nests | Common News Update

Oct272020 by adminNo Comments

Scientists continue search for murder hornet nests

Technology

SPOKANE, Wash. -- Workers from the state Department of Agriculture managed to destroy the first nest of so-called murder hornets discovered in the U.S. without suffering any stings or other injuries, the agency said Monday.The nest, located in Whatcom County near the Canadian border, created concern because the Asian giant hornets are large and their sting can be lethal, especially if a person is stung numerous times. The hornets also pose a huge threat to honey bees that pollinate many crops."No one was stung and no one was even attacked that I am aware of,'' said Sven-Erik Spichiger, an entomologist who directed the nest eradication Saturday near the town of Blaine.Scientists recovered 98 hornets from the nest, including 13 that were captured alive in a net, the agency said."The WSDA is ...

Mud wasp nests used to date ancient Australian rock art

Science

Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Researchers have used mud wasp nests to narrow the age range of Aboriginal rock art in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Previous surveys suggested some Kimberley painting were 16,000 years old, but the latest findings proved the Aboriginal rock art was much younger. "This is the first time we have been able to confidently say Gwion style paintings were created around 12,000 years ago," Damien Finch, doctoral student at the University of Melbourne, said in a news release. "No one has been able present the scientific evidence to say that before." For the study, published this week in the journal Science Advances, scientists collected and analyzed 100 mud wasp nests from rock art sites. "A painting beneath a wasp nest must be older than the nest, and a painting on...

Parasitic beetle mimics the perfume of female bees to trick males, infiltrate nests

Science

Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Blister beetles are chemical con artists, and according to new research, they can adapt their trickery to dupe a variety of bee species. During one of several larval stages, Meloe franciscanus beetles infiltrate bee nests by mimicking the chemicals emitted by female bees -- perfume-like compounds called pheromones. The perfume attracts males, which the larvae attach themselves to, hitching a ride back to the nest. Once in the nest, the beetle larvae can subsist on pollen, nectar and bee eggs, emerging as adult bees the following winter. New analysis of the parasite's chicanery showed blister beetle larvae adapt their chemical ploy to match the perfume of the local bees species. When scientists exposed two different bees species -- Habropoda pallida from California's Moj...