The Weekly Buzz is a roundup of stories in the bug and pest industry. This week discusses theories for relatively-recent outbreaks of mosquito-borne viruses, ants running on a treadmill, how beetles use rear-ends to hitchhike and more.
Mosquito-borne virus outbreak
A variety of mosquito-borne viruses have presented themselves throughout North and South America in the past few decades. Some of these are mor e widely-known (Zika and West Nile), while some haven’t really broken into the news cycle (Eastern equine encephalitis). While there could be many factors for this relatively-recent outbreak, sc ientists from Brazil and Argentina have a few theories. Read more
Ants on a treadmill
To better understand desert ants’ homing behavior, scientists specially designed an “ant treadmill&rdq uo; to study the insects’ fancy footwork. With this specially designed treadmill, scientists were able to study the ants’ direction and speed. Read more
Predictions based on wasp behavior
According to studies, it’s believed tha t a wasp’s behavior can be predicted up to six weeks before it actually hatches, because a wasp offspring’s personality may reflect that of the queen. These findings and behaviors could he lp discover how certain wasp nests behave. Read more
Magnetic properties of cockroaches
According to a new discovery, it’s been found that living cockroaches have very different magnetic propert ies than that off dead cockroaches. This discovery could have meaning in the technological word, perhaps helping design better sensors for things such as microrobot navigation. Read more
Beetle hitchhikers
As researchers w ere surveying insects in Costa Rica, a colony of army ants marching across the forest looked completely normal, until viewed from the side. That’s when scientists noticed there was a little &ldq uo;extra junk in the trunk.” A species of beetle unknown to science was using the ant’s rear end to hitch a ride. Read more
