms and high crop diversity.
- There are also calls for better agronomic practices, such as more regular weeding of farms and crop rotation, to deny the pest a year-round supply of its preferred food.

Malaria surges in deforested parts of the Amazon, study finds
- A recent study found that deforestation significantly increases the transmission of malaria, about three times more than previously thought.
- The analysis showed that a 10 percent increase in deforestation caused a 3.3 percent rise in malaria cases.
- The study’s authors analyzed more than a decade of data showing the occurrences of malaria in nearly 800 villages, towns and cities across the Brazilian Amazon.
- They also controlled for the “feedback” from malaria, by which a rise in the incidence of the disease actually slows deforestation down.

Biodiversity boosts crop pollinators and pest controllers, study finds
- A new study looks at the reliance on biodiversity of ecosystem services provided by pollinating and pest-controlling insects.
- Up to half of the detrimental impacts of the “landscape simplification” that monocropping entails come as a result of a diminished mix of ecosystem service-providing insects.
- The scientists found that the reduction in ecosystem services provided by these insects tended to lead to lower crop yields.

Madagascar: What’s good for the forest is good for the native silk industry
- People in the highlands of central Madagascar have long buried their loved ones in shrouds of thick wild silk, typically from the endemic silkworm known as landibe (Borocera cajani).
- With support from NGOs, traditional silk workers have widened their offerings to include scarves made of wild silk for sale to tourists and the country’s elites.
- In recent years, the price of raw materials has shot up as the forests the landibe grows in succumb to fire and other threats, making it difficult for silk workers to continue their craft.
- However, where there are forest-management challenges, there is also opportunity: the silk business provides an incentive for local people to protect their trees. Some well-organized and well-supported community groups are cashing in on conservation, in spite of the broader silkworm recession.

Conservation tech prize with invasive species focus announces finalists
- The Con X Tech Prize announced its second round will fund 20 finalists, selected from 150 applications, each with $3,500 to create their first prototypes of designs that use technology to address a conservation challenge.
- Seven of the 20 teams focused their designs on reducing impacts from invasive species, while the others addressed a range of conservation issues, from wildlife trafficking to acoustic monitoring to capturing freshwater plastic waste in locally-built bamboo traps.
- Conservation X Labs (CXL), which offers the prize, says the process provides winners with very early-stage funding, a rare commodity, and recognition of external approval, each of which has potential to motivate finalists and translate into further funding.
- Finalists can also compete for a grand prize of $20,000 and product support from CXL.

Eat the insects, spare the lemurs
- To solve the twin challenges of malnutrition and biodiversity loss in Madagascar, new efforts are promoting edible insects as a way to take pressure off wildlife that people hunt for meat when food is scarce.
- Insects are widely eaten in Madagascar. They are also incredibly nutritious and one of the “greenest” forms of animal proteins in terms of their land, water and food requirements and their greenhouse gas emissions.
- One program is testing the farming of sakondry, a little-known hopping insect that tastes a lot like bacon. Another is setting up a network of cricket farms.
- Other attempts to reduce reliance on forest protein include improving chicken husbandry in rural areas.

Slight warming could be enough to heighten risk of malaria: Study
- New research has found that malaria parasites need less time to develop at lower temperatures than previously thought.
- Earlier research postulated that malaria transmission in cooler areas was unlikely because parasites took longer to mature than the lifespans of their mosquito hosts.
- The researchers found that the parasites needed between 31 and 37 days to develop at 18 degrees Celsius (64 degrees Fahrenheit) — substantially lower than the 56 days postulated by previous research and well within the lifespan of female mosquitoes.

New film details wrenching impact of illegal rhino horn trade on families
- A new short film, titled Sides of a Horn, looks at the impacts of the illegal trade of rhino horn on a community in South Africa.
- The 17-minute film follows two brothers-in-law, one who is a wildlife ranger and another who contemplates poaching as a way to pay for his ailing wife’s medical care.
- A trip to South Africa in 2016 inspired British filmmaker Toby Wosskow to write and direct the short feature, which was publicly released June 25.

Mongabay investigative series helps confirm global insect decline
- In a newly published four-part series, Mongabay takes a deep dive into the science behind the so-called “Insect Apocalypse,” recently reported in the mainstream media.
- To create the series, Mongabay interviewed 24 entomologists and other scientists on six continents and working in 12 nations, producing what is possibly the most in-depth reporting published to date by any news media outlet on the looming insect abundance crisis.
- While major peer-reviewed studies are few (with evidence resting primarily so far on findings in Germany and Puerto Rico), there is near consensus among the two dozen researchers surveyed: Insects are likely in serious global decline.
- The series is in four parts: an introduction and critical review of existing peer-reviewed data; a look at temperate insect declines; a survey of tropical declines; and solutions to the problem. Researchers agree: Conserving insects — imperative to preserving the world’s ecosystem services — is vital to humanity.

Primates lose ground to surging commodity production in their habitats
- “Forest risk” commodities, such as beef, palm oil, and fossil fuels, led to a significant proportion of the 1.8 million square kilometers (695,000 square miles) of forest that was cleared between 2001 and 2017 — an area almost the size of Mexico.
- A previous study found that 60 percent of primates face extinction and 75 percent of species’ numbers are declining.
- The authors say that addressing the loss of primate habitat due to the production of commodities is possible, though it will require a global effort to “green” the international trade in these commodities.

The Great Insect Dying: How to save insects and ourselves
- The entomologists interviewed for this Mongabay series agreed on three major causes for the ongoing and escalating collapse of global insect populations: habitat loss (especially due to agribusiness expansion), climate change and pesticide use. Some added a fourth cause: human overpopulation.
- Solutions to these problems exist, most agreed, but political commitment, major institutional funding and a large-scale vision are lacking. To combat habitat loss, researchers urge preservation of biodiversity hotspots such as primary rainforest, regeneration of damaged ecosystems, and nature-friendly agriculture.
- Combatting climate change, scientists agree, requires deep carbon emission cuts along with the establishment of secure, very large conserved areas and corridors encompassing a wide variety of temperate and tropical ecosystems, sometimes designed with preserving specific insect populations in mind.
- Pesticide use solutions include bans of some toxins and pesticide seed coatings, the education of farmers by scientists rather than by pesticide companies, and importantly, a rethinking of agribusiness practices. The Netherlands’ Delta Plan for Biodiversity Recovery includes some of these elements.

The Great Insect Dying: The tropics in trouble and some hope
- Insect species are most diverse in the tropics, but are largely unresearched, with many species not described by science. But entomologists believe abundance is being impacted by climate change, habitat destruction and the introduction of industrial agribusiness with its heavy pesticide use.
- A 2018 repeat of a 1976 study in Puerto Rico, which measured the total biomass of a rainforest’s arthropods, found that in the intervening decades populations collapsed. Sticky traps caught up to 60-fold fewer insects than 37 years prior, while ground netting caught 8 times fewer insects than in 1976.
- The same researchers also looked at insect abundance in a tropical forest in Western Mexico. There, biomass abundance fell eightfold in sticky traps from 1981 to 2014. Researchers from Southeast Asia, Australia, Oceania and Africa all expressed concern to Mongabay over possible insect abundance declines.
- In response to feared tropical declines, new insect surveys are being launched, including the Arthropod Initiative and Global Malaise Trap Program. But all of these new initiatives suffer the same dire problem: a dearth of funding and lack of interest from foundations, conservation groups and governments.

The Great Insect Dying: Vanishing act in Europe and North America
- Though arthropods make up most of the species on Earth, and much of the planet’s biomass, they are significantly understudied compared to mammals, plants, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish. Lack of baseline data makes insect abundance decline difficult to assess.
- Insects in the temperate EU and U.S. are the world’s best studied, so it is here that scientists expect to detect precipitous declines first. A groundbreaking study published in October 2017 found that flying insects in 63 protected areas in Germany had declined by 75 percent in just 25 years.
- The UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme has a 43-year butterfly record, and over that time two-thirds of the nations’ species have decreased. Another recent paper found an 84 percent decline in butterflies in the Netherlands from 1890 to 2017. Still, EU researchers say far more data points are needed.
- Neither the U.S. or Canada have conducted an in-depth study similar to that in Germany. But entomologists agree that major abundance declines are likely underway, and many are planning studies to detect population drops. Contributors to decline are climate change, pesticides and ecosystem destruction.

The Great Insect Dying: A global look at a deepening crisis
- Recent studies from Germany and Puerto Rico, and a global meta-study, all point to a serious, dramatic decline in insect abundance. Plummeting insect populations could deeply impact ecosystems and human civilization, as these tiny creatures form the base of the food chain, pollinate, dispose of waste, and enliven soils.
- However, limited baseline data makes it difficult for scientists to say with certainty just how deep the crisis may be, though anecdotal evidence is strong. To that end, Mongabay is launching a four-part series — likely the most in-depth, nuanced look at insect decline yet published by any media outlet.
- Mongabay interviewed 24 entomologists and researchers on six continents working in over a dozen nations to determine what we know regarding the “great insect dying,” including an overview article, and an in-depth story looking at temperate insects in the U.S. and the European Union — the best studied for their abundance.
- We also utilize Mongabay’s position as a leader in tropical reporting to focus solely on insect declines in the tropics and subtropics, where lack of baseline data is causing scientists to rush to create new, urgently needed survey study projects. The final story looks at what we can do to curb and reverse the loss of insect abundance.

The health of penguin chicks points scientists to changes in the ocean
- A recent closure of commercial fishing around South Africa’s Robben Island gave scientists the chance to understand how fluctuations in prey fish populations affect endangered African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) absent pressure from humans.
- The researchers found that the more fish were available, the better the condition of the penguin chicks that rely on their parents for food.
- This link between prey abundance in the sea and the condition of penguin chicks on land could serve as an indicator of changes in the ecosystem.

Interest in protecting environment up since Pope’s 2015 encyclical
- New research into the usage of environmentally related search terms on Google suggests that interest in the environment has risen since Pope Francis released Laudato Si’ in 2015.
- Laudato Si’, a papal encyclical, argues that it is a moral imperative for humans to look after the environment.
- Researchers and scholars believe that the pope’s support for protecting the environment could ripple well beyond the 16 percent of the world’s population that is Catholic.

’Unprecedented’ loss of biodiversity threatens humanity, report finds
- The U.N.’s Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services released a summary of far-reaching research on the threats to biodiversity on May 6.
- The findings are dire, indicating that around 1 million species of plants and animals face extinction.
- The full 1,500-page report, to be released later this year, raises concerns about the impacts of collapsing biodiversity on human well-being.

All you need is human feces: The strange world of dung beetle sampling
- Dung beetles have emerged as one of the most intensively studied animal groups in tropical rainforests.
- They are very easy and cheap to survey and are strong indicators of the health of rainforests and the presence of diverse mammal communities.
- Dung beetles also carry out critical roles and functions in rainforests, including spreading seeds and nutrients, but some of these are unraveling as humans drive species to extinction.

Scientists urge overhaul of the world’s parks to protect biodiversity
- A team of scientists argues that we should evaluate the effectiveness of protected areas based on the outcomes for biodiversity, not simple the area of land or ocean they protect.
- In a paper published April 11 in the journal Science, they outline the weaknesses of Aichi Biodiversity Target 11, which set goals of protecting 17 percent of the earth’s surface and 10 percent of its oceans by 2020.
- They propose monitoring the outcomes of protected areas that measure changes in biodiversity in comparison to agreed-upon “reference” levels and then using those figures to determine how well they are performing.

Hunting pumas to save deer could backfire, new research suggests
- A new study finds that the age of individual pumas near Jackson, Wyoming, had the greatest influence over the prey they chose to hunt.
- Older mountain lions went after elk, among the largest prey species in the study area, while the younger cats hunted small animals like raccoons as well as mule deer.
- The research calls into question the validity of recent wildlife management plans in the western United States to grow mule deer populations by culling mountain lions, the authors say.

We know why zebras got their stripes, but how do they work?
- Scientists have long wondered why zebras wear striped coats and a 2014 study might have finally supplied the answer: biting flies like glossinids (tsetse flies) and tabanids (horseflies) appear to be the “evolutionary driver” of the zebra’s stripes.
- Finding the answer to how zebras got their stripes led to another question: How exactly do stripes help zebras avoid biting insects?
- Tim Caro, a professor of wildlife biology at the University of California, Davis in the US, and Martin How, a researcher at the University of Bristol in the UK, led a new study to examine how stripes might deter biting flies as they attempt to land on zebras.

Grasshoppers: They come, they eat, they … pollinate?
- A new paper describes 41 species of orthopterans — grasshoppers, crickets and katydids — visiting flowers, making them potential pollinators.
- More research is needed to understand what role these insects, often viewed as crop destroyers, play in pollination.
- Insects worldwide are in crisis due to pesticide use, loss of habitat and climate change.

Butterfly business: Insect farmers help conserve East African forests
- As many as 1,200 people living around the forests of coastal Kenya and Tanzania have turned to butterfly farming to make a living. Many of them were once loggers who now defend the forest.
- Three butterfly-farming initiatives aim to conserve forests while generating sustainable incomes for local communities by raising and selling pupae to research institutes and butterfly houses in Europe and Turkey.
- The most successful of the initiatives is helping to conserve the 420 square-kilometer (162 square-mile) Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Reserve in Kilifi county, Kenya, the last large remnant of a forest that once stretched from southern Somalia to northern Mozambique.
- By contrast, the two Tanzanian projects are currently challenged by a government ban on wildlife exports.

Audio: Good news from Mexico monarch reserve despite looming deforestation, mine threat
- On today’s episode, we talk with Mongabay contributor Martha Pskowski, who recently traveled to central Mexico to report on threats to monarch butterflies in their overwintering grounds.
- Tourists typically arrive in droves to see the butterflies at the reserves set up in their overwintering grounds, and right now is a particularly good time to see the butterflies, as Mexico’s national commissioner for protected natural areas has announced that, after years of declines, the number of monarchs spending their winter in Mexico is up 144 percent from last year.
- As Pskowski found on her recent reporting trip to two different monarch butterfly reserves in the Mexican states of Michoacán and the State of Mexico, the annual arrival of the monarchs is a major component of the local economy, but the butterflies still face a variety of threats to their survival once they reach their overwintering grounds.

House of the Royal Lady Bee: Maya revive native bees and ancient beekeeping
- Melipona beecheii, called Xunan-Kab in the Yucatec Maya language, is one of 16 stingless bee species native to the rainforests of the Yucatán Peninsula in southern Mexico.
- Xunan-Kab, like other stingless bees, is a prolific rainforest pollinator critical to the local ecosystem, but deforestation is gravely impacting wild populations.
- Local beekeepers have kept domesticated colonies of Xunan-Kab for at least 3,000 years, but the practice declined strikingly in recent decades.
- Today, however, traditional Xunan-Kab husbandry is experiencing a modest revival, offering hope for Mayan communities and rainforests of the Yucatán Peninsula.

Cities could help conserve pollinator communities
- While cities are generally considered to be poorer in biodiversity than rural areas, new research finds that urban areas could actually play a key role in conserving pollinator communities.
- A team of researchers led by scientists at the UK’s University of Bristol studied pollinators and floral resources at 360 sites in four British cities representing all major urban land uses, including allotments (community gardens), cemeteries, gardens, man-made surfaces like parking lots, nature reserves and other green spaces, parks, sidewalks, and road verges.
- After sampling 4,996 insects and documenting 347 flower-visiting pollinator species interacting with 326 plant species, the researchers found that gardens and allotments provide especially good habitat for pollinators, and that lavender, borage, dandelions, thistles, brambles, and buttercups are important plant species for pollinator communities in cities.

How wasps saved Asia’s forests (commentary)
- In our recent study, we combined field observations and satellite imagery to show how the tiny pest-killing lopezi wasp (Anagyrus lopezi) helped combat deforestation in Thailand, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam by controlling a pest that was devastating cassava crops across the region.
- The world-hopping lopezi wasp is a beneficial insect whose arrival in Asia restored just one of the many ecological checks and balances that was lost when cassava and pink mealybug went intercontinental.
- Conservationists tend to be apprehensive about the use of exotic organisms for biological control — the purposeful and science-guided movement of species to control others. However, as we see with Thailand’s cassava, alien pests generally pose a much greater threat than do their cautiously selected enemies. Unlike the few catastrophes that emanated from misguided introductions in the early 1900s, recent biological control initiatives have been overwhelmingly effective.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Why are fewer monarch butterflies overwintering in Mexico?
- Fewer and fewer monarch butterflies are reaching their overwintering grounds in Mexico every year, and new research might shed light on why.
- A 2016 study found that the monarch population in Mexican overwintering colonies has declined by approximately 80 percent over the past two decades. Pinpointing the causes of this decline has proven difficult, however.
- A study published in the journal Animal Migration last month suggests a possible cause: The monarchs are simply finding places other than Mexico to spend the winter months, and possibly even giving up their migratory ways altogether, in order to survive.

Deforestation and mining threaten a monarch butterfly reserve in Mexico
- Despite their declining number, the annual spectacle of the monarch butterfly migration continues to captivate tourists. Tens of thousands visit Michoacán and the State of Mexico every year to see the sight.
- Extreme weather, deforestation, and herbicides are all reducing the butterfly population in North America. Another challenge is local: Mexico’s biggest mining company hopes to re-open a mine within the Biosphere Reserve, jeopardizing ongoing efforts to preserve the butterfly habitat.
- These latent threats feel far away as we walk through the Sierra Chincua butterfly sanctuary, but the Federal Police pick-up trucks parked at the sanctuary’s entrance are a constant reminder of the powerful interests that could target the monarch’s forest habitat.

Photos: Here are the winners of the 2018 British Ecological Society photo contest
- Chris Oosthuizen of South Africa’s University of Pretoria won the top prize in the British Ecological Society’s “Capturing Ecology” photo competition this year with an image of a single colorful adult king penguin amidst a crowd of brown-colored chicks on Marion Island, part of the Prince Edward Islands in the Indian Ocean.
- Oosthuizen is hopeful that the prize-winning photo might help draw attention to the challenges king penguins face due to the impacts of human activities. “Although the global population of king penguins is large, populations inhabiting islands around the Antarctic face an uncertain future,” he said.
- In total, some 16 images were recognized this year by the British Ecological Society. “Capturing flora and fauna from across the planet, subjects range from African wild dog research to an artistic take on Galapagos iguanas to images exploring the relationships between people and nature,” the group said in a statement.

Camera-wielding robot records effects of pesticide on bees’ behavior
- Bee populations are on the decline, and studies have linked this to the use of pesticides containing neonicotinoid compounds, which can impact insect behavior.
- Researchers built a robotic platform that allowed them to observe the impacts of neonicotinoid compounds on bumblebee behavior inside bee colonies over a 12-day period.
- The robotic observation platform held computer-programmed movable cameras that could monitor up to 12 colonies at a time, which included foraging and nesting chambers with simulated “daytime” and “nighttime” conditions.
- The team found that bumblebees exposed to environmentally realistic amounts of neonicotinoid compounds reduced their nursing and caretaking activities at night and were less able to regulate the colony’s temperature, among other behavioral changes that may impact their population.

These 4,000-year-old termite mounds are visible from space and still in use
- Some 200 million conical termite mounds rise from the ground in northeastern Brazil, each about 2 to 4 meters high and about 9 meters wide, visible on Google Earth.
- Researchers dated the soil from 11 of these mounds and found that the piles are up to about 4,000 years old, making them almost as ancient as the pyramids of Giza.
- The mounds are still inhabited by the termite species, Syntermes dirus, that first made them.
- The mounds themselves lack any definite internal architecture, but there are extensive networks of underground tunnels that the termites use to safely access fallen leaves on the forest floor.

Tsetse fly numbers dwindle in the warming Zambezi Valley
- Tsetse flies carry the microorganism that causes sleeping sickness in humans and livestock, but a recent study reveals that their numbers have dropped at a site in the Zambezi Valley as temperatures have climbed.
- Sleeping sickness, known also as trypanosomiasis, is a debilitating and potentially deadly disease to humans that also kills perhaps 1 million cattle each year.
- The study’s authors say that the decline of the tsetse in Zimbabwe’s Zambezi Valley might be accompanied by a rise in their numbers in cooler locales where they once weren’t as prevalent.

Machine-learning app to fight invasive crop pest in Africa
- To monitor the invasive fall armyworm caterpillar in Africa, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization and Pennsylvania State University have collaborated on an AI add-on to FAO’s existing phone app to help farmers detect agricultural pests.
- The fall armyworm, an invasive pest of over 80 plant species, is native to the Americas but reached Africa in early 2016 and has wreaked havoc on their maize, threatening food security.
- The add-on, called Nuru, identifies leaf damage in photos taken by farmers and sends information to authorities to help monitor the presence of the pest.
- Detecting the pest quickly can help reduce unnecessary pesticide use that can damage human and ecosystem health.

Scientists urge greater protection of Brazil’s secondary forests
- New research indicates that even after 40 years of recovery, fast-growing tropical forests in Brazil house far fewer species and sequester less carbon than their primary counterparts.
- The study finds the most-recovered secondary forests surveyed had around 80 percent the biodiversity and carbon of nearby primary forests.
- To allow greater recovery of secondary forests and the wildlife and carbon they house, the researchers say policies should be put in place to better protect these forests and give them the time they need to mature properly.
- However, they caution that enacting policy is only one part of the solution, and urge more funding and attention be given to monitoring and enforcement of forest protection regulations.

Crop losses to insects will accelerate as the globe warms: study
- Insects already eat between 5 and 20 percent of the most important grain crops produced around the world — and new research finds that they could be responsible for even more crop damage in the near future as global temperatures continue to rise.
- Insect-driven losses of wheat, rice, and maize — the three major grain crops, which together provide more than 40 percent of calories consumed by humans worldwide — will increase 10 to 25 percent for every degree Celsius the average surface temperature of planet Earth rises, according to a study published in Science late last month.
- While bug populations may actually decline in some tropical areas, major grain-producing regions in northern climates are projected to be among the hardest-hit.

A warmer climate tinkers with Arctic spider’s choice of prey
- A team of researchers found that higher temperatures led Arctic wolf spiders to eat fewer insect-like springtails in study plots.
- Springtails eat fungus, an essential decomposer in the Arctic ecosystem, so with more springtails around in the warmer study plots, there was less decomposition.
- The scientists suggest that this change in prey preference could modulate the effects of a warming climate on the carbon that’s released from the thawing tundra.

Scientists reveal yet another reason fig trees are titans of biodiversity
- Biologist David Mackay got a surprise when he began studying the birds visiting fig trees in his native Australia: While he expected to see plenty of species coming to eat the figs, he didn’t expect the insect eaters to outnumber them two-to-one.
- Mackay already knew that figs feed more bird species than any other fruit. His research, published in June, would show that fig trees are disproportionately important for insect-eaters, too. It adds to growing evidence that fig trees are titans of biodiversity with important roles to play in conservation.
- Altogether, Mackay recorded 55 bird species visiting Ficus rubiginosa fig trees to feed on insects. They included ten species — such as the superb fairy-wren and the shining bronze-cuckoo —whose recent declines in numbers have concerned conservationists.

Nearly four decades of cycling race video reveals climate change’s effects
- A team of ecologists has used video from key locations along the route of the annual Tour of Flanders cycling race to understand how plants are responding to regional rises in temperature.
- After watching more than 200 hours of footage from 36 years of the race, the team found that trees began producing flowers and sprouting leaves earlier in the season.
- By 2016, trees were 67 percent more likely to have produced leaves by the time of the race than in the 1980s. By comparison, few if any trees had leaves before 1990.
- The researchers believe that analyses of video from other cycling races and similar annual events could yield new insights into the ecological changes that temperature changes instigate.

The diversity of biodiversity: Connecting shrews, ants and slime molds with carbon storage
- Research has shown that, in some cases, high-carbon forests support high levels of biodiversity.
- But a recent study, which looked at a wide variety of species groups, demonstrates that regrowth forests can support a greater number of representatives of some species groups.
- The findings support the conclusion that recovering forests should be included in conservation planning alongside old-growth forests.

Study links malaria to deforestation in the Amazon
- A study published recently adds evidence to the argument that deforestation aids the spread of malaria.
- Researchers compared deforestation patterns to malaria rates in nine states in the Brazilian Amazon. They found that places with the highest incidences of malaria were impacted forest patches between 0.1 and 5 square kilometers in size.
- The researchers write that these forest patches contain the shaded, watery, forest-edge habitat preferred by the mosquitos that transmit malaria.
- To keep malaria from becoming an even bigger threat, the authors call for better monitoring of mosquito populations, land planning, and income generation schemes for forest-dwelling communities.

Audio: Seabird secrets revealed by bioacoustics in New Zealand
- Megan Friesen is a behavioral ecologist who is currently working with the Northern New Zealand Seabird Trust to examine the breeding behaviors of a Pacific seabird species called Buller’s shearwater.
- In this Field Notes segment, Friesen explains why bioacoustics are so important to the research she and the Northern New Zealand Seabird Trust are doing, and plays recordings of the birds from both of the islands where it breeds.
- Plus the top news and inspiration from nature’s frontline!

New species of Malaysian water beetle named after Leonardo DiCaprio
- A new species of water beetle has been named after actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio.
- The species was discovered in Borneo during a survey organized by Taxon Expeditions, which sets up trips for citizen scientists to discover undescribed species.
- The discoverers chose to honor DiCaprio for his support of environmental causes.

Pesticides banned by EU for their potential harm to bees
- The EU will ban three commonly used pesticides by the end of 2018 in a bid to protect bee populations.
- A committee passed the measure with a majority vote after research emerged earlier this year demonstrating that each compound posed a threat to wild bees and honeybees (Apis mellifera), whose pollination services are critical for crop production.
- Environmental and consumer groups applauded the decision.
- But several groups representing farmers voiced concerns about how effectively the measure would improve bee health, as well as the difficulty its passage posed to farmers who depend on using these pesticides.

New species of ‘exploding ant’ discovered in Borneo
- Researchers have revealed a new species of exploding ant, which they discovered living in the rainforest canopy of Brunei on the island of Borneo.
- Named Colobopsis explodens, the new ant ruptures its abdomen when threatened, killing itself in the process. This rupturing releases a sticky, yellow, toxic goo that has a spicy smell.
- The researchers expect more exploding ant species will be described in the near future.

Global warming may poison monarch butterflies, study finds
- Monarch numbers have plummeted in recent decades and scientists think it’s due in large part to the reduction of milkweed in the U.S. and Canada from increased herbicide use, as well as deforestation of monarch overwintering grounds in Mexico.
- A recently published study finds a new threat: warming temperatures may be making milkweed, the only plant monarch caterpillars can eat, too toxic for the butterflies.
- The researchers estimate that at current warming rates in the southern U.S., tropical milkweed will be too toxic for monarchs within 40 years.
- Monarchs prefer tropical milkweed to native species and the plant is now widespread throughout the southern U.S.

Yellow fever may threaten biophilia in São Paulo city (commentary)
- Reconciling biodiversity conservation and urban development is one of the biggest challenges for humanity, considering that by 2030, 60 percent of people globally are expected to live in cities.
- There are currently numerous forest fragments rooted in an urban matrix. On the one hand, these remnant forests confer many benefits on human society. One the other hand, forests may cause biophobias related to human fear and avoidance of some animals, misconceptions about animals’ risks, and the association of forest with dangerous and unsafe areas.
- A recent increase of yellow fever cases in highly urbanized cities in Brazil’s Atlantic forest – a tropical hotspot of biodiversity – can threaten the balance between biophilia and biophobia.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

More than 40 percent of Madagascar’s freshwater life sliding toward extinction, IUCN finds
- In an assessment of 653 freshwater plant and animal species living on Madagascar and nearby islands, biologists found that 43 percent are threatened with extinction or there isn’t enough information to assess how well they’re doing.
- Nearly 80 percent of endemic plants examined in the study face extinction.
- The team lists unsustainable farming practices, deforestation, dam construction, mining and the overuse of natural resources, such as overfishing, as causes for the widespread declines.

Europe’s beetle species plummet as trees disappear
- A new report by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) finds nearly 18 percent of saproxylic beetles are threatened with extinction in Europe. That number goes up to almost 22 percent for the EU as a whole.
- Of Europe’s threatened species, the 2018 report finds five are critically endangered, up from two in 2010. Of these, four are endemic, meaning they are found nowhere else in the world. In the EU overall, the IUCN lists seven species as critically endangered, up from three in 2010.
- Saproxylic beetles live in and eat dead and decaying wood, and play important ecological roles such as nutrient recycling, pollination and as an important food source for birds and other wildlife.
- The IUCN says that to stave of greater declines and help saproxylic beetles bounce back, land management should make sure each square kilometer of land contains a mix of trees of different ages, including standing and fallen dead trees.

New study: Radar reveals bats are a bellwether of climate change
- New research indicates that bats could signal seasonal shifts due to climate change.
- The study, published in the journal Global Change Biology, is the first to use radar to track an animal migration.
- The scientists found that bats that migrate between Mexico and a cave in Texas are now arriving about two weeks earlier than they did in 1995.

Land plants may have evolved much earlier than we thought
- The results of a new study push back the date of emergence of land plants around 80 million years to approximately 500 million years ago.
- This new date coincides with the emergence of the first land animals.
- The study also finds the earliest land plants may have had roots. Plant roots are a powerful erosive force, and the researchers believe these plants could have had a big impact on the Earth’s climate.

‘Photo Ark’ a quest to document global biodiversity: Q&A with photographer Joel Sartore and director Chun-Wei Yi
- The film “RARE: Creatures of the Photo Ark” follows National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore as he travels the world snapping pictures of thousands of different animal species.
- In the last 12 years, Sartore has photographed nearly 8,000 species.
- “RARE: Creatures of the Photo Ark” was named Best Conservation Film at the New York WILD Film Festival.

Tree-dwelling animals can ‘climb’ away from climate change, study finds
- A new study has found that the temperature within a tropical forest varies considerably, with tree canopies experiencing wider extremes of heating and cooling compared to the ground or soil.
- The range of canopy temperatures in tropical forests at the bottom of mountains overlaps considerably with those at the top of the mountains, which suggests that canopy animals likely have the physiology that might allow them to move across a mountain gradient freely unhindered by the climate.
- This implies that tree-dwelling tropical animals might be more resilient to climate change, according to the study.

Moth rediscovered in Malaysia mimics appearance and behavior of bees to escape predators
- The Oriental blue clearwing (Heterosphecia tawonoides) was rediscovered in Malaysia’s Taman Negara National Park by Marta Skowron Volponi, a Ph.D. student at Poland’s University of Gdansk and lead author of a paper about the moth recently published in the journal Tropical Conservation Science.
- The moths have legs like bees, bright blue bands on their abdomens (bees in Southeast Asia can be a variety of colors, including blue), and furry bodies that resemble those of bees — though the moths’ “fur” is actually elongated scales.
- While the conservation status of the moths is unknown, Skowron Volponi found that the Oriental blue clearwing’s preferred habitat seems to be the banks of clean watercourses flowing through the primary rainforests of Malaysia — a country with one of the highest deforestation rates in the world.

Scientists surprised by orchid bee biodiversity near oil palm plantations
- A recent study finds orchid bee diversity is supported by forest patches along rivers near oil palm plantations in Brazil.
- The study lends evidence that remnant patches of forest support the movement and survival of plant and animal species in deforested landscapes.
- Brazil’s new forest code revisions greatly reduce or eliminate the requirement for some agricultural producers to maintain river forest patches.

Light pollution lures nighttime pollinators away from plants
- Over the last two decades, nighttime light emissions in North America and Europe have increased by more than 70 percent.
- This artificial light lures moths and other insect pollinators away from plants, a new study shows.
- This effect may also make daytime pollinators less efficient, posing a further threat to plants and global food security.

‘Decimated’: Germany’s birds disappear as insect abundance plummets 76%
- A new study in PLOS ONE reveals a 76 percent reduction in Germany’s flying insect biomass over the past 27 years while another reports the country’s bird abundance has declined 15 percent in just over a decade.
- While the causes behind the insect decline haven’t yet been conclusively studied, the PLOS ONE study suggests agricultural intensification like increased pesticide use may be contributing to the decline.
- Neonicotinoid pesticides have been blamed for bee declines, and studies also link them to declines in aquatic insect communities. Many flying insects have aquatic life stages.
- More research is underway to better understand the causes and ramifications of such a big decline in flying insect biomass.

Conserving habitat not enough to help species cope with climate change
- New research finds that habitat-based conservation strategies don’t adequately compensate for the range that species in three groups stand to lose due to climate change.
- The team of scientists based in Austria looked at the effects of climate change on 51 species of grasshoppers, butterflies and vascular plants living in central Europe.
- Habitat-based conservation can provide a lifeline, but their model predicts that it won’t be enough to prevent some species from regional extinction.

North America’s ash trees, Africa’s antelopes face heightened threat of extinction
- The latest update to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, released today, finds that even species once considered so abundant as to be safe have been put at risk of extinction by human activities and their impacts on the environment.
- Five of the six most widespread and valuable ash tree species in North America have declined so severely due to an invasive beetle that they have now been entered onto the Red List as Critically Endangered, the last threat level before extinction in the wild.
- Five African antelopes also had their threat status upgraded in the latest Red List update, among them the Giant Eland (Tragelaphus derbianus), previously listed as Least Concern but now Vulnerable, and the Mountain Reedbuck (Redunca fulvorufula), also previously listed as Least Concern but now assessed as Endangered.

How animals react to a solar eclipse
- On Monday, August 21, people living within a narrow 70-mile-wide band across the United States will see a total solar eclipse.
- Studies on how a solar eclipse affects animals or plants are sparse, mainly because an eclipse event is rare and credible observations are difficult to make.
- But we present five examples of what some researchers have observed and recorded in the past few decades.

Study finds hundreds of thousands of tropical species at risk of extinction due to deforestation
- Scientists have long believed that the rate at which we are destroying tropical forests, and the habitat those forests represent, could drive a global mass extinction event, but the extent of the potential losses has never been fully understood.
- John Alroy, a professor of biological sciences at Australia’s Macquarie University, examined local-scale ecological data in order to forecast potential global extinction rates and found that hundreds of thousands of species are at risk if humans disturb all pristine forests remaining in the tropics.
- Mass extinction will occur primarily in tropical forests because Earth’s terrestrial biodiversity is so heavily concentrated in those ecosystems, Alroy notes in the study.

Environmental costs, benefits and possibilities: Q&A with anthropologist Eben Kirksey
- The environmental humanities pull together the tools of the anthropologist and the biologist.
- Anthropologist Eben Kirksey has studied the impact of mining, logging and infrastructure development on the Mee people of West Papua, Indonesia, revealing the inequalities that often underpins who benefits and who suffers as a result of natural resource extraction.
- Kirksey reports that West Papuans are nurturing a new form of nationalism that might help bring some equality to environmental change.

Newly discovered beetle catches a ride on the backs of army ants to get around
- “From above it is difficult to detect the parasite, because the beetle closely resembles the ant’s abdomen,” von Beeren said in a statement. “When viewed from the side, however, it looks as if the ants had a second abdomen. To our surprise the odd looking ‘ant abdomens’ turned out to be beetles.”
- In a BMC Zoology article, von Beeren and his co-author, Alexey Tishechkin of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Systematic Entomology Laboratory, write that what they’d observed was an “exceptional mechanism of phoresy,” which is when two organisms form a symbiotic relationship in which one (in this case, the beetle) travels on the body of another.
- The new beetle, named Nymphister kronaueri after Daniel Kronauer, an army-ant researcher at The Rockefeller University in New York who first discovered the species, uses its strong mandibles to anchor itself to ants’ bodies during the nomadic army ants’ regular emigrations to new nesting sites.

Trump administration delays listing of rusty patched bumblebee as endangered
- In January, 2017, the US FWS declared that it was placing the rusty patched bumblebee on the U.S. endangered species list.
- The listing would have taken effect today, making it the first wild bee species to be declared endangered in the continental US.
- But the USFWS has tentatively postponed the bee’s listing from February 10 to March 21.

Scientists launch expedition to find missing monkeys
- Vanzolini’s bald-faced saki hasn’t been seen since scientists first discovered it in western Brazil in the 1930s.
- Navigating along the Rio Juruá and its tributaries, the expedition will be the first comprehensive biological survey of the region.
- Its international team of researchers hopes to uncover the saki, as well as other yet-undocumented species, while calling conservation attention to the river and surrounding rainforest.

Birds wanted: Recovering forests need avian assist
- Clearing swaths of rainforests can permanently drive away or kill off birds that are important partners in the regeneration of the forest, the study finds.
- The study surveyed 330 sites in the Brazilian Amazon, turning up 472 species of birds.
- The analyses demonstrate that recovering forests don’t have the diversity of birds needed to ensure their survival.
- The authors say that their findings point to a need to preserve standing forests, even if they’re heavily degraded.

Audio: E.O. Wilson talks about Half-Earth, Trump, and more
- We also welcome back to the Newscast Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Butler, who will be answering a reader question about the sounds you can hear in the background at the start of every episode.
- Want to write about Central America for Mongabay? Inquire within!
- All that plus the top news on this episode of the Newscast.

Rusty patched bumblebee now first bee to be listed as endangered in continental U.S.
- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced the endangered designation on Tuesday.
- The final rule listing the rusty patched bumblebee as endangered appeared in the Federal Register the following day and will take effect on February 10.
- According to FWS Midwest Regional Director Tom Melius, the bumblebee is among a group of pollinators, which also includes the monarch butterfly, whose populations have declined sharply across the country.

Photos: Top 20 new species of 2016
- This year, scientists discovered and described several thousand new species of animals and plants.
- Many of these new species are already on the brink of extinction, threatened by poaching, illegal wildlife trade, habitat destruction and diseases.
- Mongabay presents the top new species discovered in 2016.

Hunted to the brink: Mammals in crisis
- A study pulling together information on threatened land mammals found that hunting for meat and medicine is driving 301 toward extinction.
- The authors raise concerns about food security for humans and ecosystem collapse if we don’t prevent this crisis for mammals.
- Proposed solutions include shoring up international markets for bushmeat and animal body parts, investments in laws and enforcement to protect wildlife, and increased education about the scale of the problem.

Two species of beetles go extinct in the US, one gets protection
- Two beetle species found only in the U.S — the Stephan’s riffle beetle and the Tatum Cave beetle — are now officially extinct, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced on October 5.
- The delay in listing these beetles for protection under the Endangered Species Act may have contributed to their extinction, according to the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD).
- The Miami tiger beetle from Florida has now been listed as “endangered” under the ESA, following a petition for its listing by CBD and other conservation groups.

For the first time, bees get added to US endangered species list
- The seven species — Hylaeus anthracinus, H. assimulans, H. facilis, H. hilaris, H. kuakea, H. longiceps, and H. mana — are native only to Hawaii and inhabit diverse habitats such as coasts, dry forests, and subalpine shrublands.
- These bees pollinate a variety of native plant species, including some of Hawaii’s most endangered plant species, which could become extinct if the bees were wiped out.
- However, like many other wild bees in North America that are on the decline, Hawaiian yellow-faced bee numbers too are dwindling and their populations are now very small and extremely vulnerable to slight habitat changes.

Canada’s eastern boreal forest could become a climate change refuge
- The boreal biome is circumglobal, ringing the planet’s northern regioms. It contains 33 percent of the world’s forests, which sequester 22 percent of the total carbon absorbed annually by forest ecosystems.
- The study looked at spruce forests in Quebec, finding that they may actually respond well to rising temperatures.
- But other factors such as insect infestations and changing fire regimes may affect the ability of eastern spruce forests to acclimate.

Rare moth vanishing from its last site in England
- The rare moth is limited to just one location in England—Strensall Common, a protected area of lowland heath close to the city of York.
- But moth numbers are declining by an average of 30-35 percent per year.
- The moths’ rapid decline is most likely being driven by a reduction in its host plant—the Creeping Willow, researchers say.

Sub-Saharan African countries most vulnerable to invasive crop pests
- In the first study of its kind, scientists looked at 1,300 insect and fungal pathogens, and found that almost a third of the 124 countries included in the study have a high risk of being invaded by at least one of the pathogens.
- China and the United States are the top two potential source countries for the pests, according to the study.
- Big agricultural producers like China, the U.S., India and Brazil would suffer the greatest monetary losses from invasive crop pests, the study found. But developing countries located in sub-Saharan Africa are the most vulnerable to these pests in terms of relative cost.

Top 10 stories you should be aware of this World Oceans Day, according to Carl Safina
- Safina’s latest book, Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel, came out in 2015, and is due for a paperback release on July 12 via Picador.
- “It’s about the thought and emotional range of non-human animals, but including humans,” Safina told Mongabay.
- Safina’s list of stand-out stories includes several oceans and marine life stories, a couple that just show how similar to humans animals can really be, and a few that will interest anyone concerned with the plight of the natural world.

Reestablishing a wild population of American burying beetles
- American burying beetles (Nicrophorus americanus) were once found throughout the eastern United States but now inhabit only 10 percent of their historical range due to habitat degradation and increasing competition for prey by mammalian scavengers, among other factors.
- The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) designated the beetles as endangered in 1986. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) initiated the current project to save the species from extinction shortly thereafter.
- This is the fourth year in a row in which the Zoo has released members of its captive breeding population of the insects back into nature.

Building roads for agricultural expansion in Brazil is aiding the spread of insects that harm crops
- Scientists studied an explosion in the population of leaf-cutter ants along roadsides in the Brazilian Cerrado.
- Though it is an iconic and ecologically important species, leaf-cutter ants can cause millions of dollars in crop losses each year even when highly toxic pesticides are in use.
- The researchers are warning of severe ecological and economic impacts as new roads in the Cerrado facilitate the expansion of leaf-cutters into more cropland.

Are Europe’s Ash trees headed towards extinction?
- Ash trees, the second most abundant trees in Europe, are quickly being pushed towards extinction by the invasive emerald ash borer beetle and the fungus causing ash dieback.
- In Britain, ash dieback could result in up to 95 percent mortality, study notes.
- The emerald ash borer beetle is yet to reach U.K., but it is rapidly spreading westwards across Europe. The beetle could be potentially as devastating as ash dieback, if not more, researcher says.

Alaska’s first new butterfly species in decades could be rare hybrid
- Researchers have named the new species the Tanana Arctic (Oeneis tanana).
- This is the first new butterfly species to be described from Alaska in 28 years, the authors say, and may be Alaska’s only endemic butterfly, which means that it is found nowhere else on earth.
- The team thinks that the Tanana Arctic could have evolved from the offspring of two related butterfly species – the Chryxus Arctic and the White-veined Arctic – during the last ice age period.

Expedition finds butterfly bonanza in Bolivian national park (PHOTOS)
- Identidad Madidi is currently in the midst surveying Madidi National Park’s diverse ecosystems for plants and animals.
- The expedition has registered many new records for the park, including several species new to science.
- Scientists on a multi-year expedition in Bolivia’s Madidi National Park have recorded nearly a thousand species of butterflies – with many more expected to come.

A forest full of beetles: an interview with bug researcher Caroline Chaboo
- Caroline Chaboo has been documenting beetle diversity in the Peruvian forests since 2008.
- She focuses on leaf beetles, one of the most commonly encountered groups of beetles.
- Mongabay spoke with Chaboo about her love for beetles, and her work in Peru.

To stop the Zika virus from spreading in Brazil, specialists call for an ‘environmental revolution’
- The spread of the mosquito is not only caused by weather conditions and by a lack of awareness, but by a deep and environmental problem in Brazil.
- Urbanization in Brazil has led to the deforestation of large green areas, destroying the ecosystems in which the mosquitos and its predators used to reproduce.
- An estimated half of the world’s population lives in areas where mosquitoes that can spread Zika are prevalent, and the WHO is concerned the number of cases could jump to four million this year in the Western Hemisphere alone.

Toxic beetles and poisonous plants: Study reveals how southern Africa’s ‘bushmen’ make deadly poison arrows
- A new study sheds light on how Kalahari’s San peoples source and prepare poison for poison arrows.
- Some communities use toxic beetle larvae, such as those of Diamphidia, as well as plant poisons, such as the juice of Sansevieria aethiopica plants to help reinforce the quality of the poison, researchers have found.
- Knowledge about the toxic component in the poisonous beetles and plants could potentially have medical applications, researchers add.

Focus on breeding sites and biodiversity to control Zika, says leading entomologist
- Healthy landscapes that are rich in biodiversity and clean of plastic, rather than widespread spraying of pesticides, is the key to controlling mosquito-borne diseases like malaria and Zika virus, according to a leading epidemiologist.
- When present in healthy numbers, beneficial species such as bats, birds and geckos will consume vast quantities of adult mosquitoes, while birds, fish, dragonfly nymphs and diving beetles devour the larvae.
- People are working on solutions, and Cathy Watson runs down some of the most promising.

Scientists survey 50 Americans homes, find more than 500 kinds of arthropods
- In the first study of its kind, a team of entomologists scanned a total of 554 rooms in 50 homes in Raleigh, U.S., and collected arthropod specimens from all visible surfaces, including under and behind furniture, around baseboards, ceilings, shelves, and inside closets.
- The surveys resulted in a haul of over 10,000 arthropod specimens belonging to 304 different families.
- Typical household pests were either uncommon or totally absent from the homes, suggesting that the majority of bugs found in homes are not direct pests and do nothing but exist alongside us, researcher says.

Why should I care about endangered species?
- Studies have found that unchecked deforestation and species extinctions will directly impact human well-being.
- Even little-known species can provide surprising benefits for humans, such as drugs that combat cancer.
- The benefits of protecting species may not be immediately evident, but the countless ecosystem services many animals and ecosystems provide make wildlife conservation worth the time and money.

Groups plan to sue U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to protect Monarch butterfly under Endangered Species Act
- Following dramatic decline in monarch butterfly populations in the last two decades, the Center for Biological Diversity and Center for Food Safety had filed a petition with the U.S. FWS in August 2014 requesting that the service list the monarch as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.
- However, 12 months have passed, and the agency has failed to submit its “12-month finding” of the official review launched in December 2014, which the groups say is in violation of the ESA.
- If the U.S. FWS fails to correct this violation, or agree to discuss a schedule for completing the overdue finding, within 60 days, the two groups will pursue litigation against the agency.

60 new species of dragonflies discovered in Africa
- Naturalists Klaas-Douwe B. Dijkstra, Jens Kipping and Nicolas Mézière scanned through swamps and streams in Africa and discovered 60 new species of dragonflies and damselflies in varied habitats.
- Mézière, a school teacher, found 18 of the 60 new species, all in Gabon.
- The team named one species, the Robust Sparklewing Umma gumma from central Africa after the classic 1969 album by Pink Floyd.

Photos: The top 20 new species of 2015
- While the threat of extinction looms closer than ever for many species, 2015 was not all gloom.
- Scientists discovered thousands of new species this year, some seen and classified for the first time and completely novel to science.
- Below are Mongabay’s top picks for species discoveries in 2015.

Birds, butterflies, and flowers might be blander than expected in the tropics
- Scientists have commonly believed life is more colorful in the tropics.
- A study tested that assumption by measuring color properties in hundreds of species of butterflies, birds, and flowers spanning many latitudes in eastern Australia.
- The most vivid organisms dwelled in temperate regions instead of tropical ones, but whether that’s true elsewhere is still up for debate.

The impacts of haze on Southeast Asia’s wildlife
- Authorities and researchers are still shockingly ignorant of the ecological impacts of the smoke from Indonesia’s annual fires.
- Some creatures are likely finding it harder to sing, which is often crucial for attracting mates, defending territory and more.
- An orangutan disease called airsacculitis might be more prevalent during the smoky season.

Wolves of the microscopic world: new Dracula ant species found in Madagascar
- Researchers have discovered and described six new species of ants belonging to the genus Prionopelta.
- Commonly, known as ‘Dracula Ants’ for their unique feeding behavior, these new members of Prionopelta have been found to be tiny, ferocious social predators living in Madagascar.
- The research conducted on these ants is part of an ongoing effort to further understand, and educate others about, Malagasy biodiversity.

A surprising threat to Monarch butterfly survival — tropical milkweed
- Scientists believe that increased plantings of Asclepias curassavica, commonly known as ‘tropical milkweed’, in the U.S. South has prompted a population of formerly migrating Monarchs to overwinter.
- These overwintering populations of Monarchs unexpectedly suffer from higher rates of disease and parasitic infection, as well as altering infectious disease dynamics among still-migrating Monarchs.
- For now, Southeasterners wishing to support Monarchs should be sure to only plant native milkweeds, avoiding the tropical varieties.

Curb climate change or lose bumblebees, blueberries, tomatoes

According to a comprehensive new study published in the journal Science, bumblebees are particularly vulnerable to climate change disruptions. Historical bumblebee ranges have shrunk on their extreme southern edge, while species to the north fail to adapt with any significant migration into cooler regions. “Climate change appears to contribute, distinctively, and consistently, to… range compression […]
‘Land sparing’ vs. ‘land sharing’: scientists weigh in on how to improve biodiversity on farms

Cornfields in Iowa. Photo credit: David Gonthier. To protect natural ecosystems in the long term, some conservationists advocate "land sparing," in which farmers intensify agricultural practices to boost yields, theoretically enabling them to forgo expansion into natural areas. Others advocate "land sharing," in which farmers take over more land but use low-intensity, more environmentally friendly […]
Your name here: auctioning the naming rights to new species to fund conservation

A newly discovered beetle species, Cactopinus rhettbutleri, was named after mongabay.com’s founder to fund the preservation of Ethiopian forests. Meg Lowman is on a mission to save northern Ethiopia’s church forests, one at a time. Numbering around 3,500, these small “sacred” patches of forest surrounding churches are isolated natural oases in Ethiopia’s otherwise mostly agricultural […]
Halloween in the Amazon: baby bird dresses up like killer caterpillar

A cinereous mourner nestling that resembled a toxic caterpillar in the Megalopygidae family of moths. Photo by: Santiago David Rivera. “Mama, I wanna be a toxic caterpillar,” says the little bird. “Okay,” mamma answers, “but first you gotta study your Batesian mimicry.” Meet the cinereous mourner (Laniocera hypopyrra), an ash-colored, Amazonian bird that looks rather […]
Even cockroaches have personalities

When I was ten, I acquired my first dog. Rani was a Doberman Pinscher—tall, lean, and a huge pushover. She was wonderfully friendly, but sadly misunderstood her whole life, regularly frightening all except those who knew her intimately. There were two innocuous reasons for this—both of which reveal the power of emotions shared across species. […]
Cunning carnivorous plants catch more prey by letting some go

Nepenthes rafflesiana, a large pitcher plant commonly found in swampy forests of Borneo. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Pitcher plants (Nepenthes species) have long captivated our fascination. Typically growing in acidic and nutrient-poor soils, they have developed the ability to eat insects and other small prey to supplement their diets. Nepenthes grow modified leaf structures […]
Pollinator collapse could lead to a rise in malnutrition

A bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) covered in pollen. Photo by: P7r7/Creative Commons 3.0 Saving the world’s pollinators may be a public health issue, according to recent research from Harvard and the University of Vermont. Scientists have long believed that pollinators are important for human nutrition, but this is first time they have tested the hypothesis. What […]
How termites hold back the desert

Palm tree and termite mound: typical scenery in Okavango Delta in Botswana. Photo by Tiffany Roufs. Some termite species erect massive mounds that look like great temples springing up from the world’s savannas and drylands. But aside from their aesthetic appeal—and incredible engineering—new research in Science finds that these structures, which can stand taller than […]
Monarch butterfly population rises a little, but still perilously low

Monarch butterfly population is second lowest on record The shrinking of the migrating monarch butterfly population. Image by: WWF. The world’s migrating monarch butterfly population has bounced back slightly from its record low last year, but the new numbers are still the second smallest on record. According to WWF-Mexico and the Mexican government, butterflies covered […]
Two vanishing prairie butterflies added to the Endangered Species Act

First female Dakota skipper reared at the Minnesota Zoo. Photo by: Erik Runquist/Minnesota Zoo. This fall, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service added two little-known prairie butterflies to the Endangered Species Act. One of the species, the Poweshiek skipperling (Oarisma poweshiek), may be down to only a few hundred individuals. The Dakota skipperling (Hesperia dacotae) […]
Google Earth used to identify environmentally important termite mounds

In woodland and savannah areas, certain termite species play a critical environmental role due to the mounds they build. These mounds can be used as fertilizer to induce new ecosystems, and the termites themselves can be studied as biological indicators of human-caused degradation. Detecting the amount and distribution of these mounds throughout an area can […]
To collect or not to collect? Experts debate the need for specimens

Modern day expeditions face a collection dilemma as scientists consider ethics and endangerment A tray of Eriocnemis (a genus of hummingbird) specimens, Swedish Museum of Natural History – Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet,Stockholm, CC BY-SA 3,0 License, Wikimedia. In 1912, a group of intrepid explorers led by Rollo and Ida Beck, widely acknowledged to be the foremost marine […]
Pollinators puzzle to find flowers amidst natural and human fumes

While unpleasant car exhaust makes us wrinkle our noses, such human-made fumes may pose serious problems to insects searching for nectar. Researchers recently revealed that background odors make finding flowers difficult for pollinators. The study, published in Science, measured how hawk moths (Manduca sexta) pick out the sacred datura flower scent (Datura wrightii) amidst all […]
Gone for good: world’s largest earwig declared extinct

A female common earwig (Forficula auricularia) in defensive posture. The world’s largest earwig has been declared extinct. Photo by: Public Domain. The world has lost a giant: this week the IUCN Red List officially declared St. Helena giant earwig (Labidura herculeana) extinct. While its length of 80 millimeters (3.1 inches) may not seem like much, […]
Pesticides harm bumblebees’ ability to forage

Bumblebees exposed to pesticides suffered adverse effects to their foraging behavior, according to a new study co-authored by Nigel Raine and Richard Gill in the journal Functional Ecology. Bumblebees (Bombus terrestis) are essential insect pollinators that are vital to healthy crop yields and biodiversity, but their populations have been in decline. The loss of bumblebees […]
Termites suffer in logged forests and palm oil plantations

Ants appear more resilient to forest degradation than termites Scientists have long studied how birds, mammals, and amphibians respond to forest degradation, but what about the most abundant animals in the forest? Insects. A new study in Biodiversity and Conservation looks at how ants and termites reacted to forest changes in Malaysian Borneo. “It was […]
‘Canary in the cornfield’: monarch butterfly may get threatened species status

Species declined 90 percent in 20 years Monarch butterflies were once a common sight throughout the North American heartland. In Mexico, where they overwinter, single trees would often be covered in thousands. But declines in milkweed – their caterpillars’ only source of food – have led to a 90 percent decline in monarch numbers. Now, […]
Scientists honor missing activist by naming a spider after him

Aposphragisma brunomanseri goblin spider. Courtesy of the Natural History Museum of Berne Swiss researchers have honored the memory of a missing indigenous peoples activist by naming an undescribed species of spider after him, reports the Bruno Manser Fund, the group he founded. Bruno Manser, an environmentalist who campaigned on behalf of the nomadic Penan people […]
It’s not just extinction: meet defaunation

Unknown orange butterfly in Sumatra. Scientists believe we are in the midst of a defaunation crisis, which is impacting animals, and ecological services, the world over. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Get ready to learn a new word: defaunation. Fauna is the total collection of animals—both in terms of species diversity and abundance—in a given […]
‘Stop using the bloody things’: pesticides linked to bee collapse now blamed for bird declines

In recent years the evidence has piled up that neonicotinoids—a hugely popular group of pesticide—may be at least partly responsible for ongoing bee and pollinator collapse. But new research in the journal Nature find that these pesticides could also be taking a heavy toll on other species, in this case common birds. Using longterm data […]
They think, therefore they spread: plants can make complex conditional decisions

Decision-making ability linked to success in colonizing new environments Strong memory, being able to predict the future, and acting based on one’s surroundings are traits typically associated only with the most advanced types of animals. However, a team of German and Dutch scientists from the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ) and the University of […]
Horror movie bugs: new wasp species builds nest with the bodies of dead ants

Adult female of the new wasp species, the bone-house wasp. Photo courtesy of Staab et al.
Fly and wasp biodiversity in Peru linked to strange defense strategy

Fly immune system genes may have applications for virus research Entomologists working in Peru have revealed new and unprecedented layers of diversity amongst wasps and flies. The paper, published in the journal Science, also describes a unique phenomenon in which flies actually fight back and kill predatory parasitic wasps. Researchers Matthew Lewis and Marty Condon […]
More is better: high bee biodiversity boosts crop yields

Scientists have discovered that blueberry plants visited by more diverse bee species increased their seed number, berry size and fruit set, and quickened their ripening time. They hope their findings encourage farmers to help support local wild bee communities. Led by Dr. Shelley Rogers, researchers from North Carolina State University in the U.S. studied a […]
Olinguito, tinkerbell, and a dragon: meet the top 10 new species of 2013

The Cape Melville leaf-tailed gecko (Saltuarius eximius) is one of the top ten new species from 2013. Photo by: Conrad Hoskin. Out of around 18,000 new species described and named last year, scientists have highlighted ten in an effort to raise awareness about the imperiled biodiversity around us. Each species—from a teddy-bear-like carnivore in the […]
The Harry Potter wasp: public votes to name new species after soul-sucking ghouls

Whether a die-hard Harry Potter fan or not, you probably know what dementors are. They were the guards of Azkaban—dark hooded evil beings that sucked the soul out of their victims, leaving them alive but “empty-shelled.” These fictional creatures now share their name with a new species of cockroach wasp, insects that turn cockroaches into […]
The enemy of your enemy is your ant bodyguard: spider uses one predator for protection against another

The notion of spiders using ants as bodyguards seems a bit contradictory, but that is exactly what occurs on the tropical forest floors of the Philippines. The jumping spider (Phintella piatensis) strategically nests within the vicinity of the aggressive Asian weaver ant (Ocecophylla smaragdina) as a defense tactic against its main predator, the spitting spider […]
U.S. citizens willing to spend billions to protect monarch butterflies

New research shows most Americans place importance on the protection of the ailing monarch butterfly, which is experiencing a steep decline in numbers. The study, published in Conservation Letters, found nearly three-quarters of those surveyed support conservation efforts for the iconic species, and are willing to spend several billion dollars to help. The monarch is […]
Wonderful Creatures: life is a gamble (inside a caterpillar) for the trigonalid wasp

Among the huge diversity of insects there are some bewilderingly complex life cycles, but few can compete with the trigonalid wasps for the seemingly haphazard way they ensure their genes are passed to the next generation. In most cases, a female parasitoid wasp deposits her eggs on or in the host, but this is far […]
Sloths, moths and algae: a surprising partnership sheds light on a mystery

Sloths are famous for their exceptionally slow motor skills and petite faces that seem to beam with an almost natural smile. However, less commonly known is the unusual bathroom habit of certain sloth species. While spending the majority of their time in the safety of tree canopies, three-toed sloths regularly place themselves in mortal danger […]
Scientist discovers a plethora of new praying mantises (pictures)

A new species of praying mantis named after former Vice President Al Gore—Liturgusa algorei—for his climate activism. Photo courtesy of Svenson et al. Despite their pacific name, praying mantises are ferocious top predators with powerful, grasping forelimbs; spiked legs; and mechanistic jaws. In fact, imagine a tiger that can rotate its head 180 degrees or […]
Scientists discover single gene that enables multiple morphs in a butterfly

Scientists have discovered the gene enabling multiple female morphs that give the Common Mormon butterfly its very tongue-in-cheek name. doublesex, the gene that controls gender in insects, is also a mimicry supergene that determines diverse wing patterns in this butterfly, according to a recent study published in Nature. The study also shows that the supergene […]
Wonderful Creatures: meet the beetle-riding arachnid

Without wings, smaller terrestrial animals are really restricted when it comes to moving long distances to find new areas of habitat. However, lots of species get around this problem simply by clinging on to other, more mobile animals. The common, yet overlooked pseudoscorpions are among the most accomplished stowaways, one of which (Cordylochernes scorpiodes) has […]
Two new wasp species found hidden in museum collections

Scientists have identified two new wasp species, years after the specimens were first collected from the wild. The two new species, Abernessia prima and Abernessia capixaba, belong to the rare pompilid genus Abernessia, and are believed to be endemic to Brazil. They made the discovery while examining spider wasp collections from museums in Brazil and […]
Alpine bumblebees capable of flying over Mt. Everest

The genus Bombus consists of over 250 species of large, nectar-loving bumblebees. Their bright coloration serves as a warning to predators that they are unwelcome prey and their bodies are covered in a fine coat of hair—known as pile—which gives them their characteristically fuzzy look. Bumblebees display a remarkably capable flight performance despite being encumbered […]
Migrating monarch butterflies hit shockingly low numbers

The monarch butterfly population overwintering in Mexico this year has hit its lowest numbers ever, according to WWF-Mexico. Monarch butterflies covered just 0.67 hectares in Mexico’s forest, a drop of 44 percent from 2012 already perilously low population. To put this in perspective the average monarch coverage from 1994-2014 was 6.39 or nearly ten times […]
How “insect soup” might change the face of conservation

Much of what we know about patterns of biodiversity has come from extensive fieldwork, with expert researchers sampling and identifying species in a process that takes thousands of man-hours. But new technologies may revolutionize this process, allowing us to monitor changes in biodiversity at speeds and scales unimaginable just a decade ago. A new paper […]
Spectacular new beetle discovered in French Guiana

The discovery of a new, bi-colored beetle species in the lowland rainforest of French Guiana just added a little pizzazz to the ranks of the Pseudomorphini tribe of beetles. With wing cases (elytra) that sport black spots against a rusty red background, the newcomer was dubbed Guyanemorpha spectabilis, or the spectacular Guyane false-form beetle, by […]
Wonderful Creatures: the lightning-fast Stenus beetles

A Stenus beetle. Photo by: Ross Piper. Rove beetles are among the most diverse animals on the planet, with around 56,000 species currently described. Amongst this multitude of species is a dazzling array of adaptations perhaps best illustrated by the genus Stenus. These beetles, with their bulbous eyes and slender bodies are often found near […]
Bee-harming pesticides may impact human nervous system

Neonicotinoid pesticides, which have been increasingly blamed for the collapse of bee populations, may also impact human’s developing nervous system, according to a review of research by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The EFSA says that current safety guidelines for two pesticides—acetamiprid and imidacloprid—may be too lax to protect humans, especially the developing brains […]
Animal Earth: exploring the hidden biodiversity of our planet

A sea angel, Clione limacine. In this image the grasping tentacles and chitinous hooks are retracted. Photo by: Alexander Semenov. Most of the species on Earth we never see. In fact, we have no idea what they look like, much less how spectacular they are. In general, people can identify relatively few of their backyard […]
Newly discovered beetles construct private homes out of leaf holes and feces

Scientists have discovered two new species of leaf beetles in southern India that display a novel way of using leaf holes and their fecal pellets to build shelters – a nesting behavior previously not known among leaf beetles. Discovered in the forests of the Western Ghats in the states of Karnataka and Kerala, the scientists […]
Beetles in the spotlight: a new species of burying beetle from the Solomon Islands Archipelago

If you thought of the little beetle that you saw the other day as just a ‘regular one’ then this might interest you. Scientists from the University of Alaska discovered Nicrophorus efferens, a new species of burying beetle from Solomon Islands. Studying six adult specimens borrowed from the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum of Hawaii (BPBM), […]
New species of beetle discovered in megacity

When imagining the discovery of a new species, most people conjure thoughts of intrepid explorers, battling the odds in remote rainforests. But this needn’t be the case, at least according to a new study published in Zookeys. The study reports the discovery of a new species of water beetle in the heart of the 10th […]
Featured video: 22-year-old produces documentary on the Peruvian Amazon
Spending a year on the Tambopata River in Peru’s deep Amazon, allowed 22-year-old Tristan Thompson, to record stunning video of the much the region’s little seen, and little known, wildlife. Thompson, a student at the University of the West of England, has turned his footage into a new documentary An Untamed Wilderness that not only […]
Scientists discover cocoa frog and 60 other new species in remote Suriname (photos)

In one of the most untouched and remote rainforests in the world, scientists have discovered some sixty new species, including a chocolate-colored frog and a super-mini dung beetle. The species were uncovered in Southeastern Suriname during a Rapid Assessment Program (RAP); run by Conservation International (CI), RAPS involve sending teams of specialists into little-known ecosystems […]
New tiny insect named after Peter Pan fairy discovered in Central America

A new genus of fairyfly has been discovered in Costa Rica. The new species aptly named Tinkerbella nana after the fairy in J.M. Barrie’s play ‘Peter Pan’ is one of the smallest winged insects in the neotropics. Found in both temperate and tropical climates, the fairyfly is not actually a fly as its name suggests, […]
Zoo races to save extreme butterfly from extinction

In a large room that used to house aquatic mammals at the Minnesota Zoo, Erik Runquist holds up a vial and says, “Here are its eggs.” I peer inside and see small specks, pale with a dot of brown at the top; they look like a single grain of cous cous or quinoa. Runquist explains […]
Hope rises as new malaria vaccine shows promise

Last week U.S. scientists with the biotech company, Sanaria, announced a possible breakthrough on an experimental malaria vaccine: an early trial led to a success rate of 80 percent for the two highest doses. Malaria remains one of the world’s worst scourges. In 2010, the World Health Organization reported 219 million documented cases of malaria […]
Florida declares two butterfly species extinct as pollinator crisis worsens

Conservationist’s faced a crushing blow last month as two butterfly species native to Florida were declared extinct. “Occasionally, these types of butterflies disappear for long periods of time but are rediscovered in another location,” said Larry Williams, U.S. Fish and Wildlife state supervisor for ecological services. We think it’s apparent now these two species are […]
Habitat loss and pesticides causing decline in Europe’s butterflies

Europe’s grassland butterfly population has plummeted in the past two decades, new research published on Tuesday shows, with a near halving in the numbers of key species since 1990. The precipitous decline has been blamed on poor agricultural practices and pesticides, by the European Environment Agency, which carried out the research. Falling numbers of butterflies […]
Losing just one pollinator species leads to big plant declines

A shocking new study finds that losing just one pollinator species could lead to major declines in plant productivity, a finding that has broad implications for biodiversity conservation. Looking at ten bumblebee species in Colorado alpine meadows, two scientists found that removing a single bee species cut flower seed production by one-third. Pollinators worldwide are […]
Stunning moth species discovered in the mountains of China

A new species of moth (Stenoloba solaris) was discovered in the Yunnan province of China, a new addition to the nascent genus of moth, Stenoloba. The discovery was published in the open access journal ZooKeys. The moth is colloquially known as the “sun moth” because of the intricate pattern that covers its upper wings and […]
Losing our monarchs: iconic monarch butterfly down to lowest numbers in 20 years

In the next few months, the beating of fragile fiery orange and black wings will transport the monarch butterfly south. But the number of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) reaching their final destination has steadily declined, dropping to its lowest level in two decades last winter, according to a recent survey. The insect’s journey begins in […]
New long-horned beetle discovered in China

Recent expeditions by the Chinese Academy of Science’s Institute of Zoology to the Yunnan Province of China have uncovered the existence of a new species of long-horned beetle. This newly discovered beetle has a beautifully colored blue-green body with short, slender, and distinctively blue legs according to a new article in Zookeys. There are over […]
Newly discovered pirate ant uses sickle-shaped mandibles to decimate rivals

A new species of ant has recently been discovered in the Hortarium of the Los Baños University in the Philippines. Scientists named it the pirate ant (Cardiocondyla pirata) due to the female’s unique pigmentation pattern: a distinctive stripe across the eyes that resembles a pirates’ eye-patch. The pirate ant belongs to a genus Cardiocondyla that […]
Warming world hits fig wasps and figs

Recent experiments concerning hugely-important fig plants (Ficus) and their relationship with small, short-lived fig wasps suggest dire potential consequences due to human induced climate change, finds a study published in the journal Biology Letters. The researchers, lead by Richard T. Corlett of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Center for Integrative Conservation in the Peoples Republic of […]
Pesticides decimating dragonflies and other aquatic insects

While recent research (and media attention) has focused on the alleged negative impacts of pesticides on bees, the problem may be far broader according to a new study in the Proceedings of the US Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Looking at over 50 streams in Germany, France, and Australia, scientists in Europe and Australia found that […]

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