The unprecedented threat of desert locust to food security and livelihoods continues in the Horn of Africa and it is also very likely to spread to southwest Asia and perhaps West Africa, according to a situation update by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization…
Iran is under its worst desert locust outbreak in the past 50 years and for the second year in a row. Compared with last year, the swarms of desert locusts are much larger, and it is safe to claim that the recent attacks are unprecedented, officials said. According…
Massive swarms of locusts are wreaking havoc across western and central India, already destroying almost 50 000 ha (124 000 acres) of cropland. The outbreak has affected Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and has also begun impacting Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi district on…
After spending 17 years underground, as many as 1.5 million cicadas per acre may emerge in parts of the eastern U.S. this year, Virginia Tech said in a news release. Residents in Southwest Virginia, parts of North Carolina, and West Virginia could witness such a…
The Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia) dubbed the "murder hornet"– the world's largest wasp with an appetite for honeybees– has been spotted in the U.S. for the first time, particularly in Washington state. Entomologists are now on a hunt to wipe…
A study by an international team of researchers found considerable variation in trends even among adjacent sites but an average decline of terrestrial insect abundance by ~9% per decade and an increase of freshwater insect abundance by ~11% per decade. This study…
A new study found that North America has approximately 3 billion fewer birds that there were in 1970. The loss represents a 29% population decline, making it an "overlooked biodiversity crisis" according to the authors. "I couldn't believe that…
Up to 600 dolphins have washed up on beaches along the Atlantic coast of France since the start of 2019. Although dead dolphins wash up on beaches in France every year, scientists say the situation is alarming. Two different surveys, according to The Local, showed…
Smithsonian scientists have recently defined a new ocean-life zone, comprising of reef fishes, including numerous new species, that live well below shallow coral reefs. The new zone was named Rariphotic. The new zone was defined based on the unique fish fauna…
Whales and dolphins (Cetaceans) live in tightly-knit social groups, have complex relationships, talk to each other and even have regional dialects – much like human societies. A major new study, published recently in Nature Ecology & Evolution, has linked the…
