Potent spider toxin 'electrocutes' German, not American, cockroaches

Using spider toxins to study the proteins that let nerve cells send out electrical signals, researchers say they have stumbled upon a biological tactic that may offer a new way to protect crops from insect plagues in a safe and environmentally responsible way.

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Monarch butterflies...Are they really endangered? - Tri-County Times: Human Interests, Social News And Recipes: Fenton, Linden And Holly MI

Eradicating fatal sleeping sickness by killing off the tsetse fly

A professor of biology has lent his expertise in understanding insect movement to help shape a UN-sanctioned eradication effort of the tsetse fly -- a creature that passes the fatal African sleeping sickness to humans, domestic animals, and wildlife. The tsetse fly is the main vector for Human African Trypanosomiasis (aka sleeping sickness), and spreads the disease by biting humans or animals. The disease affects the central nervous system and is fatal if untreated. For some forms of the disease, victims can reach the terminal stage before symptoms even start to show. View the Original article

Radio frequency ID tags on honey bees reveal hive dynamics

Scientists attached radio-frequency identification tags to hundreds of individual honey bees and tracked them for several weeks. The effort yielded two discoveries: Some foraging bees are much busier than others; and if those busy bees disappear, others will take their place. View the Original article

Monarch Conservation

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