Scientists have described five new species of parasitoid wasp from Cyprus, more than doubling the number of chalcid wasps known to be found nowhere else on the island. The wasps, all belonging to the family Pteromalidae, are small insects that play an important role as natural pest controllers, yet remain poorly studied across much of Southeastern Europe and the Middle East. The species' descriptions have been published in the open-access, peer-reviewed ZooKeys journal.

Don’t assume an uptick in ant activity after setting out pesticide traps means the treatment failed. New UC Riverside research shows their behavior changes as chemicals make their way through a colony. 

Bees may be relying on your lawn for their next meal, according to a new study from the University of Georgia.

A research team led by Associate Professor Junji Konuma of Toho University, in collaboration with Nobuaki Nagata of the National Museum of Nature and Science and Professor Teiji Sota of Kyoto University, reconstructed the evolutionary and geographic history of this beetle species by combining genetic data from 170 individuals sampled at 70 sites with morphological data from 50 populations. These analyses suggested that body shape underwent adaptive divergence not only among islands—including Hokkaido and Sado Island—but also between regions within Honshu, the largest island of Japan.

An Osaka Metropolitan University-led research team quantified the genetic disturbance in the endangered butterfly Luehdorfia japonica.

Inspired by a special drinking behavior observed in butterflies,  researchers at the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry have developed a new pump-free airborne sampling technology that operates entirely without external power and costs as little as $0.12 per disposable unit.