Following the sound trail: pulling India’s cicadas out of oblivion
On a wet rainy day in 2014, Kiran Marathe was busy looking for loud, clamorous cicadas hiding in the bushes, in Verlem district in South Goa. Marathe, a young 20-something…
Insects News
Pest responsible for food crisis in Africa reaches Karnataka
The fall armyworm, an exotic pest from the Americas, has been reported from India for the first time. Scientists are concerned that the pest could pose a serious threat to…
Netwinged insects: The invisible caretakers of forests
Insects are known more for the harm they cause than for the good they do. But diverse families of insects are doing the job of protecting forests from sap sucking,…
Geographic isolation nurtures 1032 endemic species in Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Far removed from the mainland, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal support and nurture over a thousand species of animals that are exclusive to this part…
Assam’s muga silkworm battles climate change
Abnormal temperature fluctuations have thrown Manjita Basumatary and her fellow silk farmers from Assam in a tizzy. The rearers of the famed golden muga silk have had to shift the…
Two new ants described from the Andamans using 3D imaging
Adding to the over 13,000 species of ants that are known so far across the world, a team of researchers has discovered and documented two new endemic ant species Tetramorium…
[Video] Tree crickets turn leaves into megaphones to attract mates
When a male tree cricket decides to serenade, he sometimes searches for a large leaf. He makes his way deliberately to the underside of the leaf, cuts out a pear-shaped…
The first official record of animal diversity of the Great Nicobar
The Great Nicobar Island is located further south than Kanyakumari and is closer to Myanmar and Sumatra than to the Indian mainland. Over millennia of evolution and isolation, the island…
New mayfly find in Meghalaya signifies good river health
When mayflies come to a riverine system, it is an indication that it is not polluted. Being sensitive to pollution, they are mostly seen in the upper end of streams,…
