Latest news with #entomology
Washington Post
6 days ago
- General
- Washington Post
Rescued giant moths emerge from cocoons in Mexico's sprawling capital
MEXICO CITY — Two moths the size of a hand, their wings patterned with brown and pink around four translucent sections, mate for hours hanging from a line alongside cocoons like the ones they emerged from just hours earlier. 'When I get here and find this, I jump with delight,' said María Eugenia Díaz Batres, who has been caring for insects at the Museum of Natural History and Environmental Culture in Mexico City for nearly six decades.
The Independent
6 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Scientists identify key shift that led to huge rise in bedbugs
Bedbugs may have been interrupting human sleep for more than 50,000 years, but it was only when humans left caves and formed the first cities that their populations really boomed, according to a new study. The research, published in science journal Biology Letters, looked at the genetics of bedbugs and found that they split into two lineages thousands of years ago – one that stayed on bats, and one that targeted humans. By the Ice Age both populations were in general decline, with the bat-associated lineage never bouncing back, but the urban bedbugs recovered and began to thrive as human settlements expanded into cities. As humans built early cities, such as Mesopotamia, around 12,000 years ago and their populations started to boom, so too did the populations of the tiny parasitic insects feasting on human skin – making the species one of the first human pests. 'That makes sense because modern humans moved out of caves about 60,000 years ago,' said Warren Booth, the Joseph R. and Mary W. Wilson Urban Entomology associate professor. "There were bedbugs living in the caves with these humans, and when they moved out they took a subset of the population with them so there's less genetic diversity in that human-associated lineage." "What will be interesting is to look at what's happening in the last 100 to 120 years," Prof Booth told science website "Bed bugs were pretty common in the old world, but once DDT [dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane] was introduced for pest control, populations crashed. They were thought to have been essentially eradicated, but within five years they started reappearing and were resisting the pesticide." Bedbug infestations saw a dramatic 35 per cent jump between 2022 and 2024, while cockroach removal visits rose by 13 per cent over the same period.
The Independent
28-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
Bedbug numbers soared when humans left caves and moved to cities, scientists find
Bedbugs may have been interrupting human sleep for more than 50,000 years, but it was only when humans left caves and formed the first cities that their populations really boomed, according to a new study. The research, published in science journal Biology Letters, looked at the genetics of bedbugs and found that they split into two lineages thousands of years ago – one that stayed on bats, and one that targeted humans. By the Ice Age both populations were in general decline, with the bat-associated lineage never bouncing back, but the urban bedbugs recovered and began to thrive as human settlements expanded into cities. As humans built early cities, such as Mesopotamia, around 12,000 years ago and their populations started to boom, so too did the populations of the tiny parasitic insects feasting on human skin – making the species one of the first human pests. 'That makes sense because modern humans moved out of caves about 60,000 years ago,' said Warren Booth, the Joseph R. and Mary W. Wilson Urban Entomology associate professor. "There were bedbugs living in the caves with these humans, and when they moved out they took a subset of the population with them so there's less genetic diversity in that human-associated lineage." "What will be interesting is to look at what's happening in the last 100 to 120 years," Prof Booth told science website "Bed bugs were pretty common in the old world, but once DDT [dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane] was introduced for pest control, populations crashed. They were thought to have been essentially eradicated, but within five years they started reappearing and were resisting the pesticide." Bedbug infestations saw a dramatic 35 per cent jump between 2022 and 2024, while cockroach removal visits rose by 13 per cent over the same period.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Charles Dewhurst, entomologist whose work on the armyworm helped to save crops in Africa
Charles Dewhurst, who has died aged 78, was a professional entomologist who worked around the world on projects from controlling armyworms in Africa to the introduction of dung beetles in Australia. When Charles Frederick Dewhurst was born on August 29 1946 he was the first European baby to be born at the Naval Hospital in Trincomalee, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where his father, Colonel Frederick Dewhurst, RM, was stationed. Frederick had served at Gallipoli and later became CO of the Commando Training Centre at Lympstone, Devon. Charles was christened on the frigate Glasgow, and after the war, when the family moved to a farm in Devon, he became fascinated by natural history; one of his first entomological memories was squeezing warble fly larvae (Hypoderma bovis, now eradicated from the UK) out of the backs of cows and feeding them to the farm's Muscovy ducks. He also discovered the pleasures of the moth-trap. From Mount House School, Tavistock, he went on to Milton Abbey School, where he kept a tame tawny owl and enjoyed cross-country because it took him out to the countryside, where he filled collector's tubes with specimens. After taking A-levels in chemistry and biology at Plymouth Polytechnic (now Plymouth University), he moved to London in the mid-1960s as a lab assistant at the Anti-Locust Research Centre in Kensington. Then at the age of 23 he headed for Africa to work for the East African Agriculture & Forestry Research Organisation on a project monitoring seasonal movements of the African armyworm, Spodoptera exempta, a migratory and highly destructive moth pest affecting cereal crops and pasturelands in Africa, Asia, Australia and the Pacific. With the female moth laying between 400 and 1,300 eggs, and with just 10 days between hatching and larval pupation, in plague years the moth can devastate crop yields. Early signs of mass emergence are critical to controlling the pest, and the project involved running light traps, and later pheromone traps, in various areas throughout East Africa. Dewhurst worked with the entomologist Eric Brown in Kenya, and with him and others wrote several publications on Spodoptera control including The African Armyworm Handbook (1997) In 1970 he gained a pilot's licence which allowed him to cross national borders easily in a Piper Cherokee. In the early 1970s Dewhurst returned to London to take a degree in botany, zoology and geology at Sir John Cass College (now part of London Metropolitan University). After graduation he spent two years in Pretoria, South Africa (1974-76), working on a dung-beetle evaluation and introduction programme for Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. Under the programme, launched in 1965, 55 species of dung beetle were imported into Australia from Hawaii, Africa and southern Europe to help with livestock dung removal, improve grazing and reduce fly populations. Dewhurst's role included visiting southern France, Spain and Morocco to collect suitable species and to rear them in captivity. In order to develop healthy, pest-free populations of the beetles, three generations of beetles needed to be reared before they could be shipped to Australia. In 1977 Dewhurst married Lindsay, an ophthalmic nurse he had met in London, and they moved to Kenya, where they spent 16 happy years, Lindsay working to help restore people's vision and bring up their two children, and Charles working on migrant pest control with responsibility for Djibouti, Ethiopia (later also Eritrea), Kenya, Somalia, southern Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Yemen. Criss-crossing the region in extremely short shorts and sandals, and equipped with a Leatherman multi-tool set, Dewhurst inspired colleagues with the amiable enthusiasm with which he would bring his Land Rover skidding to a halt in the hope of finding ungulate nose-fly larvae in the nasal passages of large items of road-kill. He had a microlite, and on one occasion, while working on an armyworm project, he became distracted by a huge wildebeest herd, eventually crash-landing as he had forgotten to keep an eye on the fuel gauge. Returning to the UK in the 1990s, he and his family settled at West Wittering, West Sussex, though he continued to travel extensively, working on projects around the world. But he eventually got itchy feet again, and in 2005 he took up a posting as head of entomology for the Papua New Guinea Oil Palm Research Association on the island of West New Britain. There, as 'Dudu' (Swahili for insect), he was a regular at the Kimbe Hash House Harriers and was instrumental in establishing the Swallowtail and Birdwing Butterfly Trust, which is helping to protect the critically endangered Queen Alexandra's Birdwing, the largest and most spectacular butterfly in the world. A pair have recently mated successfully in captivity and are expected to lay eggs in the newly named Charles Dewhurst flight cage. In 2014 Dewhurst finally retired, to Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, where he immersed himself in native insect species, serving as a macro-lepidoptera recorder. He was also a council member and trustee of Nature in Art, Gloucestershire, and the host of a radio show on Radio Winchcombe. Before he died he gave his collections to the Natural History Museum in London and the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, including donating one of only two known males of the giant stick insect Eurycantha portentosa, from Rossel Island, Papua New Guinea, to the latter. Dewhurst was editor of the Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society and National Museum (1989-1992), a trustee of the Kafue River Trust, Zambia, and a specialist group member (Orthoptera) of the IUCN Species Survival Commission. His favourite insect was the extremely rare botfly Gyrostigma, the largest adult fly in Africa, whose larvae inhabit the stomachs of rhinoceroses. Charles Dewhurst is survived by his wife and their son and daughter. Charles Dewhurst, born August 29 1946, died March 7 2025 Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
ABC News
17-05-2025
- Science
- ABC News
Secret life of Australia's ants, the hardest workers in any backyard
They are builders, miners, carpenters and farmers. And despite a mostly undeserved reputation for being a stinging pest, Australian ants do an extraordinary amount of environmental heavy lifting. While several high-profile invasive ant species — such as the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) from South America and the yellow crazy ant (Anoplolepis gracilipes) from Asia — have caused alarm due to the threat they pose to domestic agriculture and the environment, their native counterparts have quietly continued their vital, often unheralded, work. Museums Victoria Research Institute curator of entomology Ken Walker describes a large ant colony as a "super organism" that plays an essential role in both suburban gardens and the wild. "Ants belong to a group of insects described as 'eusocial', in that they have a large community and it's all being directed by one individual or queen," Dr Walker explained. "They act like a single unit, so they're called 'super organisms' and they can do a lot of powerful work. "One of the great things about ants is they dig holes in the ground, and that aerates the soil and allows water to go in. "They also bring a lot of plant material and seeds underground, which fertilises the soil." Of the world's 15,000 ant species, at least 1,500 are found in Australia. By comparison, the United States has 829 species, South Africa has about 550, Great Britain has fewer than 100 species, and New Zealand has about 40. A Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences international study estimates the world's ant population at about 20 quadrillion (20,000 trillion). Scientists conservatively estimate there are 2.5 million ants for every person in the world. Ants have been part of the Australian landscape for an estimated 58 million years. During that time, they have established unusual relationships with other native flora and fauna, according to Dr Walker. "They interact with many other insects in what are called symbiotic relationships," he said. "There are many Australian insects, particularly butterflies, that would not survive without ants. "In a process called myrmecochory, the female Eltham copper butterfly, for example, lays her eggs on a plant called sweet bursaria (Bursaria spinosa). If the egg was to stay there by itself, it wouldn't survive. "The ants come up, collect the butterfly egg and take it down into their burrow. When the caterpillar emerges from the egg, the ants protect it and, at night, carry the caterpillar up to feed on the leaves. "In return, the ants tap the caterpillar with their antennae and the caterpillar releases honeydew, which is a sweet substance the caterpillar excretes. The caterpillar gets protection, and the ant gets a source of food." Due to their tiny brains, the intelligence of ants was often underestimated, Dr Walker said. Ants are born with innate knowledge to do their job, but Dr Walker said there was evidence that they observed and learned from other ants to improve their efficiency. Individual ants were also capable of remarkably complex acts of navigation and communication. Dr Walker explained ant "scouts" use the sun's position in the sky to explore new territory and then find their way back to the nest. "On the top of their head, each ant has three little eyes called ocelli. They use UV to know the direction the sun is," he said. "Let's say, for example, the sun is on the right side when they go out, they know then to turn around to have the sun on their left side when they come back. "Another interesting fact about ants is the communication … a lot of ants live underground, so they can't use visual cues, so they have to use chemical cues. "They use a thing called trophallaxis, which can be literally defined as a kiss. Where two individuals come together, they 'kiss' or exchange a bit of fluid. In that fluid are lots of messages. "Because each ant is kissing other ants, there's an accumulation of all the messages from the colony. Every time this kiss happens, it is gathering information of the colony. While 1,500 ant species have been formally described in Australia, many Australian ant species are yet to be classified. Dr Walker estimated the number could be as high as 6,000. Ant queens, males and workers often vary considerably in size and appearance, even within the same species. These are 10 of the most commonly found worker ants in Australian backyards and landscapes: This tiny (2-3mm) native variety is often found indoors, infesting kitchen benches while trying to get scraps of leftover food. Superficially similar in size (2.5-3mm) and appearance to Technomyrmex but, viewed up close, has a more obvious waist and tends to be shorter and stockier. Also called black tyrant ants or black trail ants because they form long trails as they forage for food. Workers grow up to 5mm in length. They do not have a stinger. Perhaps Australia's most recognisable ant, growing to about 6-7mm, and featuring a dark red to purple head and blue-black body. Capable of producing huge, interconnected nests with populations up to 300,000. Very important for the environment, a meat ant nest can disperse hundreds of thousands of plant seeds while also cleaning up dead animals and controlling pests. Also known as the banded sugar ant or carpenter ant. This familiar, relatively large (5-15mm) ant is often seen at night. These orange to black ants do not sting but some can bite with their large mandibles and spray wounds with formic acid from their rear. Despite being active at different times of the day, sugar ants and meat ants are competitive and will plug each other's nest holes with debris. A type of carpenter ant that produces and stores its own honey. Half the workers are 5-8mm long and black, while half develop into "repletes" which swell up 17mm in length to store and distribute honey to the rest of the hive. The Australian weaver ant is mostly orange with a green abdomen (O. smaragdina) and grows to 5-10mm. They live in trees building nests made of leaves stitched together using silk. Does not have a stinger but will bite if their nest is disturbed and spray the wound with formic acid. Also known as the big-headed ant. There are two worker "castes", with the larger (3.5-4.5mm) ants having an oversized head and jaws, which they use to crush seeds. The smaller (2-3mm) more numerous workers transport food back to the nest. Has a distinctive metallic green colouring, with workers measuring 5-7mm in length. It is more common in Queensland, southern NSW and South Australia, but is found in all mainland states and territories. Has a painful sting. Some varieties are also known as inchman ants because of their length (about an inch or 25mm), or bulldog ants. Aggressive, with large jaws (mandibles) and a sting at the end of their abdomen. It is the sting, rather than the mandibles, that delivers its painful attack. Bull ants are most common in Tasmania and south-eastern mainland Australia. They have a characteristic jumping action that can propel them up to 10cm. Generally smaller (12-14mm) than other bull ants, the Jack jumper ant has an extremely painful sting and can be dangerous and potentially fatal to those at risk of anaphylactic shock.
