As India battles invasion of the cereal-eating moth, fall armyworm (FAW), which is now chomping its way into northeastern states, scientists have turned their attention to another incursion, from the…
Deserts are harsh ecosystems defined by high daytime temperatures that can dehydrate bodies quickly and low night temperatures that demand warm shelters. Despite the extremes, deserts are sanctuaries to a…
Beetle fry, anyone? A ‘Pest-aurant’ in the remote and rapidly-shrinking Majuli, world’s largest river island in northeast India, has cooked up a unique method to prevent pests from attacking crops…
The year 2019 is here, and with it there is a general feeling of excitement, which we all feel when something is "new". Before the feeling gets old, let's take…
Acres after acres of land, developed into fruit orchards of different kinds, break the wiry brown monotony of the Kutch landscape in Gujarat. This ‘transformation’ of the semi-arid land has…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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 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…
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,…