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AMERICANALMANAC (Charles McAdams) - Tarantula mating season sends males on a one-way march across 15 states Thu Sep 3 19:31:31 2026

Tens of thousands of male tarantulas are leaving their underground burrows right now to search for mates across the American South and Southwest, a brief, driven journey most will not survive. The annual migration is already underway from Arizona to Arkansas, with roughly 30 species of tarantula active across 15 states between late August and […] The post Tarantula mating season sends males on a one-way march across 15 states appeared first on American Almanac .

Tens of thousands of male tarantulas are leaving their underground burrows right now to search for mates across the American South and Southwest, a brief, driven journey most will not survive. The annual migration is already underway from Arizona to Arkansas, with roughly 30 species of tarantula active across 15 states between late August and October. Males that have spent five to ten years underground emerge for the first and only mating season of their lives, crossing roads, trails, and open desert in search of a female's burrow. Within months of mating, or failing to, they die. For residents in the affected states, the season means more spider sightings on roads and near homes. But entomologists and wildlife officials say the oversized…Open

AMERICANALMANAC (Sadie Smith) - Dragonfly swarms fill California skies by the thousands, and experts say they're doing residents a favor Wed Aug 19 22:00:26 2026

Massive swarms of dragonflies have descended on California's Bay Area this summer, filling parks and waterfronts with hundreds of the insects, and scientists say the surge is driven by an abundance of mosquitoes. Residents across San Francisco and Oakland have reported skies thick with dragonflies in recent weeks, with the insects spotted in such numbers […] The post Dragonfly swarms fill California skies by the thousands, and experts say they're doing residents a favor appeared first on American Almanac .

Massive swarms of dragonflies have descended on California's Bay Area this summer, filling parks and waterfronts with hundreds of the insects, and scientists say the surge is driven by an abundance of mosquitoes. Residents across San Francisco and Oakland have reported skies thick with dragonflies in recent weeks, with the insects spotted in such numbers that some have been observed mating on top of people's hats. The swarms have appeared at Lake Merritt in Oakland, along the Russian River near Guerneville, and at Dolores Park in San Francisco, the Daily Mail reported . Chris Grinter, the senior collection manager of entomology at the California Academy of Sciences, pointed to a straightforward explanation for the boom. He told SFGATE:…Open

THEAMERICANCONSERVATIVE (Joseph Addington) - Screwworm Strikes Back Mon Aug 10 11:23:21 2026

Biden’s open-border policies may have brought a plague of flesh-eating parasites to America’s southern border. The post Screwworm Strikes Back appeared first on The American Conservative .

Agriculture Agriculture Screwworm Strikes Back Biden’s open-border policies may have brought a plague of flesh-eating parasites to America’s southern border. Andrew J. Whitaker/San Antonio Express-News via Getty Images The most grotesque legacy of Joe Biden’s border policy may be a fly. The migration surge his administration helped unleash overwhelmed governments across Central America, enriched the cartels engaging in human and livestock trafficking, and weakened the systems meant to prevent the illegal movement of animals. As caravans of illegal immigrants bound for the United States’ southern border pressed northwards, so did the New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite once confined south of the Darién Gap. On June 3,…Open

AMERICANALMANAC (Charles McAdams) - Yellow-legged hornet found at Washington state port, raising alarm over threat to honeybees and crops Wed Jul 29 23:03:04 2026

A live yellow-legged hornet discovered aboard a ship at the Port of Vancouver, Washington, has prompted agriculture officials to warn that the invasive species could devastate honeybee populations and disrupt American crop production. A state grain inspector spotted and photographed the hornet in April while inspecting a vessel docked at the port in Vancouver, a […] The post Yellow-legged hornet found at Washington state port, raising alarm over threat to honeybees and crops appeared first on American Almanac .

A live yellow-legged hornet discovered aboard a ship at the Port of Vancouver, Washington, has prompted agriculture officials to warn that the invasive species could devastate honeybee populations and disrupt American crop production. A state grain inspector spotted and photographed the hornet in April while inspecting a vessel docked at the port in Vancouver, a city on the Columbia River in southwestern Washington state. The Washington State Department of Agriculture issued a public alert after confirming the find and dispatched personnel to survey the surrounding area. They found no additional hornets, but the agency says it is continuing surveillance, trapping, and public outreach to monitor the threat. The sighting marks a new front in…Open

NEWSNATIONNOW (Josie Fischels) - New spider species 'catapults' ants into its web at bullet speed Tue Jul 21 16:11:11 2026

Scientists just found a spider that hunts by catapult.

WAR (Kenya Baylor, National Museum of Health and Medicine) - Small Creatures, Big Mission: Bugapalooza Connects Science to Military Readiness Mon Jun 29 17:24:33 2026

Nearly 400 visitors attended the National Museum of Health and Medicine's Bugapalooza to learn how insects affect health, support the environment and affect military readiness.

THEAMERICANCONSERVATIVE (Theodore Dalrymple) - Paul Ehrlich, Estimated Prophet Sun Mar 22 04:15:50 2026

The modern Malthusian had conviction, if nothing else. The post Paul Ehrlich, Estimated Prophet appeared first on The American Conservative .

Takimag Paul Ehrlich, Estimated Prophet The modern Malthusian had conviction, if nothing else. TakiMag It is curious how at least three prominent entomologists strayed into human affairs in the twentieth century, as if the world of insects were too narrow for them. Alfred Kinsey, who studied gall-wasps, became the most famous sexologist of his time; Edward Wilson, who knew more about ants than anyone in history, founded sociobiology, the theory that evolution explained social organization which in turn explained human behavior; and Paul Ehrlich, the lepidopterist who became the Cassandra of population growth.  It is true that man shares 60 percent of his DNA with the fruit-fly, Drosophila, but that does not mean that man is largely…Open