It’s miller moth season in Colorado – an entomologist explains why they’re important and where they’re headed

Miller moths migrate through the state every summer and are sometimes considered to be a pest.

Ryan St Laurent, Assistant Professor of Biology, University of Colorado Boulder • conversation
June 3, 2025 ~8 min

Billions of cicadas are emerging, from Cape Cod to north Georgia – here’s how and why we map them

Two ecologists explain why a misleading map is worse than no map at all, and how they have worked for years to track the emergences of 13-year and 17-year cicadas.

John Cooley, Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut • conversation
May 22, 2025 ~9 min


Some viruses prefer mosquitoes to humans, but people get sick anyway − a virologist and entomologist explain why

The virus that causes eastern equine encephalitis, or EEE, has evolved to infect mosquitoes. To be able to spread between people, however, it faces extra challenges.

Pilar Pérez Romero, Associate Professor of Virology, University of Notre Dame • conversation
Feb. 4, 2025 ~9 min

What do insects do all winter?

Bugs that buzz and flutter at other times of year are conspicuously absent during winter months.

Anna Brødsgaard Shoshan, PhD Candidate, Zoology Department, Stockholm University • conversation
Dec. 23, 2024 ~7 min

In Hawaii, parasites and viruses team up in the battle against fruit flies – an entomologist explains the implication for global pest control

Fruit flies wreak havoc on crops in Hawaii, but a type of parasitoid wasp armed with a biological weapon has helped keep the pests at bay.

Kelsey Coffman, Assistant Professor of Entomology & Plant Pathology, University of Tennessee • conversation
Oct. 31, 2024 ~9 min

Trees’ own beneficial microbiome could lead to discovery of new treatments to fight citrus greening disease

The promising compounda were discovered on an organic farm.

Krishnaswamy Jayachandran, Professor of Agroecology, Florida International University • conversation
Oct. 4, 2024 ~6 min

Why don’t female crickets chirp?

Only male crickets have wing structures that produce sound, but females are very good at following the signal.

Floyd W. Shockley, Entomologist and Collections Manager, Smithsonian Institution • conversation
April 22, 2024 ~6 min

Billions of cicadas are about to emerge from underground in a rare double-brood convergence

The last time that these two groups of cicadas emerged from underground together, Thomas Jefferson was president.

Chris Simon, Senior Research Scientist of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut • conversation
April 18, 2024 ~11 min


Female mosquitoes rely on one another to choose the best breeding sites − and with the arrival of spring, they’re already on the hunt

Female mosquitoes don’t want to lay their eggs alone, but they don’t want sites that are too crowded either. Understanding what guides their choice could inform new control strategies.

Matthew DeGennaro, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences, Florida International University • conversation
March 19, 2024 ~8 min

The surprising reason why insects circle lights at night: They lose track of the sky

A new study shows how artificial light at night scrambles insects’ normal flight patterns, pulling them off course into orbit around the light.

Yash Sondhi, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Entomology, Mcguire Center for Lepidoptera & Biodiversity, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida • conversation
Jan. 30, 2024 ~9 min

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