Biology in the News Explained

Do honeybees have AIDS?

According to the latest research, colony collapse disorder (CCD) is looking like a honeybee version of AIDS.

Cool bugs #10 – Fruit fly parasites

Leptopilina is a genus of parasitic wasps which eat fruit fly larvae from the inside out.

Insect Jazz

My jazz arrangement of the Coltrane standard "Inchworm."

Climate change + fire suppression = ecological disaster?

The devastation we are seeing now from mountain pine beetle in northwest forests could be a result of the combination of bad fire policy and climate change.

Entomologists and Basketball Players

There is a reason that the profession of entomology exists: so people who don't know how to function otherwise else can get a job.

Cool Bugs #9 – Acacia ants

Acacias and acacia ants are one of the best examples of plant-animal coevolution that you can find.

We need biological control agents that work

The field of biological control is currently dominated by a focus on nontarget impacts by biocontrol agents. When will biocontrol scientists start caring about effectiveness too?

Circus of the Spineless #22

At Circus of the Spineless you can find out everything you always wanted to know about bugs.

Cool Bugs #8 – Carnivorous Hawaiian caterpillars

Hawaiian carnivorous caterpillars are the only known sit-and-wait predatory caterpillars.

Cool Bugs #7 – Pipevine swallowtail

The pipevine swallowtail is aposematic: it incorporates noxious compounds from its host plant and uses them and its black and red coloring to deter predators.

Cool Bugs #6 – Trap-jaw ants

Trap-jaw ants (genus Odontomachus) use their jaws for more than springing a trap on prey.

Cool Bugs #5 – Belostomatidae

Giant water bugs have a trait that is rare in insects, let alone any other animals: the father takes care of the young.