The disease is spread by two types of mosquito. The first is a species called Culiseta melanura, or the black-tailed mosquito. This mosquito tends to live in hardwood bogs and feeds on birds like robins, herons, and wrens, spreading the virus among them. But the melanura mosquito doesn’t often bite mammals. A different mosquito species, … Read more
Stars of the new Netflix drama “The Perfect Couple” got relentlessly bugged by uninvited guests at the show’s Los Angeles premiere Wednesday. Insects were seen swarming the area around the red-carpet event for the limited series, which features Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Eve Hewson and Meghann Fahy. Fahy’s interview with Marc Malkin, a senior culture … Read more
NEW YORK — More than 20 people returning to the U.S. from Cuba have been infected with a virus transmitted by bugs in recent months, federal health officials said Tuesday. They all had Oropouche virus disease, also known as sloth fever. None have died, and there is no evidence that it’s spreading in the United … Read more
U.S. orange production has plummeted as the industry faces volatile threats from extreme weather events, an incurable disease and economic pressures. Citrus growers are losing millions of dollars every year, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. At the same time, orange juice futures have hit record highs. “Citrus production in the United States … Read more
A pest expert has revealed an ingenious tip for keeping holidaymakers’ clothes free of bed bugs, amid fears the UK could be hit with another invasion of the parasitic insects. Pest-busting specialists Rentokil say they’ve seen a 117-percent increase in enquiries about the blood-sucking creatures, and are warning the millions heading abroad this summer to … Read more
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — There’s an old joke that mosquitoes are like family: They are annoying, but they carry your blood. Mosquito season is starting to rev up across much of the United States. And that means bug bites. When a mosquito bites you, it pierces the skin using a mouthpart called a proboscis to … Read more
When I was a kid, I used to help my mother clear leaves the old-fashioned way — with a rake. These days, I don’t see many rakes in my neighborhood. It seems everyone has a leaf blower or a landscaper who uses one, often at ungodly hours, which disrupts humans as well as wildlife. The … Read more
Much like an unexpected free dinner will distract you from the leftovers sitting in your fridge, this summer’s cicada emergence will turn predators away from their usual prey. During the 2021 Brood X emergence, Zoe Getman-Pickering, a scientist in Lill’s research group, found that as birds swooped in on cicadas, caterpillar populations exploded. Spared from … Read more
RIO DE JANEIRO — The small team of state public health workers slalomed between auto parts strewn across a Rio de Janeiro junkyard, looking for standing water where mosquitoes might have laid their eggs. They were part of nationwide efforts to curtail a surge in Brazil of the mosquito-borne illness of dengue fever during the … Read more
