College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences

POPULAR SCIENCE - Birds in Hawaii are stealing from each other, and this bird-on-bird crime even extends to members of the same species. It’s an example of kleptoparasitism, or when an animal steals things from another. Specifically, these colorful, winged kleptoparasites are pilferring nest-material, sometimes causing the demise of the depleted nest. Researchers documented this...

LAIST - Do you hate composting as much as I do? Even though I know it has benefits for both my garden and the environment, I hate turning the pile and worrying about the right ratio of greens to browns and whether it’s too wet or too dry. And it’s always dispiriting to check for...

GIZMODO - Despite their tiny size, bed bugs are perhaps the scariest thing a person can realistically encounter in their home. But what do these blood-sucking fiends fear most? The answer, recent research shows, is apparently water. Scientists at the University of California, Riverside, tracked how bed bugs behaved around water. The insects avoided wet...

EARTH.COM - Have you ever wondered if bed bugs are afraid of anything? These tiny blood-sucking insects cause stress in homes around the world. Once bed bugs enter a room, getting rid of them can feel almost impossible. But new research from the University of California, Riverside has revealed something surprising. Bed bugs fear water...

NEWSNATION - During the late 1800s and well into the 1900s, the New World screwworm invaded the U.S., devastating livestock and requiring a decades-long eradication campaign. During that time, the fly could be found from California to Florida. Eventually, scientists discovered that by releasing sterile male flies into the air, they could all but eliminate...

SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE - Roughly 60 years ago, the United States eradicated the New World screwworm, an insect that feeds on living tissue. But now, the flesh-eating creature appears to be creeping closer to a comeback. New World screwworm is the name given to the larval, or maggot, stage of the Cochliomyia hominivorax blowfly. Loosely translated...

BBC WILDLIFE MAGAZINE - Researchers in California are preparing for the possible return of a parasitic flesh-eating fly which once decimated livestock. The New World screwworm is the larval (or maggot) stage of a blowfly known as Cochliomyia hominivorax. While most blowflies are harmless and feed on decaying carcasses, the screwworm feeds on living tissue...

KNOWABLE MAGAZINE - n warm, shallow waters, a spiny, slug-like creature grazes on bacterial sludge on the seafloor, while sponges nearby filter clouds of suspended particles. A shell-encased Odaraia swims past, picking smaller life forms out of the water, while a giant Anomalocaris, with its formidable grasping appendages, prowls for soft-bodied critters. It’s a scene...