When an Aedes aegypti mosquito bites you, she – because only the females, which need blood as nutrients for their offspring, bite – will probe your skin with her proboscis as many as 20 times. Two pairs of sharp cutting edges, the fascicle, break the skin and then search for a blood vessel, withdrawing and […]
Tag: insecticide
Bees and pesticides ‘missing link’ found
Scientists say they have found the “missing link” in the debate over the risk of pesticides to bees. French researchers say neonicotinoid pesticides harm individual honeybees, but whole colonies are able to recover in the wild. This accounts for discrepancies between lab and field studies, they report in Royal Society journal Proceedings B. A Europe-wide […]
Galápagos finches that inspired Darwin under threat from parasitical flies
The Galápagos finches are part of the history of science. Darwin collected them during the round-the-world voyage of HMS Beagle and their study helped the naturalist conceive the theory of evolution. Although all the birds belonged to a single group, the 14 species were spread across different islands in the archipelago. Darwin developed the idea […]
Pest caterpillars face helicopter blitz with insecticide
The Forestry Commission is so concerned about the spread of caterpillars that can strip oak trees bare and cause serious health problems among people that it is to use a helicopter to blanket-spray woodland with insecticide within days. The oak processionary moth, a native of southern and central Europe, has become established in south-west London […]