Ferns have evolved a mutually beneficial relationship with ants, but this happened late in their evolution. A recent study shows that old dogs can learn new tricks.
Pesticides present in pet flea and tick treatments pose a risk to human health and the environment - but monthly application as a preventative measure isn’t essential.
In the wake of Melbourne’s spectacular cricket swarm, we asked the author of Australia’s Guide to Crickets why insects gather in such large numbers and how to keep them out of our homes.
It’s a horror story unfolding in the west that could sweep across the country. Beware the shot-hole borer, an exotic pest that threatens our tree crops, plantations, urban forests and wild places.
Activist and theatre director Nancy Diuguid, left, with partner and film-maker Melanie Chait.
Melanie Chait/Dance Me to the End of Time
Published in 1962, ‘Silent Spring’ called attention to collateral damage from widespread use of synthetic pesticides. Many problems the book anticipated persist today in new forms.
Diagnostic is a crucial step in the fight against malaria.
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Evidence shows that malaria parasites in some locations have changed their genetic make-up so that they can evade rapid diagnostic tests.
Planting corn near Dwight, Ill., April 23, 2020. Virtually all corn seeds planted in the U.S. are coated with neonicotinoid insecticides.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Studies suggest that seeds coated with neonicotinoid insecticides may harm nontarget insects, mammals and birds. In response, states are starting to restrict use of these products.
Mosquito eggs float on the surface of a pond. The insecticide Bti is used to kill mosquito larvae, but it could also harm frogs.
(Shutterstock)
The insecticide Bti kills target organisms like mosquitoes and blackflies, but new research shows it may also have negative effects on non-target species like frogs.
Summer is no fun when mosquitoes are biting. Insect repellent creams, sprays, and lotions are safe and effective but there are alternatives. Here’s what works and what doesn’t!
Fall armyworm devouring a soybean leaf.
Scott D. Stewart
Eggs can remain in the soil for several years with the embryos waiting to receive sufficient moisture to complete development. This results in synchronised hatching when there’s sufficient rain.
A female squash bee.
Charles Melton/Alamy Stock Photo
Eating locusts is an old strategy used to get food after locusts devastated crops, but things have changed.
A community volunteer uses a motorised spray to apply pesticide on February 25, 2020 at a locust hatch site in eastern Kenya.
Photo by TONY KARUMBA/AFP via Getty Images
Peter McGrath, The InterAcademy Partnership; Michael Norton, European Academies’ Science Advisory Council e Nina Hobbhahn, European Academies’ Science Advisory Council
The sustainability of African agriculture is critical to the continent’s food security and for maintaining agriculture’s contribution to Africa’s rural communities and national economies
If this sunflower was treated with sulfoxaflor, the bumblebee pollinating it has something to worry about.
Dominik Scythe/Unsplash