6,813 results
6,813 results for: Insects
- Animals
Flowers, not flirting, make sexes differ
Thanks to lucky circumstances, bird researchers find rare evidence that food, not sex appeal, makes some male and female hummingbirds look different.
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Bt broccoli test: Refuges cut pest resistance
The first field test of a strategy for controlling insect resistance in a crop engineered to carry genes from the pesticide-producing bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis confirms the value of refuges in which some insects live without pesticide exposure.
- Animals
Wasp Painting: Do insects know each other’s faces?
A researcher who dabbed tiny stripes on the faces and abdomens of paper wasps says that she's found the first evidence that the insects can recognize individuals by their markings.
- Earth
Danger on Deck?
The Environmental Protection Agency no longer allows residential installation of pressure-treated lumber and recommends the application of sealant to prevent leaching of carcinogens out of existing lumber structures.
- Humans
From the October 29, 1932, issue
THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT RIVALS AT MOUSE-CATCHING One of the favorite riddles of childhood was, “Spell ‘mousetrap’ in three letters”; and the answer was “C-A-T.” With even more appropriateness, the answer might have been “O-W-L,” for the Owl is an even better mousetrap than the Pussycat, besides being somewhat more restrained in the matter […]
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In doing your usual excellent job of presenting information in interesting and lighthearted ways, you implied that bug zappers control mosquitoes. In fact, bug zappers don’t attract mosquitoes and therefore kill very few of them. They do kill large numbers of harmless and even beneficial insects, including pollinators and insects such as the crane fly, […]
- Ecosystems
Why didn’t the beetle cross the road?
Beetle populations confined to specific forest areas by roads seem to have lost some of their genetic diversity.
- Materials Science
Waterproof Coats: Materials repel water with simplicity, style
Researchers have produced new types of water-repelling surfaces, including one that's colorful and another made of inexpensive plastic.
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Lady-killing genes offer pest control
Two new fruit fly lines—with females that die on cue—could lead to changes in pest control.
- Animals
Flight puts the fight back into crickets
Researchers are just discovering what gamblers in China have known for centuries—flying can make a losing cricket fight again.
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Corn Defenses: Bitten plants deploy gut-rotting enzyme
Some corn varieties that arose on the Caribbean island of Antigua defend themselves with chemical attacks that leave insect gut linings in tatters.
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Bacteria, this spud’s for you
A compound in potato extracts stops bacteria from sticking to their targeted cells.
