The fruits of UC Riverside’s research are even easier to enjoy with the Citrus Gifts collection expanding its line of products and making them available online. The collection, featuring marmalades and olive oils from citrus and bee research, have been sold in campus stores for about six years. In June...

Following a decade-long effort, scientists have mapped out the genome of an aphid-like pest capable of decimating vineyards. In so doing, they have discovered how it spreads — and potentially how to stop it. The research team’s work on the genome was published this past week in a BMC Biology...

Blood-feeding livestock mites can be detected with wearable sensor technology nicknamed “Fitbits for chickens.” To help farmers detect mite infestations, a team of entomologists, computer scientists, and biologists led by UC Riverside entomologist Amy Murillo has created a new insect detection system. The team’s work is detailed in the journal...

First survey of California’s bees in 50 years will look for effects of habitat destruction

Just like us, the humble sweat bee has a daily routine

UC Riverside study shows that without adequate sugar, a bumblebee queen’s fat body, which functions like a human liver, does not correctly produce enzymes required for healthy metabolism and detoxification from pesticides.

New research from UC Riverside shows, contrary to previous scientific belief, a hormone required for sexual maturity in insects cannot travel across the blood-brain barrier unless aided by a transporter protein. The finding may soon allow scientists to prevent disease-spreading mosquitoes from maturing, or to boost reproduction in beneficial bumblebees.

They say love is blind, but if you’re a queen honeybee it could mean true loss of sight. New research finds male honeybees inject toxins during sex that cause temporary blindness. All sexual activity occurs during a brief early period in a honeybee’s life, during which males die and queens...

It’s hidden from sight, but there’s an epic battle of the sexes raging in the leafcutter ant species Atta colombica. Competing males deliver sperm in a fluid that’s toxic to rivals’ sperm, while females quash their efforts in order to ensure their own reproductive success. For the first time, a...

UC Riverside is testing whether a sesame seed-sized wasp can control a pest that could seriously damage California crops including wine, walnuts, and avocados.

A first-generation student’s journey into entomology.

There has been a lot of buzz about honeybees’ failing health because they pollinate our produce. Less well known is how critical bumblebees are for some of our favorite foods. And their numbers are also rapidly declining. A new study from the University of California, Riverside, reveals the loss of...

Taking care to stand upwind, UC Riverside students display stoic professionalism as they collect insects off a pig carcass in 90-degree heat. This scene from a class in forensic entomology could have been ripped from any TV police drama and in some ways, it was. Professor Alec Gerry said intense...

Superbloom is a term concocted by the media, but this year’s wildflowers are still spectacular, especially for the creatures that depend on them

UC Riverside-led research, done on the Big Island, shows effects of mite introduction have cascaded through entire pathogen communities

UC Riverside study uses gene-editing tool to disrupt serotonin receptor linked to egg production in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes

Identification of a transporter that ferries steroids into cells could bring widespread benefits for human health

National Institutes of Health award to UCR’s Naoki Yamanaka recognizes highly innovative research

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Entomologists at the University of California, Riverside have received a five-year grant of $2.44 million from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, or NIAID, to investigate the role hormones play in the female mosquito’s ability to use human blood for egg production. Vector mosquitoes need...

Insecticide exposure and declining floral diversity are jeopardizing key pollinator group