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Tag Archives: entomology

Honey’s hidden helper

By Stephen Ornes / May 9, 2013

A new study identified compounds in honey that help bees fight off germs. Credit: Jack Dykinga, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Bugwood.org

Scientists identify a substance in honey that helps bee bodies fight poisons

Posted in Animals | Tagged bee, colony collapse disorder, Dennis vanEngelsdorp, detox genes, entomology, gene, getinvolved, honey, honeybee, nectar, p-coumaric acid, pollen, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Maryland in College Park

A plant enemy’s enemy

By Jill Richardson / April 3, 2013

When eaten by caterpillars, some plants can emit chemicals that signal the help of special wasps. Once called, a wasp lays its egg inside a caterpillar. Credit: Ted Turlings

Plants use chemicals to recruit help in fighting off pests

Posted in Agriculture, Chemistry, Plants | Tagged Ali Zakir, Amanuel Tamiru, Barack Obama, botany, caterpillars, corn, corn rootworms, cotton, crop protection, Desmodium, Egyptian cotton leafworm, entomology, fall armyworm, farming, feature, features, insect communications, insects, integrated pest management, John Pickett, Kenya, larvae, Marcel Dicke, Maurice W. Sabelis, mite, moths, Napier grass, nematodes, pesticides, pests, plant breeding, plant communications, plant protection, plant signaling, plants, predation, predators, priming, push-pull, Sarah Obama, stem borer, Ted Turlings, Thomas Degen, topstories, volatiles, wasp, Zeyaur Khan

Flower power

By Stephen Ornes / March 11, 2013

Scientists report that bees and flowers appear to have a charged communication. In addition to a flower’s color and scent, its electric field may also bring in bees, a new study shows. Credit: Emily Krieger

Electric field around flowers may help bees find nutritious blooms

Posted in Animals, Plants | Tagged bees, biology, charge, Daniel Robert, electric field, electric potential, electricity, entomology, flowers, getinvolved, nectar, negative charge, Pollination, positive charge, sensory biology, Stephen Buchmann, University of Arizona at Tucson, University of Bristol

DEET confuses mosquitoes

By Stephen Ornes / October 12, 2011

mosquito

Scientists suspect the repellant messes with a mosquito’s sense of smell

Posted in Chemistry | Tagged bugs, DEET, entomology, getinvolved, organic chemistry, organic molecules, scent

Night of the living ants

By Stephen Ornes / May 13, 2009

Chemicals make the difference between life and death for these insects

Posted in Chemistry | Tagged ants, bugs, entomology

Bugs with Gas

By Julie Rehmeyer / September 28, 2006

Microbes living in sand under the sea may produce gases such as propane.

Posted in Earth | Tagged Alternative energy, bacteria/protists/fungi, bugs, entomology, ethane, Marine bacteria, microbe, oceanography, organic chemistry, organic compound, propane