10 Most Disturbing Bugs – Oddee.com

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• The Lymantrid moth (Calliteara pudibunda) is widespread in Danish beech (Fagus sylvatica) forests. The species has one generation in Denmark, with the dull grey moth flying during June. Each female can lay 300-400 eggs which she normally does very near the place where she emerged from the pupae. The small caterpillar is very hairy and can easily be transported by the wind. In late autumn the caterpillar is fully grown, is about 5 cm long and is very beautifully coloured. Pupation takes place among leaves on the ground where a silken cocoon is made. (Photo by: Malgorzata Tomkowicz)

Firewood and Invasive Insects – NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation

• New York’s forests are under attack from numerous invasive exotic insect pests. In years past, we have been hit with Chestnut blight, European gypsy moth, Dutch elm disease and Beech bark disease, all with devastating results.

• One common way many of these insect pests are moved around the country – beyond their natural rate of spread based on biology and flight potential – is on firewood carried by campers, hunters and other users of our forests.

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• A casual observation of boaters and campers checking in at any campground will reveal trunk loads or boatloads of firewood being brought in, often from far distant states.Once transported to new locations, eggs may hatch, or larvae may mature and emerge to attack host trees in and around the camping areas.

• Invasive insects transported on firewood are killing
  trees in our favorite campgrounds

• n the Lake States, the exotic, invasive Emerald ash borer (EAB) has caused great destruction of all native species of ash trees (which are also common across New York).

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• New York State is now less than 150 miles from the nearest EAB infestations.

• Vehicle transporting firewood which may contain
  tree-killing insects

• The Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) was first confirmed in New York State in 1996. Areas of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and Nassau and Suffolk Counties are also under Federal quarantine which prohibits the movement of firewood and wood products of all hardwood species out of these regulated areas.

  In addition, several other states and the province of Ontario, have bans or regulations in place concerning the importation or movement of firewood, of any species, as a means to prevent introduction or limit spread of any of the insect pests known to live in or on cut firewood. In addition, many States and Federal agencies, including United States Department of Agriculture Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) and USDA Forest Service, have begun extensive outreach and public education campaigns to explain the dangers posed to forests from the movement of firewood, and encourage recreational users to “not move firewood.”

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Yale Environment 360: Bee Species Inventory
Shows Riches of Biodiversity

• A new inventory of bee species by researchers at the American Museum of Natural History notes more than 19,200 kinds, more than all species of birds and mammals put together. Among the myriad variations are many bees that do not make honey or live in colonies but are crucial pollinators for plants in their habitats. These less well-known species may prove useful as climate change forces shifts in agriculture systems, and as familiar bees suffer from colony collapse disorder, a phenomenon that has significantly reduced bee numbers in the U.S. The list of bee species is online and linked to maps that show where species live.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Tropics insects ‘face extinction’

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  Many tropical insects face extinction by the end of this century unless they adapt to the rising global temperatures predicted, US scientists have said.

  Researchers led by the University of Washington said insects in the tropics were much more sensitive to temperature changes than those elsewhere.

• Unlike warm-blooded animals, cold-blooded organisms cannot regulate their body temperatures by growing a coat of fur or shedding it when it gets warm. They are instead limited to either seek shade when hot or sun themselves when cool.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Flowers ‘wave’ at passing insects

• By Matt Walker
  BBC

• Flowers "wave" at insects to get their attention, scientists have discovered.

  The finding helps explain why many flowers waft in the breeze, and reveals a hitherto unknown trick used to attract pollinators.

• Mobile flowers are visited more often by insects and also produce more seeds, they report in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology.

  Moving flowers also attract a wider variety of insect species than more static blooms.

• For years, biologists have known that flowers use striking colours, fragrances, elaborately shaped petals and nectar to attract pollinating insects such as bees and flies.

  Yet no-one had ever seriously considered whether wafting in the wind acted as a similar signal.

• "We found wavy flowers are more visible to insects, and thus attract more pollinators and set more seeds," said John Warren.

• "Short, fat-stalked flowers don’t wobble enough and are less attractive to pollinators; yet very wobbly flowers are just too wobbly for the insects to handle, as the insects cannot land on them.

  "Only flowers that wobble the right amount are successful in setting seeds."

Release No. 0104.08

• Contact:
  Suzanne Bond, USDA APHIS (301) 734-5175
  Judy Antipin, USDA FS (610) 557-4183
  Matt Smith, Chicago Dept. of Streets Sanitation (312) 744-6430
  Jeff Squibb, Illinois Department of Agriculture (217) 558-1546

• Illinois is First State to Reach Eradication of the Invasive Pest

• CHICAGO, April 17, 2008 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Illinois Department of Agriculture and the City of Chicago today announced the official eradication of the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) from Illinois.

• ALB was discovered in Illinois in the summer of 1998, and the most recent infestation was detected around Chicago’s Oz Park in 2003. Since that time, extensive surveys have not found adult ALB or any signs of infestation. With at least four years of active surveys and no signs of insects or infestation uncovered, USDA and its partners now can declare ALB eradication in Illinois.

• The ALB is about 1.5 inches long and shiny black with antenna up to twice the length of their bodies, banded in black and white. Host tree species that beetles favor include maple, birch, elm and poplar, among others.

  USDA currently is working with its state and local government partners to eradicate ALB in parts of New York and in central New Jersey. Additional information about ALB can be found at www.aphis.usda.gov .

National Invasive Species Information Center What’s New

• Recent Weed Science Society of America Press Releases: Beetles Help Take a Bite out of one fo the World’s Most Aggressive Weeds (Purple Loosestrife) (Apr 21, 2008; PDF | 181 KB)