No Mow May? Good intentions, bad approach, critics say
May 4, 2023 GMTIf you’re reading this, chances are you’ve heard about the #NoMowMay movement that’s been gaining steam on social media and in eco-conscious circles these past few years.
Invasive mosquitoes could unravel malaria progress in Africa
November 1, 2022 GMTLONDON (AP) — Scientists say an invasive mosquito species was likely responsible for a large malaria outbreak in Ethiopia earlier this year, a finding that experts called a worrying sign that progress against the disease is at risk of unraveling.
LSU wildlife hospital releases 3 small raptors for migration
September 16, 2022 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — Three small insect-eating raptors called Mississippi kites were released Friday by Louisiana State University's wildlife hospital.
Moth outbreak stresses trees in New Mexico forests
September 14, 2022 GMTALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — An insect outbreak is believed to be causing conifer stands in some central New Mexico forests to lose their needles, further stressing trees amid an ongoing drought.
Officials with the Cibola National Forest said Wednesday that Douglas fir, white fir and even some ponderosa pine trees are turning brown as the larvae of the tussock moth feeds on the previous year’s needles.
Purdue: Spotted lanternfly has migrated to northern Indiana
August 19, 2022 GMTWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — An invasive insect that could affect Hoosier grape growers and honeybee producers has migrated to northern Indiana, one year after being first spotted in the state's southeastern corner.
See it? Squish it! Fighting the invasive spotted lanternfly
August 19, 2022 GMTWhen Stephen Nixon recently noticed a “beautiful” spotted lanternfly by his bag as he skateboarded in Brooklyn, he heeded the request of city officials.
Backyard mosquito spraying booms, but may be too deadly
August 19, 2022 GMTCASCADE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — It’s an increasingly familiar sight in U.S. cities and suburbs: A van pulls up to the curb. Workers wearing gloves, masks and other protective gear strap on backpack-type mechanisms with plastic hoses, similar to leaf blowers.
Famed Iran art museum closes to deal with insect infestation
August 18, 2022 GMTTEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Tehran’s contemporary art museum has issued an apology and temporarily closed to handle a pest infestation, raising concerns after footage of insects scuttling across world-famous work spread widely on social media.
Rosalynn Carter marking 95th birthday with butterflies
August 18, 2022 GMTRosalynn Carter, the second-oldest U.S. first lady ever, turns 95 Thursday on a birthday that will be marked not just with cards and best wishes, but with butterflies.
The wife of former President Jimmy Carter, 97, has a fascination with butterflies dating back to childhood, when she was entranced by the colorful insects flitting around her mother's flowers in Plains, Georgia, longtime friend and neighbor Annette Wise said.
Scientists use tiny trackers, plane to follow moths on move
August 11, 2022 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — Trillions of insects migrate across the globe each year, yet little is known about their journeys. So to look for clues, scientists in Germany took to the skies, placing tiny trackers on the backs of giant moths and following them by plane.
What’s a garden without birds? Create habitat so they thrive
August 2, 2022 GMTAs I write this, I can hear a cardinal trilling in the backyard. I don’t have to look out the open window to confirm the source of the sounds that come through it; I’ve come to recognize the songs and their singers.
Monarch butterflies are in trouble; Here’s how you can help
July 28, 2022 GMTClose your eyes for a moment and imagine a butterfly. My money says the fluttering insect you’re envisioning has black-veined, reddish-orange wings outlined with white specks — the iconic attributes of our beloved American monarch butterfly.
Iowa officials confirm invasive insect found in Iowa
July 27, 2022 GMTDES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State officials are asking residents to keep an eye out for the spotted laternfly after recently confirming the finding of two of the invasive insects in central Iowa.
As a young nymph, it is a black weevil-like bug with white spots but adds patches of bright red as it develops into a flying insect.
Murder hornets given new common name by entomologists
July 25, 2022 GMTOLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — The invasive hornet found in Washington state that has been referred to as the Asian giant hornet or murder hornet has a new name.
Washington state Department of Agriculture officials said Monday that the Entomological Society of America (ESA) has adopted “northern giant hornet” for the species Vespa mandarinia in its Common Names of Insects and Related Organisms List.
Beloved monarch butterflies now listed as endangered
July 21, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The monarch butterfly fluttered a step closer to extinction Thursday, as scientists put the iconic orange-and-black insect on the endangered list because of its fast dwindling numbers.
Invasive beetle known to wipe out ash trees found in Oregon
July 11, 2022 GMTPORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Forestry officials in Oregon said Monday that an invasive beetle known for decimating ash trees throughout North America and Europe was recently discovered west of Portland.
Threatened wild bees get help from Washington researchers
July 10, 2022 GMTOKANOGAN-WENATCHEE NATIONAL FOREST, Wash. (AP) — Few creatures exist closer to the front lines of climate change than wild, native bees. And few are more important, or as irreplaceable.
They’ve always been subjected to a long list of existential threats: habitat loss through agriculture, construction and urban development; pesticides, insecticides and other harmful chemicals; and competition from domesticated honeybees.
‘Biblical’ insect swarms spur Oregon push to fight pests
June 26, 2022 GMTARLINGTON, Ore. (AP) — Driving down a windy canyon road in northern Oregon rangeland, Jordan Maley and April Aamodt are on the look out for Mormon crickets, giant insects that can ravage crops.
Embracing native plants doesn’t have to be all or nothing
June 23, 2022 GMTAs home gardeners become more educated about the role native plants play in the ecosystem — and their importance to pollinators, wildlife and humans — many are turning to “rewilding.” The term refers to a landscaping approach that depends on the use of native plants to sustain insects, bees, birds and butterflies.
How gardeners can control pests and also protect pollinators
June 14, 2022 GMTPicture this: You’ve planted some milkweed, bee balm or California lilac, and you’re delighted to see bees and butterflies fluttering about your garden. You feel good about nourishing pollinators and love the life those plants attract to your yard.
Scientists will set 1,000 traps for murder hornets this year
May 24, 2022 GMTSPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Scientists will set about 1,000 traps this year in their quest to wipe out the Asian giant hornet in Washington, the state Department of Agriculture said Tuesday.
Scientists believe the hornets, first detected in the Pacific Northwest state in 2019, are confined in Whatcom County, which is located on the Canadian border north of Seattle.
168-year-old Peterboro Basket Co. closing, cites forest pest
May 18, 2022 GMTPETERBOROUGH, N.H. (AP) — A 168-year-old company in New Hampshire known for its handwoven, hardwood baskets is closing its factory and stopping production, partly because of an insect pest that has been destroying ash trees.
Tenant: Thousands of bees found in Mississippi apartment
May 9, 2022 GMTOXFORD, Miss. (AP) — A woman says she has left a Mississippi apartment where thousands of bees were found living in the walls and ceiling.
Alexa Lee told The Oxford Eagle that she moved to Oxford from Georgia in February to be near her mother.
Caddo Parish to use drone technology to fight mosquitos
May 7, 2022 GMTSHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — Drones are being used to help fight mosquitoes in north Louisiana.
The Caddo Parish Animal Services and Mosquito Control fights a mosquito population for over 900 square miles, using eight mosquito trucks to respond across the entire parish.
Treatment to eradicate invasive Japanese beetle to start
April 29, 2022 GMTGRANDVIEW, Wash. (AP) — The Washington State Department of Agriculture plans to start treatments to eradicate an invasive Japanese beetle infestation on May 2 in central Washington.
The agency plans to treat around 2,000 acres (809 hectares) in Grandview and surrounding areas of Yakima and Benton counties, State agriculture officials said Thursday in a news release.
For Earth Day, plant native plants, practice benign neglect
April 21, 2022 GMTPicture this: You step into your garden, and the beds are brimming with flowers that thrive on benign neglect.
You seldom need to water them, and they don’t require much in the way of fertilizer, either.
Climate change, big agriculture combine to threaten insects
April 20, 2022 GMTClimate change and habitat loss from big agriculture are combining to swat down global insect populations, with each problem making the other worse, a new study finds.
While insects may bug people at times, they also are key in pollinating plants to feed people, making soil more fertile and they include beautiful butterflies and fireflies.
‘No Mow May’ bee boosting initiative growing in Wisconsin
April 19, 2022 GMTMADISON, Wis. (AP) — More Wisconsin communities are encouraging residents to keep their lawnmowers in the garage next month to boost the population of bees and other pollinators.
Appleton became the first city to adopt the “No Mow May” initiative a couple years ago and others have followed, including Wausau, Oshkosh, Fort Atkinson and Stevens Point.
Invasive ant that can deliver painful sting found in Indiana
March 13, 2022 GMTINDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An invasive ant that can deliver a painful sting has been found in Indiana for the first time, a Purdue University insect expert says.
The Asian needle ant has traveled southern states like Florida and Georgia for several years.
US officials reverse course on pesticide’s harm to wildlife
March 9, 2022 GMTBILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. wildlife officials reversed their previous finding that a widely used and highly toxic pesticide could jeopardize dozens of plants and animals with extinction, after receiving pledges from chemical manufacturers that they will change product labels for malathion so that it’s used more carefully by gardeners, farmers and other consumers.
Beekeepers using tracking devices to protect precious hives
February 22, 2022 GMTWOODLAND, Calif. (AP) — For a few frenzied weeks, beekeepers from around the United States truck billions of honeybees to California to rent them to almond growers who need the insects to pollinate the state's most valuable crop.
3 authors named winners of Science + Literature awards
February 9, 2022 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — The National Book Foundation has teamed with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to honor books that wed two categories not always in harmony: technology and the arts.
On Wednesday, the two organizations announced the inaugural winners of the Science + Literature awards, $10,000 honors for books, fiction or nonfiction, "that deepen readers’ understanding of science and technology.”
Rare Rocky Mountain insects will need snowfields to survive
December 17, 2021 GMTHELENA, Mont. (AP) — Federal wildlife officials say two species of rare insects in the Rocky Mountains will need several thousand acres of glaciers and snowfields if they are to survive a warming world that's threatening them with extinction.
Public asked to report monarch butterfly sightings in South
November 20, 2021 GMTATLANTA (AP) — Researchers are calling on the public to report monarch butterfly sightings in eight southern and Gulf states to try to better understand the insect's migration and wintering behavior.
Tropical larvae found in fruit shipped from Costa Rica to US
October 5, 2021 GMTGULFPORT, Miss. (AP) — The U.S. government ordered the destruction a $15,000 shipment of pineapples from Costa Rica after agriculture inspectors in Mississippi found butterfly larvae that they said could be harmful.
Breeding population of invasive bug found in Massachusetts
September 29, 2021 GMTFITCHBURG, Mass. (AP) — A small breeding population of an invasive insect that can damage native trees and crops has been found in Massachusetts for the first time, state agricultural officials said.
Asian insect known to kill native plants found in Indiana
September 18, 2021 GMTBLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Earlier this summer, a photograph of a spotted lanternfly taken in southern Indiana set off a huge effort to eradicate the insect that’s on the federally regulated invasive species list.
Invasive insect spotted in 4-H entry at Kansas State Fair
September 12, 2021 GMTHUTCHINSTON, Kan. (AP) — Kansas State Fair officials judging the 4-H entomology entries last week discovered an invasive insect that prompted quarantines elsewhere.
Fair Board member Gregg Hadley the student who caught the bug didn't know it had prompted quarantines in at least 45 counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to try to stop its spread.
Vermont says emerald ash borer continuing to spread in state
August 31, 2021 GMTMONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — An insect pest that has the potential to devastate Vermont ash trees is continuing to spread across the state.
A program that monitors the state looking for the spread of the emerald ash borer and other invasive pests says infestations have been found in the towns of Berlin, Highgate, Middlebury, Rupert, St.
Spotted lanternfly, invasive pest, found in Vermont shipment
August 30, 2021 GMTRUTLAND, Vt. (AP) — An invasive pest considered to be a threat to a variety agricultural crops and hardwood trees was found in an out-of-state shipment to Vermont, officials said Monday.
The Vermont Agency of Agriculture was alerted on Aug.
Asian giant hornet nest destroyed in Washington state
August 26, 2021 GMTSPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Officials in Washington state said Thursday they had destroyed the first Asian giant hornet nest of the season, which was located near the town of Blaine along the Canadian border.
Asian giant hornet nest found in Washington state
August 20, 2021 GMTBLAINE, Wash. (AP) — Authorities say they have found the first Asian giant hornet nest of 2021 in a rural area in Washington state, about a quarter-mile from where a resident reported seeing one of the hornets earlier this month.
Bug that could hurt Christmas tree industry found in Kent Co
August 18, 2021 GMTROCKFORD, Mich. (AP) — An invasive bug that could threaten Michigan’s Christmas tree industry has been discovered in the western part of the state.
The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said Monday it had confirmed the presence of the balsam woolly adelgid near Rockford in Kent County.
Are honeybees dying off? It depends on whom you ask
August 14, 2021 GMTALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Talk to a local beekeeper, and the potential consequences of the decline of the honeybee population are alarming, causing problems for pollination and sending ripple effects through the food supply chain and the entire ecosystem.
Devastated by wildfires, Turkey’s beekeepers see grim future
August 8, 2021 GMTISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey’s wildfires have left little behind, turning green forests into ashen, barren hills. The destruction is being intensely felt by Turkey’s beekeepers, who have lost thousands of hives as well as the pine trees and the insects their bees depend on.
Invasive insect found in Rhode Island for 1st time
August 6, 2021 GMTPROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — An invasive insect that can cause damage to native trees and agricultural crops was found in Rhode Island for the first time, state environmental officials said Friday.
A single spotted lanternfly was found in an area in Warwick near Jefferson Boulevard recently, the state Department of Environmental Management said in an emailed statement.
Cargo ship ordered to leave US waters after insects found
July 29, 2021 GMTFederal agents near New Orleans ordered a cargo ship to leave the U.S. after an inspection found wood infested with a type of Asian beetle that has been destroying trees in the U.S. for about 25 years.
What pairs with beetle? Startups seek to make bugs tasty
July 15, 2021 GMTLONDON (AP) — Tiziana Di Costanzo makes pizza dough from scratch, mixing together flour, yeast, a pinch of salt, a dash of olive oil and something a bit more unusual — ground acheta domesticus, better known as cricket powder.
Bug experts seeking new name for destructive gypsy moths
July 9, 2021 GMTBug experts are dropping the common name of a destructive insect because it's considered an ethnic slur: the gypsy moth.
The Entomological Society of America, which oversees the common names of bugs, is getting rid of the common name of that critter and the lesser-known gypsy ant.
Hungry grasshoppers spurred by US drought threaten rangeland
June 24, 2021 GMTBILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A punishing drought in the U.S. West is drying up waterways, sparking wildfires and leaving farmers scrambling for water. Next up: a plague of voracious grasshoppers.
Federal agriculture officials are launching what could become their largest grasshopper-killing campaign since the 1980s amid an outbreak of the drought-loving insects that cattle ranchers fear will strip bare public and private rangelands.
Western drought brings another woe: voracious grasshoppers
June 23, 2021 GMTBILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A punishing drought in the U.S. West is drying up waterways, sparking wildfires and leaving farmers scrambling for water. Next up: a plague of voracious grasshoppers.
Federal agriculture officials are launching what could become their largest grasshopper-killing campaign since the 1980s amid an outbreak of the drought-loving insects that cattle ranchers fear will strip bare public and private rangelands.
Dead ‘murder hornet’ near Seattle is 1st found in US in 2021
June 16, 2021 GMTSPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Scientists have found a dead Asian giant hornet north of Seattle, the first so-called murder hornet discovered in the country this year, federal and state investigators said Wednesday.
Two Connecticut residents diagnosed with tick-borne Powassan
June 16, 2021 GMTHARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Two Connecticut residents have been diagnosed with the Powassan virus, a disease carried by ticks that attacks the central nervous system.
The Connecticut Department of Public Health reports that both cases involve people between 50 and 79 years old, one from Fairfield and the other from New Haven.
Cicadas were flying; for hours, Biden’s press plane was not
June 9, 2021 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The cicadas were flying. The reporters hoping to join the president in Europe were not.
Reporters traveling to the United Kingdom for President Joe Biden's first overseas trip were delayed seven hours after their chartered plane was overrun by cicadas.
Amorous cicada blamed for causing car crash in Cincinnati
June 8, 2021 GMTCINCINNATI (AP) — An amorous cicada was blamed for causing a car crash in Ohio.
The insect flew through an open window, striking the driver in the face on Monday night, Cincinnati police said.
State using insecticide on invasive spotted lanternflies
May 28, 2021 GMTHARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania has started spraying insecticide on spotted lanternflies, a new strategy that state officials are using in an attempt to slow the spread of the invasive pest.
Crews using backpack sprayers and truck-mounted spray equipment are spraying the bugs along railways, interstates and other transportation rights-of-way, the state Department of Agriculture said Friday.
Termites swarm in the South as their mating season begins
May 25, 2021 GMTBILOXI, Miss. (AP) — Thick swarms of termites are appearing nightly throughout south Mississippi, signaling that their mating season is underway.
The winged insects — often called swarmers — are likely Formosan termites, The Sun Herald reported.
After an absence, New England’s ticks are back — and hungry
May 22, 2021 GMTPORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A late-summer drought virtually eliminated ticks in parts of New England but they're back with a vengeance this spring.
Dog ticks, which do not carry Lyme disease like deer ticks do, have been especially active since early spring in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.