The Dose20:22Why should I be concerned about mosquitoes? Belle River, Ont., teacher Melanie Klimkowski never worried much about mosquitoes, since they never seemed interested in biting her. After learning more about the bugs at a special workshop with her eighth grade class, she says she now carries small amounts of mosquito repellant at all times … Read more
Although cooler fall temperatures are coming, which local experts say usually drives down mosquito populations, one researcher says Calgary isn’t totally in the clear yet A relatively new species is likely hitting its peak population now, according to John Soghigian, an assistant professor of parasitology at the University of Calgary. The Culex pipiens, also referred to … Read more
In the first episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, fictional entomologist Gil Grissom arrived at a crime scene and used tweezers to pull a maggot out of a dead body. Within moments, he announced that the age of the maggot indicated that the body had been dead for seven days. The same approach applies in … Read more
It’s a rare sighting: A small oblong insect coloured a bright Barbie pink. It’s a pink katydid, a grasshopper-like insect with a recessive gene that turns them from their usual pale green to bright pink. Geoff Pekor is an insect enthusiast who makes a hobby out of looking for these, and other unusual insects at … Read more
Every year, invasive insects gnaw away at Canadian farms, gardens and wild plants, spreading disease and disturbing ecosystems. But tiny wasps that lay body-bursting eggs in invasive insects may be able to help B.C. berry growers protect their crops. “It’s like a free service nature is providing us to help control crop pests,” said Paul Abram, an … Read more
Christine Moses was playing Scrabble with her husband in their Ottawa home this spring when she looked outside the window and shrieked. “I just saw this gigantic beast crawling up the window,” Moses said. After taking a picture of the giant insect, Moses asked her husband to eliminate the intruder with a fly swatter. She then posted … Read more
Natalie Sansone and her family are “not usually bug people” but the family has welcomed a rare pink grasshopper into their northeast London, Ont., home after finding it hopping across their driveway. Sansone and her husband, Ryan Seed, were walking home from school with their 3-year-old and 5-year-old on Tuesday afternoon when Seed spotted the pink … Read more
Quebec’s public health institute is warning of a possible spread of the black-legged tick population in the province due to climate change. The Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) has created maps of the projected growth to help communities and governments plan and adapt over the next several decades. “These maps are actually … Read more
As It Happens108:20:00Honeybees invaded a reporter’s home, and upended everything she thought she knew about them It started with a single bee. Sarah Kliff, a New York Times reporter, was working from home in Washington, D.C., a few weeks back, when she found a bee buzzing in her window. “I thought it had just gotten … Read more
As It Happens6:37So long, solar eclipse. An even rarer phenomenon is about to take over the skies Floyd Shockley is planning a road trip to witness a rare natural event that will darken skies across much of the United States — a convergence not of celestial bodies, but of two massive broods of flying, screaming, lustful insects. … Read more
