Articles

Explore the fascinating world of insects and their impact on human health, agriculture, ecosystems and everyday life. Our articles feature insights on topics ranging from mosquitoes and pollinators to pest management, beekeeping and emerging trends in entomology. Whether you’re considering a graduate degree, advancing your career or simply curious about insect science, you’ll find expert perspectives, practical knowledge and the latest discoveries shaping the field.

  • What Diseases Do Mosquitoes Carry? 3 Serious Illnesses to Know 

    Mosquitoes are more than annoying pests. Around the world, they spread diseases that can cause serious illness and death. Through their bites, mosquitoes can transmit viruses and parasites from one host to another, making them one of the most dangerous animals on the planet.  So, what diseases do mosquitoes carry? Below, we’ll look at three serious mosquito-borne illnesses —

    READ MORE

  • How Invasive Insects Travel by Hitchhiking  

    Whether you’re on embarking on a cross-country road trip or crossing state lines for a professional development workshop, you probably haven’t considered checking your vehicle for unwanted guests of the pint-sized, winged variety before crossing state borders. Invasive insects are nothing if not persistent — and sometimes they take creative liberties to get from one

    READ MORE

  • How Do Spiders Travel? From Ballooning to Underwater Living 

    Spiders get around in more ways than you might expect. Beyond the familiar scuttle of eight legs, they’ve developed some genuinely strange tricks: riding wind currents through the air, cartwheeling down sand dunes and even building underwater air pockets to live in.  In this article, we explore:  What Is Spider Ballooning?  Spider ballooning is a form of aerial

    READ MORE

  • Insects, Climate Change and the Future of Pest Management 

    When you sit at the dinner table enjoying a colorful salad full of fresh produce, are you considering the impact that insects play in the loss of global crop production? If you’re not in pest management, probably not. But if you are, the numbers are staggering.  Approximately 20% to 40% of crops produced around the

    READ MORE

  • Why the Uptick in Insects After Natural Disasters? 

    Natural disasters can have consequences beyond displacing people from their homes and threatening their lives and livelihoods. Some types of natural disasters cause insect populations to grow exponentially — often the most undesirable species. Here we’ll examine which types of natural disasters bring the bugs out en masse and why extreme weather is frequently the

    READ MORE

  • Can Cockroaches Survive a Nuclear Bomb? Myths vs. Science 

    A nuclear war, if it comes, will not be won by the Americans … the Russians … the Chinese. The winner of World War III will be the cockroach.  — 1965 advertisement sponsored by the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy  Cockroaches have an impressive win record. The Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction, which eliminated 80% of animal

    READ MORE

Questions? Contact Us

Learn More About the Program

Click for details about the Entomology and Nematology program.