Three quarters of the honey samples in this study showed traces of neonicotinoids SIMON ROWELL A new study has found traces of neonicotinoid chemicals in 75% of honey samples from across the world. The scientists say that the levels of the widely used pesticide are far below the maximum permitted […]
SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Try to swat a fly and it will soon become clear that they’re faster than you. Much faster. But how on Earth do these tiny creatures – with their minuscule brains – outwit us so easily? You’ve probably pondered it after chasing a fly around your house […]
Much more than your morning buzz is at stake. Bees are essential to coffee growing. Pixabay The best coffee grows in the mountains, where it is cool. The plants need low temperatures to thrive, which is why growers often put shade trees in their fields. But the mountains are getting hotter. And the higher […]
GETTY IMAGES A new citizen science survey aims to shed light on that fixture of summertime in the outdoors: the wasp. Though much maligned, these fascinating creatures perform a vital ecological role, say scientists. The only thing more certain to spoil an August Bank Holiday weekend BBQ than a sudden […]
Homes in a Tanzanian village sprayed with a sweet-smelling pesticide saw a sharp drop in the number of mosquitoes inside. WASHINGTON, D.C.—Sweets are the downfall of many a human. But they may signal an even deadlier risk to mosquitoes, which have their own sweet “tooth.” That’s because scientists recently invented […]
(Credit: Don Debold) Scientists from the University of Adelaide in Australia and Lund University in Sweden have developed a machine vision system based on how dragonflies track their prey. The system, designed with autonomous vehicles in mind, takes inspiration from a neuron in dragonfly brains that anticipates movement. Known as CSTMD1, […]
A bee flies in a garden in Chelsea, Que. on June 25, 2014 . (Adrian Wyld) OTTAWA — A lawsuit that says a federal agency has consistently approved pesticides without enough information on their potential harmful effects has survived an attempt to get it thrown out of court. The Federal […]
Butterfly Conservation says many UK species are declining in numbers BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION Butterflies in the UK are facing “a vital” period following a worrying decline in their numbers, naturalist Sir David Attenborough has warned. The TV broadcaster said some of the UK’s most common species have suffered “significant declines” in […]
In order to protect themselves from hungry herbivores, plants release a defense mechanism that makes them taste foul. Food-stressed caterpillars can be quick to resort to cannibalism PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN CONNOLLY Some plants have been found to use nature’s dog-eat-dog world to their advantage, forcing herbivores to become cannibals when […]
OREGON SILVERSPOT BUTTERFLY | British Columbia, Canada ASTORIA, Ore. (AP) — To release an Oregon silverspot butterfly caterpillar, biologist Anne Walker takes it out of a little Tupperware container and sets it gently on its preferred food, the spade-shaped leaves of the early blue violet. It’s not as precarious as […]