Bed bugs are pretty much universally reviled. But a public health entomologist explains how – while potentially traumatizing to deal with – they aren’t likely to make you sick.
Parasitic wasps are body-snatchers — if you’re an insect. But these much-maligned creatures have saved millions of human lives by controlling the spread of the cassava mealybug.
Although there is no evidence yet that it affects COVID-19 vaccines, schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease, has been associated with lower vaccine immunity for several vaccines.
Biological control strategies curb pests using other species that attack the invader. A biologist explains why it can take more than a decade to develop an effective biological control program.
The amount of parasites on a host species has implications for the host population. Factors such as reproduction and consumption can be affected by the number of parasites and their types.
Investigations have led to the withdrawal of a study backing ivermectin to treat COVID-19. But that’s not the last time we’ll hear about this controversial drug.
Cleaner fish feed on the parasites that live on other fish. Studying communication between cleaner fish and their clients may help employ them in salmon farms, which can be plagued by parasites.
An ecologist describes her field research and work on the impact of human activity on birds and their pathogens, which has taken her from Alaska to the Gulf of Guinea.