'Keep it simple' is a good rule of thumb when designing biocontrol programs to combat weeds and invasive plants, according to a meta-analysis of studies by UBC biodiversity experts.

Biology - Ecology

Apr 18, 2013 not rated yet 0

Dr Michael Pogue, a Research Entomologist in the ARS Systematic Entomology Laboratory, at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, was sent a series of moth specimens from Bahia, Brazil, for identification. ...

Biology - Ecology

Feb 06, 2013 not rated yet 0

By examining what lady beetles eat, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists are learning more about the movement of these beneficial insects in farm fields—and whether they'll actively feed on ...

Biology - Ecology

Jan 11, 2013 not rated yet 1

Formosan subterranean termites could be in for a real headache. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists have identified species of roundworms, or "nematodes," that invade the termite brains and offer a potential ...

Biology - Ecology

Aug 22, 2012 not rated yet 0

Barcodes may bring to mind the sales tags and scanners found in supermarkets and other stores. But U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists are using "DNA barcodes" to monitor insects that damage crops ...

Biology - Ecology

May 02, 2012 not rated yet 0

The light brown apple moth (LBAM), Epiphyas postvittana (Walker), an invasive insect from Australia, was found in California in 2006. The LBAM feeds on apples, pears, stonefruits, citrus, grapes, berries and many other plants ...

Biology - Ecology

Feb 09, 2012 not rated yet 0

From improving food security to their use as biotechnology power horses, Trichoderma fungi are increasingly being exploited by industry. Current advances in the field are brought together and highlighted in a special issue ...

Biology - Cell & Microbiology

Dec 21, 2011 not rated yet 0

Dr. Chris Thornton and colleagues at the University of Exeter are examining whether adding a safe and harmless fungus to compost boosts the growth and proliferation of crops' roots, helping them grow with ...

Biology - Biotechnology

Aug 08, 2011 5 / 5 (2) 3 |

(PhysOrg.com) -- Beneficial fungi that could help manage grasshopper populations are being tested by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists and university colleagues.

Biology - Ecology

Jan 07, 2011 not rated yet 0

A black, two-millimeter-long wasp from East Africa is helping wage war on one of its own kind—the Erythrina gall wasp, an invasive species that's decimated Hawaii's endemic wiliwili (Erythrina sandwicensis) and in ...

Biology - Ecology

Sep 28, 2010 not rated yet 0

California's avocado industry is worth more than $320 million annually, and has about 6,000 growers farming more than 6,000 acres of land. Indeed, California grows nearly 95 percent of the country's avocados.

Biology - Ecology

Jun 22, 2010 5 / 5 (1) 0

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists are tapping into the biochemistry of one of the world's most damaging insect pests to develop a biocontrol agent that may keep the pest away from gardens and ...

Biology - Ecology

May 17, 2010 5 / 5 (1) 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- The aptly named silk worms long appeared to have the monopoly on insect silk production, but now scientists are revealing that the world of insect silks is highly complex.

Biology - Biotechnology

Sep 10, 2009 5 / 5 (2) 0

(AP) -- Imported insects have been deployed as foot soldiers in the fight against invasive bugs and plants that cause billions of dollars in damage each year. But some of those imports are proving to be pests themselves ...

Biology - Ecology

Jul 21, 2009 not rated yet 0