Some of Hawaii’s most beautiful birds will soon go extinct without intervention. Only a few dozen ‘akikiki (Oreomystis bairdi), live in the wild, and another 42 are in captivity. The species is confined to Kauai and one of Hawaii’s most endangered birds. The ‘akeke‘e (Loxops caeruleirostris) population is larger but also endangered, with just 600 […]
Tag: mosquito
Millipedes might soothe itchy lemurs, research finds
Pesky itchiness caused by parasitic worms may have driven one of Madagascar’s lemur species to come up with a natural remedy. New research, published July 30 in the journal Primates, suggests that red-fronted lemurs (Eulemur rufifrons) apply millipede secretions to parts of their bodies, a process called “self-anointment.” “Self-anointment combined with eating millipede secretions may […]
POLL: Should anti-Zika toxin be sprayed over public areas?
Huddled around their hives, beekeepers around the south-eastern US fear a new threat to their livelihood: a fine mist beaded with neurotoxin, sprayed from the sky by officials at war with mosquitos that carry the Zika virus. Earlier this week, South Carolina beekeepers found millions of dead honey bees carpeting their apiaries, killed by an […]
POLL: Should we wipe mosquitoes off the face of the Earth?
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 […]
Why the Arctic’s Big Mosquito Problem Is Getting a Lot Worse
When the wind drops and the endless summer sun bakes the ponds that dot the frozen tundra, some of the Arctic’s most ferocious predators emerge and form menacing blizzards that darken the horizon – and everyone’s mood. “It is the talk of the town when the Arctic mosquitoes are out,” says Lauren Culler, a postdoctoral […]