House fly sex may reveal one key to controlling them

The quest of University of Houston professor Richard Meisel to understand how and why males and females differ may one day lead to a more effective means of pest control - namely, the pesky house fly.

Playing tag with sugars in the cornfield

Sugars are usually known as energy storage units in plants and the insects that feed on them. But, sugars may also be part of a deadly game of tag between plant and insect according to scientists at the Max Planck Institute ...

New research reveals clock ticking for fruit flies

The army of pesky Queensland fruit flies that annually inflict many millions of dollars-worth of damage on the nation's horticultural industry may be about to see their numbers take a significant dive thanks to research by ...

Genetically engineered fruit flies could save crops

Releasing genetically engineered fruit flies into the wild could prove to be a cheap, effective and environmentally friendly way of pest control according to scientists at the University of East Anglia and Oxitec Ltd.

Invertebrate numbers nearly halve as human population doubles

Invertebrate numbers have decreased by 45% on average over a 35 year period in which the human population doubled, reports a study on the impact of humans on declining animal numbers. This decline matters because of the enormous ...

Spying on plant communication with tiny bugs

Internal communications in plants share striking similarities with those in animals, new research reveals. With the help of tiny insects, scientists were able to tap into this communication system. Their results reveal the ...

'Breaking bad': Insect pests in the making

Of thousands of known species of Drosophila fruit flies, just one is known as a crop pest, depositing eggs inside ripening fruit so its maggots can feed and grow. New research from the University of California, Davis, shows ...

More to biofuel production than yield

When it comes to biofuels, corn leads the all-important category of biomass yield. However, focusing solely on yield comes at a high price.

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