Typically, bees don’t eat meat. However, a species of stingless 'vulture' bee in the tropics has evolved the ability to do so, presumably due to intense competition for nectar. UC Riverside scientists find these bees' guts resemble those of hyenas and other carrion feeders.
In less time than it takes to read this sentence, hummingbirds can catch a whiff of potential trouble. That’s the result of new UC Riverside research showing, contrary to popular belief, the tiny birds do have an active sense of smell.
A new UC Riverside study shows that a type of insecticide made for commercial plant nurseries is harmful to a typical bee even when applied well below the label rate.
Doug Yanega, senior scientist at UC Riverside’s Entomology Research Museum, discusses one of nature's unsolved mysteries: the 17-year life cycle of cicadas in the Eastern U.S.
The University of California, Riverside, is leading a new effort to stop and reverse a worldwide decline in honeybees, which threatens food security and prices.
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...
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.
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...
